Mission 8: Sleep with One Eye Open
|
Exalted: |
|---|
|
Chapter 2 |
|
The Circle With No Name |
Suggested Music: Enter Sandman by Metallica
The Job
Client: The Three Gods of Great Forks
Target: The Sandman
Type: Mock Assassination
Target background: There has been a string of recent odd events that have led to some minor buzz around the dark, paranormal corners of The Scavenger Lands. Rumor has it, God-Bloods have been suddenly losing their powers. Most notably their ability to channel and respire essence. What began has a few rumblings as seemingly crazy God-Bloods emerged claiming they had lost their powers has turned into a region wide commotion as more and more prominent God-Bloods have begun losing their powers. Heaven, the Sidereals and otherwise, have completely denied involvement in the strange occurrences, but have refused to aid or share information with those in Creation attempting to solve the case. While troublesome and relatively suspicious, it is standard policy for the agents of heaven to leave the dwellers of Creation as far out of the loop as possible. This was going smoothly until some of the gods started to get upset their sons and daughters were being stripped of their powers. Things have now reached a tipping point in the investigation as one of the Sidereals involved was found murdered, though no suspects have been found.
While disturbing, the Grass Spiders have mostly distanced themselves from the petty squabbles of The Gods, The Sidereals, and the mortals actually affected by these odd happenings. Nothing that suited the Grass Spiders more eccentric interests had popped up, but all that changed last night. Last night, one of the Three Gods of Great Forks discovered that his favorite son would be the next to lose his abilities. The Grass Spiders have been contracted to stop it.
The Three Gods of Great Forks have taken the liberty to quickly and expertly track down and kidnap two of the previous victims which gives us some information on what happens and what can be done to stop it. Nazareth and Samsara discussed and explained the metaphysical properties and phenomenon that must be present for The Sandmans plan to function and what can be done to stop it, other than their plan the Scavenger Lands as a whole is at a loss to stop him.
The Sandman attacks the God-Bloods through a series of seven consecutive dreams, once the God-Blood has the first dream there is no stopping the next six. When the God-Blood awakes from the seventh dream his or her ability to channel and respire essence is lost forever. There seems to be no connection between the victims and their attacker, making tracking the so called Sandman so far impossible. Samsara and Nazareth had devised a plan to fight the Sandman in his own dream. This will be the task of The Grass Spiders.
The sequence of dreams has a progressive and clear path that makes the dreams somewhat predictable, but no less controllable. Each dream begins at a location with The Dreamer and The Sandman present (some dreams feature other people, some dreams are only the two of them) in the dream The Sandman always kills (or is obviously responsible for) the death of the dreamer. Furthermore, the dreams seem to lengthen as the dream sequence progresses, making the first dream rather short and the last dream quite long. The seventh, and last, dream is the most personalized to The Dreamer of all dreams. The dream takes place in someplace dear to The Dreamer's childhood and always involves a death by his deepest and darkest fear. In some cases this has been as simple as a fear of snakes or spiders, in others as abstract as a fear of being forgotten, it all depends on The Dreamer.
The Grass Spiders will attempt to recreate the seventh dream of The Dreamer before it happens, in that dream they will make it convincing to both the Sandman and to The Dreamer that the dream is real. However it will all be an act played out by the Grass Spiders. The Dream they have acted out will then be planted into the head of The Dreamer, and if Nazareth and Samsara are correct, result in the death of the Sandman in the actual dream. This of course is even more tricky than it sounds. The Sandman must believe that the dream itself backfired on him, not that there was some sort of outside interference.
Critical Notes:
- Both The Sandman and The Dreamer must believe that the dream is following its normal course of action, the intent is for The Sandman to believed he failed on his own or that the Dreamer built a resistance to the dream manipulation. Letting the Sandman know assassins are involved would result in certain failure.
- The Grass Spider's already know (or think they do) where the seventh dream will take place. A small cottage in the woods that The Dreamer spent his summers with his Grandmother with frequent visits from his father. Oak is already working on constructing this 'set' for The Grass Spiders use.
- The Grass Spiders have been provided with two kidnapped previous victims, some information might be able to be extracted from them. However they are being held captive and may be somewhat less than forthcoming with information.
- The Grass Spiders have no direct access to The Dreamer, as he must be kept in the dark to the plan to alter his dreams in order to save him.
- The Dreamers gravest phobia appears to be a fear of heights. Since the Dreamer is unreachable it would be difficult to confirm otherwise, limited contact is available through Infallible Messenger with The Gods of Great Forks, but responses may be limited.
- The Dreamer can or cannot be included in The Dream, depending on the plan. Though most plans would probably require someone to play the part. Associates are available for it or one of The Assassins could play the roll, again depending on the plan. However, The Dreamer must survive the dream (at least longer than the sandman assuming the dream will end when the sandman dies.)
- The proximity of this mission to The Range Homes makes almost the entire associates village at the disposal of The Circle with No Name. However, most other Grass Spiders are away on mission or otherwise occupied or this mission would have been given to a more senior circle. Oak and Rizuka have both expressed that they would be impressed with the circle if they can actually pull it off. (This is believed to be the organizations first dream assassination.)
- The Dreamer has 5 days until his seventh dream, the mission must be completed before then.
- Anton has expressed that he believes it is possible that The Sandman is somehow involved with The White Veil Society, though no proof exists of a connection. Even The Grass Spiders extensive spy network has no leads on The Sandman's identity, his anonymity may be a telling sign of his secret origins.
Expected Threats:
- None. Team A is setting the stage so they are in control of any dangers, anything they subject themselves to is obviously a different matter.
- There is significant risk to The Mark during the mission. The Mark will respond to threats as the actual target would, if confronted directly The Mark will fight back.
Team A - The Assassins - Mesa, Zealot, Fay, Opal
- The Asassins will be carrying out the hit themselves, they need to set the stage and execute the assassination according to the mission parameters. Hopefully without actually killing Ash of course.
Team B - The Mark - Ash & Rizuka
- Ash is the unlucky Team member who gets to be the mark, meaning he will be assassinated during the mission. Of course the plan is for him not to quite actually die, that's where Rizuka comes in. They both must be kept completely out of planning for the mission to be successful.
Team C - The Architects - Oak, Naru, Ravenous Moon
- Given the need for specfic locations to be included in this mission, the Architects will be in charge of changing and shaping The Training Grounds (Not the bar) into whatever The Assassins need.
Team D - Cello
- Cello will be responsible for transferring the Dream into the mind of The Dreamer at the appropriate time once it is ready.
Mission Status
Job: Complete
Dates: Resplendent Earth 18 - Resplendent Earth 22, R.Y. 768
Kill: After extensive planning and set creation, the group staged the Dream on a series of increasingly narrow pillars connected by progressively more narrow rope bridges. Each pillar contained a room of The Dreamer's Grandparents cabin, the known location of the Dream. The Dreamer would start safely on the largest platform, while The Sandman (Ash) and The Dreamer's Grandparents (Fay & Zealot) would be having tea on the last platform, the narrowest platform with a crumbling support structure. This will create a commonly felt feeling of helplessness in The Dreamer as well as provide opportunity for The Sandman to taunt and mock The Dreamer throughout The Dream. The Dreamer would be forced to face his fear of heights and travel across the platforms to save his Grandparents. Mesa convincingly made his way across the pillars and finally arrived on the final pillar with The Sandman. A fight broke out between the two, eventually leading to The Sandman gripping onto the edge about to fall only moments before the pillars collapse. As the pillar collapsed he made a final effort to grab the leg of The Dreamer, falling to his death. (A specially designed pit that Ash would fall through and be caught by a spider web to break his fall.) The Dreamer and his Grandparents then hurried across the rope bridge to safety, The Dreamer almost did not make it but was saved from a fall by his Grandmother as the bridge collapsed. The Dream was successfully implanted into the mind of The Dreamer and his powers were saved from The Sandman, though it is thought no actual harm would have come to The Sandman as a result of his death the string of recent supernatural events involving The Sandman has come to a halt.
Quote of the night: "Don't turn it off, turn it up." (The Circle with No Name)
Exp. Awarded: Base - 5 EXP