apocalypsehowooc | The Story So Far

A simplified text version of this information can be found here: LINK

Timeline

intro jul 2021 aug 2021 sep 2021 oct 2021 nov 2021 dec 2021 jan 2022

NPCs

intro reyes bonnie visionary pam nia neil lucky sable fenix lullaby girl ren kahlil

⌘ Intro

❖ This section covers the major events that have occurred each month since the start of the game. The tl;dr version of events is provided below.

❖ July 2021 - PCs started arriving in Gloucester. NPC off-worlders have been dropping in for a year. Characters had to fight it out with a group of kelpies and rescue others who had been turned into 'selkies' using cursed seal skins. Characters succeeded in eradicating the kelpies and discovered they had been captured and brought to Essex Bay from further north.

❖ August 2021 - Off-worlder characters witnessed the ghostly reenactment of a century-old train crash in Gloucester that no one else seemed to notice. Even some of the native ADI employees were oblivious. Following this, the Fenix Down Extravaganza rolled into town. It was a pyrotechnics (Desolation)-based circus using a train as the favored mode of transportation. Fenix Down premiered a new act while in Gloucester, a man named Pyre immolating himself in front of an audience, and pointed characters toward ADI as the ones actually responsible for the ghost train crash they witnessed. The circus left for their next stop in Boston without incident.

❖ September 2021 - Nia Lehrer, Warden of ADI, returned to HQ to give an all-hands quarterly meeting. She issued a stern warning to characters to stop using magic, and explained why she had a problem with it in more depth during private meetings. In addition, a strange music began cropping up in Gloucester, something that seemed to make people very sleepy around the graveyards.

❖ October 2021 - The strange music persisted, culminating in an uptick of serious car accidents and thefts, along with everyone at ADI falling into temporary comas. They experienced shared nightmares that always ended in being killed. Eventually, everyone found themselves in a collective dream (though that was not obvious) where they attended the company Halloween party, only for people to start transforming into bloodthirsty monsters and killing everyone and each other. The culprit revealed herself as Ava, the Lullaby Girl, someone sent to harrass ADI by a 'Mr. S.' She was able to leave without being caught, but promised to return next year.

❖ November 2021 - A proliferation of 'real magic' videos, encouraged by the mysterious 'Jim Griffin' forced ADI to go chasing down many, many leads. At the same time, there was a sudden influx of strange objects to a local antiques shop, "Things of Beauty," but these were ultimately found to be strange, not cursed.

❖ December 2021 - A Corruption-based mold virus found its way onto everyone's phones in the form of a phone game app called Hermy the Wormy. After eradicating the mold, the culprit revealed herself as Ren Morimoto, a VTuber who had been pronounced dead a month ago after succumbing to a parasitic infection. Ren revealed that she had become an avatar for the Corruption and was trying to get Jim Griffin's attention and to help him with a ritual she thought he wanted. Characters had to race to some warehouses to rescue other fans from her and her bugs. She was last seen exploding into bugs inside a burning, heavily-poisoned warehouse and is assumed dead.

❖ January 2022 - A hot new product hit the shelves of "Things of Beauty" in the form of horrible, skin-looking phone cases. Characters managed to snarl the product launch (promoted by a mining company called FYRE), but not fully stop it, and Kahlil Nassir was brought in for questioning. It was eventually found that he was being pressured to sell the things and that they came from plant-like creatures with a distinctly Flesh-y vibe to them.

⌘ July 2021

❖ TDM #1

Arrival in Gloucester.
Dogtown is a hotspot for strange, supernatural activity. This month, the 'inspirational boulders' around Dogtown were advertising some of characters' most closely held secrets and compelled a desire to talk about them with other people.
Monstrous kelpies washed up on the Coffin Beach, pretending to be a drowned person. Autopsies on the kelpies find a disturbing mix of human, equine, and fish physiology.

❖ Event - For Sport

Kelpies invaded Gloucester, snatching people off the streets, off to Essex Bay.
Captured characters wrapped in a cursed seal skin that turns them temporarily into seals.
Kelpies released 'selkies' into the surrounding bay to hunt for sport.
ADI rescue team arrived to kill kelpies and rescue selkies. Only way to escape the seal skin was to be cut out of it.
Interrogated kelpie admitted that it came from further north along the coastline and were not native to Essex Bay. Kelpies were captured and released farther south.
In addition, characters sent on collection mission for cursed objects that burn upon contact.

⌘ August 2021

❖ TDM #2

This month in Dogtown, playground equipment appeared that lured people down a slide that lead to one of two places: a cramped, winding cave system or a stone temple. In the former, people felt like they were being followed as they tried to find their way out. In the latter, they could only escape by lowering a large bag of something that MIGHT have been living down a hole.
An explosion rocked the city of Gloucester at midnight one night...or seemed to. Only people affiliated with ADI seemed to be aware of it, and it's effects disappeared almost immediately, but not before the light of the flames lead the way to an abandoned railyard.
At the railyard, one very old train car was found that seemed to be burned out but with certain features still intact after years of neglect. This included old posters on the walls that seemed to hint at some sort of circus.

❖ Event - Circus, Circus

The Fenix Down Extravaganza arrived in town; a circus, which stayed in town for a week.
Townspeople, including PCs, were conscripted in to putting up fliers for the circus and some people found themselves strangely competative about getting up as many of their own posters as they could.
The old, burned out train-car from the railyard was requisitioned by the circus, cleaned up and turned in to a ticket booth.
Research started after the phantom crash finally came to fruition, with a story about a train derailment and crash from 1921. The train belonged to the Smoke and Mirrors Acting Troupe, and was scheduled to arrive further north. ADI became suspicious about the arrival of a circus train just after the phantom crash and sent ADI employees to scout the circus in pairs.
Fire appeared to be the main theme of the Fenix Down Extravaganza, including some of the carnival games, the sideshows, and exhibits.
Various patrons of the circus that experienced a Fun House reported losing their children. The children were all eventually found, having claimed they saw their parents in places they were not. Anyone who managed to make it to the center of the Fun House mirror maze experienced seeing but not being able to catch up with someone they were interested in talking to.
On the final night of the show, a new act was introduced: Pyre, the burning man. A young man was seemingly burnt alive in the center of the ring but then miraculously he came back to life.
All the main performers (Fenix, Penny, Roderick, and Pyre) were available for autographs and short conversations after the show. Notably, Pyre was goaded into attacking someone with more-than-human abilities and it was revealed that the circus' stop in Gloucester was unplanned and at an outside suggestion.

⌘ September 2021

❖ TDM #3

This month in Dogtown, the remains of a hunter's camp were found with animal carcasses strewn around. People who investigated felt compelled to mark themselves with butcher's cuts.
Strange things began happening to mirrors (and other reflective surfaces) around Gloucester, where people began seeing different reflections, warped versions of their bodies, a pair of eyes watching them, or different room behind them. The source of the effect seemed to be the circus grounds.
A strange melody could be heard through town that was especially strong in the vicinity of the town's graveyards. It seemed to have a soporific effect, causing people to fall asleep. Notably, this tended to happen in situations where falling asleep would cause the most danger.

❖ Event - Quarter

ADI's Quarterly meeting took place. There was a "job" fair featuring the various departments looking for new recruits.
Nia addressed the new arrivals especially in her report, cautioning them against using supernatural abilities.
Nia also reported that they have operatives monitoring the activities of Fenix Down, but that ADI's most current concern were reports coming out of the Blue Ridge Mountains of a possible ritual.
She made herself available for short discussions. In the course of a few of these conversations, she referred to Deepthi, someone who came from another world with powers who turned into an Avatar.
Following a request for deeper investigations into Dogtown, a clearing was found with a variety of traps scattered on the outskirts. The center of the clearing held a large hole filled with body parts and a herd of wild boar with human limbs attached to them. It was fairly obvious that the traps were set by the boars themselves.
The basement of Bonnie's Flophouse flooded in the wake of a heavy rainstorm, driving both Bonnie and the Visionary (an Avatar) out of their room.

❖ Headline News #1

The Rise of Fenix Down - The Fenix Down Extravaganza is a big hit in Boston and Pyre is now a big star. A close look at pictures of him seems to indicate that he's lost weight.
Laying His Snakeship to Rest - An article on the history of the Gloucester Sea Serpent (an enormous ocean-dwelling snake said to be spotted off the coast of Cape Ann in the 1800s), in response to a spate of recent sitings. The article refutes the serpent's existence, claiming that the sightings are due to a whale pod. Though that may not be true either.
City Council Under Fire as Vehicular Collisons Pile Up - A report on the rise of car accidents in the recent weeks. Changes to recent traffic patterns and signage are blamed by the chief of police, but refuted by councilmembers who point to collisions occuring outside of areas affected by these rules. Further investigation suggests that the drivers' reflexes seemed to have been slowed.
It's the Ghost Wonderful Time of the Year! - A variety of articles about the ramp-up of tourist season leading up to Halloween.
Packer's Cut Sizzles onto the Scene - A press release for a new steakhouse. The owner claims that the secret to their success comes from the use of fresh, quality ingredients.
Dogs to Blame in Dogtown Injuries - Animal attacks have been reported in Dogtown over the past few weeks and the offical report is that there are feral dogs. However, articles on the subject don't cite any interviews with victims or hospital workers who treated them.

⌘ October 2021

❖ TDM #4

- This month in Dogtown, abandoned toys were found scattered around the woods. Some of them were in trees or hanging from sticks, some of them were arranged in patterns. Touching the toys led to a feelings of possesiveness over people or coveting of things.
The music from the previous month became more of an issue, with the effects spreading out from the graveyards, and everyone in town began to have issues with staying awake. Local gangs capitalized on this with a rise in pickpocketing.
ADI HQ and Housing seemed to be one of the only places less affected by the music.
Despite the fact that people seem to be more prone to falling asleep, the quality of sleep isn't any good.
Pam Ruan began to recruit ADI staff to help plan for the end-of-the month Halloween party.

❖ Event - Lullaby

ADI HQ and Dorms became less and less of a safe haven against the music as the month went on. With that, ADI began trying to find the source of the music in earnest, sending staff out around town with various devices meant to combat the effects of the music.
Individuals affected by the music found themselves caught in looping dreams where they seemed to wake up, only to die or to witness the death of someone they know.
For individuals affected by the music, the Halloween party seemed to take place and was interrupted abruptly by the sound of a young girl's voice singing a haunting lullaby about death. In aftermath of the song, anyone wearing a costume that could be considered monsterous turned into a monster. In addition, the more dangerous decorations were also turned real. Anyone with supernatural abilities (even those who had access to them via Feeding) found them drained away. In the chaos, a young girl could be seen, unaffected and humming the song that triggered it.
On the 31st, anyone affected by the music and who died in the at the party woke up wherever they had fallen asleep before. A few days later, a message was posted to ADI's network from a random employee's phone from 'Ava, the Lullabye Girl', promising to come back next year and hinting that someone named "Mr. S" had suggested she show up in Gloucester.
The actual Halloween party took place, though it was not particularly lively or well-attended.

⌘ November 2021

❖ TDM #5

This month in Dogtown, the gray clouds looming overhead descended, filling characters with anxiety and threatening to take them away to suffer a fate worse than death.
Things of Beauty, a small antiques and curiosity shop, landed on ADI's radar after its owner suddenly restocked the shop with unsettling body-themed curios. Items for sale in the shop at this time were not found to have any supernatural properties.
A proliferation of videos purporting to show 'real magic' on social media were largely found to be fakes, but a number of real supernatural occurrences were documented among them. Characters investigating videos made in and around Gloucester and Dogtown encountered strange toys that compelled them to inflict violence on one another.

❖ Headline News #2

Coal Miners Beset by Tommyknockers - Miners reported what appeared to be supernatural encounters in Cumnock Mine, which is owned by Faulkner, Yuan, Reid, and Eames, Inc. After ADI higher-ups were tipped off, field agent Austin Yeats was assigned to investigate any potential connections to Deepthi, a former ADI employee turned avatar.
A Family's Harrowing Hike at Halibut Point - The Deadman family narrowly survived a fall from a cliff at the state park while on a late-season hike.
Collisions Decrease as Drivers Learn to Stay in Their Lanes - The high rate of vehicular collisions seen in September and October sharply decreased.
New Horizons: Data is the Next Frontier in Tech - Copernicus owner and founder Zyrian Steele announced innovations in data storage capacity and transfer.
Step Aside, LOLCat: Puptato is the Internet's New Rising Star - A massive potato roughly the size and shape of a dog made the rounds of the internet, along with other vegetables of unusual size. Hands-on investigations did not turnip any supernatural vegetables.
Gen Z's Favorite VTuber Dies Age 28 - VTuber Ren Morimoto, also known as LovelyRen, passed away following her battle with a rare parasitic infection.

⌘ December 2021

❖ TDM #6

The trees and other vegetation of Dogtown had been eating animals, and attempted to eat any characters who investigated the matter.
Pam Ruan shared a mobile game called Hermy the Wormy, akin to Snake. Players of the game were compelled to hyper-competitive behavior.
Reyes announced a recall of the game and commanded characters to report to Medical after the Hermy the Wormy 'virus' caused mold to grow on the bodies of those who played it.
The game's code included a message for "Jim" from "a big fan," griffmejim69, promising a "special film."

❖ Event - Fan Service

Ren Morimoto, also known as the VTuber LovelyRen, gathered fans of "Jim" and livestreamed herself attacking them with bugs. She also took credit for Hermy the Wormy.
Tim Drake confessed to having taken on the alias Jim Griffin and encouraged the rise in videos documenting the supernatural. ADI quickly dispatched characters to the scene to rescue any survivors of LovelyRen's attack. Ren herself broke apart into a multitude of insects and appeared to join the swarm.
A mysterious brand of string lights, Illumation Rite, caused a spate of unusual injuries and deaths throughout the county. It appeared Illumination Rite may be connected to the Oculus Cult, devotees of the Eye who had gone quiet for two decades following a failed ritual attempt.
ADI headquarters and apartments experienced an infestation of Elf on the Shelf dolls that infiltrated all parts of the buildings and ceaselessly watched the characters within.

❖ Player Plot - Time to Get the Truth Out

Kurapika Kurta secretly recorded a series of conversations with the Visionary, Bonnie Gale, Reyes Amador, and Neil Grace, then used his Emperor Time abilities to determine whether they had answered his questions truthfully.

⌘ January 2022

❖ TDM #7

Visitors to Dogtown found mysterious teeth, and maybe lost a few teeth of their own.
3D glasses given out at a triple feature at the Midnight Cinema revealed unseen monsters around Gloucester.
Advertisements for a mysterious new product to be sold at Things of Beauty made viewers acutely aware of their (and others') deficiencies.

❖ Event - Material Goods

ADI got the drop on shipments of mysterious, bitey goods being transported to Things of Beauty just ahead of the advertised product launch thanks to Stephen Strange's connections at the hospital; characters sabotaged the shipments.
The few goods that made it to Things of Beauty turned out to be phone cases apparently made of flesh, which numbed the holder against pain of all kinds.
Native ADI operatives abducted the owner of things of Beauty, Kahlil Nassir, for questioning. Characters interrogated Kahlil regarding the source of the phone cases (investigative threads ongoing).
Characters invaded the warehouse where Kahlil has been keeping the plants from which the phone cases were made, which resembled the fabled Vegetable Lamb of Tartary, in order to destroy them.

⌘ Intro

❖ This section covers some of the most notable (and named) NPCs that characters have encountered since the beginning of the game. Very brief descriptions for characters are below.

❖ Reyes Amador - Off-worlder, assistant to Nia Lehrer, liaison between PCs and ADI. They've got something spooky going on with causing static on a video recording, but seem to be polite and honest.

❖ Bonnie Gale - Off-worlder, operates the Flophouse, gets people odd jobs who need/want them. She's lying about a few things, notably the fact that she's spying on her tenants. She's friendly and helpful, though.

❖ The Visionary - Native, lives in the Flophouse with Bonnie, former ADI employee who read a cursed book and got propelled into becoming an avatar. He eats memories and gives visions of potential futures, but is trying to be good and not do that.

❖ Pam Ruan - Native, HR lady who just really wants to cheer people up and throw an office party that doesn't go horribly wrong. Lost her hand due to some evil mold.

❖ Nia Lehrer - Native, Warden of ADI, the big boss lady. She's not around very often, but she approves of extra-judicial murder of avatars and believes that using magic at all is morally corrupt. She intends to step down as head of ADI once the current crisis is over and submit herself for judgment because she's currently using magic-users.

❖ Neil Grace - Native, Head of Security, paternal boss man who will yell at you when he feels you need it to protect yourself and others. He's been trying to figure out how to stop people from arriving at ADI.

❖ Lucky Stryker - Native, operates the Midnight Cinema, can get you a weapon or 'supernatural' items. Mostly, they're just fake holy water and that sort of thing. Recently purchased some films that turned out to be cursed and brought a bunch of weird and vicious creatures to the city for a short time.

❖ Sable - Native, works at the docks and transports/sells cursed artifacts. You might be able to get a job at the docks with her for some basic hauling things around. She was recently injured by a shipment that was going to Things of Beauty when she tried to sneak a peek.

❖ Fenix Down - Native, operates the Fenix Down Extravaganza circus, flamboyant performer and cultist for the Dancing Flame. He seems to have been around the block for a while, but he won't admit it. Came to Gloucester seemingly to thumb his nose at ADI and spread the seeds of doubt amongst PCs.

❖ Ava, the Lullaby Girl - Native, young girl sent to harass ADI by a 'Mr. S.' She appears to have the ability to alter dreams and delights in tormenting people in them, forcing them to experience death over and over again.

❖ Ren Morimoto - Native, VTuber who should be dead, but got turned into an avatar for the Corruption, instead, after an incident in the Dominican Republic. She does not appear to have any sort of grip on her emotions, but became obsessed with "Jim Griffin" and helping him start a ritual.

❖ Kahlil Nassir - Native, operates Things of Beauty, struggling heavily under guilt and financial distress for things he's done in service of keeping his business going. A mining company called FYRE appears to be propping up his business for some reason.

⌘ Reyes Amador (they/them)

❖ General Role
Reyes has generally acted as the liaison between PCs and ADI/higher-ups in the ADI organization. They are another off-worlder who arrived with one of the first batches of people dropped into ADI. They are in a fairly obvious relationship with Bonnie Gale and have a calm, collected, and helpful demeanor. They've also proved they're very good at answering the direct subject matter of questions without providing any other relevant information when they don't want to.

❖ Physical Changes

None

❖ Appearances

TDM #1 - Shifting Perspectives - Reyes sends out an email requesting assistance investigating noises tied to Coffin Beach (the selkies).
For Sport - Breaking It In - Reyes gave a briefing to all PCs regarding a reconnaissance mission to investigate the kelpies. They advised characters against thinking of kelpies like monsters in their own worlds and explained that missions are voluntary, and no one will be penalized for not participating. They also shared their suspicion that there was a bigger bad than the kelpies at work with the kidnappings.
Quarter - Fiscal Quarter - Reyes is mentioned as the one organizing interviews with Warden Lehrer for PCs who want to meet her.
TDM #6 - Writhe and Squirmy - Reyes sent out a mass text warning to everyone to stop playing the Hermy the Wormy game and bring their phones to IT for a wipe.
Player Plot - Kurapika's Questions - Reyes was interviewed by Kurapika to try to get honest answers. They told Kurapika they don't know much about the history of the ADI HQ building; that they did not know of a way home, nor did ADI; that ADI did not have a way of stopping people's arrival that they knew of; and that the powers from other worlds they were aware of were varied. While they answered all questions honestly, Kurapika and other observers were able to note that there was a strange static effect on the recordings when Reyes was not speaking. This effect is something typically associated with supernatural happenings in the Apocalypse How universe. In addition, they seemed to know that they were being secretly filmed and warned Kurapika against doing this to them again.

⌘ Bonnie Gale (she/her)

❖ General Role
Bonnie has generally acted as the liaison between PCs living in her flat and ADI. She has also helped in obtaining part-time jobs for characters that are unconnected to ADI. These tend to be odd-jobs she needs managed herself or more stable work with Sable at the docks and Lucky at the Midnight Cinema. She is another off-worlder who arrived with one of the first batches of people dropped into ADI. She is in a fairly obvious relationship with Reyes Amador and has a friendly, determined, but slightly evasive demeanor. She has been known to lie under direct questioning.

❖ Physical Changes

None

❖ Appearances

For Sport - Breaking It In - Bonnie brought characters from her flophouse to ADI for a mission briefing. She was able to confirm everything that Reyes told the characters regarding ADI's missions. She expressed some mild frustration at native ADI personnel not understanding what it was like to come from a world with good magic.
Quarter - Quartermaster - Bonnie was seen trying desperately to bail water out of the basement and rescue her things when the flophouse flooded. She handed out tasks to anyone trying to help.
Player Plot - Kurapika's Questions - Bonnie was interviewed by Kurapika to try to get honest answers. While they answered questions about Dogtown and ADI's funding honestly, she also had some notable lies. She lied about the fact that she is spying/keeping tabs on people at the flophouse, telling Kurapika she wasn't. She also seemed to lie when answering what exactly made ADI take the threat of rituals seriously. She told Kurapika that the Entities were real and their followers wanted the apocalypse, and that seemed to be evidence enough to convince ADI and her that the rituals needed to be stopped. On an honest note, she told Kurapika that the situation in Dogtown had been getting worse since her arrival, and that ADI seemed to have funding from a lot of very wealthy clients.

⌘ The Visionary (he/she/they)

❖ General Role
The Visionary has been a quiet and secretive tenant of Bonnie's flophouse. They are Bonnie's roommate in the basement and obey her requests pretty closely. They're also a native of this world and former ADI employee being closely monitored while being afforded some leeway to not be murdered by ADI, given their former connection to the organization. Their powers are specifically tied to visions and memories. He takes memories from people and can give them visions of potential futures. She seems to be somewhat bitter about her life, as it is, but does not actively blame anyone for it; though, they admit much of the time, it feels like they're simply starving.

❖ Physical Changes

None

❖ Appearances

Quarter - Quartermaster - The Visionary was finally seen outside of their basement abode in the flophouse, having been pushed out by flooding and into the living area on the first floor. They spent time conversing with the characters, divulging the following information:
- She is an avatar and struggles not to hurt people. Knowing too much information can make a person a more appealing target.
- They are trying very, very hard not to act like their avatar nature would encourage them to be.
- Telling him personal information might lead to a person losing some part of their memories.
- They read a cursed book to gain power and ended up feeding on people before being caught. They are very sorry about what they did... though maybe not the specifics of who they hurt.
- He affirmed that people from other worlds attract supernatural attention, and it's probably better to stick close to Gloucester. They also moved in with Bonnie around the time that people started appearing.
Player Plot - Kurapika's Questions - The Visionary was interviewed by Kurapika to try to get honest answers. While they answered questions honestly, he also had some notable lies. He told Kurapika he thinks he still human, but this was a lie. They also lied about not feeding, but did amend to say that they simply try very hard not to. On an honest note, they didn't have many details on ADI as they were fired shortly after off-worlders started turning up; it is very easy to get sucked (and suckered) into avatarhood if you try to use magic in any capacity, even for 'good,' due to the ever-growing hunger that accompanies power usage; and ADI made some attempts to try to stop people from turning up in their building, but they weren't successful from what the Visionary saw.

⌘ Pam Ruan (she/her)

❖ General Role
Pam has acted as a friendly liaison with off-worlders and ADI. She is responsible for making sure characters have what they need and also trying to integrate them into the workplace. Pam has been behind efforts to get people to play games and throw parties at ADI.

❖ Physical Changes

December 2021 - Left hand lost after an infectious mold incident.

❖ Appearances

TDM #4 - Sleeper's Paradox - Pam was involved in helping to strong-arm characters into assisting with decorating ADI for Halloween and the upcoming Halloween party.
Lullaby - When He Nothing Shines Upon - In spite of horrible nightmares that had been going on for multiple days, Pam was bloody-minded and determined about holding the Halloween Party she'd been planning for all month in October. It was a rather sad affair, but Pam made sure it happened.
TDM #6 - Hermy the Wormy - Pam sent out a mass text, informing everyone of a game she found on TikTok that reminded her of something from when her children were little. As it turned out, playing the game warped people's emotions and caused an infectious mold to spread over them. She lost her hand and was confined to medical for an extended period after being infected. It was later found that the TikTok video had been specifically targeted at Pam.

⌘ Nia Lehrer (she/her)

❖ General Role
Nia is the Warden of ADI and has spent her time largely away from the office on other missions around the country. She seems to take a very active role in the actual work that ADI is doing and returns periodically for all-hands staff meetings. Reyes seems to be the main contact point for her. She has a direct, firm, and stoic demeanor. She has made it very clear that she does not approve of the use of magic, and while she recognizes there are gray areas, she considers herself to be morally corrupt for using some magic-users. She plans to step down as Warden once the current situation with people coming from other worlds is resolved, and surrender herself for judgment to the next leader of ADI.

❖ Physical Changes

None

❖ Appearances

Quarter - Fiscal Quarter - Nia presented at the quarterly all-hands staff meeting. She issued a very direct warning to characters using magic, warning them that they would be found out and they would be 'dealt with' if they continued along the path of using their magic in this world. The following information came to light from her conversations with various characters:
- Magical powers are like an addiction in this world. Entities do not force people to commit heinous acts, but they make them pleasurable. The only way ADI knows to bring someone back from being an avatar is for them to do something horrific to themselves to sever their ties with an Entity. ADI considers murder as a viable option for dealing with avatars.
- Nia had no problem with extra-judicial killings, just people getting caught and that linking back to ADI.
- Deepthi was an off-worlder who became an avatar for the Buried. She is at-large, but committed heinous acts while in Gloucester. Alan and Alina were off-worlders who became avatars and were murdered by ADI. These three were responsible for some of the more heavy-handed restrictions ADI imposed on off-worlders.
- ADI has spent 200 years stopping apocalypses, and ADI caused a train crash in Gloucester a century ago to stop an apocalypse ritual from happening.
- ADI is not aware of other organizations that do the kinds of work they do. There have been three ritual attempts since Nia joined ADI. Nia described the ritual attempts as a way to make a door into this world for the Entities. Polidore Edgefield was the person who created the taxonomy of Dread Powers in this world.
- ADI has a policy to keep the supernatural secret to protect the general public.
- ADI has operatives dedicated to trying to track down people who have disappeared.
- ADI's funding comes primarily from the work they do. Some from the government. Not much from private donors.
- The Desolation killed Nia's brother which was how she got involved with ADI. Most native employees of ADI have a similar story.
- Hiram Scott's note, the one used to make everyone fluent in English, was taken off of an Eye avatar ADI murdered.
- ADI buys cursed artifacts from Sable so that they can dispose of them.

⌘ Neil Grace (he/him)

❖ General Role
Neil is Head of Security at ADI. He's generally friendly and paternal toward his staff and those he considers as under his care.

❖ Physical Changes

None

❖ Appearances

Player Plot - Kurapika's Questions - Neil was interviewed by Kurapika to try to get honest answers. He was fully honest, giving the following information:
- The ADI HQ building has been attacked in the past.
- Mr. Hammond (of Hammond Castle) may have helped to design some of the older sections of the ADI building.
- Neil does not know a way to get people home.
- ADI has tried a variety of things to stop people coming into their building including electromagnetic waves, low-frequency sounds, and ringing the place in salt. Nothing has worked. They are trying to get permits to demolish parts of the building to see if that's stops people appearing in that location, but are having trouble getting local building permits.
Player Plot - Stephen - Neil let Stephen know that ADI had not been investigating Things of Beauty heavily after their initial investigation push (in the Curiosity Shop prompt) did not turn up any leads.

⌘ Lucky Stryker (he/him)

❖ General Role
Lucky is the proprietor of the Midnight Cinema, a boutique movie theater housed in a converted home near Bonnie's Flophouse. His enthusiasm for matters supernatural has translated to a side business selling weapons he claims are especially effective against monsters and things that go bump in the night (as well as plain old guns).

❖ Physical Changes

None

❖ Appearances

TDM #7 - Now You See Them - Lucky held a special, triple 3D feature at the Midnight Cinema to ring in the new year. The show concluded with a strangely gruesome film, and viewers who took their souvenir 3D glasses home found that they could see otherwise invisible monsters while wearing them for days afterward. The unwitting Lucky had purchased both the films and the glasses from a now-closed Etsy shop, Topsy Turvy Tales, run by someone listed as Clarice Smiley.

⌘ Sable (she/her)

❖ General Role
Sable is a trader of unusual goods. She owns a boat and is ADI's primary contact when it comes to acquiring artefacts passing through the docks.

❖ Physical Changes

As of January 2022, Sable has a series of deep, bitemark-shaped scars over her hands and arms.

❖ Appearances

Fan Service - Lights Out - Sable was able to connect the brand name Illumination Rite to Oculus, a cult associate with the Eye. She did not seem to be terribly concerned with them or the threat they might pose.
An Incident just prior to Material Goods - Sable was injured while investigating a suspicious box bound for Things of Beauty. When she reached her hand inside she was badly bitten by a large number of small things with sharp teeth; she was admitted to the hospital soon after for treatment and communicated the incident to Dr. Strange, who passed the information on to ADI.

⌘ Fenix Down (he/him)

❖ General Role
Fenix has appeared as an antagonist in the story so far. He is the owner and operator of the Fenix Down Extravaganza, a circus act that focuses on pyrotechnics and lights shows. He owns a train that the circus travels around on, and appeared in Gloucester to thumb his nose at ADI and be a cryptic pest, implying to characters that ADI was responsible for a train crash in Gloucester 100 years ago. He is flamboyant, confident, and has a literally hot temper. He has been shown to have the ability to raise the temperature in his immediate vicinity and inflict pain on people. The main acts in his circus are Penny, Roderick, and Pyre. He has possession of a cursed, Spiral-aligned mirror.

❖ Physical Changes

None

❖ Appearances

Event - Circus, Circus - Fenix acted as the ringmaster at the circus and allowed people to come and talk to him and his main act performers after the show. The following information came out as a result:
- Fenix started his circus tour up in Maine about 3 years ago. He claimed to be 35-years-old, but tends to refer to people as 'boy' and 'girl.' He also claimed his father was a firefighter.
- ADI personnel were seen skulking around the trainyard before the derailment and crash a 100 years ago. He knows about the crash because he met one of the original circus performers, Charles Moore, who was a magician in the Smoke and Mirrors circus. He laughed off the notion that he was related to Charles Moore when asked directly. Fenix pointed the finger directly at Nia Lehrer for characters to demand answers from.
- Fenix gained Pyre's loyalty by getting him out of trouble with the law. Pyre was only recently promoted to one of the main acts was convinced that the circus's purpose was only to scare people, never to kill them. Fenix indicated that he was in the process of building up "talent" in the circus, including the likes of Pyre.
- According to Penny, stopping in Gloucester was at the suggestion of one of Fenix's old friends.
- Fenix serves the Dancing Flame. He was familiar with several other cults. M.C. Escher was aligned with the Spiral, specifically a cult called the Cheshire Smile. There was also an Eye-aligned cult called Oculus that seems to have had a failed ritual attempt called 'BioFear' in the relatively recent past.
- Fenix and the main acts of the circus had a ridiculous number of candles in their personal train sleeping cars when someone snuck in to check.

⌘ Ava, The Lullaby Girl (she/her)

❖ General Role
The Lullaby Girl is an avatar who terrorized the city of Gloucester (and the staff of ADI in particular) in the fall of 2021, before departing as mysteriously as she had arrived.

❖ Physical Changes

None

❖ Appearances

TDM #3 - Haunting Tunes - A strange melody was heard around town, particularly around the graveyards. Hearing it filled listeners with nostalgia and fatigue, and in some cases caused them to fall asleep at dangerous moments.
TDM #4 - Pick a Pocket and Sleeper's Paradox - The ethereal music continued to be heard around Gloucester, with its effects increasing in intensity everywhere except ADI HQ and housing. Sleepers awoke tired and irritable each time they dozed off, unable to remember their dreams.
Lullaby - The effects of the music came to a head centered on ADI Headquarters in the days ahead of the annual staff Halloween party:
- ADI's attempts to develop equipment to counteract the effects of the music had...questionable success at best, particularly as the epicenters of the music migrated out of Gloucester's graveyards to converge on ADI Headquarters.
- Characters began to experience recursive nightmares in which they died and 'woke up' only to find themselves still in a nightmare and dying once more.
- Characters and other staff of ADI were drawn into a shared dream in which they believed themselves to be awake and attending ADI's Halloween party. The Lullaby Girl finally made her appearance and all hell immediately broke loose, characters trapped with animated decorations and transformed coworkers bent on killing them.
- After characters finally awoke from the last nightmare, they discovered that the music had finally ended and the Lullaby Girl had left them a message crediting "Mr. S." for pointing her in ADI's direction and promising to return next year.

⌘ Ren Morimoto (she/her)

❖ General Role
Ren is a former VTuber and recently arisen avatar who infiltrated the ADI network and attacked a group of people in Gloucester following Tim Drake's social media campaign to publicize the supernatural. She has also been known under the handles lovelyren, griffmejim69, and Luvvie.

❖ Physical Changes

Ren was last seen dissolving into a swarm of bugs.

❖ Appearances

Headline News #2 - Gen Z's Favorite VTuber Dies Age 28 - News reports indicated that Ren had gone inactive online for months following a trip to the Dominican Republic, where she contracted a rare parasitic infection that ultimately led to her death.
TDM #6 - Hermy the Wormy and Writhe and Squirmy - Pam introduced characters to a game called Hermy the Wormy (which would later be revealed to be a program created by Ren to infiltrate the ADI network). The program corrupted users with hyper-competetive feelings and caused mold to grow on their bodies, and included a hidden message from Ren promising more to come.
Fan Service - We're Live and In the Hive - Ren streamed a live video of herself in a warehouse with around twenty other people she proceeded to attack with a swarm of bugs. By the time characters arrived on the scene to rescue the survivors, Ren had disappeared into the swarm. While in video communication, she spoke with characters, revealing:
- She is able to remotely install her programs on people's phones once she has a connection...and also make wasps explode out of those phones.
- She is sensitive about her appearance and feels the need to share herself with the multitudes and also did she mention she can explode your phone into wasps?
- She knows a magician who taught her about 'not revealing her secrets.'
- "Jim" brought together a community of people interested in the supernatural... which was why she needed to thank him.
- She plans to send herself out to her fans, a dozen bugs for each of them... to "comfort" them.

⌘ Kahlil Nassir (he/him)

❖ General Role
Kahlil is the owner and proprietor of Things of Beauty, a small antiques and curiosity shop in the heart of Gloucester. In recent times, Things of Beauty became a bizarre curios shop stocking only uncomfortably organic and body-themed items, and Kahlil has been avoidant and anxious when seen around the shop.

❖ Physical Changes

None (Kahlil has had scarred hands since he came to the characters' attention).

❖ Appearances

TDM #5 - Curiosity Shop - Things of Beauty landed on ADI's radar following its sudden change in theme. Kahlil avoided conversation with investigators at this time.
TDM #7 - New Year, New You - A series of advertisements bankrolled by Faulkner, Yuan, Reid, and Eames, Inc. publicized a mysterious upcoming product launch at Things of Beauty.
Material Goods - Feed Me, Kahlil - Native ADI investigators apprehended Kahlil and brought him in for questioning soon after the launch of a mysterious and dangerous new product available only at Things of Beauty. He underwent questioning from the characters, divulging the following information:
- A man going by the name Ignatius von Brandt connected Kahlil with Faulkner, Yuan, Reid, and Eames, Inc., who offered financing for his struggling shop and then used financial blackmail and threats against his mother to control him.
- The fleshy phone cases for sale at Things of Beauty are made from tiny carnivorous sheep that grow on plants. Ignatius sent Kahlil a plant that grew into those creatures; Kahlil initially housed the plants in the basement of Things of Beauty but moved them to a warehouse away from residential areas when they began to spread.
- A family friend named Hakeem Williams was killed by the vegetable lambs when he tried to investigate Kahlil's recent strange behavior.

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The Story So Far

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