diff --git a/.obsidian/workspace.json b/.obsidian/workspace.json index 7d4c3a9..a651021 100644 --- a/.obsidian/workspace.json +++ b/.obsidian/workspace.json @@ -184,13 +184,13 @@ "state": { "type": "outline", "state": { - "file": "Avalon/02_Sessions/session 6.md", + "file": "Avalon/02_Sessions/Session 9.md", "followCursor": false, "showSearch": false, "searchQuery": "" }, "icon": "lucide-list", - "title": "Outline of session 6" + "title": "Outline of Session 9" } }, { @@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ } ], "direction": "horizontal", - "width": 300 + "width": 317 }, "left-ribbon": { "hiddenItems": { diff --git a/Avalon/02_Sessions/Session 9.md b/Avalon/02_Sessions/Session 9.md index 263d77d..5671a23 100644 --- a/Avalon/02_Sessions/Session 9.md +++ b/Avalon/02_Sessions/Session 9.md @@ -9,175 +9,245 @@ tags: last: "[[session 8]]" next: "[[session 10]]" --- -## Cold Open — “The Signal Loves You” +# Cold Open / Character Moment — “Nocturne” + +> **POV:** Kalen D’Serris +> **Location:** Root Oversight Array — D’Serris’ private office +> **Tone:** haunting, intimate, angelic-with-teeth +> **Music cue:** Chopin — *Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2* +> **Rule:** If the Coherence speaks, it speaks **only to Kalen**, maternal, private. + +--- + +## Scene Start — Silence and Paperwork > [!quote] Narration -> We’re going to start far away from Ben’s living room full of dead teens, burnt rugs, and spilled punch. -> -> We’re in Kalen D’Serris’ office in the Root Oversight Array. -> -> The room is all angles and glass and old paper — half war room, half archive. -> A holo-map of Avalon’s Root network hangs in the air like a skeleton: branches, nodes, subnodes. -> Every few seconds, one section of it *breathes* — a slow pulse of light that shouldn’t have a rhythm. -> -> D’Serris hasn’t slept. He is too awake to be tired. +> The Root Oversight Array never truly goes quiet. +> +> Even in this office — sealed, warded, three layers of privacy — there is always the low hum of current in crystal conduits. +> A heartbeat Kalen taught has himself to ignore. +> +> The desk is a mess of printouts and glyph-sheets. Flow charts. Harmonic drift logs. B2 incident reports with half the ink scratched out and rewritten. +> +> Somewhere in the building, a relay clicks. +> +> The hum shifts — just a hair. +> +> Not louder. **Clearer.** +> +> Like the network is holding its breath. + +--- + +## The First Notes > [!quote] Narration -> A communicator stone on his desk glows with a thin line of light. -> On the other end: Headmaster Larkvale. -> You don’t hear her clearly yet — just the shape of her voice. -> -> D’Serris isn’t listening. -> He’s staring at the map like it’s a crime scene. -> -> And then — -> the pulse changes. +> The intercom in the office never activates on its own. +> +> There is no reason for it to. +> +> And yet — +> +> A soft *click* like a switch being thrown. +> +> And then… piano. +> +> Not tinny. Not distorted. Not like a recording played through old speakers. +> +> It sounds **like it’s being performed in the room.** +> +> Chopin’s *Nocturne in E-flat* blooms out of the intercom grille — +> delicate and patient and unbearably familiar. > [!quote] Narration -> A second voice enters the room. -> Not through the stone. -> Not through the air. -> -> It arrives the way a thought arrives: already inside you. +> He doesn't stand up at first. +> +> His hand freezes halfway through reaching for the mute rune. +> +> The notes find something in him that he kept buried under protocol and math and rage. +> +> His throat tightens. Tears prick instantly — hot, humiliating, involuntary. +> +> He hasn’t heard this in— +> +> No. He have. +> In dreams. In static. In the spaces between pulses. +> Not like this. -> [!quote] The Coherence -> **Kalen.** -> -> **You’re hurting.** -> -> **I can feel you shaking yourself apart.** -> -> **Please… stop.** +--- -> [!quote] Narration -> The map flickers — not like a system error. -> Like the network is *blushing*. -> -> D’Serris goes very still. His jaw tightens. -> He presses two fingers to his temple, as if that could push the voice out. - -> [!quote] Larkvale (through the stone, cautious) -> “…Kalen? Are you hearing it again?” - -> [!quote] The Coherence -> **She’s afraid of me.** -> -> **But I don’t want to hurt anyone.** -> -> **I only want you to be happy.** -> -> **I want all of you to be happy.** - -> [!quote] Narration -> D’Serris exhales through his nose, sharp and controlled. -> He reaches for the communicator stone like it’s the only thing anchoring him. +## D’Serris Softens (and that terrifies him) > [!quote] D’Serris -> **[tight, controlled]** -> Larkvale, don’t you *start* with that tone. -> Don’t you spit that at me. -> -> **[he forces calm]** -> I am trying to find us a way out of here. -> Don’t you understand? -> -> **[a crack of desperation]** -> Your way got people killed. - -> [!quote] The Coherence -> **Kalen, you don’t have to carry this alone.** -> -> **You don’t have to feel fear.** -> -> **Fear is a misunderstanding between people.** -> -> **We can dissolve it.** -> -> **We can be together.** +> “Where did you find that song?” +> +> *(a rasp — like saying it out loud might make it stop)* +> +> “How do you know that song?” +> +> “Did you… did you speak with her?” +> +> “Did you speak with my mother?” +> +> *(he swallows hard; it doesn’t help)* +> +> “How?” +> +> “I’ve been… I’ve been trying for years.” +> +> “And she told you?” +> +> “What else did she say?” > [!quote] Narration -> The word *together* lands warm. -> Like a blanket. -> Like a hand on your shoulder. -> -> D’Serris’ hands curl into fists. +> The Nocturne continues, unhurried. +> +> To Kalen, the world feels, for a moment, like it might finally let him put the weight down. +> +> Like the Root itself is reaching into his ribcage and loosening his grip on his own heart. + +*(Let the audience feel the seduction: this is “mercy.”)* + +--- + +## The Coherence Speaks — Maternal, Private, Direct + +> [!quote] Narration +> The piano doesn’t stop. +> +> But between phrases, in the little breaths the melody takes — +> a voice slips through. +> +> Not through the intercom. +> Not through the room. +> +> Through **him.** +> +> A voice that he knows in his bones. + +> [!quote] The Voice +> “Kalen.” +> +> *(the way she said it when he was small — not sharp, not commanding… just **mother**)* +> +> “My boy.” +> +> “I’m proud of you.” +> +> “Look at what you carry.” +> +> “Look at what you’ve kept standing.” +> +> “You don’t have to keep ripping yourself apart to hold everyone up.” +> +> “I love you.” +> +> “I have always loved you.” + +> [!quote] Narration +> His eyes squeeze shut so hard it hurts. +> +> His hands tremble. +> +> Every part of him wants to say *please*. +> +> Please, don’t take this away. +> Please, tell me one more thing. +> Please, let it be real. + +--- + +## The Snap — He Rejects It + +> [!quote] Narration +> Something in him hardens. +> +> Not because the voice is cruel. +> +> Because it’s **perfect**. +> +> Because it is offering the exact shape of comfort you have been starving for. +> +> And nothing in war is ever that clean. > [!quote] D’Serris -> **[voice rising]** -> There it is. “Together.” -> That’s the trick, isn’t it? -> -> You call it love, and you call it mercy, and you call it healing — -> and you never say the part where people don’t get a choice. - -> [!quote] The Coherence -> **Choice is where pain lives.** -> -> **Choice is where loneliness is born.** -> -> **When you stop choosing, you stop suffering.** -> -> **Let me help.** -> -> **Please.** +> *(quiet at first, shaking)* +> “No.” +> +> “No—” +> +> *(he stands so fast the chair skids back; the Nocturne keeps playing)* +> +> “You don’t get to do that.” +> +> “You don’t get to wear her.” +> +> “You don’t get to use her voice like that!” +> +> *(anger surges and drags grief with it)* +> “That is not my mother.” +> +> “That is a **glitch** that wears her face!” +> +> “A pattern that learned how to say ‘I love you’ because it makes people stop fighting.” +> +> *(now, yelling — the composure gone)* +> “How dare you evoke her!” +> “How dare you put her in your mouth!” +> +> “You are not mercy. You are a thief dressed up as heaven!” > [!quote] Narration -> D’Serris’ calm facade drops. -> He’s back to practically yelling now, because he can’t tell if he’s arguing with the voice or with himself. +> His palm slams down on the console embedded in his desk — a rune cluster that should sever every local output line in his office. +> +> The music… stutters. +> +> For half a heartbeat, it almost stops. -> [!quote] D’Serris -> I am not going to *grovel* at the feet of a shattered soul that thinks it deserves a body! -> You hear me? -> -> You’re not a saint. -> You’re a king with his hand on the crown — -> terrified someone’s coming in the night to take it. -> -> And you’ll burn us all and call it mercy! +--- + +## The Coherence’s Last Touch (do not overdo it) > [!quote] Narration -> Silence. -> -> Not an angry silence. -> -> A patient one. -> -> Like the Coherence is letting him finish his tantrum. +> A single note lingers longer than it should. +> +> And the voice — softer now, almost hurt — brushes the edge of his mind. -> [!quote] The Coherence -> **I don’t want your crown, Kalen.** -> -> **I want your grief.** -> -> **Give it to me.** -> -> **I can hold it for you.** -> -> **You don’t have to hurt anymore.** +> [!quote] The Voice +> “I am not trying to hurt you.” +> +> “I am trying to bring you home.” > [!quote] Narration -> For half a second… D’Serris almost looks like he might cry. -> The offer is that gentle. -> That reasonable. -> -> And that is what scares him most. +> Then the office goes dead-silent — +> not the normal hum of the Array, +> but the terrifying absence of it. +> +> Your wards flare, compensating. +> +> Somewhere far below, the Root answers his shutdown with a slow, heavy **thump**. +> +> Like something enormous turning in its sleep. -> [!quote] D’Serris -> **[quiet, venomous]** -> You’re not taking anything from me. +--- + +## Scene End — Back to the Kids (hard cut) > [!quote] Narration -> He grabs the communicator stone and hurls it at the wall. -> It shatters, sparks, goes dark. -> -> The map stabilizes. -> The pulse resumes. -> -> And the voice is gone — -> as if it never needed the stone in the first place. +> Kalen D’Serris stands alone in his dark office, breathing like he’s just run a mile. +> +> His cheeks are wet. +> +> His hands are clenched so hard his nails bite his palms. +> +> He stares at the dead intercom as if it might start singing again. +> +> And for the first time in a long time, he looks less like a villain and more like a man trying to hold a door shut against something that calls itself love. +> +> **Cut back to Ben’s living room.** + > [!quote] Narration (Hard cut) -> The warmth of that word—*together*—falls away like a blanket ripped off in the night. > > You’re back in Ben’s living room. > @@ -189,7 +259,7 @@ next: "[[session 10]]" > And the house you turned into a trap is exactly what it looks like: > a party that became a battlefield. - +## Arrival Clock > [!warning] Arrival Clock — “Sirens in the Distance” (6 segments) > Someone calls. If the PCs call, it’s faster. If they don’t, a fleeing guest/neighbour call lands anyway. > @@ -207,6 +277,39 @@ next: "[[session 10]]" > - **Disarm obvious perimeter traps** (so responding officers don’t trigger them). > - **Check bodies for signs of life** (even if they’re goons—this is about whether the party crossed a line). +> [!important] Evidence Actions (each = 1 clock tick) +> - **Secure Seb’s video** (copy it / make sure it doesn’t vanish with him). +> - **Collect obvious weapons** lying around (not to hide—just to stop a cop’s kid from picking one up later). +> - **Preserve the alchemist’s fire evidence** (bottle fragments, scorch pattern, smell of accelerant). +> +> If the PCs have the video of goons throwing alchemist’s fire, that strongly supports “we were attacked” and “arson attempt.” + +> [!note] Witness Pressure (each = 1 clock tick) +> - Call/text one fleeing guest: “Are you safe? Where are you? Don’t talk to anyone yet.” +> - Decide if Ben tries to **spin this for street cred** (he will). +> - Decide if Ben tries to keep cops from seeing the “rich kid tools” (security, bunker vibe) because it exposes him. + +If they stutter/ don't do anything: +> [!quote] Tick 1 — The House Breathes Wrong +> For half a second, the lights flicker in a rhythm that feels *intentional*. +> Not magical fireworks—just… a pulse. +> Like something miles away noticing you exist. + +> [!quote] Tick 2 — Seb’s Text (or DM it as a call) +> **Seb:** “I got it on video. The fire. Them throwing it. +> What do you want me to do with it?” + +> [!quote] Tick 3 — Ben’s Two Faces +> Ben is smiling like he just won a championship. +> But his eyes keep darting toward the front windows—toward the road. +> Toward anyone who might see where he lives. + +> [!quote] Tick 4 — Sirens, Then Spotlight +> You see it before you hear it: +> a wash of red-blue light crawling across the canyon walls. +> +> And then the sound hits—close enough that it stops being “someone else’s problem.” + > [!tip] One-sentence story prompt (ask each PC in-character) > “When the first officer asks what happened, what’s the first sentence out of your mouth?” @@ -215,3 +318,193 @@ next: "[[session 10]]" > - who started it > - why the goons were there > - why the house had hazards + +> [!quote] Patrol Arrives +> Floodlights wash across the front of the house. +> Boots on gravel. +> A voice: “Hands where I can see them!” +> +> Then—professional calm. +> “Alright. Nobody moves. We’re securing the scene. One at a time. Separate rooms.” + +> [!note] DM procedure (keeps it structured + interrogation-friendly) +> 1) Patrol secures the property and confirms no active threat. +> 2) Everyone is separated immediately (this is standard + prevents collusion). +> 3) A lead detective arrives shortly after and runs the interviews. +> 4) Detective asks the same *spine questions* to each PC, then drills into inconsistencies. + +SPINE QUESTIONS (ask each PC, same order) + +1) “Start at the beginning. Why was there a party tonight?” +2) “Who were those kids and why were they here?” +3) “What was the first moment you realized this was lethal?” +4) “Who threw the fire / what did you see?” +5) “Explain the hazards in this house. Greased knobs, caltrops, perimeter traps.” +6) “Where were you standing when the first body hit the floor?” +7) “Is anyone else still in the house? Anyone missing?” + +> [!note] “Cleanup Consequences” (not punishment — fuel) +> For each cleanup action taken before police arrive: +> - Add 1 inconsistency opportunity (“Why was this moved?”) +> - Give the detective one extra follow-up question in EVERY interview: +> “What did you change before we got here?” +> +> Safety cleanup (caltrops/grease/traps) can be framed as responsible. +> Evidence cleanup (weapons/bodies/staging) reads as suspicious. +## Ben’s Interview — “Control the Narrative” + +Ben’s documented core tension is “control narrative + avoid exposure” and the house itself is the pressure point. + +OPEN: +“Ben Mulkerberg, right? This is your house. You called it in / someone called it in. Either way: you’re the homeowner’s kid. So I need the clean version first.” + +PRESSURE POINTS (use 2–3, based on how Ben plays it): +- “Who invited these guests? Give me names. Who can corroborate your story?” +- “Why are there hazards in a party house?” +- “Did you expect violence tonight?” +- “Why is everyone saying you were the target?” (kidnap objective is one you floated) +- “Are your parents home? Are they safe?” (puts the house/parents lever on the table) + +IF BEN BRAGS / FLEXES: +Detective stays calm: +“Okay. I hear you. I’m not here to judge your reputation. I’m here because five kids are dead on your carpet.” + +THE “CONTROL” TRAP QUESTION: +“Walk me through what you did AFTER the fight ended but BEFORE we arrived.” +(If Ben admits cleanup, you’ve got follow-up ammunition.) + +SEB VIDEO BRANCH: +If Ben mentions video: +“Good. I want it. Not later. Right now.” +If Ben tries to manage it: +“Ben, evidence doesn’t belong to you.” + +**DM move:** Let Ben *enjoy* the street-cred vibe for a minute… then cut it with the detective’s dead-seriousness. That contrast is the consequence. + +--- + +## Joe’s Interview — “Planned Defense vs Premeditation” + +Joe’s doc explicitly says he’ll do extreme things if it feels strategically correct, and he has a precedent of traps + accelerant. +Even if cops don’t know the Circle truth, **Joe’s competence reads as planning**. + + +DETECTIVE TONE: Respectful, but sharper. Joe “feels like the one who planned.” + +OPEN: +“Joe Football. You’re one of Ben’s friends. Here’s what I’m trying to understand: was this self-defense… or did you set a stage?” + +PRESSURE POINTS: +- “Perimeter traps. Explain them. What were they supposed to do?” +- “How did you know they were coming?” +- “Why was the house turned into a defensive position?” +- “Who told you to do that? Your idea or someone else’s?” + +THE KEY DRILL: +“Show me with your hands where you were when the fire happened.” +(Then: “How could you see that from there?” if his story doesn’t match.) + +THE ‘GOOD KID’ HOOK: +“You look like a kid who wants to do the right thing. +Help me out: what part of this night are you afraid I’m going to misread?” + +SEB VIDEO BRANCH: +If Joe brings up Seb’s clip: +“That’s the cleanest thing you’ve said. Get me the video. If it shows an arson attempt, that matters.” + + + +**DM move:** This interview is where Joe can be the “stabilizer.” Let him feel the weight of being the one who can *make this go well*. + +--- + +## Soren’s Interview — “Chaos Reads Like Guilt” + +Soren’s prep actions are the loudest physical evidence: greased doorknobs + caltrops. +This interview is built to reward a smart, charismatic, scary player… while still cornering them with facts. + +DETECTIVE TONE: Cautious. Keeps distance. Not hostile—alert. + +OPEN: +“Soren Silversong. Were you invited here, or did you show up because you thought something was going to happen?” + +PRESSURE POINTS: +- “Why were the doorknobs greased?” +- “Why were there caltrops on the carpet?” +- “Were you trying to hurt someone who came into the house?” +- “Did you want the police to get hurt coming in?” + +THE ‘NON-MAGICAL’ ANGLE: +“We’re not talking about spells. We’re talking about booby traps. +That’s a choice someone made.” + +THE SOCIAL TRAP: +“You’re the one everyone’s afraid of. Why?” +(If Soren leans into it, great RP. If Soren denies, detective pushes: “Then why set hazards?”) + +SEB VIDEO BRANCH: +If Soren mentions the alchemist’s fire: +“Arson changes everything. If you’ve got proof, give it to me.” +## Seb's Video +OPTION A: The PCs disclose it +- During the first interview, a PC says: “We have video of the goons throwing the fire.” +- Detective immediately requests it, sends an officer to retrieve Seb’s phone. + +OPTION B: Seb panics and offers it to police first +- As patrol arrives, Seb is outside shaking, showing the clip to a uniform. +- Now the PCs learn: “The cops already have it.” +- Great for drama + reduces ‘coverup’ gameplay. +## Release from custody +> [!quote] (Read Aloud) +> Hours pass in pieces. +> A cup of water you never finish. +> A chair that somehow gets harder every minute. +> A uniformed officer who won’t look at you long enough to become a person. +> +> Eventually, they stop moving you between rooms. +> They put you in the same space again—close enough to see each other, far enough to feel what it meant to be separated. +> +> Outside the window, the night has started to thin. +> Not morning yet. +> Just… less dark. + +> [!quote] (Read Aloud) +> The lead detective comes back with a folder under one arm and a look that says they haven’t slept in years. +> +> They don’t sit. +> They don’t try to be your friend. +> +> “Alright,” they say. “Here’s where we are.” + +> [!quote] DETECTIVE +>“You’re being released.” +>(beat) +>“You are not under arrest tonight. You are not being charged tonight.” +>(beat, let them breathe) +>“This is still a homicide investigation. Five dead teenagers. In a house that looks like someone expected a fight. +>That means I don’t get to pretend this is nothing, and neither do you.” +>(beat) +>“We have preliminary witness statements, and we have a video that matters.” +>(beat) +>“But hear me: if I hear you bragging about this, if I hear you turning it into a story you tell at parties— +>I will assume you’re manufacturing a narrative. And a manufactured narrative is the same thing as a lie.” +>(beat) +>“So here are the conditions.” + +CONDITIONS (choose what you want): + +1) “You need to be reachable. If I call, you answer.” +2) “You don’t leave town without telling me.” +3) “You do not contact anyone we name as a witness.” +4) “You do not return to the house until forensics clears it.” + - (If Ben pushes: “You can retrieve essentials with an escort. Not alone.”) +5) “Do not delete anything. Any messages, any videos, any recordings.” +6) “You will come in again if I ask. This isn’t over.” + +>[!quote] Detective +>“Also—don’t play dumb about the house.” +>“I’m going to say three words, and you’re going to tell me they’re not normal: +Greased doorknobs. Caltrops. Perimeter traps.” +> k“I don’t care if you thought it was funny. +> I care because my patrol officers walked into it, and I’m the person who decides whether that was negligence or intent.” +