Session Date: 8/28/2023
The entire party is together now and we have told Mary what is going on.
Tabby suggests that perhaps this creature is posing as the thing possessing people as a distraction, but isn’t actually responsible? Faylen says that’s possible but he’s not fond of the idea.
Mary says something fell out of the sky: it was thick and shiny and it was looking for something. It walked through the wall and into the city — the thing didn’t destroy the wall, but was actually in better repair than before. She tries very much to explain what it is and she explains it looked like someone sculpted a very pretty and well-designed human figure, but not tried to make it look like an actual person. It moved very stiffly and didn’t sound like a people. Faylen hears this description and he realizes we’ve met a creature of chaos, so there is likely a creature of order here: it sounds like an axiomite — while an akizandri is a chaotic protean, the axiomite is of order. They often struggle with each other, and it likely isn’t very nice.
Bosch shows off the prop bomb and we aren’t sure if it’s real or not. It definitely looks and feels like a prop, but it’s entirely possible it’s real because of the akizandri.
We hadn’t heard anything about bombs or explosions so this bomb is definitely an escalation or it’s looking to blow something very specific up. There’s something there but violence hasn’t been in the pattern of this thing so far. We should ask around and see what’s happening around town.
We are in a nicer part of town that seems to be where those that are better off are living. There’s a halfling woman peeking out of a building and someone is trying to pull her back inside. Mary asks what is going on and she says she has no clue, but she has questions for us. She offers us inside and to get tea. Faylen looks at her and she looks familiar in a way that he’s not completely sure: Sheryl Hanson , not the author of my favorite book, but I’ve definitely read her. She writes more of romance angle so my sister read more of her. Faylen asks if she is Sheryl, and she excitedly says yes and grabs his hand and drags him inside, party following. Sheryl lives with her husband, a white collar worker who probably works for the city.
We start to explain vaguely what is happening and it occurs to us that it’s possible that the akizandri was coming here to blow Sheryl’s house up, so we get the idea that she might actually know something. We share information with her as much as we can, anyway, and she ultimately says that possessions don’t last for very long. The creature jumps, does something mischievous or to induce chaos, then leaves. It would make sense for it to be summoned by someone or something. Tabby recommends that perhaps the captain’s ex wife is the reason for this but Sheryl explains that she had left, she’s not in the city.
Bosch shows Sheryl the bomb and she pokes it with a pen. She tries to light it but we stop her as we don’t know if that’s a real bomb or not. Mary does say we need to move on and Sheryl says that we are welcome to come back if we need to overnight at all.
We thank them for their kindness and exit the home. Mary asks Taletha to keep an eye on the house just in case the akizandri shows back up, but we move on to the library just in case it’s resting there. We find the axiomite walking and trying to get to the akizandri. We try to get the axiomite’s attention and ultimately its asks if we are here to help it and we start telling them that we would like to get the akizandri out of town, but they think that the casualties here would be worth it. Faylen can tell that this is an inexperienced person given authority for the first time — they’re a bit drunk with power, so to say, trying to be the big man on his first real mission. Bosch tries again asking how its superiors would feel if they learned that it wasn’t respecting the laws here.
Bosch says that here we do things by the book. We have procedures that are designed to minimize collateral damage. We are asking them to postpone the extreme measures until such a time as we attempted to remove the akizandri ourselves. Should they wish to assist, we need them to be able to take instructions and not immediately start attacking and causing major damage. It isn’t convinced, but we are welcome to join it and try to keep collateral damage to a minimum. The axiomite was combing the city in hopes of finding the akizandir.
We follow the axiomite for a block or two, then Bosch realizes that they don’t really have a plan. Bosch recommends we all search different parts of the city, so we could search more quickly and we could agree on a meeting spot and get together so that we can plan the next thing. Bosch promises we will meet at the market square and plan the next step.
The axiomite’s name is Empty Set 4-2-1.
We know we will make it to the library long before Empty Set. We hustle and see some people outside, neighbors arguing about the possessions, etc. The library is open but there isn’t anyone inside outside of a 40 year old human man with a swooping mustache, and a young woman that is a student that has to work here.
Ambrose Pierpoint — an author that writes pulp fiction.
Bosch is reading a book he started previously and he finds a line that was changed, as well as an entire fight sequence has been turned into cheese onomatopoeia that totally ruins the book. Faylen is reading a book about astral physics or some such complex topic — something that he was meant to go into next semester — and he gets a little stuck in reading it; he eventually notices that there is a symbol that’s been replaced with a bat and the equations are wrong. Mary finds a book that she’s very familiar with that has been Disney-fied. Tabby reads a children’s book about a big dog that’s now a werewolf for some reason.
Mary takes her book up to the librarian and explains that things are changed and the librarian is clearly upset that this is happening because they’ll need to fix them or otherwise get grants to replace them. Ambrose, for his part, is checking on how his books are doing. Faylen also goes up to the librarian to start pointing out the mistakes in his books and asking if she’s seen anything weird.
Bosch has left his bag open with the bomb obviously visible, and the akizandri starts making noises and going for the bomb. Bosch starts to antagonize it gently. He asks for the creature’s name and it’s a noise, but it means “The sound of the plane of fire shifting ever so slightly to the left” (but he doesn’t say the words). There’s some back and forth with Bosch eventually saying that the protean is now it and starts running away. The creature gets upset and says they’re done playing nice and the creature enters Tabby, possessing him.