Consecration rituals & rescue at the Great Institue of Cooking

Seekers Beyond the Shroud

Play report of the 18th to 23rd days of Lana Vanne’s ascension to the occult campaign using Seekers Beyond The Shroud.

You may want to read the first, second, third, fourth, 5th & 6th, 7th to 14th and 15th to 17th parts of the campaign.

Thursday, full moon - Day 18 at the Omphalos

There is a vibrant and overpowering atmosphere arriving at the Omphalos that infuses everyone with fresh power. +100VP free to use Event: tapping a ley line

This could be an interesting event to have in the future, now I can’t use those extra vril points for anything…

Lana comes across Paek Ja-Ok, the representative from the Siddha that gave her her last mission, she is sitting with some workmates and invites Lana to join them. The rest of the group is not as welcoming as her sumbae, but Lana is accustomed to being picked on and manages to put them down. They apologise and lend her their order’s ritual chamber for the day. INT test OK Encounter: taking offence

Lana goes into the Siddha’s ritual chamber to try a tool consecration ritual… aaaaaaand fails. Magic Liturgy check fail

Skill roll-up check: OK

Well, that’s is something positive for the day!

Friday, third quarter - Day 19 at the Omphalos

To Lana’s surprise Keith, Cecil’s friend from the Causa Scientiae order, whom Lana cannot stand is at the Omphalos’ entrance waiting for her.

He warns her: ‘There are undercover agents from the Covenant of the Glorious Dawn after you’ (these are some of Lana’s antagonists) ‘you should go home and stay put for the rest of the day while we handle this’. Lana thanks him, still surprised by his attitude, and goes back home.

Saturday, third quarter - Day 20 at the Omphalos

Everything is on sale today! Event: lower prices

Lana decides to take advantage of the sale and stocks some bandages and frankincense, she consumes a lot of those.

As she is heading to the Hall of the Orders, a man approaches her, he wants to buy her athame (a ceremonial blade used in rituals), he will be giving her double the market normal price, he is in a hurry and needs to use it in a ritual. Lana tells him that she hasn’t consecrated the athame yet. The man looks at her with dead eyes and leaves muttering ‘Kids these days… good-for-nothing’ Encounter: A man in need

There isn’t any order present, Lana is a bit disappointed but understands that maybe everyone is just trying to make the most of the sales and they’ll be busy shopping for the rest of the day. Orders present: none

She heads to the ritual chamber, pays the fee and tries a tool consecration ritual… aaaaaand fails. Magic Liturgy check fail

Sunday, new moon - Day 21 at the Omphalos

So, Lana hears that some orders seem to be angry at each other and there isn’t any representative from any of them working today. Event: order dispute

Since the news of the orders being out of service today was very sudden, there are still a lot of people coming to the Omphalos, one of those people is a celebrity from an eccentric order. Lana approaches them, but they give her the cold shoulder. CHA test fail Encounter: celebrity

She goes to the ritual chamber again, pays the fee tries a tool consecration ritual… aaaand fails. Magic Liturgy check fail

Monday, new moon - Day 22 at the Omphalos

The dispute from yesterday is still going on. Event: order dispute

Some people of the Kadmonites try to pick a fight with Lana and she cannot do anything when they bad-mouth her. Encounter: taking offence INT test fail

She goes to the ritual chamber to try another tool consecration ritual… and succeeds! Lana is able to finally consecrate the athame, she will use this in an invocation ritual, but she still needs to consecrate four more tools. Magic Liturgy check OK

Have you seen that? YES!!!! I rolled a 7 and my Magic Liturgy skill is at 13.

Tuesday, first quarter - Day 23 at the Omphalos

The lower prices have come back! Event: lower prices

The orders are officially in good terms with each other again, but some adepts haven’t made peace with each other yet; a fight starts in a bar and Lana is unable to avoid it, she ends up with a broken nose. Encounter: fight -14HP

She walks towards the Hall of the Orders, her friend Cecil from the Causa Scientiae order is the only representative that is working today ‘Those sales are devastating’, Lana thinks.

Cecil has a mission for her, since she did well in a previous rescue operation they have another one for her. They are looking for a Sudanese man, Obungo Ochuka, that is currently being held against his will in a nearby museum, the Great Institute of Cooking.

Mission: kidnap Search 16

I use a random nationality generator, a random name generator and a random museum name generator (yes, it exists).

Generating the location: The Great Institute of Cooking

  • A - Entry hall
  • B - Lobby
  • C - Administrative office x2
  • D - Exhibition hall x8
  • E - Hallway x7
  • F - Security office
  • G - Archive

The Great Institute of Cooking

At the Great Institute of Cooking

Entry Hall

There is an elderly woman sitting on a chair passed the entrance, she sees her and says: ‘I didn’t know that the museum was taking visitors, we are undergoing renovations, but well you know.. times are tough and we need to make a living’ she approaches her and gives Lana 52ø, ‘go rescue my friend’ she says, then leaves. Event: who are you?

hahaha that’s not a fair price for a rescue!

Lobby

A Golem is slowly guarding the Lobby, a big and tall construct that has flat feet.

I will always imagine golems as they were depicted in the Dragon Quest videogames.

It attacks Lana. Her objective is to get away from this dangerous thing, and it takes her a couple of turns but she manages to get away unscratched.

Lana triggers some alarm while she is fleeing from the golem and two Curators come to greet her. Lana flees after taking a couple of hits. Event: tripped alarm Technology check fail

My Technology skill is at 0, Lana is less than a script kiddie.

There is a strange ancient mural hanging on a wall, it stands out in this modern museum, Lana almost falls into a slumber and gets distracted. Discovery: ancient mural INT test fail Next initiative in combat lost

Lana composes herself and takes a couple of bandages, but they do nothing. First aid check fail

Here we go again.

Hallway 1

There is nothing of interest nor dangerous here. Lana spends some time trying to patch her wounds, but she can’t. First aid check fail

Administrative Office 1

There are strange sigils and symbols drawn everywhere, Lana tries to make sense of them, but she is unable. -7 sanity Discovery: ritual area Magical liturgy check fail

Hallway 1

Lana exits the administrative office to go to the office next door, and a Daeva, a human possessed by a demon, gets in her way.

Lana decides to fight the Daeva, it casts Vril choke on Lana a couple of times but she manages to defeat it. She searches the corpse, it has a tiny glass flask filled with sand…

Administrative Office 2

A Guard is doing some paperwork on his desk, he is unfriendly and starts questioning Lana. She comes up with a risky reply ‘Don’t you know me? I’m in charge of renovating this museum.’ Lana uses the info that the woman told her in the entrance ‘I’m checking the layout of the museum, mmmm we’ll need to re-arrange these offices…’ The guard excuses himself and continues with the paperwork. NPC reaction: suspicious Persuasion check OK

There are some random items that Lana might me able to sell at the Omphalos, she thinks that they would give her 50ø, give or take, she takes them with her. Appraisal check fail Discovery: random items

She takes some time to try to patch her wounds, but she is unable. First aid check fail

Hallway 1

Back in this hallway she comes across a Vessel, he smiles and gives her a book: ‘Go read this one, it is fantastic’, then leaves. Got Alchemical treatise

Great!

Lobby

There isn’t anything here.

Hallway 2

A Curator blocks her path. He scores a lot of hits before Lana can get away, she is gravely injured at this point. She decides to give up on the rescue mission.

Lobby & Entrance

No enemies going back to the exit.

Thank you Random God!

Mission recap

  • Random items: 50ø
  • Lost 7 sanity
  • Got an Alchemical Treatise
  • -50 favour with Causa Scientiate

I should try to make the map layout more beneficial and avoid having to walk through already explored areas, but sometimes I want to draw something quick. Nevertheless, this time I got a lot of combat encounters and started the mission with a broken nose (-14HP).

Well, Lana is still alive!