From the Journal of Emma Tarn:
Elder Alden introduced me to the mercs yesterday morning. The group was an eclectic bunch. This might have worried me, but I had witnessed them in battle against the undead. Honestly, they’re the best hope for the town of Comfort. My job was simple. Guide them to the nearby cave systems where we suspected the necromancers were hiding and help clear them out. No need to remind you I am not a soldier. I’m just a rogue scholar, like my sister, but I am a capable scout and I can shoot with the best of them.
Nicholas Bordeleau is quiet. He’s a good pilot and deadly in a fight in that shiny power armor of his. It resembles Glitterboy armor, but it’s much smaller, can fly, and lacks the railgun the GBs are famous for. I aim to get him to open up about it so I can learn more.
Raesha is a scholar like me in addition to being a powerful caster of spells. Almost got us all killed, but I’m getting ahead of myself. I think I threatened him with my scholarly pursuits and I definitely insulted him by calling him a “wolf.” For some reason, he thinks everyone in the group needs to have different skills and his skill is “knowing things.” I’m not sure I understand that. I’ll be more careful what I say to him in the future. He comes from another word and is a collector of stories. I could learn a lot from him.
Kres’Kreen fascinates me. She told me she was a Raptor King. I’ve read about them and I have some notes about them from one of my sister’s books. Their culture is fascinating. I wish more folks would get to know them. They’re not just “smart dinosaurs.”
Fido is an interesting individual with serious issues rooted deep in his past. I think he’s a “good boy,” but he missed out on having a normal childhood. Or is that supposed to be “puppyhood?” I accidentally mentioned my sister and he latched onto that like a dog with a bone, pun intended. I think I managed to “throw him off the scent” though. I’m not sure how long I can keep Erin a secret. Hopefully long enough for me to make a name for myself!
Chayton… That one is frustrating and I don’t think I am the only one who thinks so. He certainly has a lot to learn about people still.
We traveled southeast from Comfort until sunset. Raesha mentioned he sensed several ley lines around us. He plans to visit those after we deal with the necromancers. After setting up camp, Chayton left to hunt. Fido and Raesha decided to take care of Shadow, Chayton’s horse. Fido also did some training with the beast. Raesha “spoke” with Shadow and learned about the horse’s religious beliefs. Can you believe that? Horses worship a pantheon of horse deities. The great warrior, Black Stallion. A winged horse named Pegasus carries the sun across the sky. And an eight-legged horse named Sleipnir who leads them all. I had no idea!
Chayton returned and began preparing a meal for everyone. Somehow he got on the subject of families and I had to dodge more questions. I don’t think he trusts me. I guess I am keeping secrets, but they’re mine to keep. Then he and Fido got into some kind of philosophical debate and I used the opportunity to duck out for the night. I got the impression this was a regular occurrence for the pair. They’re a real “odd couple.” Sorry if you don’t catch that reference. It’s an old Pre-Rifts movie about two old guys who are friends, but don’t get along much.
While we rested Raesha told us about the Soulless Xombies and Soul Harvesters, the vile necromancers who created them. Even worse, he told us about [[:nxla | Nxla, an eldritch horror from another dimension. It was an alien intelligence working to invade Rifts Earth one Xombie at a time as the undead monstrosities were created. Every Xombie had a sliver of the dark god and when enough were made, Nxla could enter our world. No one slept well that night.
In the morning, we finished the journey to the nearest cave system. Chayton tried to contact the spirit world and had some serious difficulties. I think the attempt hurt him pretty badly. We left the truck a click from the cave entrance and went on foot. We found it fairly easily and there were no sentries outside. The group suspected a trap, but they couldn’t spot anything. So we slowly made our way inside. Noting here Fido mentioned he could not smell/sense Zil nearby. I… Well, read on and you will learn why.
That’s when we ran into the first bit of trouble. The cave entrance opened into a wife cavern with greenish water standing all over the place. The smell was awful. Even worse there were three brodkil standing guard. I knew we were in the right place. The magic users and psychics in the group commented on the evil in the air. They felt like something was about to happen and time was running out.
If you don’t know what brodkil are, they’re a nasty type of demon that have come to infest Rifts Earth. They’re humanoid with orange skin and stand eight to nine feet tall. No wings or hooves on these demons. Brodkill can be deadly opponents. They’re supernaturally strong, excellent fighters, and can even turn invisible. If one didn’t know any better, you might think they were giant mutated humans. They can even be cybernetically augmented like a human can and they love the upgrades although this trio had minimal modifications. They were armed with some nasty Northern Gun weaponry though.
Our group attacked and once again I got to see the mercs in action! A little too closely at first, that is. As they charged into battle, I got excited and followed right into danger. One of the brodkil smacked me upside the head so I quickly retreated to a safe distance. My armor was good, but not that good. Better to hang back and take potshots with my Wilks laser pistol.
Kres’Kreen worked one of the brodkil into a corner of the cavern and kinda kept it pinned there while the group dealt with the rest. Raesha summoned a magical effect that glued the second brodkil in place. The demon couldn’t dodge our attacks, but it could return fire. Fido charged in to try to keep it from firing on us. The third brodkil turned invisible and snuck up behind the dogboy cyberknight. He was flanked and in a bad place! Chayton moved in to help with the brodkil pinned by Kres’Kreen while Nick hung back with me and fired from a distance.
Fido hacked off the arm of the second brodkil and it fell unconscious from the shock. Raesha conjured a brilliant light on the invisible brodkil so everyone could see it. Everyone focused on that target until finally Chayton smashed it on the head with his magical staff and killed it. Then the group surrounded the pinned brodkil and finished it off. Someone put the unconscious brodkil out of its misery, but I didn’t see who. We could feel evil in the air around us and no one hesitated to press on.
The cavern ended in a tunnel cut into the rock. The walls were intricately carved. I saw snake motifs carved into the walls and floor. There was a cage in the room with a human inside. He was portly and spoke with a slow drawl. He begged us to free him, but we were distracted by what we saw on the other side of the room. A short hallway led to another room, but it was blocked by a force field. On one side of the field was some kind of technological device and on the other was a magical one. Maybe it was techno-wizard in nature?
On the other side of the force field, we saw the necromancers surrounding a young woman bound inside a ritual circle. They were turning her into another one of those Soulless Xombies! Beyond the ritual was an open portal through which black tendrils of smoke emerged. In one of the far corners was a throne and sitting on it was a Soul Harvester dressed from head to toe in armor crafted from bones. It looked like a demon itself. And scattered about the room were undead, both zombies (with a Z) and Xombies (with an X).
Raesha and Fido worked quickly to bring down the force field. We could see the soul of the poor woman in the circle rising from her body while the black tendrils reached forward to claim her. Noting here, Chayton freed the man in the cage while the others worked on the force field. I don’t know if anyone else noticed, but I did. If nothing else, we managed to save one victim of the necromancers. The field came down and the group charged into the room. For a moment, I thought the young woman was Zil and I cried out her name. The Soul Harvester just laughed at me.
The necromancers performing the ritual wore no armor. I guess they never anticipated an attack while performing the ritual. This made them easy targets, but there were a lot of them. Kres’Kreen and Fido went after the Soul Harvester. Half of the undead swarmed Nick but he quickly destroyed them with his handy grenade launcher. The other half went after Kres’Kreen but she ignored them in favor of taking down the boss. Chayton launched himself into the ritual trying to stop it before it was too late. I did my part, shooting as many necromancers as I could from cover.
That’s when the tide turned against us. The Soul Harvester tried multiple times to possess Kres’Kreen and Fido unsuccessfully. Then he turned his dark magic on Raesha and wrestled control of the dragon wolf’s mind. He ordered our ally to attack us! Unable to stop himself, Raesha charged into our flank and unleashed lighting attacks! Nick, Chayton, Fido, and Kres’Kreen were all struck! Some of them nearby went down under the onslaught.
The Soul Harvester danced about the room, but that was a tactical mistake. Nick limited himself to his laser rifle while his allies were near the enemies. As soon as the Harvester was clear of them, the power armor pilot bombarded the villain and took him out of the fight. Then we heard a voice coming through the portal. It taunted us and thanked us for relieving it of unworthy followers. The Xombies in the room rushed through the portal, disappearing.
Momentum had turned in our favor, but Raesha was still a threat. We didn’t want to attack him and fortunately, I had just the item for the job. A long time ago, my sister Erin told me about the time a demonic entity possessed Sir Thorpe. Anyone who knows my sister’s books knows Sir Thorpe is a Cyberknight, her sworn protector, and a deadly fighter. It took the whole group to subdue him before they could drive the demonic presence from his mind. Erin told me to be prepared in case the same should ever happen to me or one of my traveling companions. Years ago, I picked up a techno-wizard device in Tolkeen, a paralyzing collar that only works on P.P.E. and I.S.P. users. Honestly, it’s a terrifying device if you think about it and I keep it a secret. The Coalition States would love to get their hands on tech like this. I managed to slip it around Raesha’s neck and subdue him before he could do more harm.
Then the most awful thing happened. We had stopped the ritual but the zombies did not flee. They swarmed the woman in the circle and tore her to shreds… We couldn’t save her.
The mercs destroyed the zombies and found the Soul Harvester lying in the crater Nick’s grenades had left behind. The monster was dying, good riddance! However, he held on to taunt us one last time. He heard me when I said Zil’s name. He knew I thought the woman in the circle had been her and he revealed Zil was not a victim of the coven, she was a member. Even worse, she was its founder. The situation was far worse than we realized.
We’re still here in the chamber where we learned that terrible truth. The others are debating what to do next, so I have taken this moment to document these events in my journal. This story is not done. Hopefully, I survive to tell the rest of it.
— Emma Tarn
END OF SESSION
The Zen Game Master 
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