Session Six
Zebediah is in Laurence's Cathedral in Heaven, and writing his report, when a Seraph tells him
Laurence will see him now. He follows the Seraph down several back corridors and to a private
ebony door, where the Seraph leaves him. He knocks on the door, and Laurence calls, "Come!"
Zebediah goes in, to see that they are in a tower room, looking out over the Eternal City below;
Laurence stands at a window, black wings furled. Zebediah gives a full report. Laurence listens
with interest, especially re the Mysterious Seraph and re Eli. He orders Zebediah to find Eli, as
Laurence needs to speak to him. He also orders Zebediah not to get involved in any
Michaelite/Dominican disagreements. Zebediah nods, leaves, finishes his report, and heads down
to Southampton via the Flowers-Tether (which debouches onto Southampton Common, near the
pond.) He is met by an Ofanite in tracksuit, called Hushai, who expresses great and bouncy
interest in him and his mission. He makes his excuses, goes home to his museum, then heads for
Case's flat.
Bernard and Martin are at the hotel where they lost track of the mysterious woman. They discuss
how to kill Terry. They consider a car accident. They head sneakily for Terry's hotel, and into the
car park, where Martin possesses and deactivates the car alarm so they can examine the engine
and plot sabotage. They go off to build gadgets in Bernard's private workshop.
Tony descends from Heaven via the Lightning-Tether to the University. His phone rings. It's
Jachin, the Triad-Elohite. She asks if he knows about any Creationers in town. He says, truthfully,
no (as he doesn't.) She says to tell them if he finds out anything, as they've had word there's a
dangerously discordant Malakite of Creation around. He agrees, she rings off. Tony then rings
Bernard to say he's got news re someone they know (meaning Terry) and asks if there's anyone
new in town. Bernard says yes, but said person is staying with the Malakim. Tony says he'll come
over, and rings off. He goes to catch a taxi. He also rings Jachin, and tells her that he's heard
something and will inform them when he knows more. Very cagey. Jachin seems to accept this,
but tells him to take care not to get killed (as it would be inefficient).
The three Malakim (Faber, Case, and Nathaniel) and Lucas head for Case's flat. Faber requests
whiskey; Case offers him good stuff or Suntori, and Faber intelligently picks the good stuff. They
talk a while, and though Faber is annoying at first, his admiration of the various swords around
the flat mollifies Case. He says that he needs to talk to Mr Phas (the architect he was going to
meet) tomorrow. He then heads off to sleep in the spare room. Nathaniel attempts to extract a
report from Lucas, who gives a fast and tangled version. Case and Nathaniel resolve not to sleep.
Case introduces Lucas to heated sake, and Lucas sits down to think about why the world is
suddenly getting blurry. Nathaniel patrols the flat.
The crystal starts to buzz, and Case slides his hand into his pocket to touch it, then finds himself...
elsewhere. He's back in the hall of portraits, which are currently all angelic. When he looks down
to see if he has his sword, he finds he's wearing it. Footsteps begin to come down the corridor,
and he quickly retreats round the nearest corner and hides. The footsteps get closer, and he starts
feeling afraid. Even really afraid. He holds his breath. There is a faint sound of
sniffing. Then the footsteps retreat, a door closes, and there is silence. Poking his head back round
the corner, he sees that the portraits have turned demonic down to the one with the woman with
frightening eyes standing in front of a tower.
Lucas, seeing Case apparently asleep, drinks the remainder of Case's sake. Nathaniel comes back
into the room, and sees Case unconscious. Getting worried, he tugs Case's hand out of his
pocket, and finds it closed round the crystal. He uses the pommel of the sword to knock the
crystal loose, and Case abruptly wakes.
They discuss the matter, and Case is convinced that it was Beleth down the corridor. A
trombonist is heard outside, beginning to play warm-up improvisations. Case throws open the
window, yells, "Get a saxophone!" and slams the window again. Nathaniel goes out to pursue.
The drunken Lucas flops happily in his chair. Nathaniel sees the man heading down the street, in
trenchcoat, trombone case slung over his back. He attempts pursuit, but keeps on being left at the
end of a street and seeing the man turning the corner at the far end. Finally, he corners (?) him in
a dead end in front of a large blank wall. They have a very confusing conversation, in which the
man claims to be amnesiac, but says he'll remember where he needs to be when he needs to be
there. Nathaniel offers to take him to see Faber, but the man won't come. He talks about "his
sister" who hears "the shouting in her head, and you hear the shouting in your head, but you can't
say it, but you try and say it, and it doesn't make sense, and you don't have words, so you say the
words you have, and the shouting is louder, and they all move away from you, and you're more
and more alone, till there's nothing left but the shouting, and you try and speak it, and the
shouting's louder, and you can't hear anything but the shouting, not even your own voice..."
Nathaniel begins to wonder if he might be referring to Gabriel. The man pulls out a can of
spraypaint, and sprays a rectangular dark area in the wall. He then tosses Nathaniel the can, and
walks through the dark area. No Symphonic disturbance. Nathaniel checks the area; it's just
spraypainted wall. He puts the can in his pocket, and heads back to the flat.
Tony reaches Bernard and Martin. They discuss the situation, and how to dispose of Terry.
Zebediah gets to Case's flat. Case speaks with him, then Nathaniel gets back. Case quickly goes
downstairs to talk privately to Nathaniel. Everyone fails to perceive anything weird about the can
of black spray paint. Lucas wakes up with a hangover, and Nathaniel non-cruelly gives him
aspirin. Case attempts to persuade Zebediah to go back to the museum before Faber wakes.
Bernard and Martin give Tony much information about the current state of affairs. Tony leaves,
and directly phones the Triad to tell them about Faber being at the Malakite Flat. Jachin takes the
call and thanks him for the information. She tells him there's a Michaelite conspiracy. Tony admits
to speaking to Rigziel. Simultaneously, Bernard phones the Malakite Flat and tells them that
Judgement's probably about to pay a call. Case accurately fingers Tony on this, and rings off
rapidly. The flat phone then rings again, and Case takes it; it's Esek, the Michaelite from earlier,
who says he's heard Case is storing material and asks if he needs a place to put it. Case says yes.
Esek gives him an address and tells him to watch out for Dominicans. Everyone hurries out of the
flat and heads for the address, Case and Faber going on ahead in Faber's bike, Nathaniel following
with Zebediah and Lucas in Zebediah's Morris Minor (Nathaniel drives.)
Bernard and Martin try to build gizmos to jam the accelerator on Terry's car, cut the brake lines,
lock the steering, and activate central locking. They manage the first three. They then sneak back
to Terry's hotel, and Martin deactivates the alarms on Terry's car while they fit on all those
devices. They then park nearby to wait.
Case and Faber get there (a suburban house) first. Case begins to hear the music of oncoming
battle (Malakite of Michael attunement) and gets nervous. They knock on the door, which is
answered by a young woman. Case resonates her, and gets that her three most noble acts in the
past year were to become a Soldier of God, work with a Seraph of Michael, and help her
grandfather. Reassured, the Malakim go in, noticing in passing that the woman's wearing a trank
gun on her belt. They walk into the sitting room, where they see a burly, large man. Case
resonates him, and gets that his three most ignoble acts in the past year were to incite trouble
between Dominicans and Michaelites, work with a Grigori and Dominicans for power, and plan
to steal Eli's power. Case pulls his sword out and strikes, yelling for Faber to run. Esek tumbles
backwards over his chair, comes up rolling. The woman fires a trank dart at Case and gets him
in the neck, but he manages to stay upright. Faber bodyslams the woman with a chair, knocking
her into the wall. Esek, now upright again, Howls. Case is stunned, and getting ready to look at
his Heart when Faber parries Esek's sword-blow with the remains of the chair.
In the Morris Minor, Nathaniel hears Symphonic disturbance, and stamps on the accelerator.
There is more fighting, with Esek with Large Sword, Case with Japanese Sword, and Faber with
Chair. Outside, the car arrives, everyone piles out, and Nathaniel breaks the front window to peer
into the sittingroom (where the fight is going on.) Nathaniel comments, "You started without
me." Case replies, "I wondered if he'd talk first." Another car is heard in the distance.
Esek looks less than happy at the reinforcements. Case asks him why he didn't talk first, and what
the business in the theatre was. Esek says that he didn't know who they were then. Nathaniel
points out that he used his green-flaming-hands thing. Case then points out that Esek ran away,
and asks him who put him up to all this. Esek hints emphatically that it was Michael, and
eventually actually *says* that it was Michael. Case then asks if Michael approves of him sowing
dissent, or working with the Triad or Grigori. Esek doesn't answer. Case tells him to back off.
Esek refuses. The two face each other, swords drawn.
The oncoming car stops outside, and feet come down the path, and the Indian woman ("Halley")
appears outside the window. She Sings Ethereal Harmony on everyone. And the GM rolls a 666.
Everyone gets hit by the Song, and goes peaceful. Esek screams and falls to his knees, as he goes
over the edge into being an Outcast. Case attempts to invoke Michael, but it fails. The Grigori
demands the crystal, but Case refuses, asking her right to it. She says that it is hers. Case says that
it belongs to "the House of Eli". She says that in that case it is clearly hers, as she is Eli's
daughter. Case still refuses to give it to her. He takes it out of his pocket and shows it to Faber,
hiding it from the Grigori by his body. Faber fails to recognise it.
The crystal starts to buzz. Case starts backing out, still unable to fight (the Ethereal Harmony)
and Nathaniel follows him, bound by his oath never to leave an opponent in danger. (Or so he
claims.) Zebediah and Faber also start to retreat. Esek kneels in pain, still clasping his sword.
Case and Nathaniel get to Case's bike. Case tries to get rid of Nathaniel, telling him that he
doesn't have to come with him, but Nathaniel insists. They both get on the bike, and Case starts
it, and poof, they find themselves in the crystal. Bike and all. And the crystal is simultaneously in
Case's pocket. They're in the picture gallery, all the pictures are demonic, and the backgrounds
of the pictures look unsettlingly alive.
Zebediah and Faber make a retreat to the museum, and discuss what to do.
Lucas, outside, suggests to the Grigori that she might not want to get back into her car. (There's
a chauffeur still in there.) She promises to explain everything to him if he'll come with her.
Trustingly he gets in. They drive off. He gets nervous after a while. She tells him that they have
to go to where she's got all the evidence. They get to a carpark somewhere in town, and Lucas
prepares to run, deciding that this was a Bad Idea. She Sings Corporeal Charm on him, lowering
his Strength, gets out a hypodermic case, then knocks him on the back of the head with it when
he tries to get out of the car. He is unconscious.
Bernard and Martin have noticed Symphonic disturbance across town. (Guess what.) This
apparently gets Terry's attention too, for he comes out of the hotel, hops into his car, and heads
into town. At a convenient spot on the road, when Terry is breaking the speed limit at 50 mph,
Martin activates all the devices. Terry's car crashes into the side of a warehouse and goes up in
a fireball. Nobody comes out. The emergency services arrive, and eventually remove a charred
corpse.
Tony turns up for work, and gives an interview to the girl he's recruited. He finds she'll be useful
in the filing/information sorting area, and signs her up for that. She thanks him for the job,
admitting it's definitely preferable to prostitution. He also notices the news coming in about the
tragic death in accident of television producer Terry Jackson, and restrains a few smirks.
Bernard and Martin sneak back to Terry's hotel, and see the police are already investigating there.
Martin manages to possess Terry's redhaired PA (who is in tears) and gets her to stuff Terry's
katana into a bag and pack it with clothes, then has her throw it out of a window to Bernard, who
is on the fire escape. Martin leaves the PA, and they depart, with katana.
Case and Nathaniel try to drive out of the door at one end of the hall of paintings, and find
themselves coming back in the other end. The backgrounds of the paintings are shimmering
more.
Case invokes Michael, putting some Essence behind it. He gets a success on a CD of 6, and
Michael shows up in a vigorously good mood. He asks what they're doing in the Dark Marches.
Case shows him the crystal, and Michael pronounces that it is indeed Beleth-made. Case then
explains that Things Are Wrong Re Esek. Michael shatters the crystal between his fingers, and
the hall of paintings comes to pieces around them, and they find themselves in the dojo - still with
Michael - and with a fine crystal dust on the floor. Case explains *all* about Esek and what he's
been up to. Michael's mood gets darker and darker, and they can hear the sound of cannon behind
his voice. Michael finally commends Case's work, and gives him the Seraph of Michael
attunement. He turns to Nathaniel, and says he'll commend him to his sister - when he catches up
with her. Finally he disappears, leaving Case and Nathaniel alone.
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