The Problem With Daedalus
Chapter 1 concerns events that occurred on a game night, which is why it appears a little random. Chapters 2 and beyond are story based on those events.
Dramatis personæ
The following characters are Player Characters, which means that while they are very well defined in terms of behaviour and relationships, they may bend a few stereotypes of the World of Darkness.
Kate Collins: Shining Gumagan Mokole, child of Volcano. Wrecker, trucker. Usually a young Australian aboriginal woman, occasionally a perentie, other times an oversized armour-plated spiny parasaurolophus.
Zach Tizonneaux: Shrouded Mokole Mbembe, child of Finch. Brightly-attired copper-skinned youth. Trim archid form appears as a human-sized chameleon with gecko pads. Capable of human speech in any form.
"That looks like it hurt," Zach remarked.
"Yeah, seriously," I agreed. We were looking over a small selection of wrecks I'd recently acquired. Most of them were older cars in varying conditions, all with plenty of salvageables. The last one was looking very unhappy. The body of the car has been nearly completely destroyed in its latest accident, and was unrecognizable but for the badges. It was quite different to what I usually had in the yard. I'd picked it up on a random whim, based on a rumour I'd heard the previous week.
"Actually, I have a plan for that. I was talking to Esteban and he was telling me about some 'Restoration of Glory' ritual he was working out. He intends to use it to save the rainforests or something. And then, later, I randomly came across this write off and thought, 'Hmmmm...'. So."
"You're going to magic this car back to health? You?" Zach's voice was more than mildly incredulous.
"Yeah, me. Or I won't, and I'll find something else to do with it. Either way, it's worth having."
"Yeah, right. So how's Esteban?"
"Yeah, good actually. Sounds like he's hanging out with some weird crew these days, though."
I was soon to find out how weird.
Esteban was was in contact with us a few days later through Grandfather. The rumours of a vampire threat had been getting increasingly stronger near some Mokole territory, and the time had come to go hunting.
"Esteban assures me he has full confidence in his mentee," Grandfather explained. "However, she is inexperienced. He is hoping some more experienced warriors will be able to join him, to guide the young and provide back up as necessary for what should be a fairly straightforward massacre. Are you willing to help?"
"Of course," I replied.
"I will prepare our departure immediately."
"Do you want me to go and call Zach?" the kid was in the city, 2 hours away. I wasn't expecting him in the yard today. Grandfather shook his head.
"We will leave soon. They require only backup and guidance. You will do fine, Jiba."
Out the back of the yard there was a small metal dingy Grandfather intended to use as the sun boat. I set the boat right way up and gave it a quick dust out. While Grandfather powered the boat, I sat next to him, paddling with an imaginary paddle as he called the strokes. At first it was easy- stroke, stroke, like playing a game. As the ritual 'took', the required effort increased. My imaginary paddle met with resistance. I was working hard, and the sun was becoming hotter and brighter. I toiled under Grandfather's command. The sun was so bright I could hardly see. The boat rocked in the current.
"Stroke. Stroke."
The heat was intense. The current was picking up. I paddled hard to keep the boat steady as it swung around in the blazing light. The waves subsided and we drifted in a current as the rite came to an end.
"Stroke. Stroke."
We slowed and cooled and the scene became visible again. We were now resting on the bank of a swamp. Tall, gloomy trees draped in dangley moss populated a murky waters and countless marshy islands. The air was crowded with the sounds of birds and bugs. Lots of bugs. Huge bugs. Zach would have loved this, I thought to myself. We seemed to be somewhere in the southern states. A familiar man was walking towards us. I stood up and stepped out of the boat to greet him.
"Esteban! It's good to see you!"
"You too, Kate. No Zach?"
"No, Grandfather thought we should get here sooner in smaller numbers than later in larger numbers. It's just me and him," I replied.
"It's just you," Grandfather interjected.
"What?" I said, looking at the old Mokole. He was still in the boat.
"I have other business here today that does not concern you. We are now parting ways."
"What! But... my boat! What about my boat?"
"What about it?"
"I need it!"
"Why?" Esteban asked.
"We're in a swamp," I said pleadingly, looking back and forth between Esteban and Grandfather.
"Are you...not okay?" Esteban ventured, sounding equal parts concerned and confused.
"Methinks the lizard princess does not want to get her feet wet," Grandfather explained. Ouch.
"Ah," Esteban finally caught on. "Right. I forgot that about you, Kate. Er... is that going to be an issue?"
"Not at all," Grandfather cut in for me. "She'll deal with it. Good luck. I will find you when you're done. Goodbye," he finished. He dragged the boat to the water and rowed away.
"Er. I guess I'm okay, then," I told Esteban. "So. Where's your student?" I asked.
"In the trees," he answered, motioning towards the swamp.
"In the trees?" I repeated. I was wondering if I'd misheard. I was shortly introduced to the young Mokole. Ming Li was one of the smallest dragons I'd ever remembered- a flighty young Zhong Lung with the archid form of an Asiatic serpentine dragon and more nervous superstitious habits than anyone I'd ever known. With our introductions complete we started our quest.
Ming Li asked some local alligators if they knew where we might find the vampires, and they pointed us towards the North East. Esteban, although not native to the environment, seemed comfortable enough as a swimming caiman. Ming Li flitted from tree to tree. I was bushwhacking swamp, and hating it.
After several hours hiking we became aware of an unusually large band of alligators forming a swarm around us. I was swimming by now, as there was no where left to walk.
"Er... is this normal?" I called out to my companions.
(I don't think so,) Esteban said. Ming Li also seemed confused by their behaviour.
(They seemed normal enough when I was talking to them...) she said. The water was murky, I was becoming increasingly concerned about what might be lurking around about to take a bit out of me. We were suddenly all distracted by an anguished cry from above us. A naked man, his arms viciously mutilated, fell from a tree in to the swamp a few yards from where we were treading water. As his blood spread through the water the alligators went in to a frenzy, swarming on the sudden, bizarre sacrifice. That was enough for me. Surrounded by manic shark-like alligators and no option for escape, I took the strongest defence I could, hoping like hell I wouldn't get bogged down in the swamp. Moments ago the water had been just over my head, I now cautiously held my head as high as I could while I waded on all fours. I was nearly up to my shoulders in water, but my neck, head, back and tail could easily stay clear. I was able to take steps, to my immeasurable relief, the softness of the marsh not enough to trap me. Waves of displaced water were rushing away from where I was suddenly taking up more space. The frenzied alligators did not seem to notice. I curled my tail around to rescue the victim, gently hooking him under the arms to lift him out of the thrashing maelstrom. As he cleared the surface his body was revealed to end below the ribs in tatters of dripping entrails. Ming Li screamed. I grimaced and dropped the corpse in shock.
(Let's get out of here,) Esteban urged. I didn't have to be told twice. We slogged out of the insanity to calmer waters. The alligators ignored us.
I had previously harboured serious reservations about safely getting through the swamp as anything that could be mistaken for a museum exhibit, but it was working out much better than I'd feared. The water was relatively shallower, for starts. The bugs weren't as noticeable, and I felt I was making faster progress.
Our journey was interrupted by the sounds of a panicked squeak and an excited screech. Ming Li was chasing a raven through the air. The bird was flying smart, but Ming Li was tenacious. After a few furious seconds the dragon appeared with the unfortunate raven in her talons.
(Look what I got!) she bubbled.
"Squawk!" the raven said. 'Squawk'? How nonchalant. The raven was about half the size of the small dragon. I'd seen ravens like that before. I gave the bird a very careful look, peering deep. I was only half surprised to learn the bird was a corax, as I'd suspected due to it's size and nature. I was considerably more surprised to see that the corax was the only actual were-raven I'd met- a punk kid from New York City who owned a pie shop and went by the name Daedalus. He was not making any moves to blow his cover, but every time Ming Li spoke or flew in another circle she squeezed him a little tighter and his eyes bulged a little more.
(I think you better give him to me,) I suggested. Ming Li handed him over with no objection. I threw the bird in to the air, but Ming Li was on him right away. She caught him again, so I confiscated him again, but this time I held on to him.
It was shortly after dark when the undead first attacked. Their numbers were surprisingly small. I barely had time to bag two of them before there were none left. It was a straight forward battle for us- Esteban is not much of a brawler, but his archid form was naturally swift and deadly. Ming Li caught at least one in her snake-like coils. Daedalus I knew had a strong history of really hating stuff, and apparently vampires were high on the list. To avoid the heat of the battle, he hopped up between my shoulders and assumed one of his more human forms to pick off the leaches with a previously concealed, presumably dedicated firearm. Whatever weapon he was using was devastating the undead. I kept my head down, and in a free moment turned on my headlight to fricassee the vampires with my daylight savings. On my command, a gold coin attached to my necklace flooded the battle zone with stored daylight. The remaining vampires screamed and tried futilely to escape as the sunlight ate away their bodies. The ambush was over almost as quickly as it had started. We felt sure this meant we were getting closer to the vampire hideout. No one was seriously injured, so we pressed on.
Daedalus stayed where he was, seemingly preferring to ride rather than be carried or fly in the dark. He nattered almost incessantly, apparently in conversation with Esteban.
Suddenly our party's voices hushed. (Listen,) hissed Ming Li. We froze in silence, but I didn't hear anything. I turned my head and detected a noise behind us.
(Diem!) I commanded, activating my sun coin and turning around to shine my light behind our party. There stood three wolves in the swamp, watching us. Hmmm. I heard Daedalus reloading his guns. I glanced around and realized we were in fact surrounded by wolves. Oh. I balanced myself, preparing to fight or defend if the moment came. We were Mokole in a swamp... we were probably at the advantage... but there were a lot of them. The leader of the pack stepped forward, and addressed Daedalus.
"You saved my cub," the wolfman announced. As is transpired, the raven had encountered a wolf before meeting up with us. Furthermore, he'd somehow saved the renegade wolf from vampire influence. The wolves were grateful, and as such, offered to accompany us to the vampire's nest. Daedalus was ecstatic.
"I'm riding in to battle on a dinosaur, leading an army of wolves!" he laughed. "Kickass!"