World Moved On (IC): Chapter 4, New York

[EnigmaticOne]

Brian Wilhelm
HP: 1

Brian quietly took it over and nodded. "Sure. Please keep quiet if you don't have any questions during the interview." After making sure everyone understood, he turned it on and began speaking. "This is Agent Brian Wilhelm, interviewing Pablo Coblain, a can-toi who has left the Crimson King's forces and sworn to fight against them now. Agents Klaus, Heilen, and the ka-tet Pablo is part of are also present. The time is 1:28 PM, October 1st, 2012. For the sake of background, Pablo, can you tell us how you came to switch sides?"

[McGuffin]

Russ
HP: 1 LP: 1 Cnd: Fine

Russ grinned, miming zipping his mouth shut and then dug into another sandwich as he leaned back, settling in to follow the conversation.

[RedBstrd]

GM Post:

Pablo takes off his "thinking cap" shielding his thoughts and hands it to Myron. He then retells his story: "Before encountering my dinh and compatriots, I was under the orders of a taheen. He had us tracking down people, keeping an eye out. First we were in Europe, England mostly but also all around the Alps. Then we came back here, to New York. Along with me were Sammy Dean and Brando Capone, two other low men. We came back because our overseer got antsy over a cop. He was dirty and a bit of a thug himself, but he was a gunslinger. Not trained by a master or one of yours, but a real natural. The problem was, he was hunting after a serial killer." Pablo pauses and glances from face to face of the agents, making sure everyone was following along. "The killer was a real monster, evil to the core. You know us, trying to be like men? Well, not like this man. He was a Centurion of the Crimson King, nothing but madness, hate, and cruelty all mixed together. Only Brando could aspire to be something like him."

Catching himself on a tangent, he reorients his focus. "The monster was a collector, getting people who had a touch of talent - telepathy, ESP, that kind of stuff. Women, children, grown men, it didn't matter to him. He'd snatch them up and get to work, terrifying them. Some would unlock their minds under his cruel tutelage but most would just break and then he'd squeeze the life out of them with his bare hands. For those that were special enough to escape the fate, well, he brought them over to Devar Toi... to be trained to break the beams." Pablo sighs and then continues: "The cop, being a natural, he took down the monster, knocked him out, was going to arrest him. But he didn't expect us to be there. Sammy went at him and got knocked around. Brando hit the cop with his pistol, had him cowering on the ground. That's when it happened. That's when everything changed."

"The cop, he tried to talk Brando down, telling him he couldn't kill him, that he couldn't do this. Brando shot him in the face. For me, the words of the gunslinger - untrained though he was - were true. He spoke with the voice of Eld. His words were pure truth and I had to listen: I couldn't do that any longer. My loyalty to the Enemy was broken and it just was a matter of finding a way out of the grasp of Brando and Sammy. When the taheen sent us to Quarzhasaat under the Man In Black's supervision to find the potential Breaker with them," he indicates the ka-tet, "I had my chance. I warned Owen, Russ, and Jhondak about the trap they were in, and then swore myself to my father, Owen."

[EnigmaticOne]

Brian Wilhelm
HP: 1

Brian paused, feeling the emotion of that story and trying to think about this monster. Breaking psychics into threats... "How would you describe this Centurion? Appearance, name, tactics, abilities?"

[RedBstrd]

GM Post:

Pablo thinks for a second. "Ted Goertz. His name was Ted Goertz. He's a large man, well-muscled. He can disable people with his bare hands and despite his size, he's quick, sneaky, and clever. I never saw him hunt except when he fought the cop. Assume that he's capable of killing any man he gets his hands on, definitely not someone to be faced alone." Trying to figure out a proper parallel, he suggests: "Ever seen Red Dragon? He's like that, except for sinfully ugly."

[EnigmaticOne]

Brian Wilhelm
HP: 1

"I see." Brian mused, "Also, I take back what I said about about quiet, If the ka-tet present has questions, feel free to ask. First though, where is Devar Toi?"

[RedBstrd]

GM Post:

"Devar Toi, is in End-World, near the Thunderclap." Realizing that few present besides Owen speak the High Speech, he explains further: "Devar Toi means 'blue heaven.' It's a camp that the Enemy uses for training Breakers. It is crawling with my kind and the taheen too."

At this point, Heilen stops pressing buttons on her smart phone and informs her fellow agents, "It looks like this Moorcock guy was in England when the Red were trying to capture him, then he was here in New York doing some business. As far as I can tell, now he's settled back into his home in Texas."

[Shock]

Jhondak
HP: 5

Jhondak finished his sandwich and tore open a small bag of chips, wondering how the metallic paper had been created. He leaned over to talk to Russ without disrupting the interview. He'd heard Pablo's story before but none of the other names or places had any meaning to him. "How much of this do you follow? I am completely lost."

[Lord Fell]

Myron Frost

Conscious of Agent Klaus' disappointment with his reaction to this deli food, Myron has managed to coax himself to eat a bite. It wasn't totally vile. If he paced himself, he might even be able to finish it.

Once there is a good moment to speak, he does so. "Is this Ted Goertz still active? If this is his domain, we should End him, in the service of Law."

[RedBstrd]

GM Post:

Hemingway parrots Myron, repeating something that sounds almost like something resembling "en' 'im." Ignoring the furrier of the two mammals speaking, Pablo nods to the sorcerer and answers somberly. "Yes, I believe the devil still lives."

[EnigmaticOne]

Brian Wilhelm
HP: 1

Brian looked over to Heilen carefully. "I don't suppose anyone linked to Mr. Moorcock is missing at all?" The mention of Ted Goertz and killing him... did have an appeal. Aside from principle, he did remind Brian of other human monsters that preyed on people.

[McGuffin]

Russ
HP: 1 LP: 1 Cnd: Fine

Russ smiled wryly at Jhondak, reaching over to pilfer some of the man's chips. "I'm following along fine enough, but then again most of this is familiar turf to me. Europe's another continent across the sea to the East and England is it's Westernmost country, on an island separate from the mainland."

The gambler took a moment to eat some chips, then spun his hand in a circle to indicate the city around them. "This used to be England's colony long ago, before they declared their independence. Now the United States has outgrown it's old man."

Russ stopped his impromptu Geography/History lesson when the talk turned to Ted Goertz, ending him and lastly Moorcock. "Don't suppose you could find out what Moorcock was in town for? Might be worth knowing. Whether we pursue that or this Goertz character I'd ask for someone to accompany us." He glanced in Brian's direction at this. "This place may be mostly like my world but getting ourselves killed over something easily avoidable seems stupid."

[RedBstrd]

GM Post:

Heilen excuses herself from the interview. "I'll look into Mr. Moorcock and his affairs further. From what I can tell, he was in town to meet with a publisher. Expect a report shortly with whatever I can learn." She then leaves the conference room.

[RedBstrd]

GM Post:

Over the course of the following few minutes, Brian continues presenting questions to Pablo. Much of what he asks concerns the work of Sombra, its assets, and weaknesses. When Brian finally shuts off the tape recorder and Klaus exits the room, the ka-tet has a short list of leads. First, they know that traveling to New York was King Grome's plan for them. Without knowing more, though, they can't say whether coming to the city was just the first important step on a path or if it was the site of a portal further down the rabbit hole. Second, they know that the Man in Black dragged the Beast to End World to train him and force him to help break the beams of the Tower. Yet again, finding a means to deal with this problem at present is somewhat elusive. Third, the Crimson King has a Centurion harvesting those strong with the Touch, like the Beast, as breakers. Fourth, the Red has been focusing their efforts on tracking down a writer named Michael Moorcock in Texas.

For the moment, it seems, the ka-tet has once again found itself working to protect the Tower rather than questing for its discovery.

[Shock]

Jhondak
HP: 5

When the questioning died down, Jhondak offered an opinion. "I can only say that Grome wants us to go to Tanelorn and travel to New York was the means to find it. He did not say that the door itself was in New York. With nothing else to follow, this Moorcock seems like a man we should seek."

"Perhaps his writing is divinely influenced."