The Sea King
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"The Sea King"
Near the Boardwalk, a small boat is the source of a freak thunderstorm. From the craft, humanoids with long fins on their feet head for shore, propelled by the whitecaps. Reaching the land, the fins furled into hard points, giving these monsters the name of "Stiltmen"... "The Herald", a winged figure went to destroy the nearest transformer, plunging this corner of the grid in darkness and demand the mortals bow down to honor "the Sea King".
This first scene was a riot to run. OOC, I didn't know that a storm would cause the appearance of Prospect's very own Kraken...
The Kraken made short work of the villains on the boat. Silvana and five others acquitted themselves valiantly, and protected the civilians from harm. I wouldn't ordinarily have such an obvious breach of Masquerade occur, since PRPs are required to be "self-contained" and not alter the world, but that I know that spot, IC, has good organization to counter this. Civilians were rounded up and their memories of the event smoothed over.
Lee became aware of small pieces of metal falling into the sand and weeds beneath the shattered ship. With some effort, he caused them to be attracted to him-- as the fight drew to a close, little gold pieces showered the shoreline. These were determined to be from many different shipwrecks. What they had in common was that each ship had been brought down by lightning. It must have taken great effort to acquire so many. (No one happened to check for any recent purchases of the such coins.)
Silvana had the various physical artifacts, such as wood from the boat, and remains of the Stiltmen, studied. Several had fragments of barnacles in their teeth, of a species known only to live on the snout and back of Grey Whales. They were also smeared with marine "moonmilk": a creamy substance found only in underwater caves.
The next scene was investigation by Sir Nigel (Gil), at the Seneschal's request. He was looking for possible witnesses who might have been overlooked, such as homeless people. Before he vanished, Garan Graves gave money for a shelter for the homeless to be built. There are very few people living on the streets in that immediate vicinity. Nigel found one: a woman named Helen, a true Prospect beachcomber, who made her living finding Red Abalone and other prizes to sell to a souvenir shop. Helen was an emotional wreck. Having witnessed the storm and the arrival of the boat, and then seeing the Kraken, she turned and saw her husband Bear murdered by a strange man on the beach. Nigel took the man's description, then went to talk to the owner of the souvenir shop, a fellow named Carl. (Gil inspired hope and confidence in Helen; she's now a possible NPC Contact/Herd/etc. for him if he wants to add her. Otherwise, she gracefully fades out of the continuity.)
Upon learning of this mystery man, Silvana checked with contacts for any suspicious events at this time. Coinciding with the night of the attacks, a young lady, Chavala Shapiro, had been murdered. Her family owned a kosher fish processing company thirteen miles to the north, in La Jolla. She had been found drained of blood and shrink-wrapped in a bag (just like they would normally do with a large mackerel, swordfish, tuna, etc.), then hidden in the freezer. There was no autopsy; Chavala's body was interred the day after she was found. Her father told the police he had seen her with a shabbily dressed man, shopping for clothes. Prior to her death, the father and daughter had quarrelled, and she had left, upset.
Nigel and Silvana together questioned Carl. He knew nothing of the Stiltmen, the Kraken, or the strange man. While they were at Carl's Beach Shop, however, Nigel and Silvana chanced to see posters for a local diving organization's big annual gathering for the opening of the California lobster season on September 27. There was going to be a midnight kick-off party near Sunny Jim's cave, the only one of the Seven Caves accessible by walking rather than by sea. (Carl is possible NPC Contact/Herd/etc. if somebody wants to throw XP to pick him up. Nothing special about him, and I didn't think anyone would, but you never know.)
Jax researched the 'stiltmen' and discovered the description matched something in a saga penned in 1344 by a monk named Gurodya, who was a Ghoul in Ihlara, Turkey:
Maroush (a village) is destroyed. The people of Emaki (another village) are terrified. They are set upon by men with legs like sticks. The Abbot let the shepherds and their families come into our (monastic) warren. They go out by day but will not venture far. The grass here is gone and the sheep are starving. I have sent a dove to our patron Edwassa (a Cappadocian) for help.
I do my best to comfort the grieving; everyone has lost friends and cousins to the demons. I pray for strength, and for the protection of St. Nicholas. There is grain to last several months, thanks be unto the Lord.
Edwassa has not come yet. Food is now running short. Our pool is fed by water from the wall of a cave but we keep this a secret. With this many people and sheep, the water level is getting low enough to see the bottom of the pool. There was a great argument today, for the village head, Elder Amla, discovered the silver coins. Abbot Gyorgy explained that this keeps the water free of evil spirits. It has been our custom to cast coins into the water since time out of memory.
Praised be to the Lord and all the Saints, Edwassa has come at last. He has convinced the villagers to leave our monastery and go instead into caves on the cliffs, taking water in skins with them. It is wise, for we have learned that the demons can not climb, nor walk in passages the height of a man.
Edwassa calls the things that roam our valley 'Udug'. They hide by day in the river. My friend took black coins from our well, and our smith has made him a spearhead of silver. He has also required all our red ink to color his great shield of aurochs hide. The evil things that the Udug spit hate cinnabar.
This all fits the description of the so-called "Stilt Men" very well. They were apparently a Kindred bloodline with unusual Disciplines.
They swim in the water with meter-long fins. Coming onto land, these furl into hard points. There are ossicles of coral under their skin, giving them mystical protection.
With supernatural force and range, they spit hard finger-sized creatures that vaguely resemble furled starfish. When they hit, these cling and start furiously chewing with a rotary "beak".
There are several mentions of Udug in mythology. They are apparently demons that live in caves or in the water. A Babylonian tablet says that in Eridu, a devotee of Ea named Uanna was a fisherman. An angel sent a swell to overturn his boat but instead, Uanna broke its wings. He was called before the gods and apologized sincerely. Pleased with his wisdom and humility, he was offered food and drink but refused. When he left, a number of Udug (Utukku) followed him, converting to the service of Ea. Uanna eventually went blind, and Ea adopted him as his son.
Ea came to be called 'Enki' and 'Enoch'. Uanna came to be called 'oannes' and 'Jonah' and the King of the Sea.
Silvana was notified when Chavala's grave was robbed. The mystery man was seen on a motorcycle. Unfortunately, he was able to elude pursuit. Chavala's body was now missing.
In the final scene of the arc, Silvana and Gil attended the lobster party in La Jolla. A local radio station was there as a sponsor. There are tanks set up for keeping contest entries alive and fresh. Silvana spotted a suspicious man in the parking lot, and identified him as the "mystery man"-- Chavala's killer.
He is trying to choose new minions by studying their vehicles, looking for which are wealthiest and most important. Without Chavala's input, he remains baffled. (Surely this tiny BMW is a sign of insignificance to the mortal world...?)
At that point, the loudspeaker announced a special treat for the guests. Shapiro Canneries was premiering their "Louisiana Style Seafood Chowder" with lobster and clams. This EXTREMELY suspicious offering was thwarted by Gil knocking the pots over. (Having purchased tickets to the dinner, he was in a perfect position to get to the catering area.)
Silvana and her assistants took on the man in the parking lot. He was immobilized and staked. She had him delivered to the Camarilla.
The man was interrogated, and, amongst the many names he gives for himself is Kulullu, the name given to him by his Sire. He was the Childe of the line of the vampire Oannes, the self-proclaimed King of the Sea. And where is Oannes now? --He hides inside the body of a living whale. Without regret, the Prince had Kulullu destroyed.
Chavala was found in a storage unit, in torpor. She was technically not a Prospect mortal but from La Jolla, and her Sire was also an outsider. She had met her Sire while going swimming, and had been Embraced at the Seven Caves.
She could have been destroyed out of hand. Gil made a case for her being allowed to live. Embrace without a Prince's permission is a crime for which the penalty is death. However, as a Childe, all sins fall to the head of the Sire.
The Prince decided to spare her, with several conditions. She was not allowed within the boundaries of the Praxis. To spare her family pain, her appearance would be permanently modified. When several years had passed, she would be permitted to enter the city if she would then swear an oath of loyalty to the Praxis, and swear to protect the city.
She would be considered Gil's Childe, her sins his to bear. This was to be considered a Favor, in recompense for Gil's service to Prospect.
(A possible NPC for Gil, and later, a possible hook for a future player? She'd probably be a Caitiff, with Fortitude, Animalism, and Auspex, Merit Calm Heart and Flaw Probationary Member. Pronounced 'Havala', she was inspired by the daughter in Fiddler on the Roof who marries a Russian Christian-- and gets disowned. There's a hint throughout this that part of why her murder is so painful is that her father had already disowned her- 'she is DEAD to me!'- and never expected she would be killed. It's probable that her Sire Kulullu did what he did to especially punish her father.)
