Strange Bedfellows

Desperate for help, Brooke approaches Father Kreshnik Ymeri, a preacher of the Mortal God Church. Father Ymeri has a reputation of being a hard, unforgiving man belonging to the Unfair Universe faction of the church, but she has no one else to turn to. Sobbing, she explains her situation to the Father, who sits back and takes her story in without emotion. The wheels in his mind start spinning – in the last several months a lot more people than usual have gone missing in Bankside. Some of their bodies have been found in the canals twisted and deformed.

Kreshnik quietly agrees to help determine the fate of Brook’s husband and sends her on her way. Suspecting that this will not be simple, he decides to call in some backup. He asks Viktor Kobb – a zealous follower of his teachings – to join him, as well as a Fulgurator by the name of Josiah Hall who has been listening to his sermons for some time. Josiah has agreed to come out of some strange search for redemption. Realizing that they might need more muscle, Viktor heads home to Long Pond to enlist the aid of a rather mercenary acquaintance of his – Jonas Rohm. Jonas has recently taken up a job as a bodyguard to one Firene Omberwell, but her money is fast running out. He agrees to join up if he’s paid well (Josiah offers Jonas his share) and because she has little chance on her own, Firene follows along.

The motley gang heads to the western side of Bankside, to the Fat Fish Breeding Pond where Myles worked and was last seen. The Banksiders are naturally distrustful of outsiders, and the Foreman makes that abundantly clear when Josiah questions her about Myles. She doesn’t respond any better to Viktor, but upon noticing Kreshnik she calms down visibly and tells him that Myles hasn’t been around for a week and if they do find him they can tell him he’s fired. She points over in the corner at a skinny man dumping food into one of the ponds, explaining that Rolf was the last one to see him.

Already on edge, Jonas is over in a flash and has Rolf by the collar with a knife at his throat, interrogating the now terrified man. Kreshnik and Viktor have to talk very quickly to settle him down, as the other workers are only a step away from inflicting mob justice upon the ghostfighter.

In fear of his life, Rolf tells the crew that the last time he saw Myles was a week earlier. They had left work and stopped by a local watering hole – The Mudlark’s Fish – for a few drinks. Rolf explains that he stumbled home some time later, and that he doesn’t recall what happened to Myles. Kreshnik believes him.

Disturbed by Jonas’ instability, Viktor sends him on ahead to the ‘Fish to search for witnesses, in hopes that Jonas will pick a fight with the wrong person or people. Jonas goes off with Firene in tow, but manages to keep a (relatively) civil tongue in his mouth at the bar - even when a drunken patron tries to buy sex from Firene.

Soon enough Kreshnik arrives with the rest of his hires. In short order, they are able to learn that Rolf and Myles showed up after work and started drinking. A couple of others (not regulars, but still locals) started drinking with them. Some time after that Myles left with the two strangers and Rolf left some time after that.

Confronted by this information, Kreshnik goes outside to ask some of the more sober locals if they recall anything. In short order he notices another sound slowly drowning out the dull roar of The City – an inhuman roaring, like some bestial tyrant in torment. Concerned, he retrieves his hired muscle from the bar. The roar gets closer, and they can see a visible line of destruction as whatever it is destroys shanties in a narrow swath of devastation. People can be seen fleeing from it, although Kreshnik and his group are still not sure what it is.

With a crash, the thing breaks through a small flimsy shack, not even noticing its collapse. It’s humanoid, but barely seems human. Naked and standing hunched over, it’s body completely covered with thickly matted hair, it’s mad eyes are sunken deep into its skull and barely seem conscious of it’s surroundings. One brave – or foolhardy – soul throws himself at the tyrant. It snarls and grabs the man by his throat with one hand. Grossly disproportional muscles bulge and the tyrant rips the man’s arm clean off.

Shock prevents the group from acting for only a moment. In one motion Jonas draws his knife and throws himself at the beast, Viktor only a fraction of a second behind. It makes no effort to avoid their attack, but their slashes barely cut the thick hide of the tyrant, however, and it responds by clubbing Jonas about the head. Worried about hitting their comrades, Kreshnik and Josiah level their pistols at the tyrant and take careful aim. Firene looks around for a weapon.

With a roar, the thing grabs Jonas by the arms and starts slowly tearing him in two. Loud pops signal his arms being dislocated and he does even stop when Viktor slices deeply into the creature’s arm. Hearing Kreshnik’s cries for help, another man comes out from behind cover and charges the beast, but in its rage it fails to even notice him.

Desperate, Firene grabs a chunk of stone and hurls it with all her might at the tyrant. The stone strikes it in the temple, and it roars, throwing Jonas at Firene. The two go down in a heap. His target now a somewhat clearer shot, Josiah takes a breath and squeezes the trigger on his pistol. The bullet impacts the creature’s skull, rocking it back but not stopping it. It turns it’s attention to Josiah, dark ichor slowly dripping down its face. It takes one more step when Kreshnik fires. His bullet is barely an inch lower, penetrating the creature’s left eye. With a jerk, the tyrant collapses.

Carefully, Viktor moves in to ensure that the tyrant is dead. As he does he notices something on the creatures arm. With a sick feeling in his stomach he compares the body to Kreshnk’s lithograph. The mark on the arm is obscured by the creature’s hair but there can be no mistake. It matches the birthmark on Myles arm, clearly visible in the lithograph.

As Jonas struggles to re-locate his arms in their sockets the rest of the group decides on a plan of action. They cut the scrap of flesh off of Myles’ arm as proof of identity and dump the body into the canal. Then they head down the path of carnage that Myles left.

For a period, it seems that a blind man could follow the trail. Suddenly, however, it ends. They find a very frightened child hiding in some smashed crates. The kid’s disposition isn’t helped by Jonas’ questioning, and all that they can get out of the child is that three men dropped Myles off and left. Josaih gives the child money for train fare and tells the kid to find a friend of his (“Uri”) with the transit militia.

It takes a great deal of time to pick up the trail again, but with much back-tracking they manage to eventually trace it back to a large stone building on the edge of the Canal. All windows on the lower levels have been covered with sheet metal. Kreshnik knows the reputation of the building – it contains several different businesses, all of them at least somewhat suspect. One of the most infamous businesses in the building is that of “Doctor” Leon Drake, a former fish breeder and now back alley biosci-modifier of ill repute. The trail leads to his office.

Jimmying the lock to the Doctor’s office is no difficult task, and the door opens to a small, dingy waiting room. A copy of the Mire’s End Tribune, several years out of date, details how a recent skirmish between the company of Arclight and the Macrocorporation Hirplakar has escalated into a full scale “Hundred Block War”. There is a wide doorway in the wall with a filthy sheet hanging across it. A silhouette can be seen in the other room. Kreshnik orders the Doctor to come out but the silhouette simply motions for the group to come in.

The group heads in while Josiah guards the main door. Mere moments before pushing aside the curtain, Kreshnik notices a flash of movement and jumps back, barely avoiding a vicious knifing from a thug hiding around the corner. A second thug appears from the other side and they try to kill the investigators.

The fight is quick and brutal. In the end, the thugs lie bleeding and unconscious on the floor. Kreshnik storms into the operating room and grabs the Doctor and starts interrogating him, Jonas and Viktor close on his heels. The operating room, in stark contrast to the rest of the building, is in immaculate and possessing a remarkable amount of high-tech medical supplies. On the far wall are several lithographs of various people, with notes underneath each one. Myles in listed as “Subject #18”.

Josiah turns to close the door and is confronted by a large man, his face obscured by a cloth mask. Before he can do anything the figure kicks him in the abdomen, sending him back into the room. He follows it up by throwing two small devices, and slamming the door shut. A rough scraping can be heard on the other side. A moment later the two devices explode, and the “reception area” is bathed in flames.

As the flames make their way across the room, everyone reacts differently: Kreshnik demands to know of a back door from the Doctor, who only babbles and points to a large refrigeration unit in the back wall. Viktor dashes over to the lithographs and starts grabbing them and the notes to try to save some evidence. Josiah, seeing the compressed oxygen tanks near the front of the operating room demands that everybody help move them into the refrigeration unit to keep them from exploding. Viktor adamantly refuses, insisting that there won’t be room. Josiah draws his gun and points it at Viktor, demanding that he move them.

An inferno building around them, both men refuse to back down. Sweat builds on their brows from the heat and the stress as each waits for the other to move. The situation is temporarily resolved when Kreshnik wrenches open the refrigeration unit. It’s small, but has an air duct leading outside the building. If they are able to get the chemicals, blood packs, and shelves out they may be able to fit in it…

Working quickly, they toss everything out onto the floor. The flames lick the walls inside the operating room, and are getting dangerously close to the air tanks. Firene goes in first, followed by Jonas, and Viktor. Josiah needs to double over to get his 6’7” frame in but fits – barely. Kreshnik is barely able to squeeze himself in as the Doctor pleads for them to help him. Grimly, Kreshnik shoves the doctor away and closes the door.

In the darkness of the fridge, the seconds seem like hours. The minutes like days. Despite the fresh, cool, air being pumped in it is difficult to breath. The air gets warmer from both the bodyheat and the raging inferno. The Doctor pounds on the door, pleading and trying to get in, but Kreshnik holds the door shut with all his strength. They hear him starting to scream in pain as he catches fire, and a muffled explosion shakes the door. His screams and pounding become more frantic and then quickly slow and finally stop.

The door gets hotter, and smoke starts drifting in around the edges where the seal is failing…