Exalted - Hunting Beastmen pt 1

This is the story of our Exalted game, told from the point of view of my character, Cathak Taji. Click here for the index.

(The spelling of several names keeps changing. I know the official rule is to pick a spelling and stick with it, but typing from notes where I'm horribly inconsistent makes that harder. I think Riley as spelt in the previous session should have been Reilly really so I've tried to correct throughout, and Rey/Ray is kinda deliberate: the character is always hidden by their power armour, making them unknowable.)

~~~

It was weeks before Kito was better, so I worked like a good soldier as long as they let me see him. A lot of my tasks were scouting missions to learn more about the beastmen: there were far more than anyone had realised. Rey and I returned one evening from a scouting mission where we'd found and killed a hunting party of 4 of the beasts to find Kito had finally been released. He was sound asleep in his bunk; as much as I wanted to, I didn't disturb him, but instead curled up in my own bed. He was awake before me in the morning, and explained he, Rey and I were to be sent on a mission to the north-east, where the beastmen were coming from, and would be out for several months. Captain Reilly filled us in: a recon/scouting mission, with the most urgent thing that we were not to be followed. If we even thought we were being followed, we were not to come back - especially if it was an Anathema. The suits should last as long as they didn't get damaged (we were only authorised to attempt minor repairs), and we'd have rations for 2 weeks: we'd need to hunt and forage. He finished by advising we travelled at night.

The first week, we saw signs of beastmen but nothing definitive - dead end tracks, signs of historic hunts, that kind of thing. The thick snow made our progress slow, and Kito and I found the armour uncomfortable to sleep in (though both reluctant to spend frequent nights out of it). The entire trip, we never Rey except fully-suited.

Maybe 10 days into our mission, Kito found the carnage of a fight - blood and torn tufts of hair (or fur) and a large gash mark in a tree that Rey identified as having been made with a large battleaxe. Piles of snow dislodged from trees had been replaced in the branches. I sketched the scene as Rey reported in to Captain Reilly, saying it looked like 3 beastmen had been killed. The Captain wanted us to stay in this area for a few days to investigate further, see if we could find out what happened.

A little further north, we found a similar site, with one tree fallen and another split lengthways down the middle. The work of the axe was also visible on a cleft rock, beastman remains still embedded. Fired arrows scattered the scene, and I found a sharp, curved dagger with runic carvings I didn't recognise, an elegant yet purposeful piece. I slid it into my pack, figuring I'd find a use for it. Ray spoke then, saying one assailant against 15 beastmen. I saw Kito's eyes flash blue with the sorceror's sight charm, and he said all the blood came from the beastmen, that they'd used the fallen tree as a weapon against the other and still hadn't been able to hurt it. From everything we'd seen between the two sites, we surmised the other was moving in a similar direction to us, and we might be gaining on them. None of us said it, but I think we were all thinking the same thing: Anathema. I wondered what that meant to Ray, assuming the same it meant to most of the Realm.

The third site had been a much bigger battle - Kito guessed 20 to 50, and the more experienced Ray stated 36 had died. It looked like the beastmen were hunting the Anathema, and we were definitely catching up: this site was only about 12 hours old. The sow was scuffed and red with blood and gore, and beastmen bodies torn apart. So much violence... Riley wanted us to continue, but warned us not to engage.

The next day, I spotted massive footprints in the snow, picked out in the evening light. Ray knelt down and studied them, pointing out the sharpness of the prints meant they couldn't be more than a couple of hours old. We hadn't followed them much further before we heard shouting in the distance, and the sound of a tree falling. Kito and I glanced at each other - I saw his eyes flash blue at the same time as mine as we both activated All Encompassing Sorceror's Sight. We crept forward to see a giant in a recently created clearing, surrounded by beastmen. He was definitely Anathema, not just by his height, but also that he was covered in fur and had the head of a snow tiger - or maybe less a man than a snow tiger on its hind legs, wearing straps of armour and swinging an axe taller than Kito or I. The gleam of the axe told me it was moonsilver. My mind raced to recall what I'd been taught of Anathema that may help us now: he seemed to be one of the "frenzied", those that go mad in the moonlight and drank blood fresh from their victim's hearts.

The battle was over too fast for us to see how many beastmen were slain. The tiger-man shrank down to be just a man; the axe shrank with him, to a little shorter than me. He was tall, still, and very muscular, but otherwise wouldn't have stood out - except, you know, for the gore he knelt in to stare at the moon. He wore worn travelling clothes and had slick, black hair with white streaks. We held our breath until he stood once more, and vanished the axe from his hand, and called us over.

Up close, I saw his irises had a reddish tint as though they reflected too much light, while his pupil's reflected none, not even the shine over the eye of a normal person. He asked whether we were the Wild Hunt, accepting it without argument when we said not and saying we could call him Raging Tiger. He explained he was also investigating why there were so many beastmen. His kind manner and friendly attitude soon had him subject to a barrage of questions from me and Kito. He was from an area to the south-west of here, a little north of the camp - which he knew about, and tolerated as long as he left his people alone. His people, in this case, were local tribes under his protection - from the Wyld, from less friendly Anathema, from beastmen. His description of beastmen as "not allowed" intrigued us, and he explained they were a creation, a cross of Nightfang and human. Nightfang?, we wanted to know: a name for what he is. Also Luna's Warriors or the Full Moon. He knew who was creating the beastmen and was pissed off - that they were doing it, and that they were doing it in our presence. At more of our questions, he said he assumed the other Anathema was male, but didn't really know, and demonstrated what he meant by shifting into a woman's form before our eyes. It gave us the final bit of courage we needed to ask about him being a tiger, and he explained he was stronger, faster in that form, and that's what made people afraid.

He considered us an enigma, surprised at our ability to channel essence despite being mortal - even more surprised when he realised we could see with sorceror's sight. That was the first time we heard it was unusual, but we were learning so much we didn't think anything more then. Raging Tiger looked over to Ray, and told us he wasn't Dragon-blooded as we'd assumed, but didn't look Celestial (like the Emissary, and Raging Tiger) - probably a Celestial half-breed. We worried he meant something like the beastmen, so he clarified that they were created from mortals, whereas Ray would have been a natural conception between a human and sufficiently powerful Anathema - neither he nor Ray knew what type of Anathema.

We went back to the topic of the Wild Hunt then. Kito and I only knew the name; he explained they hunt Anathema, and that Anathema - Celestials - are chosen by real gods, dismissing the Dragons with a sniff. He told us our boss has a dangerous reputation - dangerous as in Wild Hunt. It wasn't Mygus he described, but Reilly. I guess it was the questions we'd asked and the concern that then flickered across our faces that led him to realise it, but he knew, then, that we'd been chosen to be Anathema, and we already knew it. He said it's very unusual for us to be marked already: that doesn't happen, then explained there's 300 Lawgivers (like the Emissary), and 300 Luna's Warriors, and it's one in, one out. Only, for some reason, Lawgivers at least aren't being replaced...

It was impossible to judge Ray's reaction to all this through the suit.

We set up camp and trusted Raging Tiger to keep watch as we slept for the day.

My First Shadowrun Campaign - an introduction

While sorting through boxes now we've moved in, I found a load of writing from when I was a teenager. Most of it's angsty poetry and doodles from lessons (I found doodling helped me concentrate and recall, and most of my teachers were sympathetic to that), but I did find a did find 4 and a bit sides of A4 in my tiny, spider's handwriting: the Shadowrun game that was my first exposure to serious roleplay, from Kamaya's first run, to Kamaya and Drazen's initial taste of freedom after being trapped in the Renraku Arcology (a location I'd love to revisit one day, seeing as we didn't find any of its secrets...). Mostly it's the Arcology.

I wrote the notes in one sitting, so they're a bit garbled. Suspect I intended to write more of the game up later, and I didn't bother giving any character description because I knew them all... With that in mind, here's a brief overview of all the characters (as far as I can remember them):

Player Characters

Kamaya/Maya: my character. An elf adept (later shaman-adept, with Cheetah totem), with guns, speedfreakness and monofilament whip. Canadian by birth - half-Native American, half-Japanese (I wasn't familiar with the idea of meta/power gaming back then, so didn't see anything wrong with that, and wanted all the languages!) Parents and elder brother human. Idolised her elder brother, who taught her to shoot and use a whip before becoming addicted to BTL ('Better than Life') chips and eventually dying. She tracked down those who got him addicted and killed them, then came to Seattle to try and rebuild a life. Has a thin scar across her nose from a failure whilst learning to use her whip.

Ryan: male dwarf techie played by a guy called Andy. Had the 'combat paralysis' flaw.

Razer-Boy: male orc played by a guy called Paul. Guns and cyberware. 

Non-Player Characters
Drazen: male human adept. Very similar build to Kamaya.

Tark:male human wolf-totem shaman.

Jaz: female dwarf decker.

I can't remember the rest of the characters mentioned in the notes, even who the other players were! (There was a guy called Dave and I really can't remember his character, and someone called Ian but I think he joined later. Miriam definitely did. Can't remember if Owen played in the game or not).

The GM was a guy called Tom. Paul, Andy and I were the most consistent players - the others would come when they could/wanted to (probably why I can't remember who they were!) The game was 3rd Ed and set in Seattle.

I'll type up my notes over a few posts, fixing spelling/grammar errors but otherwise leaving exactly as they are (which might be interesting: I've not read through them so I don't know if they make sense). 

(I also want to write up Chrissie and Adam's Aberrant Eruption, as that's still not been told, and catch up both Deadlands and Exalted to the current state of play - and at some point start telling you about Mage!)

Sasha 'Retribution' Blake

Sasha Blake was always smart and hardworking, with a passion for science and social justice. To the pride of her parents and with the help and support of her impressed teachers, she had her pick of universities, opting to focus on meteorology and climate change. Her interest in meteorology stemmed from a childhood fancy that the weather tended to reflect her mood and desires. She knew was ridiculous and unscientific to consider this anything more than a coincidence (the law of large numbers showing someone must experience this), but the fascination remained.

It was at university her powers really began to manifest. Political awareness was widely encouraged among the student body, and her charisma and intelligence made her an obvious leader, so people would come to her with their problems - not always a desirable situation to be in, as she had to deal with her own insecurities. Still, she ended up with a group of younger students under her wings. Coming back from a night out, she saw the youngest of these, Dana, being verbally assaulted by a bunch of drunk yobs. As she got closer, they began shoving the frightened girl, who had nowhere to run. As bad as this was, other passers by kept their heads down and hurried by, turning Sasha's fear to fury. With a yell, a fierce gale blew from around her and threw the yobs against the other wall. Dana ran to her friend, and the two fled to Sasha's houseshare.

After that, she began to experiment with her powers, realising she could manipulate the temperature and moisture content of the air to genuinely control the weather, eventually developing enough control to be able to mimic flight. More curiously, she could apply similar manipulation to people, enabling her to pull strength from them into herself - or the opposite. As superheroes and metahumans began to make the news, she understood what was happening with her, and discovered she could 'borrow' powers from others in a similar manner to her ability to transfer strength/stamina from normal humans.

She finished her course, top of the class: enhanced intelligence and perception had come as she'd developed her other powers. As Sasha, she works as a weather and climate research scientist, and presents the weather on her local news station. It was Dana who gave her the name 'Retribution', and it's under this name she defends the weak, rescues the trapped, and fights for justice.

~~~

Model: Misha B. Photos used with kind permission.

Shout Out for Selfies

I know they're considered uncool by many, but I have a bit of a soft spot for selfies. I used to buy into the whole shallow egocentricity myth, but then read an article talking about the fact they're just modern portraits, and another about the way they allow especially teenage girls to control the way they're presented. After that, I went back to taking them again, with renewed pleasure.

I enjoyed using a selfie to illustrate my new Mage character, Ragna. It's something I've wanted to do for characters in the past. Reckon I could end up spending a fortune on costume stuff to help with that! I keep meaning to talk to friends who're good at photography and costumery/make up/hair to help me out, but going a bit shy about it.

There's a fancy dress shop in town that sell some decent wigs for not too much (though I don't have much of a frame of reference), and I have just about enough photoshop skill to adjust eye colour, but that only works for my characters that have my basic skin colour, body type and face shape. Svetlana is the character who looks most like me, just with grey eyes rather than blue, honey-gold hair with a perfect wave (controlled by prestidigitation), and, you know, being a half-elf and all. Ragna works quite well, and I could probably manage Chrissie with a wig (or pair of wigs, for superhero mode vs mortal mode), and there's a load of characters I've either not played in a very long time or not played at all that I could probably manage. 

There's also a load I can't. I don't mind gender-bending, and I don't mind changing my skin colour to be something non-human, but I'm not comfortable with the idea of trying to pretend to be a different race (weirdly enough), and there's some who're the wrong body shape for me. And this is where (I'm hoping!) you guys will come in! If you read through the character concepts (also linked above) and spot one you'd like to help me out with, or if I create one in the future that catches your eye, I'd love it if you'd share a selfie I could use to illustrate the character. I'm not sure if you can add images to comments, in which case you may need to tag me on G+ (I think most of you use G+).

I have no idea if this is a weird thing to ask for or not, but I really like the idea of illustrating my characters with photos, and I'd rather use photos willingly offered! Also, if you go through the list there's several where I haven't given a physical description, or only a really vague one, so even if there's no one described in the way you think of yourself, if you want to join in feel free to use one of those characters - or tell me what you're thinking, if you'd like to collaborate on something.

(I drafted this the other day and forgot to hit 'publish', then Misha B of Black Girl Gameworks shared a stunning selfie I wanted to turn into a superhero and was about to write that up when I realised this hadn't gone live. Feels serendipitous. I'll write up Retribution now, for her to go live later.)

(Just remembered I didn't publish it because I hadn't brushed my hair and was going to illustrate with a selfie. Haven't brushed my hair yet today, either, so here's a random circus photo.)

It's me, sitting sideways in a very low hoop, smiling, showing off my burgeoning bump

 

Adventures in Moving - part 2

Sorry for the complete lack of anything for a while! Have not abandoned this blog, just busy with real life stuff and awaiting a replacement laptop. Has just arrived and I'm very excited - so shiny!

We're pretty much completely settled in now - Cat has several favourite spots to sit, and all except 2 rooms are unpacked. One of our friends is bringing by some extra bookshelves, which should mean we can finish off one of those rooms; the other is a mix of my clothes that won't fit in the wardrobe until we put up another rail (Husbit's working on it - he's learning DIY and everything!), and hobby stuff. My yarn is neatly tucked away, but the various Blood Bowl teams and old GW Fantasy/Gothic/Epic armies we own haven't yet found a satisfactory home. We want to turn that room into a decent guest room, so we need to get on it.

Games on shelves, and boxes of books

The garden looks amazing. Husbit's mum has a friend who's a gardener, so between the two of them they've transformed it! Decking and fencing have been treated, the barbecue pit cleaned and new grates purchased, a raised veg patch and compost heap built, and new turf laid.

Husbit strimming the old, lumpy lawn

Husbit and I need to clear the top layer of rubbish soil from the bed at the side of the lawn, and stick that in the veg box, then get some compost in there and finish with some top soil, which we'll also add to the bed. It's all new to both of us, so we're kinda enjoying it, but a little anxious that it's more work than we're going to want to do (I think it'll be fine - I keep hearing how addictive gardening can be, and I love Gardeners' Question Time on Radio 4). The bed is going to have a mix of herbs and shrubs such as ferns; the veg box will definitely have raspberries and then I'll see how I go; and I recently learnt that you can grow fruit trees in pots, so that's something we both want to try. 

Location-wise, it's really convenient for me for work, but my job ends in a year when the department closes, and it's a lot more awkward for Husbit. We're also further from a lot of our friends than we'd like - but closer to others. We're no longer a 10/15min walk from the beach - far enough we'd need to cycle or drive - but we're within walking distance of the heaths and woodlands I grew up in, and our nearest beach is stunning. Nearest shops are about the same distance, but close earlier and are up a steep hill. (Actually, there are nearer shops, but for value and choice you need to walk a little further.) The neighbourhood is really nice, though. It's the area near where I grew up that had a really rough reputation, that even then it didn't entirely deserve any more. We love how friendly most of the neighbours are, and how quiet the roads. There's a little play park within spitting distance (and the big park I spent a lot of time in isn't much further, though you have to cross a main road). The nearest Pokestop is a bit of a trek now, but that's ok.

The really exciting bit of moving news is that my plan to fall pregnant ASAP worked: baby is due a week or so before Christmas (and I've left this to the end so if you're not interested you can skip it, and there's a tag "parenting while geek" you can ignorein future). Their room is fairly well organised - the previous owners left some furniture, some of which will go in the attic for now, but will be useful again when the child is... well, a child rather than a baby, and we've been offered cots and cribs and a changing table so that feels good.

12 week scan photot - there are fingers!

I found the first trimester quite hard - to begin with, I enjoyed it anyway because I was so excited, but the constant aches and nausea and exhaustion wore me down. Fortunately, I stopped feeling quite so ill by about week 10 (though would still throw up if I drank cold water for a few weeks. Cold sugary drinks and tap water - which was verging tepid due to the rising temperature - were fine), and while I'm still tired and still have aches in weird places, I'm not nearly as tired as was. I'm at a point where I feel a lot of little wriggles and that's creepy and weird and exciting. Can't wait to meet the wriggle monster! Nicknamed "Ziggy" because it sounds a bit like zygote and is nicely gender neutral. It looks like we've decided on a girl's name, and the possible list for boys is now quite short.

I was really surprised and delighted how excited my midwife was about me doing aerial - I was expecting to be told "no no no no no!" because of the fall etc, although I've taken steps to protect there. She thought it sounded great, because it's important to exercise throughout pregnancy and I clearly enjoy it. She says also because it works on your abs, it should provide benefit when I'm in labour - and she could tell I have good abs, because of the shape of my bump. Kinda explains why all the other circus mums had the neatest bumps I'd seen! Mine arrived really quickly, especially considering this is my first.

The current UK heatwave is killing me. I've been signed off for 2 weeks (so the timing of the arrival of the shiny new laptop was fortuitous!) to help me cope. I'd be struggling anyway, because this weather is the most consistent trigger I know for my fibromyalgia symptoms (which seem to be reduced by the pregnancy, although baby brain and fibro fog are basically the same thing, so that's been interesting).

Anyway, I need to go get some sleep for a bit. Can feel my body crashing. I'll post now and try to remember to come back later and add some images. (Woo, I remembered!)

Meet My Character - Dawn's Dancing Butterfly, Cathak Taji

First, a quick apology for how quite I've been of late! Still settling into the new place, have been extremely tired, and then Husbit accidentally poured orange juice on my laptop which seems to have killed it, which has all combined to slow down my post rate (I'm currently borrowing his tablet, which has its own little keyboard and isn't bad, but is smaller than I like to use for this).

Today's post is in response to a challenge Mark Knights of RPG Knights put up in the G+ Tabletop Roleplaying Games community, asking us to write a short piece about one of our favourite characters. I thought I'd talk about my Exalted character, Taji.

Where to start with Cathak Taji? She's the youngest of 6 children (7, with the half-brother she's recently learnt about), and lived as a peasant in rural Creation until the night before her 8th birthday, when her home was destroyed and she and her twin brother, Cathak Kito, escaped and fled to Thorns. From there, they discovered they were actually the youngest descendants of the head of House Cathak, and spent the next several years raised as young Dynasts. Instead of becoming good little Dragonbloods, though, they became Solar Exalts, Kito Dawn caste and Taji Eclipse. If you want to learn more about their adventures, check out the story index.

The characters I normally enjoy playing are compassionate and gregarious. With Taji, I wanted to challenge myself so wrote someone who is only averagely compassionate, who isn't afraid to take charge (something that I find frightening), and who can talk her way out of (or into) most situations (something I find hard in games, because I mentally freeze). Playing with a sympathetic group means I've grown in confidence and started to overcome those difficulties. I find her lower compassionate difficult at times, but her confidence makes her an absolute joy to play. I particularly enjoy those moments when something knocks that confidence - experiencing her struggle to come to terms with it and the rebuild to extreme cockiness is engaging. I love a bit of emotional bleed!

I think part of why I enjoy playing her so much is that I have played her from the days leading up to her 8th birthday to where she is now, in her early 20's. That was a lot of time to get into the head of the character, and really see how she became who she is. I know it isn't for everyone, but I (and I think Kito's player) have got a real kick out of it.

I love the contrast between her and her brother. Kito sees the best in others, but is a much tougher fighter. Taji is more cynical (her ability to manipulate people means she's inclinded to believe everyone's at it), but she has utter faith in her indestructibility, which often leads to Kito nearly getting killed - because her faith comes from the fact that her brother has always stepped in to save her. She doesn't realise the danger she puts herself in and doesn't notice how much he does for her. She's quite selfish, really. They've surrounded themselves with powerful friends, and Kito's recently realised that some of them, at least, are using the twins for their own purposes. Taji was shocked he didn't already know this; in her mind she's using them right back, and believes she isn't beyond discarding friendships that no longer benefit her (I think she'll find she's wrong about that).

And this is it. Because Taji is so different to the characters I normally love to play, and so far from my ideal image of myself, I don't mind when things don't go her way, and can enjoy the process of her learning from that. I hope to take that experience with me when I go back to other beloved characters where I take it more personally.

Deadlands - The 37th Chamber

This is a chapter in our Deadlands game, told from the perspective of my character, Solomon Blackbird. For the story so far, check out the index.

~~~

Unsure where to go next, we return to Gamorrah - Doomtown - and moor up. Carson gets Tesla's map out from where he'd hidden it after we managed to pass it to him while we were kidnapped and we pore over it, spotting a mark that looks a lot glyph above Shannonsburg and near something called "The 37th Chamber". Chin's eyes widen and he grins, then gabbles that it's a Shaolin temple, that he's always wanted to visit, that it's where Chin Hseuh Yung graduated - the guy who won the Kumite with such disdain - and also someone called Kuau Yau that our Chin is evidently impressed by. Tesla paws through his guidebook and tells us that, despite being in the north, Shannonsberg is a Confederate town. More importantly, it's a large port city, so probably won't have the inflation issues of the rest of California. There's things we need.

It's Tesla who notices me stumble as we walk from the table. I can't seem to find the rhythm of walking with the boat that had come so naturally to me to begin with. I feel stiff and ungainly, frustrated by it, and Tesla's noticed. He catches my arm and offers to help. In a fit of madness, I agree. He grabs a few bits from his room and gets me to follow him to shore - I balk when I spot those pylons of his slung over his shoulder, and memories of seeing him standing on a beach fusing metal plates to his flesh almost have me changing my mind when I trip and fall on my face.

He sticks a row of small metal rods along either side of my spine, then makes me stand between the pylons. He fiddles with them for around an hour until a storm has gathered. Lightning strikes and courses through me. It's exhilerating and terrifying and, after, I feel better. Not entirely back to myself, but a lot better than I have in a while.

In the morning, we head to Shan Fan and I sing of how we defeated the Whateleys. We look out a copy of the Tombstone Epitaph and find an alert from Lacey; rumours of new scientists and martial artists in conflict near Shannonsberg. It's marked 'Good Intentions' so we should investigate while we're there.

Takes about 3 days to reach, blessedly uneventful. There's several floating forts in the harbour - the flagship, CSS Leviathan, makes the Abysmal look tiny and underarmed. The others... I spot Ouroboros, Wyrm, Wontley and Grendel. They're less impressive, but still imposing. They're acting as coastguard for the busy port.

We moor up, and everything's so peaceful here. Calm and easy and so unlike the rest of California. We find a bathhouse and have actual baths and feel clean. People aren't suspicious dealing with us, but cheerful and friendly.  We eat, then go shopping - fresh clothes, and a few bits for the boat. We spend a few days fitting better beds, tidying, repainting, which means we also start to get to know a few people in the boats around us, and hear more about the conflict Lacey highlighted. Various family-run farms in the area have reported kung fu practitioners coming in and trashing their ghost rock implements.

Tesla comes to us one evening, to say a scientist, Dr Merrill Pond, has sought him out for our assistance; his farm hasn't been attacked yet, and he's worried it will be soon. His home's at Elspeth Town, about a day's travel west. Tesla arranges for us all to meet the scientist and... it doesn't go well. Tesla, as usual, tries to push the guy for more payment, while Carson seems reluctant to help at all, and Chin shows a degree of tribalism in his support for the martial artists I hadn't expected from him, given how he seemed to have such a bad reputation with the martial artists of his hometown. I try to get more information so we can help out; Pond doesn't have much more but suggests we could try to find the 37th Chamber and talk to them. He describes it as being in the desert, "there, but not there"; people go looking for the temple but never find it. Other people, the temple finds them. He then loses patience with the bickering and reticence and walks out.

It's frustrating. I'm not used to Carson not wanting to save everyone and I feel like we're letting Lacey down. Chin has no interest in helping the scientists, but does want to see the Chamber. Carson sighs, but accepts we're staying for a bit: he explains he partly wants both sides of this story before carrying on, but (as the one who has bled on the glyphs and must sacrifice himself to defeat Grimme) he's feeling the pressure of time more than the rest of us and wants to make sure we're ready by our August deadline. His attitude towards Dr  Pond makes sense now, but I somehow I still feel frustrated with how the meeting went.

We set out in the morning, walking in our best guess of the right direction. It's hot. We brought plenty of water, but despite the fact food in Shannonsberg is so much cheaper than anywhere else we've seen in California - more like prices back east - we still couldn't buy enough to truly satisfy our hunger as we walk.

There's a small chiming noise, quiet enough I think I've imagined it at first, but it keeps repeating and I notice the others looking round when it does. Around noon, we find the source: a Shaolin-style monk sitting cross-legged and chiming tiny cymbals on her fingers. Deep in meditation, she ignores our questions and presence, so we carry on.

An hour or so deeper into the desert, scuffed footsteps overlay the quieting rhythmic "ching" of the cymbals: we're being followed. Carson fade away to investigate while Chin, Carson and I continue until on until we're attacked by 6 men and 2 ogres in Kang's colours. I beg them to stop, to leave us alone, but they keep fighting us until I draw my bowie knife and slash wildly at one. To my horror, he falls to the floor clutching a gaping wound in his gut. I back off, shaking, and pain explodes in my head and it all fades to black.

When I come round, Tesla explains I was hit by an invisible ogre; Carson questioned the survivors (which, Tesla reassures me, includes the man I slashed) while I was out: they'd realised we were heading for the 37th Chamber, same as them, so they'd figured they'd capture us and find out from us where it is. He'd then sent them back to Shannonsberg, making it clear to them they weren't follow us further. We start walking again.

We find another chiming monk as dusk falls, so make camp nearby. He's gone before we go to sleep, but Carson sees him as he returns in the morning, so we follow that path. There's a trail of monks we can follow: as the chimes of one fade behind us, we can hear the next ahead. It's hot and dry and there's no real landmarks and I think we're all starting to feel a little delirious as evening starts to touch the sky - which is when we spot a lake in the distance, with buildings all around. We hurry to the gate in the surrounding wall, which opens as we arrive to reveal Chin Hseuh Wong and an ugly woman wearing a look of sneering contempt equal to her compatriot's - this is Kuay Yau.

Wong asks why we're there, and Carson and Chin explain between them that we're looking for the glyphs. Seeing an apparent lack of interest, Carson adds about the altercation with Kang's men, but Wong wants to know why we're interested in the glyphs. Carson explains about needing to find them to stop Grimme - which worries me, these aren't Explorers, I don't know if we can trust them. Perhaps sensing my concern, he doesn't give more details, and my silent prayer is answered when Wong doesn't ask further.

"Grimme isn't our concern. We're interested in ghost rock, and those who claim to be able to harness it." Then interrupts Carson as he starts trying to explain the danger Grimme poses. "He's an opportunist. Getting rid of ghost rock will reduce his power." (Is that true, or are they just fanatics? The way it screams, I couldn't say.) They invite us in, then, but state no technology can enter - and that includes the stuff Tesla embedded in me, which hurts. Fortunately, Tesla's not prepared to be parted from his stuff so I have company - albeit distracted company - as we pass the night outside the walls. A monk does bring us some food, at least.

The sunrise wakes us, but the gates remain closed. Tesla repairs Carson's armour while I tune my guitar, then I practice a few songs while he tinkers with whatever gadget's caught his eye next. I'm starting to wonder if we should be getting worried when the gates finally swing open. Carson and Chin are a little way inside with their backs to us, talking to Wong and Yau. I spot a flash of movement and react in time to catch what Wong throws towards us: Carson's cards. I frown slightly and look up to see Carson and Chin walking to us, looking dejected. The gates swing closed behind them. I hand back his cards.

The monks won't help.