Overview

Hilary Term 2008 Alice fails to show up to a meeting of the society, sending a cryptic text instead. Looking for her at Merton College, the hunters find no signs of a struggle, but observe a shallow sinkhole in the lawns Later doing research at Jesus College, Hal is summoned by a vision to the library, where he reads the original version of the Mabinogi. The hunters are ambushed by guards made of shadows. They easily rout them, but find that Annika has also vanished. Sophie is able to take Hal and Ekram through the waters of the sinkhole, - the emerge into a strange version of Oxford They are met by a troop of the same card-guards and by a herald who tells them to get Alice and Annika back they must slay a dragon that has been terrorising the red lands. He recognises Sophie as fey and Hal as part of the white court. The party battles the dragon but is forced to flee.

After much leafing through yellowed paper and heavy books being slammed shut with a sigh, David gives a small ah-ha! He clears his throat and starts to read aloud: "... the underlands have taken Alice. I have summoned their herald to account for it and threatened them with war. But they are under a greater fear - they believe her power will keep them safe from the monster that stalks their world - the great red dragon that Lludd imprisoned there. It is awake again. "So I have offered to bind the beast once more, and for this purpose the fey have let me hear some of their old songs, which they tell no one. I will set a song of nonsense upon my page, and bind the dragon in it, doomed to hunt through a world of illusion and meaninglessness until the page be destroyed. "In exchange, the fey have said that they will release Alice. But I do not trust them. They have never yet made a bargain without a trap set within it. So I write to you, as President, to give you fair warning. I will bind not only the dragon but also the fey themselves. And in no mere snatch of rhyme, but within a very book of absurdities, where a simulacrum of Alice will reflect on them the mockery of their own existence. I hope my pages will last for millennia and Oxford will be free of their malice." He sets it down. "A letter to the former President from Reverend Dodgeson. It gives some clarity to the situation, but leaves us no closer to understanding how to deal with the dragon. I suppose we can assume the original page of rhymes that imprisoned it before was recently destroyed. And I doubt the secret to their creation was written down, and the fey will not share the secret again after what happened last time. Even if they did, we have no magic-worker left among us with sufficient power. If only we knew how Lludd got the best of the dragon in the first place..." Hal sets aside a thin hand-written journal of nonsense scribblings he suspects belonged to Carroll. With the pages of the Mabinogi freshly seared in your mind, you have a good idea. @Gregorotto that's your cue! Lay some Welsh lore on us, about where and how the dragons were caught. Oh, and when you do, roll an Act Under Pressure for that expose yourself to trouble or danger mixed success

Back in the old days, when the society was larger, these votes could run for days. But these days, with the current rate of attrition, a couple of votes is enough to clinch it. With the Reverend duly appointed, you head back to the Lamb and Flag, this time descending into a cramped cellar stacked with sheets of vellum and leather-bound tomes, emerging into the society room later with a pile of likely-looking research materials. Hal helps David to sort them and retreats to a corner with a stack of papers to peruse. OOC If I had remembered to actually+1 from Help, that would be 10. So Hold 2. Also Hal is exposed to trouble or danger...soon

⛤᛭⛤ StatsCharm -1, Cool +2, Sharp 0, Tough +2, Weird +1 ⛤᛭⛤ Harm: ●●● / ○○○○ Unstable: ○ Luck: ●○○○○○○ Exp: ●●○○○ Moves IC Hal once again listens, thinking it a solid plan. "Seconded. Just don't take us to war with Iraq." OOC Hal seconds.

OOC With a 7 on Manipulate Someone, anyone who seconds this motion or votes with it can mark Experience. David will also Mark Experience if he accepts

Sophie ●○ the Monstrous ○● StatsCharm -2, Cool +2, Sharp 0, Tough 0, Weird +3 Harm: ○○○ / ○○○○ Unstable: ○ Luck: ●○○○○○○ Exp: ○○○○○ Moves Unnatural AppealRoll +Weird instead of +Charm when you manipulate someone. Dark NegotiatorYou can use the manipulate someone move on monsters as well as people, if they can reason and talk. ImmortalYou do not age or sicken, and whenever you suffer harm you suffer 1-harm less. Unquenchable VitalityWhen you have taken harm, you can heal yourself. Roll with Cool. On a 10+, heal 2-harm and stabilize your injuries. On a 7-9, heal 1-harm and stabilize your injuries. On a miss, your injuries worsen. ResilienceYou heal faster than normal people. Any time your harm gets healed, heal an extra point. Additionally, your wounds count as 1-harm less for the purpose of the Keeper's harm moves. IC "I don't have all the answers. Supposin' a lot of what you're askin' could be answered by others of my kind, but I've worked hard to steer clear of them. Not sure of my standin' with them, seein' as how I'm right opposed to everything we are and everything we do. Even if I've inadvertently done what they intended of me," Sophie says. "As for that place, your guesses are as good as mine. Here's hopin' the answers are somewhere in these books. But it sounds like the ones we most need to see are under lock and key. And without Alice..." she trails off, thinking. Sophie then looks to David with a glint of an idea in her eyes. "David, if these wards are coded to only allow the president or actin' president past, what's stoppin' us from appointin' another actin' president? Sure, if there's procedure for makin' Alice actin' president with Eddie in a coma, must also be procedure for makin' another actin' president while she's captive in another realm. I nominate you," Sophie declares.

⛤᛭⛤ StatsCharm -1, Cool +2, Sharp 0, Tough +2, Weird +1 ⛤᛭⛤ Harm: ●●● / ○○○○ Unstable: ○ Luck: ●○○○○○○ Exp: ●○○○○ Moves Cast Out EvilCast Out Evil: You may banish an unnatural creature from your presence. Roll +Tough. On a 10+ it is banished. On a 7-9 it takes a little while for the banishing to take effect—the creature has time to make one or two actions. Either way, the banished creature is unharmed, and you have no control over where it goes. This move may be used on unnatural hunters (e.g. the Monstrous). On a miss, something is keeping it here. That’s bad. Lay on HandsLay On Hands: Your touch can heal injury and disease. When you lay your hands on someone hurt, roll +Cool. On a 10+, heal 2 harm or an illness, plus they’re stabilized. On a 7-9, you can heal the harm or illness as on a 10+, but you take it into yourself. On a miss, your aura causes them extra harm. No LimitsWhen you push your physical body past its limits, roll +Weird: • On a 10 or more, your body obeys your will, to the limits of physical possibility (see below), for a moment. • On a 7-9, you do it but choose one consequence: suffer 1-harm, take –1 forward, or you need to rest right now. • On a miss, something goes horribly wrong. Advanced No Limits. If you advance your no limits move, add this: • On a 12 or more, you can continue acting at your body’s limits for 30 seconds. For the purposes of this move, “physical possibility” means “conceivably possible for a human.” For example: • Physically Possible: Lift an SUV, Jump over a truck, Punch through a wall. • Not Physically Possible: Lift a building, Fly, Punch a blast of energy at a foe. SmiteSmite: Your body and divine weapon always count as a weakness against the monsters you fight. Your unarmed attacks are 2-harm intimate hand messy. IC Hal listens. He's very good at it. Wide-eyed and wondering, his face is a mask as he takes in the story that goes from horrifying to wholesome in a matter of seconds. It does leave him with questions, however. "So... how are you alive? She grew, right? And then, what, you stopped her from aging past a certain point? And what have you been up to, exactly? Like, just working with babies? Or helping usher in more of your kind... I mean, well, you know what I mean. We're not so different in our way, I suppose so there's not much of a difference beyond tangibility. So, how does this work? And what does that say about the place we just were? Is it that close to dreams? The Dreaming, I guess we can call it? Some nerds on the 2nd floor of my dorm play this game, see, about 'The Dreaming' with fairies and shit. Real weird stuff." He ponders, then looks around. Why are things so weird now? OOC Investigate a Mystery about the weirdness permeating everything. I think I know why, but Hal sure don't.

Sophie ●○ the Monstrous ○● StatsCharm -2, Cool +2, Sharp 0, Tough 0, Weird +3 Harm: ○○○ / ○○○○ Unstable: ○ Luck: ●○○○○○○ Exp: ○○○○○ Moves Unnatural AppealRoll +Weird instead of +Charm when you manipulate someone. Dark NegotiatorYou can use the manipulate someone move on monsters as well as people, if they can reason and talk. ImmortalYou do not age or sicken, and whenever you suffer harm you suffer 1-harm less. Unquenchable VitalityWhen you have taken harm, you can heal yourself. Roll with Cool. On a 10+, heal 2-harm and stabilize your injuries. On a 7-9, heal 1-harm and stabilize your injuries. On a miss, your injuries worsen. ResilienceYou heal faster than normal people. Any time your harm gets healed, heal an extra point. Additionally, your wounds count as 1-harm less for the purpose of the Keeper's harm moves. IC "No, she doesn't," Sophie replies to Ekram, somehow sounding even more guilty. She doesn't like how much she's hidden from any of them, but Annika in particular. They're supposed to be family, in the Oxford fashion. She wishes Annika had been the first to know the truth, not the last. "And don't be thinkin' I've suddenly got decades of huntin' under my belt. I spent most my earlier days changin' nappies and wipin' snotty noses. It was David here who convinced me I could make somethin' more of this stolen life," she says with another nod to the old man.

In Brief Ekram The Wronged Stats: Charm +1, Cool +0, Sharp +1, Tough +2, Weird -1 Harm: ●●○ / ○○○○ Unstable: ○ Luck: ●●●●●○○ Exp: ○○○○○ Playbook Moves I Know My PreyYou get +1 ongoing when knowingly investigating, pursuing or fighting the breed of monster that caused your loss. DIY SurgeryWhen you do quick and dirty first aid on someone (including yourself), roll +Cool. On a 10+ it’s all good, it counts as normal first aid, plus stabilize the injury and heal 1 harm. On a 7-9 it counts as normal first aid, plus one of these, your choice: • Stabilise the injury but the patient takes -1 forward. • Heal 1-harm and stabilise for now, but it will return as 2-harm and become unstable again later. • Heal 1-harm and stabilise but the patient takes -1 ongoing until it’s fixed properly. Never Again!In combat, you may choose to protect someone without rolling, as if you had rolled a 10+, but you may not choose to “suffer little harm.” Trust Your Gut (alt Weird)When you consult your instincts about what to do next, roll +Weird: • On a 10 or more, the Keeper will tell where you should go. Wherever that is, it will be important. You get +1 ongoing on the way to this place. • On a 7-9, the Keeper will tell you a general direction to go. Take +1 forward as you explore that. • On a miss, your instincts lead you into danger. InvincibleYou always count as having 2-armour. This doesn’t stack with other protection. ** Chosen move, Advancement ** FervorRoll Tough instead of Charm to Manipulate Someone Back to Reality Ekram listens, alternately taking a sip from the glass of water beside him and fiddling with the bandages on his burns. It isn't as big of a reveal to him initially. He only got started in OUMHS because he saw Sophie as some kind of threat. He's known she is more than human for awhile, and despite the conflict of their initial meeting he has come to trust her as much as anyone. But the extent of the tale, the circumstances of her existence, do weigh heavy on him as she puts them into words. In all the guesses he could have made about her origins, this would never have been one. "Sounds like you've been fighting monsters far longer than any of us." He takes another sip of the water, watching Hal take in this new information. His people were fond of tales of faerie creatures, right? Maybe it wouldn't be such a hard thing to swallow. Ekram doesn't have much to say himself. Sophie is a hunter who has been at his side since he joined up. Everyone who has lived a life has made hard choices in the name of what they believe is right. Growing up as he did, he's gotten quite good at moving past that initial knee-jerk, reactionary judgment and looking at things as they are. Sophie won't find anger, or mistrust, or even pity in his eyes. This changes nothing. "Does Annika know?" OOC Stuff

Sophie ●○ the Monstrous ○● StatsCharm -2, Cool +2, Sharp 0, Tough 0, Weird +3 Harm: ○○○ / ○○○○ Unstable: ○ Luck: ●○○○○○○ Exp: ○○○○○ Moves Unnatural AppealRoll +Weird instead of +Charm when you manipulate someone. Dark NegotiatorYou can use the manipulate someone move on monsters as well as people, if they can reason and talk. ImmortalYou do not age or sicken, and whenever you suffer harm you suffer 1-harm less. Unquenchable VitalityWhen you have taken harm, you can heal yourself. Roll with Cool. On a 10+, heal 2-harm and stabilize your injuries. On a 7-9, heal 1-harm and stabilize your injuries. On a miss, your injuries worsen. ResilienceYou heal faster than normal people. Any time your harm gets healed, heal an extra point. Additionally, your wounds count as 1-harm less for the purpose of the Keeper's harm moves. IC Sophie regards Hal like a parent wrestling with their child's first exposure to death, or sex, or any number of other topics that they don't truly wish to broach. But it's difficult to deny the strangeness of their experience, especially as she stands there without a scratch on her after enduring dragonfire. She looks to David, her senior in all things but years and he gives her an encouraging nod. Sophie sighs. "Grand," she says, though in a tone completely at odds with the word. "Here, let's be gettin' comfortable. 'tis a tale, and one not even David knows all the parts to. "So... what am I?" she repeats Hal's question. "Supposin' I'm a parasite. A soul glommed onto a poor little girl and intended to take her place. Stories of changelings aren't that far from the truth. But the fey don't steal away a child to another realm bodily, they just steal away their souls, leavin' the body for our kind to take up." She looks extremely guilty as she reveals all of this, and she can't even make eye contact with anyone in the room. "They meant for me to take this body, and here I stand in it. But it wasn't my doin'. It was Sophia, the girl you met on the other side," Sophie explains. "She was born a century ago in Ireland, at a time and a place where conditions were... poor. I wish I could say she was a happy child, but her life was... difficult. She was visited pain by those who should have been the ones to protect her from it. "I watched from the back of her mind. I suffered along with her. And when she slept, I did what I could to make her dreams happy ones," she says, her eyes misting up and her voice tinged with a tremble. "I was her best friend. Her solace. Her safety. I didn't want to take her life away from her. I just wanted her to find comfort. To be happy and free. "But as she grew toward adolescence, things only got worse for her, and she taught herself to retreat inward in those moments. Into our shared dream. And that's when I realized I could step into the driver's seat, for those moments. I could shield her from the worst of it. I thought I was doin' a good thing. I thought I was helpin' her. But..." Sophie pauses, gathering her breath and letting out a long sigh. "Sophia began to retreat to the dream more and more often. I had made it too much a haven for her, and there came a point she never wanted to leave. I tried to coax her out. I fought to free her of the evils of her life, but she was always too scared to go back. And so this body grew, with me behind the eyes instead of her. "She's still with me, as you two saw with your own eyes. Not sure how she was out and about in that way, but I can only guess it's because that other world is somethin' of a dream itself." Sophie finally looks up, making eye contact with the others, and looking to see if they view her as what she is. A thief and a monster.

⛤᛭⛤ StatsCharm -1, Cool +2, Sharp 0, Tough +2, Weird +1 ⛤᛭⛤ Harm: ●●● / ○○○○ Unstable: ○ Luck: ●○○○○○○ Exp: ●○○○○ Moves Cast Out EvilCast Out Evil: You may banish an unnatural creature from your presence. Roll +Tough. On a 10+ it is banished. On a 7-9 it takes a little while for the banishing to take effect—the creature has time to make one or two actions. Either way, the banished creature is unharmed, and you have no control over where it goes. This move may be used on unnatural hunters (e.g. the Monstrous). On a miss, something is keeping it here. That’s bad. Lay on HandsLay On Hands: Your touch can heal injury and disease. When you lay your hands on someone hurt, roll +Cool. On a 10+, heal 2 harm or an illness, plus they’re stabilized. On a 7-9, you can heal the harm or illness as on a 10+, but you take it into yourself. On a miss, your aura causes them extra harm. No LimitsWhen you push your physical body past its limits, roll +Weird: • On a 10 or more, your body obeys your will, to the limits of physical possibility (see below), for a moment. • On a 7-9, you do it but choose one consequence: suffer 1-harm, take –1 forward, or you need to rest right now. • On a miss, something goes horribly wrong. Advanced No Limits. If you advance your no limits move, add this: • On a 12 or more, you can continue acting at your body’s limits for 30 seconds. For the purposes of this move, “physical possibility” means “conceivably possible for a human.” For example: • Physically Possible: Lift an SUV, Jump over a truck, Punch through a wall. • Not Physically Possible: Lift a building, Fly, Punch a blast of energy at a foe. SmiteSmite: Your body and divine weapon always count as a weakness against the monsters you fight. Your unarmed attacks are 2-harm intimate hand messy. IC The pain is great enough that, upon arrival outside of the portal and even the slightest hint of normalcy, Hal vomits. Fortunately, things get better before they get worse. Taking a breather, he lets the others talk to the professor and he himself does anything but doses. When it comes to the question of what next, Hal has a few questions first. "Sophie, if I can be indelicate for a moment... what the f*ck was that? What's going on with the Mini-me and all that? What are you? If I have to share my family drama with gods and government fixers, I think it's only fair we understand what you are." As to what's next, he does think a bit. "Ani and Alice are still missing. I still owe a dead dragon to the whatever the hell's court. Not thrilled with any of this. We could do some research, help you along with that, or we could... I dunno. I'm too new at this to be full of bright ideas." OOC X

You leave the scene before anyone can ask about it, and with nothing chasing you it's no trouble to get patched up. OOC Everyone Heal 1 Harm. Everyone is now Stable. There's a bookshelf full of arcane tomes in the Society Room, but David knows where the records of more dangerous goings-on are kept, in a basement room beneath it. But there's a problem: only the duly-elected President of the Society can undo the wards that protect the entrance, and he's still in a coma at the Radcliffe. An Acting President would suffice, but the only one around is held hostage in Underland.

In Brief Ekram The Wronged Stats: Charm +1, Cool +0, Sharp +1, Tough +2, Weird -1 Harm: ●●● / ○○○○ Unstable: ○ Luck: ●●●●●○○ Exp: ○○○○○ Playbook Moves I Know My PreyYou get +1 ongoing when knowingly investigating, pursuing or fighting the breed of monster that caused your loss. DIY SurgeryWhen you do quick and dirty first aid on someone (including yourself), roll +Cool. On a 10+ it’s all good, it counts as normal first aid, plus stabilize the injury and heal 1 harm. On a 7-9 it counts as normal first aid, plus one of these, your choice: • Stabilise the injury but the patient takes -1 forward. • Heal 1-harm and stabilise for now, but it will return as 2-harm and become unstable again later. • Heal 1-harm and stabilise but the patient takes -1 ongoing until it’s fixed properly. Never Again!In combat, you may choose to protect someone without rolling, as if you had rolled a 10+, but you may not choose to “suffer little harm.” Trust Your Gut (alt Weird)When you consult your instincts about what to do next, roll +Weird: • On a 10 or more, the Keeper will tell where you should go. Wherever that is, it will be important. You get +1 ongoing on the way to this place. • On a 7-9, the Keeper will tell you a general direction to go. Take +1 forward as you explore that. • On a miss, your instincts lead you into danger. InvincibleYou always count as having 2-armour. This doesn’t stack with other protection. ** Chosen move, Advancement ** FervorRoll Tough instead of Charm to Manipulate Someone Back to Reality They run, and for a moment Ekram isn't sure that running is going to be enough. He relents to Sophie's insistence that she will guard the rear. He doesn't like it, but she's with him on the retreat so he relents. Passing through the fountain portal again is just as unsettling as it was the first time, and he lays sprawled out on the grass for many many moments. When she appears over him he reaches out to take her offered hand, climbing to his feet with more effort than he'd like. He nods to her assessment, tenderly touching fingers to the reddened flesh on his wrists and hands. "I did not see it coming. Can't be so careless next time." He looks over Hal, stepping up to him and checking the extent of his injuries. It's not good, but if they get him some attention they should be alright. And with David here that attention should be easy to get. Ekram tucks the knife back into the sheath at the base of his spine and watches the old man approach. "Hear that, Doc? More research. Your favorite." OOC Stuff Conditional: -1 Ongoing

Sophie ●○ the Monstrous ○● StatsCharm -2, Cool +2, Sharp 0, Tough 0, Weird +3 Harm: ●○○ / ○○○○ Unstable: ○ Luck: ●○○○○○○ Exp: ○○○○○ Moves Unnatural AppealRoll +Weird instead of +Charm when you manipulate someone. Dark NegotiatorYou can use the manipulate someone move on monsters as well as people, if they can reason and talk. ImmortalYou do not age or sicken, and whenever you suffer harm you suffer 1-harm less. Unquenchable VitalityWhen you have taken harm, you can heal yourself. Roll with Cool. On a 10+, heal 2-harm and stabilize your injuries. On a 7-9, heal 1-harm and stabilize your injuries. On a miss, your injuries worsen. ResilienceYou heal faster than normal people. Any time your harm gets healed, heal an extra point. Additionally, your wounds count as 1-harm less for the purpose of the Keeper's harm moves. IC Sophie lands roughly on the college lawn. Whatever special sparkle that other world had given her has now lapsed. With it gone, Sophia is back home in their shared dream, probably eager to chat about what just transpired. They'll have a lot to talk about tonight. She stands and then goes to help Ekram and Hal to their feet. Both young men look to be in rough shape. They lacked her guardian angel in that other world, and their mortal flesh doesn't stitch itself quite as fast as hers. She figures she may have some explaining to do, but for now their concerns are squarely on Annika, Alice, and that fire-belching beast. "That wasn't fun at all, at all. Supposin' we were right thick to take that thing on." Seeing David, Sophie calls, "Here, we got news on the girls!" She then proceeds to give David the abridged version of their experience, while the two help Ekram and Hal to somewhere safe where they can take a load off. "Seems old master Carroll was writin' about what he knew. May be there's somethin' in his works that could help us? Or some records from his days in the Society? We need to be knowin' how to find one of these rabbit holes when it opens, or open one ourselves. And we need to be goin' back in with something more than Hal's flamin' sword, Ekram's smolder, and me own silver tongue. Because they weren't cuttin' it. That was a brutal affair," she admits.

Sophie takes charge. She draws the attention of the beast and send the others flying back to the fountain. Then she deals it a stunning blow to the skull, and in the momentary opening that appears, scampers past the claws that catch only air, and races away, the great hound bounding alongside. You all sprint over the cracked and broken cobblestones. The burbling sound in the dragon's throat grows ever louder as it turns in pursuit and swiftly closes the gap. There's no time to glance back; hearts pounding and legs burning, you all pray for the safety of the fountain. Hal and Ekram arrive first, hurdling the basin wall and landing painfully on the impermeable surface of the water within. Turning, they see Sophie and Sophia just seconds behind them, with the jaws that bite right behind snapping at their heels. The flame breath erupts as the two splash down into the water and you are all dragged below into the falling nothingness. One after the other, the three hunters are spat out onto the Jesus College lawn, followed by a plume of flame that roars twenty feet high for a second before being suddenly cut off as the rabbit hole closes with a swirling of earth and grass. Sophia has disappeared, but Sophie feels the familiar sensation of her presence in her mind. David is still in the process of rushing out of the staircase and stops with a bemused look as the youngsters jump into the hole and promptly bounced back out again, bloodied and burned.

Sophie ●○ the Monstrous ○● StatsCharm -2, Cool +2, Sharp 0, Tough 0, Weird +3 Harm: ●○○ / ○○○○ Unstable: ○ Luck: ●○○○○○○ Exp: ○○○○○ Moves Unnatural AppealRoll +Weird instead of +Charm when you manipulate someone. Dark NegotiatorYou can use the manipulate someone move on monsters as well as people, if they can reason and talk. ImmortalYou do not age or sicken, and whenever you suffer harm you suffer 1-harm less. Unquenchable VitalityWhen you have taken harm, you can heal yourself. Roll with Cool. On a 10+, heal 2-harm and stabilize your injuries. On a 7-9, heal 1-harm and stabilize your injuries. On a miss, your injuries worsen. ResilienceYou heal faster than normal people. Any time your harm gets healed, heal an extra point. Additionally, your wounds count as 1-harm less for the purpose of the Keeper's harm moves. IC Sophie flashes a look at Ekram. If he's feeling the need to retreat, it must be much more dire than she's even thinking. She doesn't like the idea of forestalling their task, for it means Annika and Alice will be held all that much longer. But if they all die here now, there will be no saving them ever. Realizing that she and Sophia are in the best shape, and perhaps the least likely to fall under the circumstances, Sophie shouts, "Go! We'll cover your escape and be right behind you!" OOC Acting Under Pressure, with the Power of Love Boo ya! Double 6s, baby!

In Brief The Wronged Stats: Charm +1, Cool +0, Sharp +1, Tough +2, Weird -1 Harm: ●●● / ○○○○ Unstable: ○ Luck: ●●●●●○○ Exp: ○○○○○ Playbook Moves I Know My PreyYou get +1 ongoing when knowingly investigating, pursuing or fighting the breed of monster that caused your loss. DIY SurgeryWhen you do quick and dirty first aid on someone (including yourself), roll +Cool. On a 10+ it’s all good, it counts as normal first aid, plus stabilize the injury and heal 1 harm. On a 7-9 it counts as normal first aid, plus one of these, your choice: • Stabilise the injury but the patient takes -1 forward. • Heal 1-harm and stabilise for now, but it will return as 2-harm and become unstable again later. • Heal 1-harm and stabilise but the patient takes -1 ongoing until it’s fixed properly. Never Again!In combat, you may choose to protect someone without rolling, as if you had rolled a 10+, but you may not choose to “suffer little harm.” Trust Your Gut (alt Weird)When you consult your instincts about what to do next, roll +Weird: • On a 10 or more, the Keeper will tell where you should go. Wherever that is, it will be important. You get +1 ongoing on the way to this place. • On a 7-9, the Keeper will tell you a general direction to go. Take +1 forward as you explore that. • On a miss, your instincts lead you into danger. InvincibleYou always count as having 2-armour. This doesn’t stack with other protection. ** Chosen move, Advancement ** FervorRoll Tough instead of Charm to Manipulate Someone This is Not What I Planned The claw hits hard and Ekram's usual stoicism can't hold against the assault. He hits the ground, buckling against the pain, and scrambles away from the source with ragged gaspy breaths. By the time he's made it back to his feet the dragon is raging and his confidence in their victory has collapsed. They've barely made a scratch on the thing despite Hal's god blade and Sophie's nature. "We're not ready for this. We need to retreat." He side steps rapidly to get between Hal and the dragon, grabbing the freshman's shoulder and pushing him in the direction of anywhere but here. He shoots a look to Sophie, trying to gauge her willingness to give up on this fight. He is always the last to flee a fight but if either of them press on with this he is willing to drag them. For the moment, he readies himself to leap either left or right to intervene in any of the dragons reprisals against them. OOC Stuff Conditional: -1 Ongoing

Sophie ●○ the Monstrous ○● StatsCharm -2, Cool +2, Sharp 0, Tough 0, Weird +3 Harm: ●○○ / ○○○○ Unstable: ○ Luck: ●○○○○○○ Exp: ○○○○○ Moves Unnatural AppealRoll +Weird instead of +Charm when you manipulate someone. Dark NegotiatorYou can use the manipulate someone move on monsters as well as people, if they can reason and talk. ImmortalYou do not age or sicken, and whenever you suffer harm you suffer 1-harm less. Unquenchable VitalityWhen you have taken harm, you can heal yourself. Roll with Cool. On a 10+, heal 2-harm and stabilize your injuries. On a 7-9, heal 1-harm and stabilize your injuries. On a miss, your injuries worsen. ResilienceYou heal faster than normal people. Any time your harm gets healed, heal an extra point. Additionally, your wounds count as 1-harm less for the purpose of the Keeper's harm moves. IC Sophie grunts as she hits the ground, her clothes singed and aflame in a few spots. She rolls to douse the lingering fire, and then climbs to her feet. The burns across her exposed skin look severe, at first, but then something unexpected happens. The blistered skin softens and heals over at an incredible rate. What should have been third-degree burns now look no worse than a scalding from a too-hot shower. She grits her teeth and looks to Ekram and Hal. Are they still doing this? Do they even have a choice? OOC Let's see how these healing moves work out. Rolled an 8, which means I heal 1, but then I get +1 from Resilience, and the initial harm is reduced to 3 because of Immortal. So I take a net 1 harm after healing.

Whatever was wrong with the creature a moment ago, it seems to have recovered. Sophie barely pentrates the hide before she gets driven back by a blast of fire from the jaws that bite at her as she moves past. Ekram doesn't even get that far, sliced open by the claws that catch him as he approaches. OOC Ekram and Sophie take 4 Harm each Sophie falls over Ekram is in agonising pain

In Brief The Wronged Stats: Charm +1, Cool +0, Sharp +1, Tough +2, Weird -1 Harm: ●○○ / ○○○○ Unstable: ○ Luck: ●●●●●○○ Exp: ●●●●○ Playbook Moves I Know My PreyYou get +1 ongoing when knowingly investigating, pursuing or fighting the breed of monster that caused your loss. DIY SurgeryWhen you do quick and dirty first aid on someone (including yourself), roll +Cool. On a 10+ it’s all good, it counts as normal first aid, plus stabilize the injury and heal 1 harm. On a 7-9 it counts as normal first aid, plus one of these, your choice: • Stabilise the injury but the patient takes -1 forward. • Heal 1-harm and stabilise for now, but it will return as 2-harm and become unstable again later. • Heal 1-harm and stabilise but the patient takes -1 ongoing until it’s fixed properly. Never Again!In combat, you may choose to protect someone without rolling, as if you had rolled a 10+, but you may not choose to “suffer little harm.” Trust Your Gut (alt Weird)When you consult your instincts about what to do next, roll +Weird: • On a 10 or more, the Keeper will tell where you should go. Wherever that is, it will be important. You get +1 ongoing on the way to this place. • On a 7-9, the Keeper will tell you a general direction to go. Take +1 forward as you explore that. • On a miss, your instincts lead you into danger. InvincibleYou always count as having 2-armour. This doesn’t stack with other protection. ** Chosen move, Advancement ** Trogdor Comes in the Night! Once again he is covered in flame and memories from that night last term come flooding back unimpeded. He smacks at the patches of fire on his clothing, hands singed and the smell of burning cloth and skin again fills his nostrils. In the time that takes, Hal retaliates with mighty swings of his weapon and even Sophie appears in the fray. That is as full a commitment to slaying this beast as one could hope for. Moving with quick strides, he circles to an exposed side of the creature, trying to hem it in between the multiple combatants. Driving the knife forward, he seeks a soft spot in the dragon's hide. OOC Stuff KSA - 4. Oof. Conditional: -1 Ongoing

Sophie ●○ the Monstrous ○● StatsCharm -2, Cool +2, Sharp 0, Tough 0, Weird +3 Harm: ○○○ / ○○○○ Unstable: ○ Luck: ●○○○○○○ Exp: ○○○○○ Moves Unnatural AppealRoll +Weird instead of +Charm when you manipulate someone. Dark NegotiatorYou can use the manipulate someone move on monsters as well as people, if they can reason and talk. ImmortalYou do not age or sicken, and whenever you suffer harm you suffer 1-harm less. Unquenchable VitalityWhen you have taken harm, you can heal yourself. Roll with Cool. On a 10+, heal 2-harm and stabilize your injuries. On a 7-9, heal 1-harm and stabilize your injuries. On a miss, your injuries worsen. ResilienceYou heal faster than normal people. Any time your harm gets healed, heal an extra point. Additionally, your wounds count as 1-harm less for the purpose of the Keeper's harm moves. IC "Well I'll be damned," Sophie whispers to herself as she witnesses little Sophia transform into a beast of legend that does indeed appear to be invulnerable. Perhaps not in the way of the old stories, which likely means she won't be spitting up rivers of wine either. But the little chicken is doing a fair job of confounding the beastie, and here Sophie is just standing about. Seeing Ekram take a gout of flame and Hal leap into the fray sword held high, Sophie cannot stand back idle. She may not be a fighter, but Sophia's presence gives her courage. Sophie rushes in behind Hal and then slips to one side, so that she can fight side by side with Sophia. As the others have seen before, she fights unarmed, but just as her form seems to have an ethereal quality in this place, so does her punch. It does not tear into the beast as solidly as Hal's sword, but it does land more heavily than one might expect. OOC That's a whopping 1 harm, magical. But it ignores armor at least.

Taking the sword in hand, it seems to fly through the air - one, two - leaving two deep gashes in the neck of the slavering beast. It roars, rears back, and catches Hal in its right claw. OOC Hal takes 4 Harm and is momentarily inhibited

⛤᛭⛤ StatsCharm -1, Cool +2, Sharp 0, Tough +2, Weird +1 ⛤᛭⛤ Harm: ●●○ / ○○○○ Unstable: ● Luck: ●○○○○○○ Exp: ●○○○○ Moves Cast Out EvilCast Out Evil: You may banish an unnatural creature from your presence. Roll +Tough. On a 10+ it is banished. On a 7-9 it takes a little while for the banishing to take effect—the creature has time to make one or two actions. Either way, the banished creature is unharmed, and you have no control over where it goes. This move may be used on unnatural hunters (e.g. the Monstrous). On a miss, something is keeping it here. That’s bad. Lay on HandsLay On Hands: Your touch can heal injury and disease. When you lay your hands on someone hurt, roll +Cool. On a 10+, heal 2 harm or an illness, plus they’re stabilized. On a 7-9, you can heal the harm or illness as on a 10+, but you take it into yourself. On a miss, your aura causes them extra harm. No LimitsWhen you push your physical body past its limits, roll +Weird: • On a 10 or more, your body obeys your will, to the limits of physical possibility (see below), for a moment. • On a 7-9, you do it but choose one consequence: suffer 1-harm, take –1 forward, or you need to rest right now. • On a miss, something goes horribly wrong. Advanced No Limits. If you advance your no limits move, add this: • On a 12 or more, you can continue acting at your body’s limits for 30 seconds. For the purposes of this move, “physical possibility” means “conceivably possible for a human.” For example: • Physically Possible: Lift an SUV, Jump over a truck, Punch through a wall. • Not Physically Possible: Lift a building, Fly, Punch a blast of energy at a foe. SmiteSmite: Your body and divine weapon always count as a weakness against the monsters you fight. Your unarmed attacks are 2-harm intimate hand messy. IC The idea of a dragon is still terrifying to him: if they're real, then there's a lot of things that are real. This of course is madness, as he is descended from a god that now not just he has seen but others as well. As Ekram pushes him out of the way, Hal watches as the flames overtake him and burn him intenses, and Hal snaps out of it. He is a lot of things. Not sharp, not witty, not funny. He's reactive more than active, but that is the problem here. Rising, blade in hand, he can do one thing without equal: he can kick some ass. "You need a dragon slayer? I'm right fecking here." And he charges the dragon. OOC Kick Some Ass

Ekram shoves Hal aside, but isn't fast enough to get himself out of the way as well. He is briefly wreathed in very non-dream flames. He is able to shield his face and his leather jacket gives some protection, but it hurts bad, and it's going to hurt worse tomorrow, if he lives that long. The creature's long tongue flickers through dripping fangs. It still seems somewhat thrown by biting the legendary hound, but it's getting steadier by the second. Ekram takes 3 Harm and has -1 ongoing until he can get these burns treated.

In Brief The Wronged Stats: Charm +1, Cool +0, Sharp +1, Tough +2, Weird -1 Harm: ○○○ / ○○○○ Unstable: ○ Luck: ●●●●●○○ Exp: ●●●●○ Playbook Moves I Know My PreyYou get +1 ongoing when knowingly investigating, pursuing or fighting the breed of monster that caused your loss. DIY SurgeryWhen you do quick and dirty first aid on someone (including yourself), roll +Cool. On a 10+ it’s all good, it counts as normal first aid, plus stabilize the injury and heal 1 harm. On a 7-9 it counts as normal first aid, plus one of these, your choice: • Stabilise the injury but the patient takes -1 forward. • Heal 1-harm and stabilise for now, but it will return as 2-harm and become unstable again later. • Heal 1-harm and stabilise but the patient takes -1 ongoing until it’s fixed properly. Never Again!In combat, you may choose to protect someone without rolling, as if you had rolled a 10+, but you may not choose to “suffer little harm.” Trust Your Gut (alt Weird)When you consult your instincts about what to do next, roll +Weird: • On a 10 or more, the Keeper will tell where you should go. Wherever that is, it will be important. You get +1 ongoing on the way to this place. • On a 7-9, the Keeper will tell you a general direction to go. Take +1 forward as you explore that. • On a miss, your instincts lead you into danger. InvincibleYou always count as having 2-armour. This doesn’t stack with other protection. ** Chosen move, Advancement ** Dragon Slaya! It is difficult to put into words, seeing a dragon for the first time. Up until that moment he'd really hoped it was just one of those things that gets lost in translation. When the beast comes lunging out of the darkness, it is everything his tiny lizard brain can do to keep from fleeing. Whatever is out there in the shadow Oxford couldn't be as terrible as this, right? He turns, planting his backfoot and bringing the knife up to...what, exactly? Stab a dragon? The monster makes a slight juke to the right, instead. It opens it's jaws impossibly wide and spits flame just like the stories. A ball of liquid fire aimed directly for Arwan's favorite son. "Would love for this to be a dream!" He shouts the words as his feet dig in and he darts forward in a sprint, clothing the small distance between himself and Hal in record time. Tucking the knife in an underhand grip to avoid spearing his friend, Ekram puts the full force of his charge into Hal's side as he tries to use the momentum to carry them past the fire's destination. OOC Stuff Let's try a Protect Someone, and actually roll so I can maybe reduce the harm I take for it. An 8. Not the best, but it'll get the job done.