Tag: goth

Gotham Blades in the Dark

Gotham Blades in the Dark


While many vigilante Guardian Angels fought  the Reality Storm incursions in the wilderness outside Gotham, the Administration took power by announcing Martial Law ‘to fight the ‘enemy within’ : aliens,criminals, crooks, counterculture, genderbending, heresy, outlaws, vagrants.
All vigilante groups were outlawed! The Guardian Angels went underground to organise resistance.

A covert team went to the night market for information.
…
It was more busy than usual: buying and selling, gossiping, meeting people.
A few groups were clustering together:  burly construction workers, scarred corps students, colourful ladies of the night.
…
The workers were angry because their union was disbanded , the students were upset because one of their outspoken spokesmen was arrested, the ladies were complaining of police harassment.
…

Talking with several groups, the covert team discovered mister Johnson, a secret police member, lurking around!

…
The ladies shared some pillow-talk information about the place where the student was held: Arkham!

Using their black market connections, the covert team was able to get some police uniforms to infiltrate the Asylum, while the workers and the students combined their actions:
While the students organized a riot downtown, attracting a strong respons from the police, the workers attacked the Asylum!
..
Using the distraction of the riots, the covert team was able to infiltrate the Asylum and delivering the prisoner:
it was the grandson of Triad leader Wang!
…
The team was invited at the Triad headquarters to receive great honors: food, drink and gold!
They agreed to undertake another mission, to take a special group of six secret police operators into custody.
…
The ladies of the night provided some information about the whereabouts of the operators: a large single safehouse at a vacant spot in the middle of  Crime Alley.
…
Infiltrating the safehouse, they surprised the operators while conducting a ritual:  six persons stood chanting around an altar where a dense smoke came out of a cauldron.
Immediately a grand melee ensued! Blades flashing, shots flying around, a smoke bomb went off!
One by one the operators fell down, the smoke cleared….
At the  centre of the cauldron a smoke pillar was condensing into a human-like shape, that immediately started attacking our heroes!
Using the demonbane charm and lightning staff , they were able to banish the demon.
Our heroes were victorious…for now!

Ping:

Gotham Tales: Up and Down
Gotham Tales: Up and Down

Gotham Tales: Up and Down


Koganemura is a remote farming village, populated by refugees banished from Gotham.
Its people have lived modestly, growing rice and raising livestock in relative peace.
However, recent unrest  has left smaller villages like Koganemura vulnerable to chaos incursions.
The villagers have nobody to protect them.
Hearing of vigilante ‘Guardian Angels’ from Gotham, they have pooled their meager resources to
seek aid.

Ping:

Gotham tales: the Dire Oracle
Gotham Tales: Echoes of the Forbidden Forest

Gotham Tales: Echoes of the Forbidden Forest


 

The aftermath of the ambush lingered in the minds of the Guardian Angels. The body of the lost hunter had been retrieved, his legacy forever tarnished by the horrors of the World Below. Yet questions gnawed at the council and the scouts alike — if the entrance was sealed, what would happen when the war between clockwork servitors and alien monsters reached its bloody conclusion? What if they sought new paths to the surface?

A week passed. The village simmered with unease. Rats swarmed through alleys and crept into homes, their beady eyes gleaming with strange intelligence. Whispered tales of shifting shadows in the Forbidden Forest spread like wildfire, and the scent of ozone clung to the air — the unmistakable mark of eldritch energy.

A scout who had narrowly escaped the labyrinth ambush, was haunted by strange dreams. Awoke one night drenched in sweat, the hunter’s voice echoing in her ears: *The Royal Tree bleeds sap of time… Find the way back, or all worlds will unravel.*

The village council dismissed visions as remnants of trauma, but the scouts knew better.  Dreams were often prophetic, even if their meaning was cloaked in riddles.

Guided by intuition, the scouts slipped away under the cover of night. They headed toward the Forbidden Forest, where the Royal Tree loomed like a silent sentinel against the chaos beyond.

The tree’s bark shimmered with golden veins that pulsed faintly in the moonlight. At its base, they found a fresh fracture in the earth, glimmering with unnatural energy. The council’s seal had failed. The gate to the World Below had reopened.

 “We can’t go back empty-handed. If we don’t stop this now, Gotham will burn.”

 “Then we go in — not to fight monsters, but to find the key that locks this place forever.”

As they descended once more into the Labyrinth, faint metallic echoes greeted them. The servitors were still active, their gears grinding with malevolent purpose. But this time, something else moved within the shadows — a writhing mass of obsidian tendrils, pulsing with violet light.

“The alien monsters”

 “We split them apart. Let their war continue while we find the core.”

. “And if we can’t?”

“Then Gotham won’t be the only place to fall.”

The shadows thickened around them, gears whirred, and violet light seared the darkness. The final descent had begun.

Ping

https://hgoei.com/2025/02/10/gotham-tales-trouble-at-the-village/
Gotham tales: Trouble at the Village

Gotham tales: Trouble at the Village


After the Dire Oracle warning, Gotham ‘Guardian Angels’ scouts were sent to investigate the Village:
Some years after the men in black destroyed the hippy oase, it was rebuild by Asian refugees.
A distant relative of the leading scout went missing after investigating rumours about chaos incursions!
His abandoned shack was as invested by many rats…
The scouts found his heirloom imperial army knife while witnessing a shade appearing shortly!
Hearing rumours in the village, it seemed the lost relative had the reputation being a crazy old man who hunted in the Forbidden Forest.
At the wasteland outside the village lived the untouchable outcast, the last hippy survivors…
Most of them showed signs of malign mutations, caused by weird weapons!
One of the survivors showed the hunting trail of the missing person, it went straight into the Forbidden Forest…
Follow the trail till you see the Royal Tree!
Look behind the tree to find the entrance to the World Below….

Our heroes went into the World Below, followed the Labyrinth path and found the body of the lost hunter…
Ambush! Death rained from above!

Surviving the ambush, confronting clockwork servitors…
Run!

Escaping the servitors, returning to the surface world…

The village council decided to seal the entrance to the World Below: ‘let the clockwork servitors and the alien monsters destroy each other’

 

Ping:

https://hgoei.com/2025/01/13/gotham-tales-the-dire-oracle/
Gotham tales: the Dire Oracle

Gotham tales: the Dire Oracle


The air was thick with anticipation as the Dire Oracle, a sleek mechanical bird with razor-sharp wings and glowing crimson eyes, soared over the sprawling cityscape of Gotham. Its wings hummed with arcane energy, the faint sound of gears and cogs whispering as it glided through the air. Below, the city of Gotham sprawled in a chaotic tapestry of towers and shadowy alleys, where danger lurked in every corner.

The Oracle circled the skyline once before descending swiftly toward the hidden headquarters of the “Guardian Angels,” an elite team of vigilantes sworn to protect Gotham from its endless onslaught of corruption and madness. The bird’s descent ended at a forgotten temple, its steeple cracked and worn, blending seamlessly with the decaying architecture of Gotham’s underbelly.

Inside the sanctuary, the Angels were gathered.
There was Victor “Ironclad” Kane, the team’s heavy-hitter, his clockwork arms whirring as he polished his arsenal of weapons.
Lila “Shadowveil” Morgan, the stealth operative, leaned against a stained-glass window, her face partially obscured by a hood.
Beside her sat Elijah “Cipher” Reyes, the mentat, his fingers dancing across a map of the city’s grid, tracking movements in his mind.

The Dire Oracle perched on a stone altar, its eyes glowing brighter as it relayed Lady Mechanica’s chilling message in her metallic, melodic voice:

“Chaos is coming to Gotham. Be prepared to take action.”

Victor frowned, his mechanical hand clenching into a fist. “Lady Mechanica doesn’t send warnings lightly. If she’s seen chaos, then we’ve got a storm brewing.”

Shadowveil’s voice was calm but edged with concern. “We need to identify the source of this chaos. Cipher, can you cross-reference recent disturbances?”

Cipher nodded, his mind visualising display spikes of activity across Gotham. “There’s a pattern here. Strange disappearances near Arkham, explosions in the clockwork district, and sightings of strange creatures. Could be connected.”

Victor glanced at Shadowveil and Cipher, his expression grim. “This smells like the work of the Lugh brotherhood. They’ve been quiet too long.”

Shadowveil adjusted her hood. “Then we don’t have much time. We need to find out what they’re planning and stop it.”

Suddenly, the Oracle’s eyes flickered again, and it spoke a single, cryptic phrase:

“Beware the hands that guide the storm. Time is your enemy.”

The team exchanged glances, the weight of the warning settling in the air. Outside, thunder rolled, as if punctuating the Oracle’s ominous words.

To be continued…

PING:
https://hgoei.com/2025/01/08/gotham-tales-cogs-compass-against-chaos/

Gotham Tales: Cogs & Compass against Chaos

Gotham Tales: Cogs & Compass against Chaos


 

Lady Mechanica’s letter to the Guardian Angels vigilantes: 

We need your support!
Sometimes the world goes black and white. And everything seems to flicker almost imperceptibly, like a strobe light flashing faster than the eye can register.
When the Flicker Effect starts, strange things often happen. They may be subtle or they may be screamingly obvious. But they usually involve some intrusion, arriving out of nowhere, from the alternate realms.
The balance between Law and Chaos is disturbed, technology fails while magic runs rampart!
Remember the influx of refugees from the Oasis some time ago?
They escaped the Men in Black, but lost two important artefacts of Law during their flight.
Find the Cog and Compass and bring it to my Bastion to enforce the rule of Law!

Letter from ‘Archangel’ Bruce:

Situation at the border is very tense, the Legionnaires are still holding the bridge over the Raging Waters, but the skirmishes between tribes and bandits might become open warfare anytime!
We cannot send a large detachment, that will escalate the situation, we will send some scouts instead.

On the road they went
Crowbane the clockwork scarecrow 


Marq the hunter

Delph the technomancer…
Following the refugee trail, our heroes approached the tribal camp to consult the medicine man:

What you seek is at the old ruin!


Later they supported the running battle  between the tribes and the bandits: many times the bandits gunshots fizzled while the tribal arrows found their mark!
While the tribes chased the retreating bandits, the adventurers were able to cross the battlefield safely until they saw the old ruin!
Entering the ruin, descending in the confusing maze below, confronting the demons at the portals, our heroes retrieved two artefacts for Lady Mechanica!

One strike in the battle of Law against Chaos, the Reality Wars will continue in another saga….

Ping:

https://hgoei.com/2024/12/10/lady-blackbirds-flight-to-gotham/
Angels flight to Gotham

Angels flight to Gotham


After Haven fell to the Men in Gray, diaspora began…
Some members of the scout organisation ‘Guardian Angels’ heard rumours of another branch who already arrived at Gotham, and decide to travel through the broken land to their destination… The guardian and the traveler escaped the fall of Haven while their group scattered in the broken lands…
They followed the trail of their friend through the black forest, but had to flee before the approaching hostile gang of  the Hoods!
Crossing the broad river was quite a challenge because the raging storm …
Approaching the Ashinaabe camp,  they were chased away by the guarding warrior!
Wandering to the salt lake, they discovered some precious stones…
Now they had some leverage to negotiate with the tribe!
A few tribal scouts escorted our heroes to the jagged mountains, where they found their friend!
She was badly wounded and had to be transported in a travois…
Continuing their journey, they heard the pursuit of the Hoods nearby…
The Guardian decided to hold the pursuing bandits, sacrificing himself in a battle he could not win, while the Traveler escaped with her friend! Ping: https://hgoei.com/2023/11/13/angels-in-gotham/
Gotham Tales: Magicks & Machines

Gotham Tales: Magicks & Machines


Flashback…


The High Priestess of the Clockwork Cult fell from the skyship…
while the victorious teenage  ‘Guardian Angels’ celebrated their success, the High Priestess activated her enhanced clockwork cloak to glide away, but her flying device malfunctioned!

CRASH!

…

Hooded cult members carried the body away to their hideout, it seemed The High Priestess will survive this defeat to return another time!

…meanwhile some adventurers who survived the mythago invasion gathered information on Leonardo automata.

“Da Vinci had the right idea but not the right materials”
Visiting the library, they had some trouble with the janitors who resented their ‘disruptive’ discussion and research actions.
With some luck they discovered interesting symbols in a book mentioning golems!
They continued their research with visiting a Qabalist…
“Erasing the magick symbols of a golem will destroy the entity”
…
The adventurers remembered using a portal to the netherworld for information.
“Lets do this”
…
This time the portal delivered the adventurers to the realm of the MachineGod!

A confusing realm with border-wars between automatons  and mages…

After some confrontations with automatons, the adventurers found their way to the regent of this place: Lady Mechanica!
The Lady showed the way…
…
to a guarded portal!
After a hectic combat the guardian was defeated, now the adventurers were free to return to Middle Earth!

 

 

 

 

Gotham bastion under attack

Gotham bastion under attack


Some members of the Guardian Angels’ vigilante group were enjoying R&R in the community center where the Sisters of Our Lady  offered some soup and bread to the needy.

A Chinese New Year Parade passed by…
After the passing of the parade, the vigilantes went to the streets..

Suddenly they  were aware of a sound of screeching and wailing…a flock of birds was attacking a small child!
“Angels Assemble”…the vigilante came to the rescue, chasing away the evil birds!

Where are these clockwork birds coming from?
…
Rumour on the street mentioned a gathering of birds at the temple of Electra…
Investigating the temple, looking at the four Karyatids…
Looking at the amber eyes, one of the kids tried to steal one..
ZAP!

Apparently some alarm was triggered…
A flute playing priestess arrived and summoned birds to chase away the intruders!
The vigilantes retreated to an office nearby…
The caretaker of the place provided them the clue to speak with ‘Mister Night S.’ the director of the current theater drama ‘the Arrival‘ 

Sneaking out of the office, meeting ‘Mister Night S.’  who apparently was the guardian of the small boy that was attacked by the birds, he was able to give more clues:
Go to the Wang Triad, they know how to fight the evil birds!

Meeting the Elder of the Wang Triad went quite well…

“The master of the evil birds hides in the cloud-castle in the sky…”


“We will summon the Dragon-energy and arrange an all-out attack against their cult-members in the city, then you can surprise their garrison|”

The Wayne corporation provided a sky-ship, the Wang Triad, lent them some of their crew ..
 
 
 
Battle ensued on the streets, the vigilantes captured a leading priestess and boarded their sky-ship while the Wang Triad fought the Thunderbird Cult…

Using the captured priestess flute, the vigilantes chased away the Thunderbird, surprised the High Priestess in the Cloud Castle and destroyed the doomsday clock!
The vigilantes escaped with their lives while the explosion went off…
 
https://hgoei.com/2023/12/11/gotham-mythago-invasion
Gotham: Mythago invasion

Gotham: Mythago invasion


‘Mister Johnson’ delivered his instruction to some members of the vigilante ‘Guardian Angels’ who were aware ‘something’ weird changed in Gotham while most ‘normal’ people reacted as if ‘business as usual’.
“sometimes the world goes black and white and everything seems to flicker, like a strobe light flashing just faster than the eye can register…When the Flicker Effect starts, strange things often happen. They may be subtle or they may be screamingly obvious, but they usually involve some intrusion, arriving out of nowhere, from the alternate realms”

…some weird sightings …:

Clusters of clouds gathering as if having a conference.
Dreams manifesting on the rooftops.
A statue of goddess Elektra.


Mechanical birds

Mannikins with pointy hats and sharp swords parading fashion district
…some rumours about Gotham Below..:
An ancient cult practicing dark rituals.
Disappearing cats.
Chaotic plumbing.
A stargate.…
Tricky Shib, Shining Azoth, Arty Cassy, Kiddo Ralph gathered at their Treehouse in the park. 
Suddenly ‘something’ crashed on top of the tree!
Shib shape changed into cat to investigate and found a vaguely flickering humanoid person, but as soon as he touched the person, it fell down the tree.
It seemed unharmed but unconscious!
After some care, the person came by…
‘I Rhl fell down from the Heavens because an evil wizard bound me with his summoning!’
The person was still very confused, difficult to understand.
After a while it wandered off, singing to a magic egg in its hands, at last it started fading into distance.
Following its trail, passing an old woman sitting at a street corner..
Asking her for information, receiving some small blessings and a gift…
Now Arty Cassy carried the Magic egg!
Looking for more clues, joining an Free Mason information meeting…
‘Aleister the wicked is hiding in Gotham Below!”
…
Leaving the gathering, walking on the streets, suddenly burning paper lanterns fell down!
Fleeing the fire, going to the market, where a squad of Mannikins with pointy hats and sharp swords were parading…
A lone mechanical bird flew down to a Mannikin and started twittering in its ear.
Suddenly the Mannikin pointed their swords in the direction of the investigators…
Melee and total chaos!
…
Surviving the battle, continuing looking for clues in the library, finding a vague reference about a legendary hidden Stargate.
…
Decyphering the clues, finding and entering the gate…
Into Gotham Below!
The lights are failing, what’s wrong with the Generator?
Several workers are busy fixing cables and turning the wheels…
“Och, the engines cannae take it Captain!”
Steam and sparks escaping from the machines…
‘Where is the mayor?’

The investigators went searching for the mayor at his office, but it seemed he left !
“Lets go back to the Gate!”
“It is not there anymore!”
“Quick, maybe there is some more information at the Library!”
Department ancient historical maps:
“Here, at the other side of this place, a hidden gate”
The lights are dimming fast, heavy tremors shake the buildings…
“Run!”
“Look! Somebody opened the hidden gate!”
A long corridor ending at an underground river…
“Quick! He escapes with the boat”
Charging the boat about to escape, grappling with the Mayor…
He fell overboard while the boat sped up downriver!

At last the adventurer escaped, but where did they end up?

Ping:

https://hgoei.com/2023/11/13/angels-in-gotham/