Dark Tides Rising

GM: James
Transcribed by: James
Date: August 13, 2017
In Game date: November, 2011
Episode: 12

Part 01:

David Clay sat in the cramped, run down waiting room of the police precinct on Capitol Hill after giving his statement to the police. The attorney had intervened helping to prevent the kidnapping of a young pregnant lady outside the Radcliffe Clinic. He was somewhat concerned that someone might have noticed his golem nature when he used his supernatural strength and stamina to prevent the attack. But fortunately for him no one had reported anything. He was also intrigued about the couple that had been targeted by the kidnappers.

The young lady had acquitted herself quite ably, using teeth, elbows and sheer tenacity to escape the grasp of her tormentors. Her boyfriend was even more interesting. During the battle with the five kidnappers the young man had demonstrated speed that was well beyond any normal human’s. Between the three of them they had barely managed to hold off the attackers until sirens in the distance scared them off. What was particularly unsettling was that at least one of the kidnappers was revealed to be a Fomor when Anna ripped his mask off. That explained why it had been so difficult for the pair of supernatural defenders and a fierce, protective mother to chase them off. What it didn’t explain is what interest the Formor could possibly have in the young lady. As these thoughts were running through his mind something on the TV caught the counselor’s attention.

Trevor Radcliffe was being interviewed by the local news. He was very excited to speak of a new research facility being opened in Bellevue by The Peter Kirk Syndicate that would pioneer advances in bioengineering, computers and so much more. David noticed a figure in the background as the camera panned over a small crowd gathered for the opening. If he had blood it would boil at the sight of The Patient One. An infernal enchanter who had opposed the Golem on several occasions. He wanted to take David apart and find out how to create elemental constructs similar to him for his own use. Next to him was a was tall and slender man who looked quite dangerous but David did not recognize him. If Radcliffe and the Patient One had joined forces they would be formidable foes.

Part 02:

Fergus Mac Cormaic entered the waiting room and saw the man who had help him save Anna Maria Avila from the Fomor kidnappers. He didn’t know who the man was but he owed him a great debt of gratitude. While waiting for the paramedics to finish checking Anna over he introduced himself to David shaking his hand enthusiastically. Both of them felt the electric current of power that played through their hands when they clasped. This confirmed to them that the other was not exactly what he seemed. Fergus guessed David was an earth elemental and David briefly educated him about golems. The two felt the beginnings of a friendship as they traded stories.

As the two were getting to know each other Rick Jordan, a police detective who had worked with David in the past came to see if he was OK. While David had known the detective for a few months now the two were not especially close. Still, David could tell that the normally stoic detective was troubled.

When David asked about it Jordan explained that he had just come from a particularly terrible crime scene. It seems that a young mother with a newborn had lost her mind. Witnesses said that she kept claiming that her child was a demon and that she had no choice. She had poured gasoline over herself and the child and set them on fire. The mother suffered 3rd and 4th degree burns over 70% of her body. She might live. The child did not. It was a complete mystery because she had no criminal history or psychological episodes before that. Everything at the house was completely normal. Well, except for this weird black mold that was found at the scene. David pointed out that mold could cause all sorts of issues and Jordan agreed. He had the lab guys looking it over.

That was when Raymond Avila arrived. With a cry of “Daddy!”, Anna Maria Avila, Fergus’s fiance, was enfolded in her father’s loving arms. The Attorney General hugged his daughter fiercely and quietly whispered that he was so glad she was OK. When he caught Fergus’s eye he glared at the young man. That look imparted a great deal of disdain and Fergus knew that Avila blamed him for putting his daughter in danger. The AG sternly asked Fergus what kind of trouble he had dragged his daughter into. Anna defended her fiance explaining that he and David had been amazing, rescuing her from the strange frog faced men that tried to take her. Raymond’s face drained of blood at that. Fergus and David both noted that he looked absolutely shocked by the description of the man that Anna had unmasked during the fray. He hurriedly made excuses, saying that he had to be at the office to attend to some important matters. He hugged and kissed his daughter and fled the police station in a hurry.

Part 03:

David, Fergus and Anna got on the ferry together. David explained that he had some legal business Vashon Island. He had agreed to give Fergus and Anna a ride to their house in his old, but well maintained Ford Crown Vic. Fergus noticed the four Russian men he had encountered earlier that morning getting off the ferry and going back to Seattle. He supposed their business on the island had been brief.

Anna insisted on cooking the counselor dinner in thanks for his heroic intervention. At first he was going to refuse but the golem knew by looking into the formidable young woman’s eyes she wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. He agreed to join them for dinner after he had attended his business on the island. When Anna gave him the address for the Judd Creek Commune he was not surprised to learn it was the same property he was to inspect that day. It seemed that Providence had once again played a major role in his life and Yahweh had guided him to where he needed to go. What did surprise him was the police car that was parked out front of the house.

Gemtriax Theophania was just finishing her report to the police when the group arrived. Apparently, four large men wearing masks had entered the barn that the Commune had converted into different art studios and wreaked havoc. The thugs had destroyed almost all of Gemtriax’s exquisite pottery without saying a word. Her work was coveted throughout the Puget Sound area and selling it might have generated enough funds to cover the Commune’s money issues. Now? Now the Judd Creek Commune was in dire straits. It seemed as if the reassessment and rezoning of the property and back taxes would be enough to force them out of their home.

To Anna and Fergus’s surprise David explained to Gemtriax why he was there. He represented Channa Rikeman, the owner of the property whom they rented from. He was there to inspect the property to help him prepare his case against the rezoning an reassessment that he planned to file in court. The dozen members of Judd Creek were very accommodating, especially after Anna explained how David had saved her from the kidnappers. David’s time on the property proved invaluable and he was able to find a great deal of information to be used in his filing. Including the fact that a Mr. Watts, who lived across the street, had avoided rezoning despite the fact that he was a professional artist who used a small cottage in his back yard as his studio and main store front. David was also able to obtain records on the house that Gemtriax had kept that would prove quite useful for his case.

Meanwhile, Fergus was leading the cleaning of the studios and despite the terrible circumstances he was able to cheer everyone up with some well placed jokes and his irrepressible charisma. The 14 year old girl, Ellie, who lived in the commune with her single mother, seemed quite infatuated with him and followed him around with stars in her eyes. Luckily for her, Anna found it adorable and handled the “rival” for her fiance’s affections with grace. Fergus had witnessed what happened to women who had made inappropriate advances on “her man” on one other occasion. It hadn’t been very pleasant. He did notice that Ellie seemed quite different from normal girls her age and he suspected that she might be a Changeling herself.

Afternoon bore on to early night and dinner was served. The whole commune got together at a very large table. Anna was true to her word and made a fine Italian meal, with some help from some of the others for the occasion. David was struck by how close knit and familial the gathering was. There was a great deal of laughter and complete respect between the members of Judd Creek. Fergus fit right in. The charismatic young man seemed to effortlessly bring the shy Ellie out of her shell to tell a story about school and he encouraged everyone to share their laughter and life.

It reminded the attorney of the close knit Jewish community that he had been a part of just after WWII. Trauma and loss had cemented unbreakable bonds in the Jewish community after Hitler’s atrocities. It often expressed itself in fine meals with family that wasn’t restricted by blood. His friendship with Fergus was in its infancy but he looked forward to getting to know the young man in the days to come.

After desert Fergus and David’s attention was brought to a story that Gemtriax was sharing. Apparently she had witnessed some geese exhibiting the strangest behavior during her early morning hike at the park. She had come across a small flock of geese that walked round and round in a circle. They made no noise and just seemed to speed up until they were almost running. Suddenly, they turned on each other and ripped each other apart in a frenzy of violence unlike anything she had ever seen in a goose. The thing is they were covered in some black…gunk. She speculated that it must be some pollutants making them crazy. David, with a sense of foreboding, was about to question her about it when the power went out.

Part 04:

Luckily the commune included an able candle maker and the dinner was well illuminated with them so nobody panicked. At least not until they all heard the screaming coming from down the street. Fergus made sure Anna was well tended to before getting a flashlight and cautiously going outside with David by his side. Unfortunately, the flashlight blinked and then died and refused to turn back on. David feared as much and lit a second candle, handing the other to Fergus. Magic often affected technology in unpredictable ways the golem knew. And he feared magic was at work this night. The whole island seemed to be suffering from the black out and the night sky was pitch black due to cloud cover. The two moved down the street and they heard what sounded like some kind of argument.

There was a man’s voice screaming in absolute fury and a quieter voice that seemed to be trying to calm him down. It was hard to say without getting much closer. As they approached the noise Fergus noted the commotion was coming from the Wilkins home. He had met the man briefly along with his wife and two girls right after first moving in to Judd Creek. He seemed like a good, if unremarkable, man with a loving family.

The pair approached the home and something from the house a door down caught the counselor’s eye. David waved Fergus to the front door and quietly moved into the back yard and saw that the Wilkin’s neighbors had obviously been broken into. A side door was busted down and there were trails of blood leading across the back yard to the storage shed behind the Wilkin’s home. What David found in the flickering candle light was a horror show. Four bodies, hacked up and wrapped in plastic, were stacked on top of each other in the cramped shed. There was what looked like a married couple and their child along with an old man, presumably the grandfather. All dead. All covered in a slimy black mold. Frantically David looked around the storage shed for some gasoline or other flammable material. He was instinctively repulsed by the black growth. It felt wrong and the golem wanted to destroy it immediately.

As he neared the front of the WIlkin’s home Fergus could hear the man’s voice much clearer.

“WHAT ARE YOU!?!? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY FAMILY!?!!?” he bellowed over and over clearly on the edge of violence. The hysteria and anger in the voice were unmistakable and highly disturbing.

“Robert, we are right here,” came a woman’s shaky reply.

Fergus could hear the whimpering children and the pleading in the woman’s voice and that spurred the reluctant Guardian of the Seventh Gate into action. Calling out to the man Fergus entered into the wrecked home with his hands up. Mr. Wilkin’s held an old, but obviously well cared for, .38 revolver aimed at his wife and kids. She was doing her best to shield her children from the deranged man.

Fergus asked Mr. Wilkins to calm down and tried to get the man to tell him what was wrong. Wilkins kept the gun on his family explained over his shoulder that when he got home from the store that his wife and child were missing. He tried to find them but discovered only monsters and demons. Like the ones that were right in front of him. He said he had dealt with the infestation of monsters next door only to discover that they had invaded his own home and taken his family. And he was going to get them back no matter how many demons he had to kill!

As the man explained himself he seemed to be becoming more and more worked up and Fergus knew he was about to unload that pistol into his family. Stealing himself the Guardian used his innate talent as a pathfinder and gatekeeper and entered the Nevernever arriving between the deranged psychopath and his family in a blink of an eye. He wrestled the man for his gun and as the two struggled Wilkin’s wife scrambled madly getting her children away from the danger as soon as possible. Fergus was no weakling. His strength is supernaturally enhanced as is his speed and endurance. Yet he could barely contain this average looking man who kept raving about how Fergus’s tattoos were moving. Several shots rang out as the two struggled for control of the pistol. Fergus cried out in agony as the weapon discharged grazing his thigh. He recoiled and Wilkins knocked him away. The Guardian gazed up at the madman knowing he couldn’t stop him in time as he lined up a killing shot aiming the pistol right between his eyes.

David Clay exploded through the wall knocking the pistol away just in time. Wilkins called them both demons and monsters and pulled out a bloody hatchet. He seemed to be able to tell that David was made of clay because he kept screaming about him being a earth monster. The two friends were able to overcome Wilkins after a brief struggle knocking him out. The silence in the aftermath of the battle was only broken by the strangled sobs of Mrs. Wilkins and her two terrified little girls.

END OF CHAPTER 02

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