Explanation of this Shadow Cult Business

[Gotham Witch]

I promised a few people I'd illuminate all you folks on some stuff that happened near the end of last year.

As some of you are aware, there were some rumblings of a cult of shadow-possessed lunatics. Contact was originally made late in 2011 in New York, but as it quickly turned out, they were present in nearly every time zone on the planet.

I was originally conflicted on how I was going to broach this - or whether I was going to broach it at all. I concluded it wasn't fair to keep this in the dark. Enough people put their lives on the line - some of which are no longer with us - that keeping this quiet would do them a disservice. As well, maybe something here will be of use to someone someday. That said, how much to describe and elaborate on was also a challenge to determine - it's difficult to compile months of work into a thread's worth of posts. Nonetheless, I'll cover the highlights of what happened, and others there can chime in as they see fit.



I actually had two continental run ins with the shadow cult - Mexico, as noted above (which I shall elaborate more upon later), and Germany, earlier last year. The latter was accidental - I was doing research on some family (I had an ancestor that spent time in Swabia - now Baden-Wuerttemberg) that led me to an old town in the southern edge of the Black Forest.

The locals were... less than friendly towards us. Jinx and I got a rude reception. originally we assumed it was because I don't speak Swabian (which I'm still not convinced is German). After explaining what I was researching, there were some reluctant references towards an old castle a few miles away into the Forest, as well as warnings to be careful - something about 'old ghosts' about.

There were lights on in the old 13th century castle by the time we got there. Figuring a frontal approach was ill-advised, after a bit of scouting we made ourselves an entrance through the catacombs.

It quickly became apparent that a lot of the bodies were fresh - as in, some still had flesh on them, and clearly something had inflicted chest trauma on multiple victims based upon the broken rib cages.

The smell was fresh, and as we walked past the fresher corpses in the nooks, I got very close to hurling several times. As we got to the end, Jinx urged me on up the stairs to the castle. Needless to say, I didn't waste time.

As we came out through the pantry, I realized the place had been inhabited for awhile. The kitchen was well stocked, with modern appliances and cords leading to another room, presumably to the generator whose dull hum I could hear echoing through the candle-lit halls. Unfortunately, that buzz of the generator also made it hard to detect anybody nearby. This was bad considering the odd amount of Nazi banners, black and white photos of SS soldiers, and the like adorning the place.

Amazing the comforts an M4 Rifle and a Mossberg 500 will give a pair of girls.

We eventually managed to find the library without running into anyone. It was easier to find than I thought - I knew it was hidden behind a staircase through an old locked armoire with a false panel. How did I know this? Let's just say my ancestor kept very through records on where he left things - and Wilhelm left things everywhere.

The 'library' was bare stone walls and dust, with one bookshelf hastily put into place centuries ago. Along the shelves were a handful of books, the titles all in older German with some arcane scribbles along the spine. Most of these had been untouched by a soul since the end of the 1500s. I say most because only one person before me had been there after the original collection was deposited.

Jinx moved over to touch some of the other books. I grabbed her hand and shook my head.

"There are wards along the binding. These are trapped." I said simply.

"To do what?" she asked. I squinted and read the bindings carefully. My grasp of runes isn't great, but I know the 'basics' as it were.

"Explode by the looks." I said casually.

Carefully, I pulled a red leather bound tome - the only one sans wards - I needed from the rack and slipped it into my duffle bag.

That was when Jinx tugged my sleeve to draw my attention, noting quietly, "I don't think we're alone."

I looked over, seeing the shadows move menacingly like wisps of flame.

Darklings. Damn.

I pointed my hand outside and murmured an incantation. A bright ball of light enveloped the room, the shadows hissing as they retreated - quickly. Of course, that meant that they were summoning whatever human minions that they might have had along for the ride.

We quickly turned to make our way out, only to be greeted by the loud whine of submachinegun fire. We ducked behind the corner as chips of stone went flying everywhere.

I peeked out briefly around the corner. There were men wearing - unsurprisingly, perhaps - up to date Nazi uniforms. I didn't quite the insignia over the breast pocket at first, It was a swastika, but with arms bent to follow a circle rather than right angles. Atop it was a crown, beneath it an eagle and an iron cross. It didn't take long for me to put the two together, however.

"I think they're the Thule Society." I said to Jinx as more machine gun fire riddled the far wall.

"Damn Nazis!" she shouted, checking her rifle as she prepared to lean past me to shoot..

"You are trespassing, shadow-demons." came a crisp, German-accented voice in English,"Surrender, state your business, and we may let you live."

I glanced over, peeking around the corner. As I glanced at the speaker - a tall dark haired German man - I noticed something odd - he had no aura about him of possession. He wasn't with the cultists - at least, not the ones we were after.

"What are you talking about?" I responded in German, "We aren't with the shadow monsters!"

"We saw the shadow spirits! Don't lie to us!" He hissed back in sharp German, emphasizing his point with a shotgun blast that took out a large chunk of the corner we were leaning against, much to our chagrin.

"So did we! We aren't with th... that cult!" I shouted back.

"Why are we negotiating with Nazis, Mel?"Jinx asked - a very sensible question, really, They're -Nazis-."

Some more soldiers moved in, chambering their weapons even as their boss told them to stop. After a moment he shouted at us,"If you aren't with the shadow cult then why are you here?"

I glanced over, assessing the situation briefly with some... other senses. The man's aura was vanilla - there was some minor arcane talent, but not a whole lot. The same could be said about the rest. That said, there was another presence in the room - not darklings, but something fleeting, and probably not benevolent. I couldn't see it, but it was there.

I was about to answer the man, to warn him of something amiss before there was a sudden gunshot - but not at us. As I glanced over, the leader who was trying to talk to us fell dead, half of his head missing. This was followed by both men he was with getting riddled with bullets by 'reinforcement' Nazis, who were coming down and around the stairs, shooting their allies, shadows dancing around them evilly.

Apparently we were half right - the cult had been infiltrated by the cult.

"Damnit. Screw this!" Jinx shouted as she gestured towards the bookshelf. With a rumble, the half dozen marked books went flying past us and towards the approaching footsteps.

I put my hands up and covered my ears at the ensuing explosion as it whipped past the corner, obliterating the bookshelf but leaving us unharmed - though the same cannot be said of most of the possessed Nazis.

As Jinx led the charge out, we were nearly knocked to the floor as a stray grenade struck the staircase nearby, showering us with splinters and stone dust. The Thule members were firing at one another as well as us, some of them scared, others reveling in their grand betrayal.

In short? Chaos.

[Gotham Witch]

I had the distinct feeling that whatever I had felt before was following us. As we continued, I was getting a better impression of it - I didn't feel like it was hostile, but I didn't trust it. However, I couldn't help but notice the shadows that would have normally been sticking to us like glue were keeping their distance.

A guardian angel perhaps? Probably not, but I like to hope.

As I don't consider those willingly possessed by shadows as human, I offered supporting fire as best as I could as we made our way out - we had what we wanted, and we weren't really here to fight cultists as much as we wanted to. Finding the way to the kitchen inaccessible, we opted to look for a window to dive out of - heights aren't a big deal to the magically inclined.

As we made our way to the hallway in the east wing, I saw movement in the corner of my eye. I leveled my shotgun quickly, only to find myself pointing it at a very scared man in a night shirt who was standing in his bedroom doorway.

"Don't hurt me!" he shouted in panicky English, "I surrender! I don't want anything to do with this cult anymore!"

"You're going to answer questions now." I said, pushing him against the wall, "Why are there Nazis, and why are there evil shadows?"

"Th...the others claim to be members of the Thule Society,and that they practice Germanic folk magic"The man explained, trying to calm down, "They've been here for awhile, saying that a zauberer - a sorcerer, that is - left his works here years ago."

"So... you're magic Nazis?" Jinx asked, not sure if she believed what he was saying.

"Yes... well, no."He corrected himself, "The leaders say that the society predates National Socialism."

"How many of you are even actual mages?" I asked, curious now.

"Only some of us. That's why we were here. The leaders said that if we could find von Albrecht's works, we could use our power to create change in the world."He said with a bit of apprehension in his voice.

I aimed my shotgun at his head, angrily, "Who did you say?"

"Wilhelm von Albrecht! A German hero!" The man shouted in a panic,"They never said how though! And... and some of them, they were acting strange upon mention of finding the books. They were compliant, but they were keeping to themselves, as if plotting something. Some thought they were going to try and take over the group after von Albrecht's works were found."

I was about to ask more, before the door we had entered suddenly blew to bits, knocking us all to the ground.

Things get very fuzzy after this, as a warning.

I remember being on the ground, my vision blurry. As I struggled to regain my senses, I glanced around, trying to ignore the ringing in my ears. Rather unfortunately, a piece of wrought metal doorframe was tuck right into the man's forehead. I watched in horror as he laid against the wall, probably having died instantly.

Jinx was laying on the ground, apparently unharmed as she moved to return fire as some Nazis tried to come charging in, guns blazing. There was gunfire, but I really couldn't hear it.

I remember her trying to shout at me to duck to cover, waving towards one of the bedrooms, and I remember me trying to do so - at least until there was another explosion, and a very hard impact to my head before everything went dark.

I woke up to screaming. Thankfully it was not mine.

My limbs felt like they were on fire as I found myself standing over the balcony. In my hands - my bloody, gore covered hands - was a terrified Nazi, whom I was hoisting over the railing and about to drop.

I nearly dropped the man in a panic, before managing to hoist him back over the railing. As he scrambled out of my hands, he ran away screaming, shouting incoherently.

"Mel! Is that you? Are you back?" Jinx shouted from the bottom of the stairs. I leaned over, feeling like I had just ran a marathon. Every inch of my body ached. To top it off, the reek of blood was giving me a headache.

"I feel like I just lost a fight." I shouted, leaning over to look down at Jinx, As I did, was I in for a shock - surrounding her on the ground were about a half dozen dead cultists, looking like they had been physically twisted or torn apart by some strong force.

"I would vouch and say you probably won."Jinx noted, being considerably less horrified than I would have expected.

"...what in the hell just happened?" I whimpered, unable to convey my disbelief very well.

"Well... you grabbed the guy with the grenade launcher, and literally wrung his neck so hard his head came off."Jinx said with brief reluctance.

Watching my face go pale, she continued."Then you said something about "Slow mortal body" before proceeding to leap in and murder each of the Nazis with your bare hands and feet. It was kind of awesome - in that 'please don't turn on me' sort of way."

Apparently, after I got knocked out, I somehow went on to kill those cultists -with my bare hands no less. I don't remember doing it, but whatever it was likely did it to try and save my neck - or kill the cultists. It was hard to tell.

I responded to this bombshell in a dignified fashion - by falling to my knees and throwing up.

Thinking back to what happened that night, sometimes I think about vomiting again.

[Cybermancer]

Unfortunately it didn't end there, did it?

[Gotham Witch]

Cute puzzle, Matt.

The presence that had so kindly defended my life by possessing me and ripping out some hapless cultist's spine opted not to make its presence known after the fight - which is good because it and I would have had issues after what it did to me.

After Jinx and I cleaned up, we took a better look at the notes the Thule people had left behind. We also had one surviving Nazi - the one that 'I' had nearly thrown to his death, but who was nonetheless quick to divulge everything he could.

The shadow cultists that had infiltrated the Thules had a larger cell they were affiliated with in Berlin. The man had said that they were Thule affiliates, but noted there were no records of such people. The cultists seemed to be further aware of some members across the rest of Europe, but only vaguely. So, of course, we pursued the matter - not to mention decided to see who else might have been doing the same as us.

After we finally let the man leave, Jinx noted to me something odd about him - it was like someone had impressed an emblem of a sword and the Roman numeral 3 into his very aura. Of course, it also wasn't possessed, wasn't under enchantment, and wasn't hiding anything of what we were asking about, so we had no reason to hold or do anything with him. Still, rather odd since neither of us had seen anything like that before.


A day or two later, we were in Berlin, watching one of the affiliated cult members (who was kind enough to leave some of his effects in the castle back in southern Germany). It wasn't long before we figured out we weren't the only ones watching him - a couple other young folks (Jinx had referred to them as 'amateurs') were watching him leave to and fro his residence. Their auras marked them as likely sorcerers, but didn't reveal much else. So of course, Jinx and I followed them back to where they likely did weekly meetings.


As it turns out, Germans take the paranormal rather seriously - the ones that believe anyway. They're also (and fairly, I should add) very tight lipped. It took a lot of prodding and back and forth to get a group of them to even talk to us. Even after we got inside, one of them tried a bit of hocus pocus with us to get us to try and forget we knew about them.

I'll spare the details, but throwing someone into the ceiling without touching them is a good way to get people to take you seriously.

When I mentioned 'Der Shattencult', they immediately calmed down and invited us in (civilly), apologizing for the heavy handed approach.

We introduced ourselves, explained why we were in Germany, and what we had dealt with. They were a mixed group of mages and psychics (mostly of the sensitive variety), and their experiences corroborated with ours - some sort of shadow-possessed magi who were infilitrating groups in Germany and possibly beyond, though they had limited resources to investigate outside of Berlin - and not a lot of expertise on the matter.

We gave them everything we knew about the group, and offered our assistance in identifying and locating members of the local cells. We didn't really have time to help them thoroughly deal with the matter, but they were more than competent enough to do such on their own in due time.

We helped cover the group in a raid of a cell office, arranging for the exorcism of three cultists. Overall it was a clean mission but I warned the group that the result wouldn't always be so clean. That didn't' seem a problem, since by April of last year they had eradicated the cult presence in Berlin.

One takes their victories where they can.