Explanation of this Shadow Cult Business
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:26 am
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 Contact was originally made late in 2011 in New York, but as it quickly turned out, they were present in nearly every time zone on the planet.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.
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.