Anarea 1-off D: Breaking the Law 7 to 26 Aval 2000
Scenario 10. (C)
We are the Ones. Only us. All are One, and the Ones are All. Once we dwelt amongst Chaos, now we walk upon the World. We go our separate ways, but when we come together, then we are strong. Then we have the Power. The Power to bring some of that Chaos down to Earth. We call. It comes. We are the Ones.
Demons know us. DALA watches over us. Her Temple despises us, but knows where to find us. MIRIMI, and KOROS too, are aware of us. The City Guard look the other way.
You are welcome. To join us. To share in the pleasure, and the Power.
Once you have tasted it, you will never wish to be without it again.
Across the World the Starweb has spread. Bits of Fallen Star: Chaos-stuff. Ever-changing, it has evolved into a number of differing manifestations. For as it has expanded across the World, so it has been diluted, and the parts have lost touch with the whole.
In Valdran it is the Cult of the Ones, and is now a pale shadow of the mighty Starweb, fuelled by the core of the Star itself, that the young LOFIR fought and destroyed in the dives of Hapral, or even of the drug-crazed Illuminati, whose decadence threatened the stability of the First Empire, and contributed to its eventual downfall in the Fall of Valdran and the Breaking of the First Alliance.
Today the successors of those Bright Ones who revelled in the sacking of the Imperial Palace are degenerate men and women who gather in squalid basements in the Old City to participate in the orgiastic rituals which they require to induce the trance-state in which those of them who are present share in the group mind of the Ones, and new members are introduced into the mysteries.
In the Year 2000, in the City of Valdran, the notorious Starweb has become a virus, transmitted sexually or by the mingling of blood, in the depraved orgies of the infected.
These gatherings act as a lure to the weak and the jaded, and a cover against authorities who turn a blind eye to the excesses of high-spirited members of the Nobility "slumming it" amongst the lower classes.
The orgiastic frenzy, excited by certain bizarre rituals, catches up the whole group in its spell, and the mingling of minds, in which Something Else participates, that is known as the Starweb, comes upon them once again.
This is not the only result of the weakening of the Starweb; this only coming out when the carrier is in the right state of mind. It also needs to feed upon the body of its host to survive, slowly at first, but then with increasing ferocity. To the outsider it appears to be a wasting disease; an understandable end result of a depraved lifestyle.
The Ones are doomed, and must keep recruiting new members to survive. This strain of the Starweb is in the descendant, here in the City of Law. Elsewhere it may be strong, or at least have the chance of recovery. Here it is eating itself away, and a miracle will be needed to save it.
Each Law State greater than 0 has a 20% chance (cumulative) of preventing the Starweb manifesting, or any particular exercise of its powers.
The Starweb (C) The Sentience of Chaos. When the group mind of the Ones is achieved, it is more than the sum of its individual members. There is another intelligence mixed in: that of the Starweb. Representing the will to Chaos, it is a common element throughout the Ones, and it tends to dominate when they come together to create Chaos. There is no Willpower Battle, for there is just one mind. This just tends to be its most likely inclination. As a Thought of Chaos, it might do anything, but its theoretical potential must be seen in the context of the orgiastic frenzy of the Ones. The Power of Chaos is inevitably used for the self-gratification of the group.
The Ones (L/N) There will typically be 3d6 of them. Debilitated by their debased lifestyle and the parasitic gnawings of Chaos, and approximated to each other by their achievement of the group mind, these people all appear the same. Some are Nobles, some commoners, but it is hard to tell the difference when they have their clothes off and are under the influence of drugs. But they will be able to tell if the Questors are different, and, if they cannot get them to participate, are likely to resort to violent coercion. It may then be apparent that a few of them have adventurer abilities (decide at random).
The Ones are unlikely to respond rationally to questioning, but the following may appear.
The Ones understand the Power of Chaos to do anything: to create, to transmute, to destroy. When they are the Ones they are limited only by their imagination, and by the amount of Chaos available. To increase their power they need to introduce new members.
The Questors would make excellent additions.
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