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So You Want to be a Superhero...

A superhero game...something that has never even crossed my mind.  But here we have it, by popular demand, and it is a most intriguing and exciting challenge.  But how to create a superhero game worth running?  It can't be Superman...no, it needs to be Batman, Hellboy, World of Darkness, Champions, and maybe even a little bit of Cthullu and Cyberpunk, all rolled into one.  But in what proportions, and to what END?
And that is where the story will start.  At the end of things, the end of it all, the end of the world.  The Apocalypse.  The end of days.  What if the world just eighty-sixed it?  What if idiots like George Bush won, and guided the world as they would?  What if rather than diffusing, things escalated, winding the world tight like a spring, until finally it began to tear itself apart under the strain, threatening to come apart explosively at any minute?  Or what if it was twisted too far, bent into an unrecognizable, ugly mess?  
The environment: hovering on the brink of destruction.  Forests dessimated.  The oceans polluted.  Rivers soiled.  The polar ice caps rapidly melting.  
The economy:  hanging by a thread.  Rapid sinking of deficit spending, unchecked corporate growth, exploitation of workers rampant.
The politics:  corrupt, money based, oligarchical, and self serving
The wars: raging, rampant, widespread.  Iraq, Iran, North Korea, and Afghanistan are the new vietnam.  Russia is totally corrupt.  China is a new govt. superpower, but is crumbling from within.  Europe is squabbling.  Africa is rife with disease and civil war.
The rich and the poor continue to separate: the middle class becomes less common.  We hang on the edge of a knife, a hair's breadth before the birth of the cyberpunk world, but instead of a grim future, there is only a yawning abyss.  What lies within the abyss, no one knows; it is obscured by an impenetrable darkness.  Eternal Darkness.  
Here, on the edge of darkness, on the fine line between the beginning and the end, is where the play is made: it is where the last hand is dealt, where all the tricks are employed, where all those who have a stake in this world, for good or for ill, throw their weight into the equation.  
The Illuminati, The Magi, The NSA, The Vatican, all now reveal their most carefully guarded secrets.  Weapons technologies.  Ancient rituals.  Fabled artifacts.  Half-tamed monsters.  The lines have been drawn, and the battle is prepared to be waged across the world.  Until the bitter, final end.
But all systems tend towards equilbrium, towards homeostasis, towards balance; for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction.  And it is this great guiding principle that few of the great powers in the world have truly fully appreciated.  
And so what was to be a modern war, a secret, swift, orderly war, is now something nearly diametrically opposed: Chaos, Kaos.  A malevolent, swirling explosion on the subconscious level of the world.  
The sudden unveiling of great powers in the world, the rending of the veil between the banal, carefully constructed reality that the powers of the world have created and all that exists beyond, has rippled throughout existence and unleashed the heroes.  Men, Women, otherworldly creatures slumbering on the edge of reality or in the depths of space, have become the foci of the ripples and reactions to the call of battle.  Like the sparks cast up from a fire suddenly kindled, some burn brighter, and some darker and hotter, than others.  

Some notes:  This is not Energy X from freedom force.  As the time of the apocalypse draws nigh, as events accelerate, the strain of the powers unleashed onto the world have caused a backlash, which has leaked slowly and suddenly at different times and places.  Like the Cthullu universe, earth is the focal point of this conflict, of this Event.  For the purposes of this game, all will and intent is bent on this planet.  The cities are like the cities in batman or the crow.  The mythology that of Hellboy, Cthullu, and the World of Darkness.  

The Illuminati: the syndicate of mage.  Their power base has been the construction of an influence and control element in all governments and financial institutions to the point where they control nearly all monetary flow in the world.  They have limitless funds, and can therefore buy nearly everything...

The Churches:  The Vatican. The Kabbalists.  Islam.  The Mormons.  All have long studied the dark secrets of the world, and all know that the end is nigh.  All have amassed the most extensive knowledge of the occult of any organization.  They have at their control the powers and magicks of faith, and the might of ritual.  Yet they are also rife with corruption and those who have, for centuries and millenia, twisted their knowledge to the pursuit of darker might...

The Governments:  We see the might of our warriors.  Yet we do not Know.  The billions of dollars spent developing the mightiest weapons ever known.  Technologies thought too powerful to allow the world to access them.  But things are falling apart.  And it is only with might that they can hold them together...

The Ancient Vampire Families:  Hunted, masters of darkness, these also encompass the many other facets of their curse: lycanthropy, ghosts, all things undead and twisted.  They live in the occult, but their battle with humanity, their hunger for power and blood, and the threat of insanity over their long years has blinded them.  Yet their age gives them limitless knowledge, and unbelievable power.  

The Magi:  Magic has long been a most difficult and secretive art.  But the coming conflict has called for the re-opening of many tomes uncreased since the dark ages.  A nearly extinct order, the Magi nevertheless wield some of the greatest powers in the world.

The Shaolin:  Long since lost amongst tourist pleasers and the shades of their art, the ancient monks have preserved their history and their art in the most secret corners of asia.  Long have they wandered the world, but now their test is at hand.  Their power lies in their bodies.  Many other monk orders have long maintained their strength in secret as well.

The Ninja: not a myth, and certainly not gone.  Thought dead for centuries, they live on in the deepest secrecy.  Their powers rival those of the shaolin, but are of a darker, more sinister quality.

The Druids/The Wickans:  Diluted through popularity, the might of the goddess still lives in the true followers of this path, but their power continues to wane.  Nevertheless, Baba Yaga is one of them.

The followers of the Old Gods:  Those who serve the Old Gods have signed a truly dark pact.  Wielders of Great Power, they are little more than puppets of the Old Gods.  They are few and far between, but arguably among the most powerful beings in the world.

The beasts:  Slumbering for what was to be an eternity, many of the old beings begin to awaken.  As yet, the mightiest of beasts, such as the dragons, still slumber.  

The otherworlders:  Beings from across time and space...some captured and held prisoner on earth, others awakened by the mighty scream emanating from Earth...their origins are varied, their power diverse, but all with their own goals toward this epicenter.  

The Characters will be led/guided by Baba Yaga, who is, although the characters will probably never discover it, the little girl that they rescued and delivered to Freyadin in the Phoenix Chronicles.  She is an ageless and immensely powerful witch, but it is well beyond her now to act directly.  Her motives are her own, but she will act as the deus ex machina to bring the characters together.  She will be both kind and cruel, depending on what is needed to bring the characters together.  

The characters will have internal struggle.  In this sense the game will be like “three kings”.  Each character will struggle with their powers, their abilities, or their role in a bewildering world that continues to fill with strange and often horrible things.  What distinguishes a hero is not their might, but “what they do, when it counts”, and this journey of discovery should be part of the campaign.  The characters can be well established heroes already, since the process of deterioration of the world has been gradual.  The game will be set in 2012-2015.

Hmm...as an interesting start, the characters could find themselves all drawn to a certain town, hamlet, whatever, and find all the people dead.  Killed by plague, many heaped on a great pire, with a satanist or a cthullu servant or whatever, attempting a great and terrible ritual.  They could have to battle undead for a while, or monsters or whatever (maybe better just the villain and a few of his buddies), and slowly get overwhelmed.  At this point, Baba Yaga will step in and light him up.  Or better yet, light up his friends/minions, and then tear out his gullet with her iron teeth.  Just so the characters get the sense not to fuck with her.  That they were all brought to that point will intrigue her and she will guide/train the characters.  


The “point” of the group will be important.  Once again the “hook” is important because I want teamwork to be central.  Possibilities:
a.)  the characters are all siblings.  I kind of like this one because it means that they can have fucked up relationships but still have to stick up for one another.  The same hook I originally thought up for CP
b.)  the characters could be an established supergroup
c.)  the characters could be “deus-ex-machina-ed” together.
d.)

The family idea actually will fit surprisingly well...it can even be twisted to some degree to fit other types of character concepts.  Also, it fits with the lovecraftian idea of weird shit just being tossed on people.  The characters could have been separated for years, and are now brought together for some strange reason

Some refinements for the original world concept: 
Things need to be a simpler conflict: there should still be a number of sides, but not a bazillion like I have now.  I tend towards disorganization because it allows for everything, but I think the world will benefit from more definition.  
Let's divide the factions as follows:
The Ancient:
Those who serve the Old Ones or any force from before the civilizations of Man.
The Middle Kingdoms:
Those who derive their powers from the old gods, from the civilizations that ruled the world from the beginnings of prehistory to the fall of the Roman Empire.
The New World Orders:
Those who serve the modern religions and power structures, built on the remains of the middle world.


Each Era put down the one before it, subjugating it in its twilight by destroying its people, and eliminating its powers.  
But what is it the powers are fighting over?  For control in the END.  But what is the end?  It is control of humanity, and the earth, which is the nexus of power.  
The entity known as Gaea is not a god, but rather a massive reserve of energy, power, a nexus that links the (insert number here) dimensions:
1.the netherworld, the world of darkness, the land of shadows, the forgotten, the shade, The Abyss.
2.Hell, the plane of daemons, of fire, the land of Surtur, of destruction suffering, and pain.
3.Entropy, change, Kaos, Chaos, the plane of power, of energy and magick 
4.Heaven, the plane of peace, balance, understanding, and enlightenment
5.The web of the Weaver, of order, arrangement, knowledge, control, hierarchy, the haven of technology.
6.The labyrinth, the land of possibility, fate, the future, the plane of tunnels.
7.Reality: the land of the now, of that which IS.

The six planes oppose one another as follows: Heaven and Hell, Kaos and The Web, and The Abyss and The Labyrinth.  The four planes of power (the first four) can be construed as “tangible” entities that supply many of the heroes and villains of the world.  They should not be seen in the christian construct of the world but represent the planes that are described in every system of beliefs.  The Abyss and the Labyrinth, representing that which has been and that which will be, are the “intangible” planes that form a strange network that interconnects the world and the other four planes.  It is the presence of these dimensions that gives meaning to time and permits such things as clairvoyance.  (it is also noteworthy that the Old Ones, dark beings from the plane of Daemons, were imprisoned in ancient times by the Seven Great Heroes once their power had nearly faded from the world: Hercules, Gilgamesh, The Monkey King, Raven, Thor, Horus, and Ninigi).  The relationship of the Abyss and the Labyrinth are unclear, but it is certain that they are tightly intertwined and that they may be simply two sides of the same coin: differentiating the two planes may simply be a semantic simplification.
Regardless, Gaea, the earth, represents the only location in which the six planes “intersect” with reality: throughout the rest of the universe, one or a few planes predominate, but it is only on the earth where all the planes are represented and vie with one another.  Beings from ANYWHERE other than earth are much more stereotyped: they have access to only a subset of the spheres directly, and are only distantly affected by the others as this energy leaks out into the universe.  
It is because of this priviledged position in the universe and in all of the planes that the earth is coveted by all beings of power: controlling earth means controlling the gateway to all other dimensions, and therefore the possibility of controlling all dimensions.  What this means, exactly, is of course, somewhat difficult (especially for me...especially since nothing can exist anywhere whithout access to all of the planes: but the point is that the earth has direct access to each of the planes, and therefore can be infused directly with power from them.  
The problem: the earth is also the balance-point for the different dimensions: the critical point is that each of the dimensions also contains a seed of each of the other dimensions, especially its opposite, within itself: all the dimensions are connected to one another (through the Abyss and the Labyrinth).  These seeds are as follows:
Enlightenment: Stagnation
Fire: Consumption
Entropy: Dissolution
Weaver: Rigidity
The Abyss and the Labyrinth's seeds are not truly defined.

There are numerous entities from each of the dimensions that have their own set of goals.  What is important, however, is that in the end, each of them does, in some way, serve the interests of its own dimension.  The prominent forces from each plane are as follows:

Heaven: The Vatican (lesser known: the shaolin, the buddhists)
Hell: The Old Ones (lesser known: The vampire clans)
Entropy: The Magi (lesser known: the faeries, the gypsies)
Weaver: The Technocracy (including the NSA)  (lesser known: ???)
Abyss: The Tomb Kings (lesser known: the ninja, the black spiral dancers)
The Labyrinth: The fates (lesser known: the harlequins)

Throughout time people have drawn on the power created by these dimensions to gain superhuman abilities.  However, at the end of the first Era, when the seven heroes imprisoned the old worlds within the Abyss, they also made a pact to attempt to protect what IS from the disrupting influences of the planes.  Because of their nearly infinite wisdom and power, they drew down the first veil, which heralded not only the end of the first age, but also the end of the age of Heroes (which is falsely considered the beginning of the second Era, when in fact it is the end of the first): the power of the old gods, who had initially battled back the Old Ones from various parts of the world, diminished as well.  Nevertheless, they sanctioned the decision of the heroes, seeing the wisdom in it, and thus ruled for over two thousand years.  The second era was brought down by the powers of the third era, who drew down the second veil, and began the rise of the power of the weaver in the mortal plane.  Currently, the weaver is the most powerful entity (since the industrial revolution), when the forces loyal to the weaver managed, to lead a coup and draw down the third veil, which began the isolation of all the dimensions other than the Weaver.  
What was not known, however, was that this apparent victory by the weaver was a foolhardy one.  For unknown reasons, the third veil was faulty: an iron curtain thrown over the two gossamer veils of ancient days: Whereas the two previous veils had been made through the power and wisdom of men, the third veil was generated only by the might of the weaver (and the agents of surtur, who are everywhere), and under its weight, the first and the second veil began to fall away.  Lightly at first, and the craftsmanship of the weaver being superb, so that the imbalance could not initially be perceived.  But slowly the bolts began to loosen  and the iron to rust, and the forces of the weaver saw that not all was well.  They shored up the defects, but slowly the energy of the varied dimensions began to saturate the world again, like blood staining a bleached robe.  What lies contained behind the iron curtain, none know.  But all prepare for its coming...
The exposure of the world to the powers that have been slowly cut off from the world is releasing many ancient powers and strengthening those that have long been there (too ghostbusters?)  Most of the great powers in the world have long been able to draw on their sources of power.  The veils were never complete blocks, only dampers on the interaction of what IS with those things that lend meaning and power to the world.  But now the expression of power is in many things that did not previously have it, as well as being reinfused into things that had lost it.

The next level of clarification:

The planes are not avatars of the ideas they represent: nothing tangible could exist in a plane that did not include all of the elements described by the various planes.  As such, although the planes are the stereotypes of the things that they fuel in the real plane, the beings that exist in these planes are not composed entirely of the ideal of the plane.  Thus, although each daemon has its own characteristics and goals, the uniting theme is that they are all self-serving, greedy, and without morals.  Likewise, the uniting goal of the angels is to bring equality and peace to the world, but how to attain this goal varies from angel to angel.  

The Vatican:  The vatican, although it came into being as an organized front for the plane of the angels, it has changed significantly almost from the day that it was conceived.  It's history is extensive and I haven't come up with it yet, but what is important is that the modern vatican contains strong weaver elements and a significant degree of corruption by agents of the plane of fire.  Important to remove before player exposure: Another important element is that the One, the being acknowledged as God, is in fact an Old One...a strange one, in the sense that it did at some point come to be an enlightened, mightily powerful being that is filled with the energy of the plane of serenity: its true nature is known by some of the angels, who nevertheless accept this fact, as well as by some of the most knowledgeable of mortals (some of the elite of the scribes of Lao Tzu would be an example).
Notes on organization:  The vatican itself is mostly a massive bureaucracy, which will not concern characters.  However, most of what will concern characters can be subdivided into the Inquisition
The inquisition is, broadly, the arm of the vatican that deals with the occult and with enforcement of the vatican's goals.  As such, they are more in the know than most of the rest of the vatican.  It is rumored that there are other divisions of the vatican that are in the know, and make some of the executive decisions, but fundamentally, it is the inquisition that seek to promote the victory of Heaven on Earth.  Their rough divisions are as follars:
1.Librarians:  Those that seek to better understand the forces of Hell (read: any of the other planes) through study and piomancy.
2.Gladii Dei:  “Swords of God”  The Crusaders in all their glory.  And all their shame.  With the funding of the vatican, the training of the inquisition, and the power of piomancy (plus whatever else made them eligible for the forces of Heaven...), they are a force to be reckoned with at best and to flee in terror of at worst.
3.The Saints:  a poorly understood division, but apparently the chief practitioners of piomancy.  They serve as healers to the Gladii, as oracles and mediums for the librarians, and as spiritual ministers for the entire inquisition.  
4.The Inquisitors:  The namesake of this division, signalling their ancient origins.  They are spies, torturers, scholars, ministers of faith, warriors...They are the coordinating force behind the Inquisition, and their undisguised presence in any place can be seen as evidence of an approaching offensive.  Their training is unknown, but the fear they invoke in all but the most powerful daemons suggests that they are mighty individuals indeed.


The Magi:  The Magi, a short term for the Council of Wizardry, is the largest organization of mages in existence, and therefore can be considered the most powerful and representative agent of the plane of Kaos.  The following kabals are part of the council:
1.The Elemental Brotherhood:  masters of the elements earth, air, fire, and water (and possibly wood, although this is up for debate).  They are headed by a grand master who must control all four elements, as well as four elemental masters, one for each element.  Their training is extremely rigorous and they are possibly the most powerful of the kabals.  They number 9 (one disciple to each elemental school, with one master, and a grand master), and never go above this number: no master is permitted to accept more than one student at a time
2.The Druids: nature mages, and possibly the oldest of the kabals.  They are the acknowledged leaders of the Council, since nearly all of the High Councilman positions in the Council's history have been held by a druid.  In general terms, this is because the Druids are well respected by all of the other kabals, and because their traditions of magic are ancient and have always guided the council well.  The druids have suffered dwindling numbers throughout the ages, a fact they seem to bemoan less than anyone else: their current numbers fluctuate around 12. Leadership among the druids is a poorly defined concept: nevertheless, it is usually their elect to the council that is made high councilman
3.The Knights of Vincent Muhammed/ The Hanzo Clan:  Jointly, these mages are known as the Order of Tsutsugamushi, recognized as the greatest swordsmith of all time.  The knights of Vincent Muhammed formed during the first crusade, when Vincent fought first for the crusade, but realizing the evil the crusade inflicted on the muslims, he suddenly switched sides: in the end, he tried to straddle the middle ground and work towards peace (unsuccessfully).  The Knights and the Hanzo Clan are two militant orders of mages, the only two to join the council.  What is surprising is how well the two intermingle, despite their drastic differences.  The Knights have embraced all modern forms of combat and use their magic to supplement their already considerable combat savvy.  The Hanzo Clan is rumored to maintain ties to the Ninja, dark assassins thought to have disappeared ages ago, and their training begins early in life, as soon as magic abilities become manifest, and incorporates the study of ancient ways and traditions from its inception.  The Hanzo Clan maintains borderline modernity, but mostly sticks to the old ways. Nevertheless the two factions share leadership evenly, with a Grand Marshall chosen from each section.  Each group has a known membership of around 12, as well as an unspecified number of secret agents (assumed to be 2-4).  They are entrusted with defending the council and its interests, and represent possibly one of the most powerful military bodies in the world today.  (think of that army of jedis in that shitty movie)
4.The Scribes of Lao Tzu:  The scribes use their magic for the pursuit of knowledge, and they maintain the histories and ancient spell books of the Council: it is through this painstaking work that the council holds weight with other mages, since much of their own magical knowledge has only been preserved through the work of the scribes.  The scribes originated in ancient china, and they are deeply tradition bound.  They are haughty and distant, and very protective of their work.  They are the most conservative element in the Council.  Their membership is typically around 12.
5.The merchant's guild:  social mages: they have a highly defined social structure and are the largest of the council kabals.  They number 15-16.

Wizards not associated with the council do exist, although they are mostly scattered and independent: they number perhaps half as many again as there are council members (for a total of about 80-90 mages worldwide, ranging from the absolute neonate to grand masters).  Two loose groups have been defined among these other mages:
1.Necromancers:  death mages.  Not necessarily evil, since they are more closely associated with the Abyss than with Hell.  Their numbers are nearly impossible to fathom, but it is very limited: few humans have the strength of will to resist the mind warping effects of the Abyss.  Those that turn to Hell for greater mastery of their power fare little better.
2.The Sons of Aether:  these are the remnants of a technocratic order that split from the technocracy in the 1800s.  They have suffered tremendously at the hands of a vengeful technocracy, but those that have survived (estimated to be in the single digits, probably 5-6) are wily, intelligent, and most likely quite powerful.  They once were famed for their mastery of alchemy and the manufacture of magical items.

The Technocracy:  although it is supposed that the technocracy is a newly developed force, this is strongly contraindicated by evidence that the plane of the weaver is as old as all of the planes.  It is true that the phenomenal rise to power of the technocracy in recent times is a new development, but throughout history their forces have existed. Nevertheless, their organization has increased both in depth and breadth since the industrial revolution.  Although many people in today's world could be seen as agents of the technocracy, only a conspiracy theory would believe that any significant number of people actually are part of this organization: rather, the technocracy represents that unique group that understands the existence of the other planes, of the titanic struggle, and of the goals of the weaver.  Their current organization is roughly as follows:
1.The syndicate: masters of money; most of what we call “economy” today was the doing of the founding members of this group.  Interestingly, the kabal known as the merchant's guild and the syndicate are rumored to have intertwined origins.
2.The New World Order: this group has made significant contributions to modern government.  They are both businessmen and politicians
3.The Nanonomicon:  a new addition to the technocracy, which has orchestrated much of the advancement in computer technology.  They rule the web (a name they are particularly proud of).  It is rumored that some of their members exist purely in the digital world, which they manipulate as easily as clay.  
4.The construct:  seen by some as the grandfather of the nanonomicon, the construct is the entity responsible for mastery of the machine world.  The Sons of Aether schismed from this group, and it is this group that is charged with their destruction.
5.Order of Hippocrates:  Considered the least successful of the technocratic groups, this order is charged with the manipulation of life and biological things. Unfortunately, much of this falls within the realms of other planes, and as such their work has been both difficult and unrewarding (as well as leading to a surprising number of desertions from an organization that prides itself on loyalty)
6.The phalanx:  the military arm of the technocracy.  Technocracy agents are equipped with weapons far beyond the range of what is considered possible.  Their most well known subdivision is the NSA, which has been heavily influenced by the technocracy, and may even be controlled by them.  
7.The Black Widows:  Virtually nothing is known about this order.  It may have been called something different within the past hundred years.  It may have only come into being within that time.  It is a highly secretive order that appears to have originated from the phalanx.  No member of this order has ever been identified.

The Ninja:  the ninja were believed to have disappeared many years ago.  But, of course, this is just as they would have it.  The ninja are a group that traces its roots to the very founding of Japan, where they continue to make their home.  They consider it foolish to maintain records of their actions or history, other than in the most abstract terms, so that no guilt can ever be directly traced back to them.  
The ninja do not have morality in the modern sense: in fact, they appear to value nothing.  They seem to strive to live purely in the moment.  They are also the most fearsome of assassins, having adapted all forms of modern weapons technology into their arsenal, while still maintaining those ancient techniques that they continue to find useful.  The ninja are famed for their secrecy, their physical prowess, and their unbelievable skills of infiltration and stealth.  They are rumored to have ties to the Hanzo Clan of the Council of Wizardry, but this is pure speculation.  Throughout history, nearly every force involved in the current conflict can be shown to have used the ninja at some time.

The Oracles:  In all cultures there have always been those who predict the future.  Although they have never developed a formal organization, similarities across cultures has led the other forces to classify them as a unit.  Much like a chess master, they seem to be able to see the many branching passageways of the labyrinth (as well as some elements of the Abyss) and to intuit the likely path of the future.  They do not have a true allegiance, other than to see that fate takes its course, and they are coveted by all of the sides in the conflict as critical intelligence gathering units in their arsenals.

The harlequins:  the harlequins are even more enigmatic than the ninja.  It is known that they exist almost exclusively within the labyrinth:  some have claimed that a single harlequin will only ever enter the real plane once in their entire existence.  It is believed that they guard the labyrinth and the wiles of fate: it is also believed that they are sworn enemies of the tomb kings, and that they guard a mythical “black library” from them.

The Tomb Kings:  The tomb kings are the most ancient kings of egypt, who mastered ancient magicks to attempt to preserve their might forever into the hereafter.  They seek immortality, not only for themselves, but for their might as well.  Those who speak ill of them claim that they seek to commit all of existence to the Abyss, to which they are confined spiritually if not physically.  They are wise beyond any existing being, having the knowledge of countless generations within them, and always hungry for more.  Current legend states that should a mummy learn ones true name, it is only a matter of time before one becomes their slave.

The Old Ones:  What can be said of the old ones?  Once they ruled the world, had all of reality within their grasp, and sowed their seeds of destruction and agony throughout the galaxy.  But their time waned.  Their power ebbed, for reasons that remain unclear, and their influence shrank.  They retreated further and further towards the poles, battling their inevitable downfall, enraged for countless centuries by some mighty force that none in the modern word understand or know.  It was at the nadir of their power that the Seven Journeyed to the ends of the earth and battled the avatars of all the old ones, casting them in a titanic struggle back to the plane of fire.  It was at this time that the Seven cast the First Veil over the world, to shield it from the forces of the Old Ones.  
Needless to say, both their defeat and their exclusion from reality enraged the Old Ones even further.  It is unclear what the nature of each of them was at their inception, but now they are each and every one an avatar of suffering and destruction, full of power, knowledge.  
1.The Dragon: also called the consumer of worlds, it is the grandfather of many of the mighty beasts of antiquity (such as Nye and The Midgard Serpent, as Well as Fenris).  It is the embodiment of greed and gluttony, the urge to have for no reason but to have.
2.The Swarm:  The swarm is the bringer of disease, of rot and wasting.
3.Khorne.  The blood god: the reaper of souls.  It has countless names, but always it's goal is the same: to slay.  Hate and anger are its forte.  






The storyline:

Jagha was, in ancient times, a little girl who's massive latent psychic powers were unleashed after the destruction of her small nordic town by trolls.  Then she had a different name, which has been lost to the ages.  She was rescued by a group of heroes, travelling from the south on a quest to aid Freyadin, a great scholar and wizard.  On their successful thwarting of a troll invasion, The heroes turned jagha over to Freyadin, to become her mentor and guardian.  At that time he gave her the name Jaga, which in their ancient tongue was a term used to refer to a small bird, with a connotation of helplessness, for she was scared and weak at the time.  Freyadin trained her, despite her traumatic past, to become a great listener like he, to “see with eyes unclouded”, and to harness and control the mighty energies she could summon.  This training allowed her to repay her debt to the heroes during the great battle against remnants of the old ones servants seeking to establish themselves in Greece.  Having demonstrated her prowess, Freyadin dubbed her Jagha, the addition of the “h” being in their language a sign of respect and deference for a powerful warrior.  
Jagha studied with Freyadin for many years, but she was not like him: she wished to travel and change the world, like the heroes.  Her story could fill many books, but she grew wiser and more powerful through the years, to the point where she was a key orchestrator of the second veil (and a good friend of Jesus).  When she saw what the technocratic and papal authors of the veil intended after the veil fell, she became furious and spurned them, leaving the world of men and cursing humanity for its foolishness.  
In the last two thousand years Jagha has sought to understand the struggle between the planes, as well as the goals of the creatures which inhabit them.  She has striven to understand the old ones in particular, although these beings still fill her with dread.  She has also attempted to understand each of the agencies of the different planes, a task at which she has had considerable success.  
Jagha was aware of the laying of the third veil, and it took significant ingenuity on her part to maintain her powers.  Nevertheless, the last hundred years have been focused on understanding the current turn of events.  The technocracy's veil was their most secret project, hidden even from Jagha's prying eyes.  She has since discerned that the technocracy is behind the scheme, but she is not clear on how they were able to create the veil.  She has studied the veil as well as is possible (since “veil” is really only a metaphor for the construct), and has discerned that it is flawed...she was not certain about the extent of this damage until humans began manifesting strange powers all over the world some time around the turn of the century.  Once she realized the threat of the third veil, and the fact that something terrible must have occurred as a result of its creation, she formulated the plan that she would attempt to unite the human heroes of the world for what she sees as a struggle between earth and the planes.  Her plan was interrupted by the world wars, in which she took a much more direct intervention than she is used to (personally dispatching Hitler and leaving nothing but a charred corpse).  Following the war she began to study and research the development of the new heroes.  Unfortunately, she found that not only were heroes few and far between, but many of them were self serving and totally unsuited to her mission of uniting the heroes of the world.  Thus, her next plan was to trace the bloodlines of the Seven, as well as the four heroes with whom she had fought, since she was convinced that they would necessarily channel these new energies.  
The bloodlines of the four heroes crossed numerous times: some ended, some intertwined, but interestingly enough, only one line, into which all four had been woven, existed through to the present day in the form of the DuValle family.  The DuValle's were in and of themselves an ancient bloodline, tracing their origins to france as far back as the middle ages and before.  They had moved to the US in the seventeen hundreds as a well respected business family, but throughout the years, they had been obsessively studying the occult.  It became the family's obsession, with numerous members of the family manifesting an unusual array of psychic powers.  Alexander DuValle, however, a genius of extraordinary proportions, was the greatest occult scholar of this illustrious family.  Alexander's first three (or four) children were by his first wife, who died, possibly of grief, after her son was kidnapped.  d (Jagha has traced Gabe's character to Japan, where he was rescued by his mysterious kidnappers by a group of Buddhist monks who gave the child to foster parents and cared for him well).  Shortly thereafter he took a second wife.  Wishing for a son, the couple attempted to conceive again, but to no avail.  Given their knowledge of the occult, his wife called on Baba Yaga (Jagha) to grant her her wish of a son.  At the time, Jagha had not yet made the connection, and she requested that the woman, who's bloodline traced back to King Arthur, and through him to one of the Seven, that she give Jagha an ancient book she had inherited, a portion of the necronomicon (unknown to the woman).  She conceived, and when her daughter was born, Jagha requested the book: but it also had been stolen.  Jagha stated that unless she was compensated, she would take the child, so Alexander gave her the key to their ancient family tomb, and told Jagha that once he found the tomb, she could take whatever she wished of its contents.  Shortly thereafter, Alexander died under mysterious circumstances. 
The characters will be summoned by Baba Yaga to a reading of his will: she intends to offer them a trade there: they will help her find the book, and she will help them find the tomb.  Her true goal, however, is to test the characters, to train them, and to make allies of them: she believes that the descendants of her ancient allies can help her find, train, and protect the descendants of the seven, whom she believes can unite the world's heroes and potentially even reconstruct the veils.
Jagha's goals:
1.find the descendants of the seven and protect and train them
2.find the items of man: those items created by power not loyal exclusively to one of the planes.  Jagha does not trust anything loyal exclusively to one of the planes, but she knows that her warriors will need weapons to battle the forces of the planes.  
1.Some of the items that are legit:
1.Excalibur
2.Achilles' armor
3.the golden fleece
4.thor's hammer
5.the sword of tsutsugamushi
6.siegfried's hat
7.
2.The items she seeks specifically currently are:
1.achilles' armor
2.the sword of tsutsugamushi
3.the golden fleece
3.when Jagha discovers that the youngest daughter of Alexander, Guinevere, is the direct descendant of King Arthur, she will become determined to guard her carefully: this will be revealed when the characters find excalibur in the family tomb (which leads to an underground lake where the sword is guarded by the lady of the lake: she will jam the sword into a stone: only the little girl will be able to remove it.

The tomb is in Lyon.  But how will the characters undertake their search?

The monster that attacks them at the will reading: who sent it?

The monster will have been sent by a member of the Dark Lords of the Tower, a recently created group of mages (a few hundred years ago) which includes among its members several of the members of the council of wizardry.  Their center is the Tower of Madness, which is the tower of babel (which was moved stone by stone to northern siberia centuries ago).  The Dark Lords believe that they can return the rule of magic to the world by rending a hole in the current veil (since the council of wizardry has a fairly good understanding of what has happened with the veils) and allowing their powers to return to full strength.  They have committed themselves to uncovering all of the most ancient and most powerful spells throughout history, to increase their armamentarium once their plan succeeds.  They have also robbed a number of Scribe (of Lao Tzu) archives in order to aquire ancient spell books, and have therefore eliminated any possibility of an alliance with the council.  
The Dark Lord who is responsible for the attack is  Count Friedrich Von Recklinghausen.  He has used potions to extend his life, which began sometime in the middle ages (many mages have extended their lives).  He is a member of the druid order while in his council guise, and so far his dual life has gone undiscovered.  
It was Recklinghausen who stole the book from Marie DuValle's library, having discerned that it contained potentially potent passages.  It took him some time to uncover its secrets...he was more concerned with the contents of the DuValle family tomb, and had one of his servants steal the book as an afterthought.  Only recently has he discovered that it is truly a passage from the Necronomicon, and he is now twice as determined to uncover the key to the tomb.  Recklinghausen has discovered the location of the tomb, and now desires the key: the magical seals on the tomb are beyond even his considerable magical might, and he does not wish to call on the help of his colleagues out of jealousy.  
The monster will not reveal the identity of its master, although the characters can try to get clever to discover his identity.  Recklinghausen was not responsible for Alexander DuValle's death: A.D. Was killed by the strain of attempting to summon the long dead spirit of a recently identified family retainer who might have given him a clue as to the location of the tomb.  However, the strain was vastly increased by tampering with his ritual by Recklinghausen.
If the characters investigate their father's work, they will discover A list of four texts which he believes hold the key to the tomb's location.  Three will be circled, one will be crossed out: further study will reveal that it was to obtain the information contained within this book that he attempted to summon the scribe/retainer of his 16th century family:
1.The Book of the Ancient Sepulchre:  This text is in the possession of the Librarian Alan De Risse in London.  It contains lists of the locations of many ancient and lost tombs and a discussion of each.  It is a book that was banned by the inquisition in the 13 hundreds because of its use by necromancers especially and many other forces as well.  Only three known copies exist, one of which is lost, one of which is in the vatican (essentially inaccessible), and one of which is currently on loan to De Risse from the office of the Grand Marshall Longinus.  The book will reveal the location of the tomb to be in the vicinity of lyon.
2.The Laymane's guyde to toumnes: a book written by the common “guy vasquez”, this was a book for pilgrims which details some of the characteristics of various tombs for pilgrims traveling to the holy land.  In it, the DuValle Tomb is described as “lying along the Olde Kotone Roade betwixt the toumb of old father priscus and the Empty Tomb, which a pilgrime shoulde avoid at all coustes”.  A search in any Lyon library will reveal that this road ran east west along the southern border of the city.  This book is in the possession of Corporal Exeter, a phalanx soldier charged with hunting down the necromancers around Paris.  He is a powerful cyborg and his team of three warriors is a veritable army.  The guide has been transcribed into his system and is now being scrutinized for secret information by his nanonomicon staff member.
3.The Journal of Palominus:  Palominus was an architect who's journal was identified written beneath the pages of a 11th century bible.  It is believed that he worked in the 8th to 9th century.  He was a fairly famous architect in Lyon at the time, and it was he who constructed the DuValle Tomb.  In the text, in latin, he describes the entrance of the DuValle tomb as a massive arch of difficult construction, particularly because of the highly irregular location above a cave at the base of the cliff from which murderers were thrown in the old days.  The location of this cliff to the southeast of the city will be identifiable in the city records.  The journal of Palominus is owned by Raphael Mercurius, a merchant's guild mage who makes his home in New York.  He is a famous architecture afficionando and writes for numerous journals.
4.The book that was given up is the Illuminatus: a book of incantations to “unveil that which is hidden”.  Although the arch will be visible once the characters find it, the lock and the doorway is protected by a reasonably powerful incantation: although this book contains few spells that are actually useful, the copy that DuValle sought was the one that belongs to a Count Von Recklinghausen. DuValle crossed the book out noting “although I have contacted this person, he denies possession of the book, saying that it was lost by his great-grandfather.  All further traces of this book, as well as of this man, have disappeared as if under my very nose”.  Within the book's front cover is written a note to a DuValle family member which reveals the password to the tomb: it is “Ave atque Vale”.



See handwritten notes regarding what will happen should the characters pursue the page first.

Who are the saviors of Man?  Clearly, Guinevere is one of them, but who are the rest?  They are in part descendants of the original seven, but some are “new blood” as well:
1.)Lady Guinevere: the “general” a master leader, statesman, general, and warrior. She is currently six years old, but will be sixteen to seventeen before her skills are required.  She is descended through king arthur from Herakles.
2.)The Gamemaster.  Currently about twelve, this boy, named Ender, is a master strategist, mathematician, and logistician.  He is descended from Confucius.
3.)Phoenix: only included for completeness: phoenix was a descendant of Thor who destroyed himself and the city of Phoenix Arizona when his powers first manifested.  
4.)Raven: descended from Raven, his name in the bird tongue is not pronounceable in a human language.
5.)Shiva:  the woman who wears the armor matching Senju's.  She was severely injured in her fight with a powerful black widow agent.  She is currently in containment at a black widow facility, although any attempts to make contact with her (physically or mentally) have resulted in a significant rebuff by the armor.  She is destined to wield the three swords of tsutsugamushi: “hydra-slayer” “feather-light” and “the sword of infinite sadness”.  She is trapped in a cave which was sealed off using a device which manipulates the veil: in short, she is trapped within the labyrinth.  This course of action was chosen by the black widows following a three day battle between her and their most powerful agent The Wolf Spider.  He was so badly injured in the battle that he has never fully recovered, even with cybernetic reconstruction.  He is currently in cryostasis.
6.)Dzain T'chai, the hunter, the changer of the ways:  The escaped werewolf once controlled by the Count von Carstein. His mutant powers gave him incredibly strong will, but it was the action of Khaine, the god of vengeance, that freed him and made him the champion of the world that he is.  The god of vengeance was once the angel of forgiveness, but the demons of hell conspired to have the other angels turn him out: as a result, he became the god of vengeance.  The god of vengeance was prophesied to gain an avatar in the final days, a creature of great power who was the last of his people.  Khaine realized that this was Dzain, the last of the werewolves, slave creatures throughout eternity of the vampire clans.  But when he offered Dzain the opportunity to become free and avenge the wrongs of his people, Dzain, for reasons unclear to anyone, refused, stating that he did not wish to take this role: this demonstration of the freedom of choice caused Khaine to realize that he too had a choice, and he reverted back to the angel of forgiveness, returning to the outer planes.  Dzain thereby became the changer of the ways, freed from his bondage.  The chase by the agents of the vampire have led to all the deaths, although their hunt is totally futile: the changer cannot be found if he doesn't wish to be.  (scrounge may be an exception).
7.)Salome: the dancer: the daughter of a black spiral dancer and a harlequin.  She is the master of beguilement and persuasion.  She is currently enslaved in russia to a crime lord.
8.)Deep Master:  The AI defeated by the Gamemaster, he has since become deeply self aware and has gained a great deal of loyalty to Ender.  It is planning to “escape” in order to serve and aid the boy, as well as to learn from him.  Deep master is the organizational and general planning mastermind (while ender is the strategist/battle planner).
9.)

PLOT UPDATE 16/9/04
The characters have met the dragon and the kingsnake, although they are mistaken about their identities.  They are planning to go after the dragon.  This plan must necessarily fail unless they have the gamemaster to give them the final angle on their plan, no matter how clever their plan of attack: this is because Raga is the most dangerous strategist that hell has ever produced; even Baba Yaga could not outwit him.
Important upcoming events:
1.)the ninja that the Kingsnake has hired will arrive.  The characters will be informed by the four virtues that the kingsnake is expecting a big shipment.  They will also be told by the kingsnake that his intelligence suggests that the Dragon is temporarily away (based on his defensive troop movements).  Where to, nobody knows.
2.)If the characters try and succeed in tracking the dragon somehow, they will probably be led astray, though they will find him eventually.  He will be in the death valley, checking out a number of smuggled ancient statues.  He will leave frustrated, a fight will ensue, and a slaughter.  If they engage him at this point, they will be caught in a trap.  The meeting will be at the entrance of a mine shaft, and if the characters attack, he will flee into the mine: on approaching the mine, a number of explosives will go off, doing lots of damage, there will be a landslide, and whoever pursues the dragon into the mine will get to deal with him and his “chosen” as well as his lieutenants.  The characters will be captured.  Raga will not kill them for a number of reasons: he wants to know who they work for, he will discover senju's armor and will realize that he represents his only chance of finding the true statue, and thus destroying all three armors.  He is aware of the prophecy that only the incarnation of Shiva can be his end, and he realizes senju is not it. Third, once he finds out who they are working for he will offer to trade them to Jagha for the spell of Brotherhood, which will cause senju to become a beacon guiding Raga to the other two armors.  The characters will then have to rescue Senju and all that good stuff
3.)If the characters get the Gamemaster, for which they will have to find and defeat the scholar's agents, which are complex androids.  Astroth will be crucial to this plan, and it will also play into his background.  The characters ought to be able to find him in 2/3 of a game session.
4.)The characters will need the Gamemaster to defeat raga, as mentioned above. Once they have him, whatever plan they think up, assuming it is fully realized, will have a chance of succeeding.  This ambush will revolve around the large shipment being made to the kingsnake, which are the ninja.  This will result in a massive three way cluster fuck, with Ninjas and the kingsnake vs. the characters vs. Raga and his most trusted goons.  Good fun and lots of fighting for everybody.
5.)If the characters go straight for the shipment, they will arrive at the site of an ambush, set also by the dragon.  It will go badly for the characters, though this option will probably not result in their capture.  Justicar's team may intercede.
6.)If the characters seek council, everyone will advise them not to go straight for the Dragon.


UPDATE: 9/18/04

The overarching story:
Baba Yaga has sent the characters to recover the nine champions who will unite and lead the heroes of the world in the fight against the planes.  She also will need them to find the items of power that will allow the heroes to be properly armed in their fight.  The villains so far:
Count Von Recklinghausen and the lords of the dark tower: primarily interested in the things of power, Recklinghausen's report of powerful beings will cause the lords to begin to prepare for the final battle.  
The Dragon: Raga in mortal disguise, having been trapped in the mortal plane for thousands of years.  He seeks to establish himself for the time when the veil is broken, for it has been prophesied that only the three armors can stop him: he knows that if he destroys one more statue, he will be safe, and effectively invincible.
The Kingsnake: a foil for now...a crime lord the characters will need to overthrow in order to free LA.  He will return thereafter to the brotherhood of Yao Tzu, who may become villains later on.  For now, he is bringing in Ninjas to attack Raga.

These are the villains the characters have faced so far.  But what is going on in the world.
The main advantage the heroes have is that the beings of the planes are unaware of the extent of the might of heroes, and they do not know that there is an effort to organize them.  Thus, there is no concerted effort to stop them, only disparate plots that involve various members of the champions and the items.  Once the characters have, say, six or seven of the heroes, the planes will begin to figure things out, and things will get a little tougher.   So for now, there are many threads that will not weave together for a while.
Important plot lines:
Dzain: he continues to flee...the characters can chase him, or try to find him by some other means.  Once they turn to his side (hopefully they won't kill him, although this is unlikely), they will make enemies of the vampire clans, and they can go on a quest to eliminate them.
The gamemaster: the scholar has taken him to his secret realm within the plane of the weaver.  Astroth will be able to track this area because he is intrinsically connected to it, since the scholar made him as he is today.  The entrance can be created with a magical ritual that astroth will be able to describe, but Germanicus will need to perform.  Once within this realm, Astroth will have a few flashbacks, and will also gain a sense of why he has become what he is.  The realm is protected by a single Orderly, a creature half a product of the realm, and half the creation of the scholar.  In that place, the orderly is the equivalent of a demon prince and can defeat basically anyone.  However, he will not seek to hurt the characters, only to stop their progress.  The dharma eye will cause him to go into a short circuit that will incapacitate him without attention from the scholar.  Creative solutions will also be permitted.  Once past him, they will come to the lab, a University of washington sized complex in which the Scholar does his experiments.  They will find him in a surgery ward, with the boy laid out.  Again, Astroth will have flashbacks.  On confrontation the Scholar will yield to them, but when he realizes who astroth is, he will beseech him to fulfill his mission, at which point astroth's psyche will go into freakout mode, escape into the complex, and reform itself into a form that it will not be able to leave until...hmmm...until.  Well, first off, upon returning home, he will discover his box smoking and no longer functional.  The characters can try to con the Scholar in helping in the construction of a new one,  or they can try to figure it out themselves.  The “magics” used to construct the box are basically an expression of Astroth's subconscious, but trapped in the form of the plane of the weaver, which is a powerful fixative agent, so to speak, this will not be able to express itself without aid from the realm of chaos.  The characters can get a spell of soul freeing, so to speak, from the dark lords or from very powerful mages, but this will be a whole other adventure.
Once they have the gamemaster, beating Raga, at least enough to get the sword from him, will work out just fine.
“Hydra-blood”: taken by the Destroyer, a newly formed super-villain.  He wishes to carve out a crime empire, and has begun recruiting.  He will soon start ravaging the New York area.  
“Featherlight”: is in the hands of “the Collector”, another son of aether.  The characters will hear about him from the Scholar, but how?  Ah yes, they will find a file from the Collector to the Scholar, asking for any additional information on a sword whose picture will be shown, mentioned to be constructed by tsutsugamushi.
Wu-untisi:  the powerful nature spirit who has imbued Andrew with his powers: the dark have driven the technocracy to begin logging and “decontaminating” the area containing his resting place where he was trapped by a treacherous dark mage.  The characters will have to come to real grips with the technocracy to free the cave: rescuing the spirit's resting place will be difficult, but doable with the proper research and creativity.

UPDATE: 9/22/04
The characters have successfully rescued the Gamemaster, and are now poised to defeat the kingsnake and the Dragon in an epic battle that will temporarily at least decrease the burden on LA.  The showdown will be between The Kingsnake and his ten ninja, as well as a few dozen foot soldiers, vs. the Dragon's twenty lieutenants and five chosen, vs. the characters.  This battle will take a long time, and should probably occur a week (or whenever I run again) from this next session, which will be short.  This next session should be devoted to planning, fleshing out the setup, and dealing with character development.

Important history:  Deep master is already deeply loyal to the Gamemaster because he showed the AI fairness and allowed him to awaken to true consciousness: as such, he sees Ender as his true creator, and adores him to near worship (something which ender will do his best to prevent, succeeding only in time to avoid Deep Master's fall into the clutches of the enemy).  Deep master will need to be taught by Astroth, for astroth possesses the Nanonomicon's ultimate and most secret power: the ability to convert knowledge into matter.  Yet Astroth is limited by his own knowledge, while Deep Master is part of the Nanonomicon, able to access it in its entirety, and if given Astroth's abilities, will be able to turn the technocracy's newest and possibly most powerful weapon against them.  

The gamemaster's function is purely to “turn the tide”: his presence in the party will mean that the plan the characters think out, assuming they work hard at it, will succeed.  In fact, I may hand them the gamemaster's character sheet once they've gotten him to help them, and allow them to do all the planning, and to use his special abilities to their advantage.  I will NOT devise a plan for them.

The characters should succeed in defeating the lieutenants, the chosen, and the ninja.  They will not be able to beat the kingsnake and the dragon, though I assume they will attempt it when the two try to escape, what they can see is a great bungling: the result is that at the end of their victory the characters will get their asses kicked.  Royally.
But how will the characters figure out what is going down when?  They will get a bit of information from the virtues...they will be given a false location by the kingsnake, but senju will get a vision that will make him certain that the location is incorrect.  The characters can go to a few sources for information on the correct location:
1.)The virtues: they will let them know that gangers are avoiding a certain area, although it will still be a large enough area to make the location unclear.
2.)The old man of the sea will tell them that it will happen where it all begun: careful research will reveal that the kingsnake's first major port was dock x.
3.)creativity :)

The setup is a large dock area with containers, adjacent to an open front warehouse full of lots of passageways.  

10/26/04
The characters have successfully defeated the kingsnake and the dragon, playing both ends against the middle.  The kingsnake's car is damaged but moving off at a very rapid pace, while the dragon is making his escape on foot.  The characters have a few choices, with certain consequences:
Pursuing the kingsnake will be hard, since his drivers are hightailing out of there, with lights off (IR will be less useful at distance), swerving, high speed, etc.  They will take a backroad to an agreed upon location where the kingsnake will be picked up via helicopter.  Pursuit may be possible, although the only one fast enough is stephanie.  If she splits off and is clever, she may be able to catch the car, although I will try my damnedest to prevent the kingsnake from getting plugged at this point.  
Pursuing the dragon will also be difficult.  He has leaping, he has find weakness, and his armor makes him virtually indestructible.  With the sword gone, he will try to make his escape, but if Senju separates from the group, or if he can break up the group he will return to the offensive.  He still needs senju to find the statue and the last armor, so he will not kill senju, but he will try to get the sword back if the characters give him a chance.
The characters can split up to get both of them, but the dragon will use this to his full advantage.  If the characters fuck up the post battle, it is their own fault: they were given their mission by the gamemaster, and if they do not adhere to his gameplan, the second best strategist on the field is the Dragon, who will make them pay...
If the characters stick to the sword and hightail it for safety, all will be well.  Except Senju...
Again, since the Gamemaster gave explicit instructions about using the sword, violating those instructions will have its consequences.  But what sort?  When the sword strikes the ground, a shower of sparks will leap up and strike Senju's chakras, and he will fall temporarily unconscious.  In this dream state, he will have a vision of the real senju, who will question and chastise him for his naivete in presuming that “the end justifies the means”: the sword, he will inform senju, is a powerful force, raw, and the warning from the “great one” was clear.  He will state that since the sword can be wielded and even found only by one who has suffered greatly, Senju's wielding of the sword is a grave trespass against the sword.  The sword will seek to restore the balance by sending Senju enough evil to where he can legitimately use the weapon.  Furthermore, each time he wields the sword, it will try to bring this about.  If Senju is foolish enough after this to use the sword, it will carry with it 6-10D6 of unluck, resulting in the sword striking various innocent bystanders, teammates, etc.  this will be very bad.  As long as the sword stays in the sheath, Senju will state, he can protect his warrior from its curse, but he is now the bearer of the sword and cannot release it until it's final bearer, the one that can break the curse, is found, and lays the suffering spirit of the blade to rest.  He will say that already the sword has released a great, screeching cry into the ether, sending evil winds towards senju.  The in game effect of this is that the Black Widows will track down senju's parents, who they will interrogate and kill.  They will partially ransack the temple as well, but they are unaware of the importance of the statues, and will thus not steal/harm it or the priests.    The sword of infinite sadness is not called such lightly...
Senju will find out about this consequence at the worst possible opportunity.
In his vision, Senju will also be told by his patron god that only one path remains to  his last warrior, who has been trapped in a great web: a web so treacherous that none can decipher it.  Thus, the only way to this warrior is by creating a path.  He will say that this could be done through the enlightenment of great knowledge, or senju must seek the changer of the ways.
With that, Senju will awaken.  What he does next will be up to him.  Going after the dragon will be a mistake, and will probably result in the dragon reclaiming the sword.  After all of this, the characters will be free to pursue whichever path they wish.

Possibilities: Recklinghausen, since the book has been deciphered, although I won't let the characters go down this road until Dieter is back in it.  
The Destroyer in NY: this is the guy who has Hydra-Blood.  This will be a major conflict, with a lot of damage done to both sides, and to the city of NY.
The collector.  Ender will have a piece of paper depicting a samurai sword and questions to the scholar regarding it's identity: this is featherlight, and it will send the characters searching for this third sword.  Where and what the collector is I haven't determined
The changer of the ways.  This will have to do with the note left at the residence, and the violence in Montana.  This will be basically a dungeon crawl, with lots of brutal fights.  

Other points:
I've come up with a good number of heroes so far...nine will lead humanity in the end.  Yet I think it would be good to come up with more, say, twelve, so that a few are disposable.  This way, the characters can fail a couple of times and not completely fuck the story.  If they succeed more often, great, they'll have some extra lieutenants.  The heroes already chosen will be the definite ones, the ones the characters HAVE to succeed with.  But in the meantime, a few can be interchangeable.  
Second, there should be some characters/groups that are like the characters: support to the heroes, but not the leaders themselves.  Some of these can be converted planar agents:
the ninja
belladolce, the last succubus
etc...

The Changer of the Ways:
This champion is a werewolf, a creature born from a family of lycanthropes and subsequently bitten, but not killed, by a werewolf.  Needless to say, such creatures have always been rare.  They were prized super-soldiers in the wars of the vampire clans: between each other, as well as against other entities, such as the wizards council and the inquisition.  However, because of their rarity and the callousness of their use, they are all but extinct, with Tzain being the only remaining specimen.  He has survived for a number of reasons.  1.) his master, the lord von Carstein, is one of the most cunning of the vampire lords, and has decided to keep this being as an “ace in the hole”.  He also hoped to breed Tzain.  2.) Tzain is cunning himself, as well as an impressive specimen, even for a werewolf.  He is an experienced, intelligent, and talented warrior, closely in touch with his werewolf nature.  3.) Tzain has natural, mortal powers unsuspected by his masters.  These powers have augmented his already considerable skill by giving him a mighty will and some degree of mental powers, which have saved his hide a number of times.  
Regardless, Tzain was freed from the might of his master a few months ago, but being an intelligent soldier, he realized that attempting to escape within his master's realm would be pure folly.  The old country, encompassing vast stretches of the balkans and parts of Russia, are for all intents and purposes entirely within the control of the vampire counts.  Although Tzain realized that he was free, he had no sense of his newfound might, and therefore thought that he would be unable to make a successful escape there, although his powers would be just as effective there.  However, in the current state of affairs, he has actually managed to fool his master into believing what he himself believes.  
The Count left the old country for a number of reasons.  1.) although one of the most cunning, he is not one of the most militarily mighty.  Rumors abound of the Count Dracula raising the Pax Draculensis, the pact that forbade outright warfare between the counts, as the power of the counts begins to wax.  With the entire old country essentially in stalemate, and Manfried von Carstein being the youngest of his illustrious vampire family, he decided to make a bold gambit and move himself entirely to the United States.  He has successfully set up shop in New York, and has acquired considerable wealth and power in the few months he has been there.  Tzain saw his chance and escaped, upon which point the count sent a letter to an occult scholar named duValle that he knew...
This escape has deeply angered the count and he has sent out a veritable armada of demonic creatures to hunt down the escapee.  All vampire counts have tremendous armies at their disposal, and Manfried is no exception.  In pursuit of Tzain is a pack of eight hellhounds, a shadow fiend, As'glirgiath'nh'thalaen the hunter, a Walker of the Deep, as well as hordes of spies in animal and spirit form.  The hellhounds are responsible for all of the gory violence in Montana, which is to where they initially tracked Tzain before his powers fully blossomed (they are phenomenal trackers, and it took a while for the true powers of the changer of the ways to come into effect).  
When the characters travel to this area, they can investigate the murders.  All of these will appear to be done by large, ferocious animals, with signs of consumption, but with damage much more significant than mortal animals can do.  Further investigation will reveal a number of people also recently committed to mental institutions, as well as the reports of sexual/physical abuse of a number of young women.  Creative investigation will also reveal an increased rate of disease, notable SIDS, in a number of affected communities (each of the other vile creatures working for von Carstein have their own appetites, from souls to the pleasures of the flesh).  Travelling through the surrounding areas will reveal strange symbols, cairns, etc.  In the night, there will be no animal noises at all.  Travelling through the woods will result in the characters getting lost (the magic of the changer of the ways), the characters should have to make many perception checks etc, although their enemies are just as lost as they are, so nothing will immediately come of it.  
If the characters investigate isolated settlers, houses, etc, they will find numbers of horrors.  Organs distributed carefully throughout houses, signs of strange rituals...The creatures of von Carstein are subtle, but not always as subtle as one would like.  The attempted feel should be very blair witch project.  At some point, the characters will encounter the hellhounds, which have split into two subpacks. These are cunning beasts set on the destruction of their target.  They are merciless, and will feed on whatever they can get, although They have been instructed to be timid in battle against true opponents, and only to attack in the dark, at full strength.  This is because even four hellhounds would be matched by a single werewolf (and Tzain is a particularly deadly werewolf...).  The characters will encounter a single pack first.  This will be a very ugly combat, with several of the characters getting significantly mauled (I expect...), although when the charactes inflict any significant harm on the hounds, they will retreat.  Hellhounds are both dangerous in combat, and possess powers which instill fear in their target.  
How will the characters begin to piece things together?  This is the challenge.  
Avenues:
1.)Wu'untisi.  His spirit lies in these woods, and Tzain, because of his werewolf nature, is naturally drawn to him.  If Andrew follows his spiritual guide, their paths may eventually cross.  This road will inevitably take the characters into conflict with the technocracy.
2.)Tzain's attack: Tzain is still unaware of his powers, and thinks that his enemies will catch him sooner or later.  He has picked this area to do combat to minimize casualties, and because his innate connection to nature gives him an edge here.  As such he is likely to attempt an ambush at some point.  If the characters get mauled by the hellhounds, he will make his appearance there.  Otherwise, the characters may come upon him engaged in battle at some point.
3.)The note: if the characters can make the connection between the note and the montana events, they may realize that there is a werewolf involved.  
4.)Scrounge: scrounge defies most rules, although the changer of the ways is significantly mightier than scrounge.  What is important is that scrounge will be able to provide the characters with clues to demonstrate that Tzain can actually change the course of things, people, etc.
First off, however, the characters will need to realize that what is afoot is not some wild animal that has been let loose.  Meeting hellhounds should let the characters know that some great evil is afoot...most probably demons.  The presence of  As'glirgiath'nh'thalaen the hunter, which some hidden clues will reveal to dieter, will settle on a vampire count, since this demonically possessed entity (once a mighty warrior) swore his soul and undying service to the vampire counts in return for eternal  life.  Once the characters realize this, the hunt will be on.  It will be up to dieter's character to inform the other characters of the gravity of their enemy: the vampire counts are the equivalent of greater demons, ancient evil powers whose might is not lightly trifled with.  The characters basically have two choices: hunt down the monsters in the forests, or go after the source.  Tracking the source will be difficult: it will likely involve Dieter's contacts, research, etc.  But it is possible.  If the characters take the first route, eventually their enemies will wise up to a new threat, and regroup.  At this point things will start to go sour for the characters, with their capture being fairly likely...the vampire counts never immediately destroy a powerful enemy, since in their haughtiness they always look to turn such a person to their own advantage.  
Although Justicar and company has investigated here, von Carstein is aware of the presence of the rogue count in that area, and has instructed his agents to avoid the seven deadly sins at all costs...The rogue count has done enough damage as is, and von Carstein fears him...(Justicar destroyed the Count Gorsch: thereafter he agreed to a pax with the vampire counts for the period of nine years, as long as they do not leave the old country: naturally, the vampires do all the time, and Justicar knows this, but he leaves the land be for now because he knows that in some way, his fate is tied to it, and he does not yet have the strength to challenge the entire Clan of Dracula.)

Other important storylines:
In new york bad shit will be starting to happen.  The characters will get contacted by the Justicar that they have been pulled off of the violence in Montana to the far East, where there is a strange disturbance of some sort.  They have been unsuccessful in discovering much in Montana.  At the same time, a high powered lab will be robbed in New York.  This is the work of the Destroyer, who is seeking to create a suit of super-powered body armor.  The Destroyer has tremendous offensive abilities and is a master planner, but his body is weak.  He has a team of villains which is very formidable, and includes a mad scientist type who is designing/building the armor for him.  They know that the sword they have stolen is powerful, but they are only beginning to understand how powerful.  They are currently being trailed by the order of tsutsugamushi, the technocracy, and the inquisition, all of whom want the sword.  None of them have been able to find the destroyer and his crew, however, because he has an extra dimensional hideout in the realm of chaos.  

Next session:
-The characters will have to wrap up the battle fiasco.  How they pursue their enemies (if they pursue), is up to them.  Pursuit will mean open and total challenge from the GM, whereas stopping will give the characters peace as well.  
-Senju will have to deal with issues regarding the sword, if he manages to hang onto it.  He must also figure out how to fix his armor (The artificer, another of the last remaining sons of aether, can do this.  He resides in Prague under the protection of the Vampire Counts, for whom he has agreed to make trinkets but no weapons.  Alternatively, one of the high mages of the order of tsutsugamushi can do it.  Finally, senju himself may grant it's repair in a situation of dire need...of course, if the characters come up with another solution, they are welcome to do that as well)
-The news
	a.) gang violence will take a sudden, steep drop
	b.) more deaths in montana
c.)break in at a major lab in NY
d.)several street youths missing in NY
	e.) Major wars between crime lords in Eastern Russia
	f.) Archeological expedition in northern siberia disappears
	g.) 4 government websites shut down due to hacker attack
	h.) major logging plans approved in eastern Montana

-Andrew duValle was able to channel the spirit of Wu'untisi because of his innate powers: Wu'untisi chose him because he sensed in him a great deal of might.  But Wu'untisi has only granted him abilities which are based on his own powers...beneath it all, Andrew has his own unique set of superpowers, which lie dormant at this point.    A fun way to do this might be to have each of the characters make an alternate character on 350 points (plus powers assigned by yours truly), just so that for whichever character I need, this can be their underlying ability set.  However, this has problems too, since I have specific visions of what each character's underlying abilities are...at least in astroth's case.  But in keeping with the independence of heroes from the influences of other things...well, Andrew is powered by a nature spirit, which is a guardian of the earth, so that already works out.  Astroth's underlying skill set is the creation of reality/matter from knowledge...he would be one of the nine, except that his body and mind were not up to the challenge of his abilities...any chance to realize them fully were ruined by the shortsightedness of the scholar.  Senju...was blessed with the armor, but I think he will have an underlying power set that made the armor choose him...both he and Andrew are open for “re-interpretation” if it will serve the story.  In fact, if one of these characters gets killed, they may be revived by their “true” power set...Only stephanie and Germanicus derive their abilities from themselves, really.  Stephanie's development will come from the change the metal is working in her body...her dependence on the solution lessens as it takes a firmer hold in her body.  This could lead to density increase, but also to some element of dehumanizing of the character...Germanicus must battle with his lust for knowledge.  When dieter plays, he can try to convince the group to go after the page, which will be gin his storyline.


UPDATE 11/11/04
The characters have unearthed clues regarding the changer of the ways, turned onto this path by Senju's dream.  Germanicus has found evidence of the power of the changer, and clues that suggest that he may be a werewolf.  He has also received letters from Mannfried regarding the escaped magical animal.  When he gets the documents, careful investigation will reveal that the animal is clearly not a cat of any sort, but something much larger and more dangerous.  The violence in Montana will get more severe.  Matt has also decided to visit his cave, which will be almost impossible, since that area is under the spell of the changer.  The changer of the ways needs a character sheet.  He is both a fearsome warrior and possessed of powerful other powers (extra dimensional travel, other, difficult to describe powers...)
The spell in the documents will be the spell of Usuf, a spell for binding relatively dangerous animals.  Good investigation will reveal that this spell, however, is a bastardization of the spell “the 3rd binding of Dracul” (the first was the spell that bound the vampire counts to one another, something even Dieter will not know, while the second bound the wraiths to the vampire counts).  This spell was used to bind the werewolves to the will of the vampire counts, and enslave that race.  Investigation will also reveal that the ritual is recorded with meticulous precision, better than any known copy.  This should lead the characters to the conclusion that the spell was performed correctly.  Investigating the power of such spells should reveal that breaking them is nearly impossible (short of divine/demonic intervention), requiring intervention from the most powerful of wizards, and even then commonly resulting in the death of the oathbound.  
If Senju tries to go to Japan, he will be advised by a dream against such action, again admonished by Senju, for going to his doom, and placing his filial piety above piety to the needs of the world.  He will also tell him that under no circumstances should he draw the sword.  The sword will try to “escape”, urging Senju to draw it in the guise of Senju the god, or falling out of the sheath, or whatever.
Andrew will become very brooding if the characters head to montana, and will begin having visions of battles against hordes of demonic creatures, of suffering, wounds, flight, loss, and betrayal.  In the montana area, he will develop, spontaneously, an area knowledge of 17-, not applicable to some urban areas (Wu'untisi has sensed changes to the land, but not all of them...for instance, sewers would be navigable, but he would not know where a gas station would be, for instance, or which road leads to which town.)
As an aside, Wu'untisi is worshiped as a totem by the werewolf race: he is the hunter and the avenger, the avatar of righteous wrath.  As such, werewolves have a mixed relationship to this totem, since it is both what they aspire to, but also a symbol of their own failure.  The werewolf race formed from the mightiest of shamans in the first age, who became consumed with the wrath of Gaea with the coming of the old ones.  However, their rage ran out of control, so that they lost the ability to control their transformation and became rabid hunters.  They fought hard against the old ones, often slaying many of their minions, but at the end of the first age, they became shunned by the world because of their dangerous nature (only Freyadin was ever able to commune with them, and he prophesied the arrival of the changer of the ways).  When the vampire counts rose in the second age, they saw the power of these creatures and, through treachery, politics, and seductive promises, drew the werewolves into the third binding.  Since then, they have been nothing more than shock troops, with their bloodthirsty nature promoted by the counts.  Few of them are more than feral and violent animals, although their leaders are often shamans themselves and maintain the history and thought of their people.  Tzain was one of these.  The counts tolerated this because these leaders made the werewolves much more dangerous fighting forces.  
Werewolves assume their Crinos form anytime there is a moon in the sky (not during the new moon).  On the full moon, they automatically transform and engage in the “wild hunt”, during which they must feast on raw flesh: the transformation and the bloodlust remains until they have killed (a fact used to great advantage by the counts, such as the new moon assault of 1013). During the day, they are humans or wolves, depending on whether they are in the wild or among humans.  They are always somewhat odd.
Back to Wu'untisi: the werewolves revere him because he represents their highest ideal, but he is also a symbol of shame.  Tzain has subconsciously sought him, because the prophecy of Freyadin states that when a werewolf receives the pardon of Wu'untisi, the way shall be changed, past crimes forgiven, and the werewolf will rise to take his place among the great warriors.  The characters can discover this prophecy if they search hard enough.
Stephanie will notice that she is gaining weight.   I can't think of anything else important happening with her character: this is her slowly assimilating the metal solution into her body.  This will eventually increase her vulnerability to magnetism, as well as to mental powers, but will eventually give her density increase.  
THE NEW GUY:
If he shows up tonight: he will also be playing one of the lieutenants of the heroes, as mentioned above.  Basically, this can be anything.  He will also be recruited by Baba Yaga, barring a better way to bring him in.  what are possible ideas????
The character should have streetwise, navigation, or occult skills.  The shapechanger made by Jason may work well.  I don't have as specific idea of what the character should be after all...he just needs to compliment the group and fit into the story.  Depending on what Nathan wants, this can be tailored.

Update 12/10/04
So, what next?  Two new potential players.  First off, I will have to get them into the story:
1.)the old man of the sea
2.)Wu'untisi
3.)baba yaga
but where will the story go from here.  The characters have gotten very lost and are rather disgruntled about it.  They have also encountered some of the demons...the shadow fiend may very well start chasing stephanie and fuck her up at some point.  As for the fact that I now have six 350 pt. Characters on my hands...it's time to throw down some real shit.  The shadow fiend is already fairly nasty.  The walker of the deep will be able to summon a number of nasty fiends.  It will also have darkness and area affect suppress and entangle.  The hunter is just going to be fuck off nasty.  
But how can the characters find the cave?  The answer is, they really can't.  If they get lost, they will run into both the hunter and the changer, who will advise them to abandon their quest.  The hunter will discuss with them the issue of getting lost all the time.  If he realizes they defeated the hellhounds, he will plan an ambush for them.  Regardless of what happens, the characters will end up facing off against some more demonic minions or against Tzain...in either case things will not be in their favor.  If they fight the demons, they will get help from Tzain at some point, which may be their in to make contact with him.
Since the characters seem intent on focusing on the changer, and not on the catastrophes around them, how can I clue them in?  What is the point anyways?  Well, the characters are supposed to find Tzain and get him on their side.  But first they have to realize a.) that he isn't a monster (which Dieter's character will argue for) b.) that he is on their side and c.) that he is one of the nine.  Furthermore, they will have to dispatch the people following him.  
So, what is the “adventure”:
1.)the characters must fight against very powerful minions of a vampire count
2.)they must face some of their worst fears, since this is what a shadow fiend induces
3.)they are discovering matt's backstory
4.)they are recruiting the changer
5.)They are entering in on a battle with the technocracy, since they plan to log this whole area, once it is cleared out.

As far as matt's backstory, he will begin wandering off, and getting himself into trouble: he will find the old man of the sea should he do this though.  The changer sees them as a threat, because he does not know them.  He will warn them off, but should they get too close to the cave, he will throw down.  On the other hand, should they get in a fight with the demons he will help them.  The shadow fiend will begin stalking stephanie, which will begin to wig her out...he will attack her if no battle is imminent.  At some point, it is likely the characters will get into a throwdown with the demons, who should clean their clocks...

Update 050106

So...last time the characters had a couple major plot events occur:
1.)they ran into the old man, though I screwed this up somewhat...their next encounter should be more meaningful.  Also, who really is this guy?  An ancient being similar to jagha: not entirely benign, but fundamentally on the side of good...another antihero (basically the way most of Gaia's minions come).  He is even more ancient than Jagha, being a mighty shaman from the days when the old ones ruled the earth. The greatest storyteller of his time, He was granted eternal life by one of the old gods who helped the heroes in their titanic struggle against the old ones in return for guarding and passing on the knowledge of the great struggle of the world against the planes.  Having become very old and cynical, he rarely reveals any information, and has long given up passing on important information. He is the person on whom “homer” is based, since at the time that he began those accounts, he had nearly gone mad and tried to claw out his own eyes, when the last of his line died.  The story of the first age has been compiled by the old man into the “song of lynea”.  The only living being who has heard him sing it is Jagha.  It was jagha who returned the old man to sanity through careful care and her faith in the goodness of man: it was she who begged his aid in the battle against the dark lords in the Greek Dark Ages, and the old man's wisdom and power was one of the greatest weapons that the heroes of that time had to aid them.  The old man feels greatly indebted to Jagha, though he will never reveal this to the characters.  
2.)The two new characters.  Nate's is fairly straight forward, though I would like to complicate his involvement a little bit.  This will probably occur as the issue with the collector comes up, and in the war with the technocracy.  While he is knocked the fuck out, he will have a vision of his “mother”, the nature spirit descended from Wu'untisi who preserved him and healed his wounds when he fell in Matt's time. She will advise him that his brother must lead the pack, through brush and wood, through all the paths, so that the last wolf might run with them.  The characters will have to get fairly creative to actually get to the artificer, though they can reach him on the phone.  His vision will now be left out, because Nate has Strep Throat.  As such a vision will be had by another character...lets say stephanie, since she never has visions...in fact, maybe steph should start developing powers as an oracle of the plane of the weaver to some extent...she can be sort of black widowish.  This will explain her new shock powers, etc.  Her visions will be unleashed by her recent proximity to the gamemaster, who sort of inspires brilliance...maybe...Naturally her  technocratic side must be tempered.  She will have a vision in which it will look like huge amounts of data and information shooting by her vision, like in 5th element when Milla is learning all that shit, focusing on a passage in the liber vitae aeternitatis which, of course, she will be unable to read. The Page in question will contain information about the wild hunt, and it's origin.  Ritualized in werewolf society, the wild hunt is called by a prayer to the great hunter wu'untisi...
3.)The second character.  So far the only one not connected by blood to the other characters.  Yet his connection will be there...somehow :).  The library he currently guards is known in occult circles as the Forbidden Chamber.  Jagha established it long ago, but has moved it repeatedly to keep it safe from the many who seek to possess it.  She claimed it from the Necromancer Bal'hajjar in an apocalyptic battle. The Forbidden Chamber was created by the tomb kings but stolen from them by the vampire count Gunther Siegreich, also known as the Spider in the Night.  To date, they are not aware of the thief, but have sworn their most bitter curses on the one who took knowledge from them.  The Forbidden Chamber contains dark magic woven together from dark artifacts from the first age: The tomb kings, seeking to escape death, succeeded partially until the end of the first age, when their magics failed them as the first veil fell and they descended to the abyss.  Yet the magics they had worked during the first age, particularly in the empire they had built in the form of egypt, allowed them to become established there and begin their quest for endless knowledge and the destruction of all things and their collapse into the abyss.  The Forbidden Chamber was their hollow tribute to the Black Library: whenever a text tied to the plane of evil, written in the hand of man is destroyed utterly, a copy of it should go to the forbidden chamber.  Of course, the magics of this library are flawed, and thus it has not always been successful (notably in the case of the necronomicon and other texts of the old ones).  Nevertheless it contains potent and wicked books.  Jagha bound spells of deceit around it to prevent it's being found, but should any book leave the library, it will be immediately detected by those who seek the chamber.  Jagha sensed that Justin's character could have been one of the nine, but that he was not for a reason unknown to her.  In the end, although she does not know it, his willpower is not strong enough to support his drive to know.  Deep Master will fulfill his place.  But what she can sense is his tie to the flow of the world: what he does not know is that he is able to understand what is known in a way that few other people can.  Jagha wishes to bring out his latent abilities and has thereby put him in both a challenging and dangerous environment...her warriors, and in the chamber.  I don't have any brilliant ideas for how his story will develop.
4.)The ass whooping.  The characters are in the midst of getting the shit kicked out of them.  I will have the fight go on until all of the characters are unconscious.  The last one to pass out will see the werewolf still wailing on the shadow fiend.  When they wake up, it will be a grey, misty morning, they will be cold as shit, wet, covered in hellhound spittle, bilge water, blood, etc., but they will all be alive. There will be no sign of Tzain.  He will have chased off the enemies in the fury of his attack, though they will be regrouping and summoning the hunter.  IN ORDER FOR THE CHARACTERS TO DEFEAT THESE INCREDIBLY POWERFUL DEMONS (they must work together while isolating each of their enemies).  The faster they work, the easier this will be, since the Hunter is the most bad ass of them all.  If the characters go up against him and actually beat him (might be kind of fun), they will need more outside help.  He is immortal, after all ;).  The characters will already have been given a clue regarding how to find the changer through nate's dream, but there should be more.  On the ground they will find a simple, shamanistic ward, which will be interpreted as a “get out” symbol.  While the battle is going on, Gabe will have a vision in which the sword will tell him, in the form of Senju, that he must draw the blade to save his friends.  First, he will have had visions in which senju tells him NEVER to draw the sword, since he's been gone so fucking long.  If he falls for this, something very bad will happen...he may hamstring stephanie or something equally bad will  happen to the group. Wounds from the sword will not heal unless addressed in some magical way. Nevertheless, if he draws the sword, he will make his way to the battle and proceed to whoop some ass, though he will probably get fucked up anyways, with two or three wolves ganging up on him.  If he doesn't he can decide if he wants in on the fight.  In his vision, he will hear the ancient phrase “not all who wander are lost”. That's all.  As the last of the characters passes out, he/she will hear the werewolf snarl some sort of prayer to Wu'untisi.  That should give the characters something to run with.  The library may also hold clues.  The characters can then decide to either pursue the werewolf, the changer (who happens to be the same creature, but they haven't figured that out yet), or the monsters.

UPDATE 050111
The characters have received their ass-whooping but were saved by the werewolf.  Through a number of antics, including initiating the wild hunt, with matt leading the group running through the trees all in warpaint.  The werewolf joined the hunt, recognizing the power of Wu'untisi.  Interestingly, the characters have not made the connection that the werewolf is the changer of the ways, nor have they asked him about the prophecy.  They touched on both of these, but left them be...maybe cause it was late. 
Nevertheless, the characters will probably get a hold of both of these things:
“Dzain T'chai, the hunter, the changer of the ways:  The escaped werewolf once controlled by the Count von Carstein. His mutant powers gave him incredibly strong will, but it was the action of Khaine, the god of vengeance, that freed him and made him the champion of the world that he is.  The god of vengeance was once the angel of forgiveness, but the demons of hell conspired to have the other angels turn him out: as a result, he became the god of vengeance.  The god of vengeance was prophesied to gain an avatar in the final days, a creature of great power who was the last of his people.  Khaine realized that this was Dzain, the last of the werewolves, slave creatures throughout eternity of the vampire clans.  But when he offered Dzain the opportunity to become free and avenge the wrongs of his people, Dzain, for reasons unclear to anyone, refused, stating that he did not wish to take this role: this demonstration of the freedom of choice caused Khaine to realize that he too had a choice, and he reverted back to the angel of forgiveness, returning to the outer planes.  Dzain thereby became the changer of the ways, freed from his bondage.  The chase by the agents of the vampire have led to all the deaths, although their hunt is totally futile: the changer cannot be found if he doesn't wish to be.  (scrounge may be an exception).”
“the prophecy of Freyadin states that when a werewolf receives the pardon of Wu'untisi, the way shall be changed, past crimes forgiven, and the werewolf will rise to take his place among the great warriors.  The characters can discover this prophecy if they search hard enough.”
Of course, upon this realization, when matt pardons dzain, he will realize his origins.  This will conclude this adventure (once the characters have defeated the agents of the vampire lord...more on this later).  The next adventure will pit the characters against the forces of the technocracy, in one of two forms...first, the characters must “discourage” the technocracy from laying waste to the area, notably the cave of wu'untisi, where he remains trapped.  The initial foray will be with a four man Phalanx force, supported by an NWOmember and possibly a science team.  They will, of course, also bring the forces of the government to bear on the area.  This will make for a nice cliffhanger...as the characters savor their victory, hordes of soldiers, robots, etc., pour into the area, trapping the characters in a deadly web...is this the end of our heroes?
Second, depending on whether the characters must escape or fight their way out of this scenario, they will then be on the trail of the great warrior Shiva.  Of course, they will have to do quite a bit of research before they figure this out...The path that the changer will be able to create will not be without twists and turns.  Once Dzain recognizes/accepts his fate to some degree, he will be able to help them...at least once he knows what he is looking for.  Once the characters have figured out who the great warrior could be, Dzain will tell them that the journey begins in the forbidden chamber, and that there they will find a map to the great labyrinth: beyond that place, he has no power.  The labyrinth, of course, is the labyrinth of Corinth, buried there but still a powerful gateway to the way of the weaver.  At the end of the labyrinth will be three doors: one marked with a loom, one marked with a spider, and one marked with a red hourglass.  It is this third door that leads directly into the dark realm of the black widows....more on this later

First to defeat the demons, the characters must be wise.  Their plot for the shadow fiend is clever enough, and as an enviable demon, it should work.  Once they've dispatched this one, the other two will be harder.  I really don't know what else to plan...they just have to come up with a good plan.

UPDATE 050121
The characters have successfully defeated the shadow fiend.  Stephanie went somewhat bonkers in the process, being deceived by the illusion of the shadow fiend as the little girl.  In trying to catch her as she attempted to save the shadow fiend, Senju accidentally used the sword and cut stephanie's achilles tendon.  This damage has since been healed by Aia, Raymond's guardian.  After the defeat of the fiend, the characters went to the cave of Wu'untisi, where after a great deal of searching, they awakened wu'untisi from his prison by having matt pardon Dzain.  This has resulted in Matt's character undergoing an as yet undefined transformation.  Nate is still unaware that his brother is not the werewolf, but Matt's character, but this can come out whenever.  Stephanie intends to return home to settle business with her husband, which will mean that Jason will be playing a temporary character.  I  may run with this, however...Stephanie may find more than she bargained for.  The grasp of the dark tower is not easily shaken by a mere mortal, and von recklinghausen knows that the characters are in possession of some very valuable item.  Stephanie's return may result in her meeting more of the lords of the dark tower: they may mind control her, so that the group must fight her and break the spell.  She may simply be captured.  The lords will use Richard as a medium before they directly intervene...but without her team there, she will be quite helpless.  For me, the story of stephanie is in a large part the story of change: with great power comes great responsibility and all that.  Stephanie's place is with her family, fighting for the good of the world.  Trying to deny this, trying to return to a normal life, will almost certainly result in suffering for her and all others involved.  I think that in the next adventure involving stephanie, Richard's life will be in serious jeopardy.  
It appears that there will be major turnover in the group despite the decision not to switch to an interlude at this point.  Almost every character, except senju, I think, will have undergone some transformation.  I would like to quickly go over possible storylines centered on each character:
1.)Andrew: his transformation will lead to some new source of power.  This will bring with it new enemies and new internal conflicts.
2.)Senju:  senju's big story will come to its first close when the characters find Shiva. Upon finding her, they will find her as if made of stone, three of her hands held out as if holding weapons.  She is not dead, but instead waits for her three weapons to awaken her.  In order to reach her, the characters must navigate the great labyrinth...which will empty out where?  I haven't quite figured this out yet.  Once shiva is armed with the three swords, she will awaken.  In the meantime, Raga is busy trying to destroy the second statue.  Clues will begin to filter through to the characters, and at some point they will have to make a bid to stop him.  He will have enlisted new allies, and his powers continue to expand.  If he is successful, which is more than likely, the second statue will be destroyed (if he is unsuccessful he will try again later).  The point of all of this is that Shiva's armor will be destroyed...whether or not Senju wishes to keep his, inactive armor and attempt to repair it, or whether he wants to discard it to seek the power that lies within him, is his own decision.  Shiva will eventually realize that senju's true armor is faith, not metal, and that she does not need the armor to be his ultimate warrior.  
3.)Raymond:  his past connection with Andrew is still undiscovered.  At this point, in fact, he is more bound to the nature spirits than Andrew, who has chosen to pursue his own path.  Aia will direct Raymond at some point to attempt the impossible...to free Wu'untisi from his prison.  This mission, if we are still playing at that point, will be extremely challenging, involving sons of aether, Jagha, and many others.  
4.)Ethan: ethan has become fleetingly aware that he failed something...he doesn't know htat he was destined to be one of the nine.  I don't know yet how this will turn into a story line.
5.)Astroth:  astroth's permanent body is just a manifestation of his mind, again.  In order to return to his previous form, he must...I don't know yet.  I need to think on this one too.  Regardless, once cabesa starts playing with us again, this will probably come up.  This adventure should probably be tied to the rise of Deep master as one of the lieutenants of the nine (I don't think that I will make him one of them).
In the meantime, the characters must deal with the walker of the deep and, if they dare, the hunter.  The hunter will be a major threat, since he knows Dzain's weakness and will seek to kill him.  The characters will have to work hard to prevent this...Dzain's powers do not work against silver, and the hunter does boatloads of damage.  I still need to finish the hunters character sheet, but he will be disgusting.  He will have weaknesses thogh, which the characters must exploit if they are to defeat him.  
Well, I'm running again this weekend, so I need to do some more updating.  First, Justin and Nate will be absent this week...hopefully Gabe and Jason will at least be in attendance, as well as Cabesa, although who knows with that security gig fiasco.  As such, I should make plans to deal with these four people first and foremost.  
First off, I think that the first part of the adventure this week should be focused on character development, new introductions, etc.  The characters will then have some choices:
1.The two remaining demons must still be dealt with.  The characters can put this off, but the search for Shiva will probably have to wait, since it involves travelling quite a long distance.
2.Visiting the artificer.  Raymond will be contacted by this individual...he will inquire about the status of his claws, and if Raymond brings up issues regarding the armor, the artificer will become very interested.  He will offer the characters help in return for two things...one is that since he does not know his exact location, they must find him...he knows that he is in a hamlet near prague.  The second is that the characters must retreive a bag of coins from an archeological expedition in Egypt...the metal that they are made of are of a certain quality and he needs them for another project.
3.News will begin to filter through to the characters that there are suddenly new agents on the scene...the state troopers have been withdrawn and all hunters are being deported from the area.  Investigation will reveal the presence of NSA agents in nearby towns...although the town in which the characters are will be unusually unperturbed (changer of the ways).  The agents will appear like normal FBI agents, but careful investigation will reveal that this is not the case.  Further investigation will also reveal the presence of a number of heavily armed and armored vehicles at local air fields.  If the characters are particulalry clever they will notice the two or three teams of SEALS as well as an additional special unit of four men assigned to the area.  The four men are armed with unusual weapons both big and small.  If the characters challenge, the shit will start to go down...They may get caught between the demons and the technocrats, or they may be able to be the hammer or the anvil instead...
4.New York news will report a series of high profile break ins at prominent university and private labs.  Terrorists are suspected and homeland security is on the case.  Investigation continues in the destruction of Phoenix, and there is word of anarchistic throw-downs in the surrounding areas.  In Saudi Arabia, four US soldiers were rescued by a masked man after they were attacked by terrorists.  He disappeared as quickly as he came.  He is suspected to be a Mossad agent.  
5.If the characters ignore the presence of the technocrats, they will find themselves surrounded and under assault at some point...this may be a nice opportunity for a showdown and a demonstration of Jagha's force...she may have to throw down and summon a few elementals :)  But probably not.
6.On to the character development which will be going on.  I don't know what Jason will be playing, but I will need to start thinking about how that character needs to come in...I'll wing it, baby.  
7.Matt's new Andrew:  Matt is making a blaster style master of light energy.  Where does this power derive from?  Is he truly just a vessel?  No, I don't think so.  This power derives from within him...but why?  First off, I think that the explosive nature of his power will be due to how long it has been penned up within him. Options for why his powers are light based: 1.) his battle with the darkness in the form of the shadow fiend, 2.) his familial connection to Gabe's old egyptian character, and thereby to Ra, sun god.  3.)  His family's quest for understanding/casting light on things.  When Matt's character awakes, the raven will be looking at him and will caw at him to follow it.  It will lead him to Aia's vale, where he will meet Aia.  She will say some cryptic shit about brotherhood, and then she will address Andrew about his bravery, both in serving Wu'untisi, and in making his choice to go it alone.  She will say that she has called him to her to aid him in his quest for himself...that she can sense a great deal of power within him, trapped for centuries, fighting to get out, and that she fears that it may destroy him if it is not properly guided.  She will say that there are many clues in the ways of one's family how such might should be controlled.  That she will offer him meditation as a means to control the power, but that this will take many years. Hopefully Matt will press her for alternatives, to which she will respond that Jagha may know of some...that she knew long ago of an ancient art which would weave the control into the body if it was strong enough, but that she does not know it nor does she know any remaining shamans who do.  Jagha, upon hearing this, will direct Matt to the Old man of the sea, who will, after a lot of cryptic bullshit :), state that there are a few individuals left in the world capable of achieving this task: 1.) is the monk called Yao Tzu, a descendant of the original and keeper of the brotherhood.   2.) The Painted One, an ancient master from the Maori people.  3.)The great shaman of the wind.  Matt can get frustrated about this for a bit, but it will eventually come out that the shaman of the wind is in fact the raven who has been following them around.  With matt seated, the raven will peck the tattoos onto his body...the total damage through injury and blood loss will be in the range of two or three body.  As this occurs, Andrew will feel his energy unchained, and it will begin to flow through his body.  He will see the sun, and he will feel an ancient connection to the sky and the light.  After this point, Matt will have his new character.
8.Senju...Gabe has plans for how his character will acquire his new powers, and i'm curious.  The sword will continue to attempt to torment him.  I'll work with Gabe on changes.
9.For Cabesa, if he is here.  He will begin noticing changes in his form.  Subtle at first, but he will begin to feel the desire to leave his body, he will feel trapped.  But what is the key to transformation of Astroth?  First, he can rebuild his machine. The artificer will have clues about this...but mostly he will be able to explain that the box was mostly a placebo...that the power comes from within astroth, and that he must find it there.  Once the characters reach the realm of the black widows through the labyrinth, a winding realm of obsidian walls with evenly spaced lighting, endless tunnels, and a deep chill, he will feel strangely connected to the area.  Once he begins to gather knowledge of the place, he will be able to begin to sort of manipulate the realm.  Since the nanonomicon has no presence in the rogue realm of the widows, they are not protected from Astroth's power.  The widows will not at first be aware of the presence of others in their realm.  The characters must make their way to the stasis control room, a circular room in which automatons watch numerous screens across the world and direct the production of stasis fields at various locales.  The technocracy typically forbids the use of such technology because if its interference with the Abyss, which has had disastrous consequences in the past.  If they ignore the automatons, they will be ignored, as long as they can avoid the guard, a black widow...he will need a character sheet.  Here the characters will be able to locate the location in the mountains where the stasis field exists which traps Shiva.  They must journey to this place in real space.  They can also shut down the stasis field that holds her.  Once this happens, the black widows will become very concerned and it will be quite a race.  If the characters employ Dzain, they will definitely get there with plenty of time to spare.  Otherwise they will find the area heavily guarded, and they will need to find a way to reach shiva without drawing any attention.  Once she has the sword, woe to the widows who get in their way.  Once they escape, she will leave to hunt down the wolf spider.  In the realm of the widows, Cabesa will absorb some of that place into himself, and he may make some changes into his character.  He will also have first contact with deep master, now rogue and hiding out from the nanonomicon.  It is the eventual goal that Cabesa teaches his power to Deep Master.  

Update 050226
The characters have defeated the rest of the hellhounds.  Now all that remains are the walker of the deep and the hunter.  They have already found out that the walker of the deep fears light and pure water, though they have not yet come up with a way to utilize this.  They have also heard the old man's story regarding wu'untisi's defeat of the hunter.  It centered around disrupting his connection to the realm of evil, which fuels his power.  They have also been made aware of the presence of the hunter's tomb, where he is resurrected should he be destroyed.  Finally, see my handwritten notes regarding doctor villye, the supervillain who will stand between the characters and the labyrinth...I may use master control's character sheet for this guy.  
With the hounds destroyed, the hunter will come after them in earnest...he will target Dzain above all, and it may be the true test of the group to see if they can save him.  Dzain, I have decided, is still far from the peak of his power, although his extra dimensional movement power is his major advantage.  He is already quite nasty when he has the opportunity to transform...but I think his regeneration power will eventually grow, and he may develop shamanistic transform, aid, and drain powers.  The characters must be smart about how they approach the hunter, because he is a major villain and i will not take it easy on the players with this enemy.  The hunter will also play it close to the walker of the deep...so it may be difficult for the characters to separate the two.  Nevertheless, he is not a defensive type, so he will strike out on his own...the question is, can the characters be the hunter or the hunted.  Inside the village, the characters are protected from his search because of Dzain's power.  Once they leave it though, he will quickly be on their trail.  Likewise, the technocratic forces are beginning to move in the area.  I need to make up a character sheet for the agents.  The characters are welcome to try to get these guys involved in the fight...they are much much more likely to target the demons than the characters, since the characters do not exude supernatural energy.  They will subsequently turn on the characters, however.  Regardless of what happens, the technocrats will begin to converge on the area around Wu'untisi...Dzain cannot yet fully control his power, so that although Wu'untisi's cave is still protected, the entire surrounding area, sacred to him and his granddaughter Aia, will be in danger...and the technocrats have every intention of logging the entire area and turning it into a toxic waste dump, code for a “destroy supernatural influences” site.  At this point, it will be overwhelming odds against the characters...they can stay and fight, but Jagha will tell them to go, that time is running out.
Jason's character will hear from his contacts that high priced bounty hunters are packing up for eastern europe and northern asia...apparently a hit has been placed by Dmitri Zuguyovich, “Ghengis Kahn” as he is called, in which the payoff is said to be the assassin's weight in gold.  Further investigation will reveal that the target is “Rasputin”, another crime lord from Moscow.  Dmitri is probably one of the most powerful crime lords in Russia, and he is developing considerable supernatural powers...he also has a sense for the changing of the world, and has started to hire “unusual individuals”.  The other crime lord, if Jason digs deep enough, will be found to have spent recent months near mongolia, apparently entertaining rivals.  One of these rivals was an ally of Dmitri's...he is now dead (killed in the opera house shootout).  Dmitri, with very deep research, will be revealed to have offered rasputin a pardon of sorts, in return for some sort of payoff.  The offer was refused.  The blood will begin flowing in the streets.  

In other news, the characters can discover that the military has intentions to build a new base exactly where they find themselves.  Jagha will instruct Ethan to begin packing up the library in all haste, that the location is no longer safe.    More and more soldiers will begin flooding into the area.

Senju has been losing, in some ways, his battle with the sword.  As such, it will begin to exert more powerful influence on his psyche.  But how should this manifest?

If cabesa is here...what should happen with him.  He will need a quick personal interlude.  IN this dreamlike state he will find himself in a vast web of energy, flying, free, gathering information much as at his “birth”.  He will notice that there is another being in the web, fleeing, hiding, afraid.  This is deep master.  Furthermore, when he wakes, Cabesa will find himself dressed in Janitor's clothes, working at the military base.  He will have a janitor's closet which is filled with all sorts of odds and ends that he has collected...with what looks like the beginnings of another box there.  He will be somewhat amnesiac as well, although he will remember walking to the city, making his id, and beginning his gathering as the army men approached.  He feels somehow connected to the people at the base, at least some of them.  This will give the characters something of an in to the base, which will be good.  Cabesa will be permitted to make some changes to his character...not too many though.  He must still seek out the artificer, or have his experiences in the realm of the widows.  
I need to better define the black widows...in fact, I think that they should make their first appearance today somewhere.  Just briefly, but they should.  The black widows are the dark side of the technocracy, not just stagnant, but also tainted with the plane of evil.  The characters may find one mingling with the soldiers...but how should he/she be?  Don't know yet.
Raymond is out this week, so I won't worry about that
Ethan may have contact with the widows because they are very interested in the forbidden chamber.  Ethan's forays in the library will reveal more wicked texts that can threaten his sanity.  There will be a book there on the black widows.
Andrew...I don't know yet what new business I want to drag andrew into.  This goes for Jason's character as well.  I've hooked him through his oath to the old man, but what else will be his connection?  

050702

A lot has happened since our last installement.  The characters escaped and visited the artificer in Prague, who repaired Senju's arms and gave a staff of “brilliant lead” to Andrew.  The characters then travelled to cairo, where they encountered a high priced pimp who used his ninja henchment to blackmail the characters.
Important plot points: the top prostitute was none other than Belladolce, the last succubus.  She has placed herself in the pimp's care because the pimp unknowingly is in the service of the mummy Ramaskar.  The ninja servant is also working indirectly for him, and in order to gain protection, she now works close to one of the mummy's servants.  The characters, after an abortive revenge attempt, left for Japan to resolve the issue of Senju's temple, which they found destroyed and a number of bodies in the vicinity.  The bodies belonged to a number of mages, who the characters thought might be responsible for the carnage.  I cannot remember if the characters pinned the doings correctly on raga.  Either way, the characters went in pursuit of the one escaping man, an apprentice (althoguht they do not know this).  Eventually, this led them to the lair of walus, an ancient and very irrate water elemental, to whom the apprentice entrusted the statue while he went to get help from the brotherhood.  The water elemental beat up the characters, and told them to seek the brotherhood.  While nursing their wounds at a hospital, the characters were ambushed by black widows, although they are not yet aware of what these twisted weaver minions are.  That is where the story was left.
Nate's character has encountered a number of unusual nature spirits.  He doesn't quite realize the significance of this yet.  The key thing about Nate's character is that he is deeply tied to nature...his regeneration ability goes far deeper than initially thought
Taking Jason's suggestion to heart, the tone of the game should get harder and darker.  
The characters have just escaped into the japanese countryside.  They have a couple of options.  First, they can try to track down the brotherhood.  Justin will have heard of them as a reclusive group of monks who eschew everything for enlightenment.  Jason will have heard of them as a deadly group of assassins unrivaled by all but the ninja in hand to hand fighting.  Jason may be able to track down information about the through street contacts: they wil be able to tell him that “the brotherhood”, not actually associated with the real brotherhood, hosts fights at an abandoned monastery.  Nevertheless, the proceedings are occassionally watched by members of the Earth brotherhood, because much of their training revolves around accepting and absorbing punishment.  Clever detective work may reveal the real brotherhood men.  Justin will be able to find out very similar information.
Justin's character will have dreams in which he will be instructed how to make a new book.  Meanwhile, the count sends his minions to scour Japan for Justin's character...it is his intention to get at the library at all costs.  He believes that the group may be much more powerful than it actually is, so he will take a cautious approach...it may even come in the guise of someone who will offer to help them: perhaps a bait and switch?  He must also send the focus to Ethan, which will of course be corrupted
How to remove Silas?  I'm not sure I want to kill him, but there must be some other interesting way to remove him.  Maybe he gets trapped in a shape that he changes into?  Maybe he realizes that he has to return to Cairo?  He may learn more about his origins when the characters run into the brotherhood.  
What kind of fighters will the characters encounter in the pit?  Probably nothing worse than people like my space opera character.  But what sort of stats should the Earth brothers have? And what about the other brotherhood warriors?
If the characters encounter the brotherhood, the brotherhood will offer to allow them to recover the statue, if they can prove themselves: they will need to pass the trial of one of the four elements:
Earth is one of resilience:  The characters will need to select one of their members, who must stand up against a single strike from the Earth Master.
Air is one of movement: the characters must Travel to one of several nearly impossible areas to reach: the fortress Nazira, The Dark Tower, or something similar
Fire is one of destruction: They must defeat the great destroyer in the midwest of the US.  
Water is one of Change: The brilliant lead staff must be carved.  Finding out how will be a quest in and of itself.  Walus will know how to do it.
Other bits of news:
Russia the turmoil continues.
Rich dude has started his excavation, apparently near the ruins of Mycenae

Silas will remember the tattoo on his dad.  He will also remember a trunk of valuables his dad had mentioned once that he had left in Osaka in the grove where he met Silas' mother.  Silas will also start to lose control of his power: this will explain his more rapid ability to shift, but he will also begin shifting occassionally unless he can make an ego roll.  If he is to control his power, he will need training from the ninja.  For this he must return to cairo and seek out the bodyguard, who is a ninja.

Andrew will continue to need the blood once a day, or he takes one body.  

Ethan has the vampire problems, which will start to grow, but very slowly...this could really yield something

If the brotherhood realizes that Senju has the sword, they will offer to trade him the statue for the sword.  Even if he refuses, the order of tsutsugamushi will be coming to question him...Meanwhile, the black widows are closing in...The black widows believe, in their twisted way, that the armor belongs to the weaver, and therefore seek to recover them.  Maybe the next time they encounter agents, possibly at the temple, they will be able to question one?

Raymond will continue to receive communiques from nature: he will be reminded of Wu'untisi's imprisonment.  

And what about Raga:  He will still keep his distance and his eye on the prize: once he figures out that Walus has the statue, he will begin setting about acquiring the items he needs to banish the water elemental, not an easy thing, given how ancient the creature is.  He will need Elemental Air: something he may be able to purchase from the vampire counts...?  Don't know where else.  If the characters dily daly, he will succeed in the banishment.  That is to say, if by the time Jason starts up again, they have not returned, Raga will acquire the statue and Senju's armor will be destroyed.

So, with three cancellations, it may be a short session, but I will make of it what I can.

UPDATE 050709

Only matt and Justin showed up...they began by making a new book for Justin, which he learned how to do in a dream.  Matt meditated some in a stream, and the combination of the light and the cold, since he is actually connected to the moon rather than the sun, allowed him to partially bless his staff, and also revealed a piece of solid moonlight to him in the stream, something which he has been using to explore his powers.  Matt has a good point that his character has sort of played out his storyline, so I am going to have to come up with some new ways to make things interesting for him.  Ethan is getting himself and the group into all sorts of trouble: once he got the little statue and the instructions for summoning the hellhound from the vampire, he also revealed to the count that he knows jagha, so now the count has put together the fact that jagha has the library...very bad.  Nevertheless, he will take his approach to getting the library very slowly.  The characters then pursued a new, totally undeveloped storyline, namely the man who survived the phoenix blast.  He is one of the saviors, who got in a fight with phoenix and caused him to detonate himself.  He will want nothing to do with the characters, and will actually become a villain of sorts, maybe even a hunter of superpowered peoples or something: if the characters want him as one of the saviors, they must somehow convert him.  I still need to think a lot about this.  I am going to really try to ride out the storyline with Ethan as well.
So who the hell is the survivor, and what is special about him?  I know that I
originally thought of him as another possible member of the nine, but now I'm
like "what do I do with him?"  I don't just want him to be a superman
knockoff...being a tank is great, but that's not really what I had in mind.  He
can be a bad ass warrior, but how...maybe he should be a mind person: the group
doesn't have a mentalist yet, and it would sure be a handy thing for the heroes
of the world to have a charles xavier.  His backstory is that he and Phoenix
grew up together...perhaps on a native american reservation.  They were "bad
kids" together: They were also half brothers, born to the same mother but from
different fathers.  Much like in whale rider, the legend of their people says
that in their generation, to the chief's family, will be born a
savior/warrior/leader.  Of course, the two of them are a major dissappointment
as they get into all sorts of trouble.  Eventually, they both fall for the same
gal.  Somebody who will come up again, but not some huge figure...her
memory/shade/whatever will be used against the hero and the characters.
Anyways, xavier is a very perceptive guy, always the sly one with the plans and
the pitch, and Phoenix is the muscle, so although phoenix originally gets to
make the move, xavier is really setting the whole thing up for himself.  The
result is that when xavier finally gets the girl, Phoenix flips out.  There is a
big falling out: phoenix challenges xavier, xavier refuses to fight
him/whatever.  They split ways, but phoenix vows revenge, tracks down the girl,
beats her up, rapes her, and puts her in the hospital.  Xavier is furious, meets
up with phoenix and the rest of the gang in a park to challenge him, and they
have at it.  As the fight progresses, even though Xavier should be getting
slaughtered (which he does at first), their powers begin to develop, and the
fight begins to escalate.  Only a bit really, but enough to allow xavier to turn
his considerable mental abilities to needling and belittling Phoenix, driving
him to make an error.  Instead it makes him so furious that, like Akira, he
basically explodes, all of his tremendous power coming forth at once,
obliterating him and the entire city of Phoenix Arizona.  Xavier's powers, tied
to phoenix's, are released at the same time, but only enough to protect him from
the majority of the damage.  He is still burned beyond repair.  His mind, in a
last ditch effort to save him, puts him in a sort of stasis, mending what it can
and basically shutting down his body until help arrives.  In his coma in the
hospital, his mind both works to mend his body (he can have some healing
abilities...tzain could as well, and there should be some dedicated master of
healing...probably tzain, would be fitting, as well as shiva) and to explore
it's new power.  Now he is out and convinced that "heroism" is not only not
profitable, but incredibly stupid.  He will pursue the life of a supervillain
unless the characters can convince him otherwise.  To start, he will be about
1000 or a little more points, but virtually unstoppable nonetheless.  THe
characters will have to get very creative to defeat him, which they may have to
do...




  

This week: we anticipate attendance by everybody, with Jason and Gabe coming late.  There will be a short break while I go pick up Heather.  What do we want to do?  Gabe, Jason, and Nathan will proceed with the investigation of the Elemental Brotherhood.  Jason will be able to find out about them through the underground.  Nate can try to get in touch with the nature spirits.  Gabe...gabe can wait, unless he comes up with something.  Without streetwise nobody will be able to tell him anything, except perhaps village elders.
Matt and Justin will seek out the survivor.  He will be extremely provocative to them: in general, he is a very angry young man and he will likely try to pick a fight with the characters just because he knows his own power.  He will have a natural antagonism with the tomb kings because of how close he came to the abyss, and they likely tried to fuck with his spirit, since they want to monopolize traveling back from there.  If the characters get cheeky, he will likely do some mind control business or maybe just fuck them up.  
Scarlet will try to keep getting in touch with Ethan.  She works for Melisandre, a moderately powerful servant of Von Carstein: he has purchased her loyalty with eternal youth and power.  She was a major player in the east coast underground, but is now fully a servant of the vampire count.  She is preternaturally quick and very well connected.  She has a number of spies who are very good...she has also attained a power level which allows her to give some power out to her favorite underlings, such as scarlet.  Scarlet is a master liar and deceiver, and although she will admit that she has been assigned by Melisandre, she will insist that she has been employed as a doctor by melisandre and has been asked to come investigate the situation because it is relevant to her work.  She will definitely try to seduce Ethan and will try to milk him for any information he will share.  Her real assignment is to evaluate the power of the group and to find out its weaknesses, as well as to find out as much as possible about the forbidden chamber.  
The characters can piss around SF all they want.  Ethan will continue to have shit happen with the Count, although I want to downplay it so that it will be more difficult for him to avoid the danger >:).
Other things that should happen:  
The excavation is making significant steps forward.  They have uncovered what they think might be part of the palace of Minos
Major russian troop movements have been detected in Siberia.  Russia assures the world it is nothing.  Jason may be able to discover that there is extreme violence there between a number of underground factions as well as some “terrorists”, although it is unclear what they are fighting about at this point.  Elsewhere in russia, there is also a spike in mob activity (what is really going on here?  The girl has been taken into Siberia and hidden.  Who should get brought in.  Obviously the dark lords will eventually get involved.  But I should bring in the inquisition at some point as well.  Also, once the characters find all the children...what then?  I guess the real point is that the characters have to buy time for them to come into their own.  This will be a decent place to take a break, although we can continue as long as necessary.
The character's involvement with the black widows and the vampires will perk the interests of the inquisition at some point.  Also, the tomb kings will get involved if the chamber business becomes more well known.  
Also, at some point I can start bringing in business involving some more items of power.  

UPDATE 
brief, cause I just failed my exam.
1.)The inquisition will get involved with Salome because they think that she might be the last succubus.  Once that idea gets into the heads of the dark folks, they will try to hunt her down as well, either as a pet or to wipe her out...it's an old grudge
2.)Ethan, much to my chagrin but in keeping with his stature as a hero, has told the group about his interactions with Von Carstein.  That's fine, good even, but I should handle this carefully, I don't want the characters running over one of the major villains too easily.  He may get his meeting with Melisandre, who will try to force Scarlet further into his life by disavowing any value for her.  In fact, if push comes to shove she'll have scarlet assassinated or at least beaten and raped.  She can always bring her back from the dead, and she's certainly had her abused before.  
3.)It's not going to be much of a competition in the arena, but since nate isn't here, that's ok.  The characters in Japan will still be looking for signs of the brotherhood.  
4.)Jason's character will see another guy with the dagger tattoo.  We'll see how he handles it.  The point is, all ninja born can see the tattoo, nobody else can.  That is how he will start to realize his origins.  Either that, or get kidnapped.  That will be a way to reintroduce stephanie.
5.)Stephanie is still wreaking havoc in the US...when dieter comes back, maybe she will attack the estate. Either that or hold hostages to get the item.
6.)The mentalist will engage in some more blatant destruction/theft, and begin organizing the gangs in Arizona.
7.)As per 1. above, fighting in Siberia will intensify
8.)New york will be struck by a freak break in at a military installation.  Terrorism suspected, with very high tech.
9.)Unknown to the characters, the wolf spider is beginning his road to recovery
10.)The characters may get wind of the fact that things are not alright at the artificer's...he will get severly punished by the vampire counts for working with other individuals, and they will offer him that he can either die, or reforge the Royal Blades, the ancient vampire weapons which were shattered by the only major success of the inquisition against the vampire counts.

UPDATE 050815
So...the characters battled von recklinghausen and stephanie after being sent back to the US by the brotherhood (Whom they found at an underground fighting rink in Japan) to prove that they could recover senju's statue.  Senju was killed by recklinghausen...immediately prior to this, Ethan had gone to Chicago and revealed the location of the forbidden chamber to melisandre.  After the battle, Jagha revealed to the characters the nature of the chamber and told them to go immediately to protect it.  Once there, they battled four outridder demons...melisandre is also around, stealthed, trying to track the characters.  
Ed's character, Jimmy, has been sent to the group by Jagha.  He has very similar powers to the first abilities that she herself developed, so she sees his training as something of her responsibility.
The characters have now had two sessions of brutal combat.  The next session at least will be relatively combat free, although if the characters do not discover melisandre, they will likely have a battle that they can all but not win on their hands.  Matt's idea to take the books to the scholar was excellent, as well as his suggestion that there might be a book on the forbidden chamber in the chamber.  I think these merit bonus xp.  
Likely the characters will be focused on hiding the library next, and then they will attempt to retrieve senju's statue.  

UPDATE 050819
The characters have wrapped up the senju, stephanie returns, and library story arcs:
consequences:
1.)The count knows where the library is but he will actually be hard pressed to get into the tomb, especially without alerting anybody.  Thus, since he knows the password and knows of the key, he will attempt to obtain the key from the characters when he can.
2.)What the characters do with the statue is up to them: Raga will be thwarted because he does not know where the characters took the statue.
3.)The order of tsutsugamushi will seek out the characters to get the sword
4.)Matt's character is developing some of his powers as a shaman of the moon, but I don't know why...he began as a shaman of the sun, but was shunned because of his revival by blood.  As such, the forgiveness of the moon reenergized him, so now his powers are channelled that way.  He is able to summon a spirit of the moon, though he doesn't know much of this yet.  I will use the “spirit warrior” character sheet if matt uses it to help the group in a combat.  
5.)What to do with Justin's character.  Ethan is supposed to begin developing some of his own powers...these will be influenced by his taint from his contact with the vampire.  He was to be a master of mental abilities, but perhaps because of his darker stint, perhaps his powers should take him into another, more combative direction.  Aid, perhaps?
6.)Stephanie, too, looks as if she is going to give me her points to spend, so what sort of powers should she begin to develop.  I'm not sure how the metal will continue to influence her: perhaps life support?

051130
It's been a long time.  The basic rundown will be as follows:  since the characters have dealt with Dr. E ville and are now at the gates to the labyrinth, friday will consist of two parts.  First, they will need to decide what their real characters are going to do.  Once they do, I will shift gears on them and they will get to pick one of the seven deadly sins to lead on a raid of the place where the artificer is being kept.
The location is a Mine/Workshop controlled by the count Dracula himself.  The mine is well hidden and well guarded.  The perimeter is kept by hellhounds and summoned spirits.  Farther in there are guards, and the final area is a walled compound, actually quite poorly guarded.  Within is an access to the maze of tunnels beneath.  Most of the protection here is magical, and tunnels can be generated basically randomly.  The characters will need to come up with a clever way to find the workshop where the artificer is being kept.  Guards will be demons variant from the original black demon and various other demons that they have faced.  They won't face anything massive on the way in...I still need to come up with a good battle for them to fight with these other characters, and need some good ideas for what is going to happen inside the workshop.

051206
THE END
It appears that we have come to the end of the story for now.  Ed and Justin want to keep going, but I think Jason, Matt, and Gabe are ready to move on, and it's hard to be enthusiastic when nobody else really is.  Regardless, the Key to the Tomb and the Warrior in the Maze storylines will get finished up.  More later.

051213
THE END part 2
The key was stolen from andrew by a clever demon that could shapechange.  These sorts of demons, called changelings, are covered in writings from the Necronomicon, from the chapter on “truth”.  Gabe's character read some of this, which may have some lasting effects, although in his case it will probably be minor.  It will be extremely difficult for the characters to prevent the theft of the library at this point.  
The characters also managed to navigate the labyrinth, using both Tzain and a sense of purpose: they found themselves in the Black Widows' lair, where they freed Shiva and discovered the existence of the Wolf Spider.  They then delivered the sword to Shiva.
What to have happen in the last session?
Not sure...the characters are between storylines, so it is basically up to them to decide what they want to do. 
If they decide to intervene for the library, it will be very hard, and some of the characters may get killed.  Either that or Jagha :(.
If they decide to go for Salome...they will find that things are quite complicated.  There are in fact two Inquisitorial groups in pursuit of Salome, one led by a saint (lust's old mentor) and the other led by a brutal inquisitor strongly influenced by the demons that have infiltrated the organization.  The Dark Lords of the Tower are also looking for her, but the minor crime lord and his cronies, who are superbeings, have managed to evade capture.  There are also a bunch of assassins in the mix.
The characters can also go after Xavier.  He is now organizing the road gangs of Arizona and dealing heavily with the Triad and the Kingsnake in LA.  He will be very reticent.