A Ritual Goes Awry

Write Up, I assume from Nunzio

After Alice (with Sophronia along for the ride) rescued Victor they brought him back to the Kerberos club where they met up with Gregory who had just finished being Huntley at some newspapers to convince them to print a warning to keep horses confined to avoid the rampaging problem. They quickly brought Victor around and started bringing him up to speed, but Gregory is a suspicious soul and a born liar and thought something was off. Alice poked at his mind, and as they realized that it was Emile's mind in Victor's body Emile-as-Victor bolted. Course, he didn't know his way around the club, and Sophronia illusioned the exits away, and Alice crushed his mind... Gregory didn't even have to track him down. The party engaged in some tender and loving emotional beat-down on Emile, pointing out that his mother is a terrible person and he can't escape his sins into fantasy perfect marriage land so easily. Leaving Emile-as-Victor in the loving care of Michael Doyle and Neville, the party planned a simple and straightforward assault to interrupt Augusta's ritual. Gregory would pretend to be Emile-as-Victor and get let in. Sophronia and Alice would, via Sophronia's illusions, appear to be an assault force of Huntley, the Priestess, and the zombies of Strength and Moon. The ritual took the form of a stylized party, centered around Augusta and Victor-as-Emile. At the appropriate point, when the ritual could be diverted, Gregory-as-Emile-as-Victor leapt up and knocked the mad scientists (who were providing zombies and half-monkey-half-machine monstrosities to play the part of the partygoers) unconscious, as well as beating the Duke of Leeds to within an inch of his life (Gregory can fake Victor-speed pretty well, it turns out). Huntley and company showed up, and in the confusion most of the Tarot members not already unconscious escaped. Augusta had to continue performing the ritual. Cassian-as-Huntley took advantage of the melee to spirit Dr. Butler away to safety. Victor-as-Emile was drugged back into his 8 year old memories, but Alice realized this and returned his mind to him. Victor-as-Emile took advantage of his position in the center of the ritual to turn it back on his mother, and change the memories of the past so that everyone recalled that she was a murderer (instead of merely an adulteress). This was, of course, exactly according to plan. Really. Augusta escaped (teleportation sucks), but with her organization in shambles and her social status even worse than when she embarked upon this mad quest, she's no longer an immediate concern.

Quotes

Alice, are you going to insist we get a sheet?

No, I'll just clean it.

Even if she is trying to help you, our parents can't make us what they want. They have to take us as we are.

Sophronia 19Huntley Alice 13Priestess Zombies 10 Reginald 18EmileasVictor: No One Can Keep Up With Me, Complication: This is not my body, I Must Purify Myself to be Worthy of Leanne, Heir of Pennsington becomes Troubled Little Rich Boy (Archetype or Class).

Alice linked to Gregory, Sophronia, Mace

Victor, must you think so loud?

You are integral to the ritual. What you say is part of the ritual.

Right you are! Thank you, Alice.

So very strange to be engaging in combat with clothes on.

Everyone in society will know the murders you have committed and you will never be anything more than the pathetic woman you were born.

Everyone remembers her as a murderess. They do not remember she was sleeping with the Duke of Leeds.

Victor

As soon as things look quiescent, Victor-as-Emile will head after Cassian-as-Huntley-bearing-Butler. Not having the speed to keep up, Victor deduces where Cassian is headed and cuts him off. Cassian spins around and draws a knife. Victor holds up his hands and says "Wait, I'm Victor Knight."

"You don't look like Victor Knight."

[LP: I would point out that Cassian was asked to take Emile and Butler off to safety. So, I think the misunderstanding might be somewhat, ah, different.]

"Yes, I'm currently in a body not my own. What a strange occurrence... I can't imagine how that could even be possible... do you think the nice gentleman you've so carefully absconded with might have some insight into the matter?"

"Uh..."

"Come, let's head to the Kerberos club so I can get back in the body I belong in. When I left Lord Mace's, it didn't seem Tamar had much fight left in them, so I doubt we're in any immediate danger of ambush. We can talk about long-term handling of Butler after he performs another surgery."

Victor and Cassian head to the Kerberos club, where they walk in on Neville training Emile in the use of the sword. Well, training might be putting it generously. Emile flails around faster than the eye can see. Then Neville moves just once, seemingly sedately, yet somehow his sword ends up in the exact right position to strike Emile while Emile's sword comes nowhere near Neville. Yet every time, Emile steps back, catches his breath, and attacks again.

"Ahh...", says Neville as he spots Victor, "There you are. Emile, I think this lesson has long since passed the point of usefulness. It's been over an hour, and while your endurance is impressive, you've fallen to the same attack 18 times in a row. And it's not your body you're straining in your attempts to hit me in any case."

Victor blinks and mutters to himself, "An hour, moving that fast? How...?"

Butler beings to stir.

"Excellent", says Victor, "Right on time. Emile, if you've had your fun? Neville, if you wouldn't mind watching to make sure nothing untoward happens? Even in your long experience, I doubt you've seen an operation quite like this. Let's return our bodies to their rightful owners."

After the operation, Victor takes the time to experiment, pushing himself further and faster than before. He quickly discovers that the limits on his speed: the conscious effort involved in invoking it, the strain it put on him that prevented him from using it too frequently, were limitations of his mind, and not his body. Victor didn't stop to think about why he had such limitations, but a stubborn refusal to be outdone by someone else using his own skills allowed him to overcome them.

Advancement:
The World Stands Still: removing charges, adding notice, adding
initiative[physical] (5 skill points)
Steeped in Strangeness: upgrading one tier to Superhuman (1 refresh
and 1 skill point)

Reginald Contemplates the Aftermath

An entry from Reginald's journal:

"So much power and influence, so many reputations made and ruined while destroying countless lives, and it all could have been so very much worse. None of these sodding pieces of trash understand the first thing about holding a title. They probably snicker knowingly when someone mentions Noblesse Oblige, thinking only of Noblesse Permet."

"Eliminating even smallest fraction of the worst of them with our usual methods would be logistically untenable, not to mention horrendously gruesome, and bad for my digestion and waistline to boot. But I'd really like my families and friends to live in an Empire where these monsters much less power, especially if we want Greg's children to come here some day."

"I wonder how far the right words, in the right ears, at the right moments could tilt the situation? I don't think I can manage such a whispering campaign on my own. I wonder if any of my fellow Kerberans would like to start playing with the reputations of great and the good? I shall have to broach the subject with them some evening."

Sophronia Comes Home

"Hello, Talos."

"No, don't worry, I'm just tumbling, I'll get back on alignment in a second. Hand me that gear shifter?"

"We did it. We still need to deal with Justice. I told you what she was doing, right?"

"I think Victor will be all right. We should give him something to think about."

"I'll tell him you're worried.

"Yes?"

"Yes, you've been very patient. I'm going to take care of you next. I promise."

"...I'll try, anyway. I'm not much, by faerie standards. They've been doing this for hundreds of years."

"--well, what do you want? Not like I ever asked for - for any of this. Small wonder if...I wasn't much use..."

"Right. You deserve the best. Of course."

"I suppose I should really work out how to use these things better..."

drifts out to the yard, sighs, mutters, and starts working through a complicated, twisted flight exercise::