The Torrent

A world where there’s an ongoing torrent of the paranatural.

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1 day, 18 hours ago: Ronan Dyer wrote a Downtime Journal for Hey Hey, Ewe Ewe

poetry drafts 2

1

Fatal attraction

 

They build palaces

Upon those tables

I always thought

Eyes traveling,

Within them strange reflection

What Romance works

Without a sound

 

Romantic chess- an artistic movement popular in chess in the 18th and 19th centuries

Was fatal attraction a game played in the romantic era? 

 

No.  oops. Ok.

 

Within them strange reflection

Brilliance, held in momentary precision (?)

Without a sound

 

Does anyone even want to read a poem about an old chess game?

I would. Who doesn’t want the things I want? I’m basically always right.

 

It feels like falling,

It feels like flying if 

You can sustain it–

 

Too cliche?




Hmm ok. So it’s been three days and I haven’t finished this poem but I HAVE read a lot of wikipedia pages about how the British government was structured in the 19th century. 






2

Geography of a bedroom

 

Neat rows of nail polish bottles

Form strange forests

Dappled by the light through blinds

On dresser cliff faces 

A beck, a spring, of wood-grain

Flooding into a sea of blue carpet

 

Stacks of papers on the desk

It’s stilt-feet raising steady current

It carries books and pens sewing machines 

upon it’s sturdy back

It forms plateaus 

It sounds 

 

[write something here, future Ronan]



3

Surgery

 

I think that I could break some Chord

Trace unbroken line

Across your skin

Could, in moving, heal, in beauty, 

Break

Through sternum and past ribs

Into the reddest part of you

 

Futures, and histories, tucked away

For moments

That bleeding star that never stops

And never stops

And I blink

Pulling the line, 

Threading through narrow streets.

 

I will,

In resolution, find you, 

In holding, heal.




What if I wrote a poem ABOUT wikipedia rabbit holes?



The voyage (?)

 

Alone, in my city of tubes–

 

That sounds stupid. This was a bad idea.

1 week, 4 days ago: Delphyrion Arcanis wrote a Downtime Journal for Benny's Feeling Crunchy

Hunger

On the creation of the power, Nondestructive "Testing":

All this talk about supernatural stuff has gotten me very hungry. For knowledge, of course, I wouldn't go around just eating whatever I find on the floor. 

...Or would I? 

I'm an avid believer in the concept of the 5 Minute Rule---wait, was it seconds or minutes? That doesn't matter. I generally just enjoy eating, why else would I be making food from scratch? It hits very different when it comes from hours or even months of my own hard work, though most of the time I have to stick with grocery store food instead. It's like a dessert except there's a very real chance that the ice cream I've made out of curtains doesn't taste good at all. In that case I ask my friends if they want to try it.

Okay, I have gotten sick from eating random things before, but the fact that I'm still alive is a testament to the potential that I have towards the ultimate breakthrough. If I can just figure out where all this supernatural stuff comes from, without destroying any evidence of its existence, they won't judge me anymore. Maybe there's a secret recipe somewhere too.

1 week, 4 days ago: Delphyrion Arcanis wrote a Downtime Journal for Hey Hey, Ewe Ewe

Aaaaargh

Sometimes I wonder what could've been.

I don't think about it often, I've chosen not to because it does nothing to help me in the long run. Maybe I shouldn't care that she was famous or that she'd just been trying to live out an idyllic farm life or that I wouldn't have been shot if we'd done everything differently. Something my parents would say to this is that "you should've known, Delphi" and the very mention of that name would haunt me, because I don't, I didn't know, and I wish I knew. They've always been into mythology, much like one of my friends who went to university for it, but it's quite unfair to compare your child with someone imbued with the power of some deity out there. I wish I'd been more prepared, I wish I could've just swung a rifle back at her and dislodged something enough to incapacitate her. Because truthfully I do still want to know, at least, why

Though she'd probably have killed us anyway because there's no way someone normal would keep all those... things. There's no reason to tell us even if we asked politely.

I'm the one to talk about normalcy.

This time around I've just been more exhausted too, considering I had spent most of a day just cleaning the lab that doubled as my home. Looking back at my journal I could almost see the exasperation, and in a way it scares me too. Most of the time, I've been beaten half to death and shot and I couldn't really do much about it. It says something when I'm happy eating unripe corn in the middle of nowhere. At least that doesn't require as much movement, though the gunshot did hurt---it still does, and the doctors kept asking if I wanted to press charges; how do I break it to them? I just told them it was a malfunction when I was cleaning my pistol instead, which they weren't the most qualified to question. At the time it felt like I was in my dreams all over again; helpless, in the dark both metaphorically and literally, moving as if I'm submerged. Whatever I tried, I didn't immediately see or hear the results and it scared me even though the fumes of piranha solution burned at my sinuses. Who knew if I was already dead. I couldn't tell you what that would feel like, but it sure would be terrifying if one's brain really still keeps running for ten minutes after the fact. 

Ten minutes can feel like such an eternity when you're being battered with a bent rifle.

In my endless frustration I always find it feasible to just turn off my brain for a while and hit things. There's a rage room just a few blocks over that a friend had recommended to me a while ago, and there's finally a valid reason for me to go. At first it was slightly awkward because it was just me in a room and I still had the slightest inkling that this would be devastating if footage of Delphyrion throwing things around in murderous rage gets onto the Internet, but soon I remembered that the waiver did included a non-disclosure clause on the company's part as long as I don't break any rules. 

It made me feel good, exhilarated, even. Back in school I would hate PE class because I was horrible at it, though I feel like each object I destroy boosts my confidence that I can in fact do harm even if I can't serve a volleyball. I realize that confidence is more than half of what it takes to win a fight. I can totally body a bear right now (I cannot, but the thought is what matters). I just need to believe.

And so there I go, throwing glass at the scarred walls. It all shatters and crashes down and it reminds me of that time I had to dispose of all the broken glass from my experiments. It's somewhat symbolic of all the work I've done, not that there's any reason to keep it unless I can somehow melt all of it and reshape it into something else.

Actually, that's a good idea. 

How about a phone made out of uranium glass? There were problems with sending messages back and forth between people during the contract.

 

1 week, 4 days ago: Joseph D'Angelo wrote a Downtime Journal for Hey Hey, Ewe Ewe

Doing Church Camp As If I'm Still Kind Of Normal

I think I started to enjoy it more when I reframed its purpose in my mind.

We do church camp every single summer. I've been a participant since I was born, and a volunteer since I was twelve. We always do the same activities -- travelling to Vancouver Island, camping together, doing workshops for the kids and the adults, trying to evangelize -- so it's always exceedingly boring. I always try to find a God-given purpose for these things, and I guess God decided that the purpose of this year's camp was for me to hone skills that would be necessary for future contracts. It's a miracle I survived my first one considering how shit I am at anything survival or combat-related, but I need to take advantage of any avenues I have to make sure things are less 'miracle' and more a result of training.

So I involved myself in more physical and practical group activities! I played lots of hide-and-seek and grounders with the kids, lots of team-building with the teens, and I made it a point to win the scavenger hunt. A few of the preteens showed me their brainrot and taught me new functions in their phones. I got better at socializing with the people my age and making the kids do my bidding. I shocked the elders with my sudden enthusiasm and willingness to serve, so I just said God had compelled me to improve upon these skills so I would be better fit for His missions, and for once, I made my dad proud of me.

Outside of church camp, I read up more on guns and how to use them. I had no way to practice them because they're literally illegal regardless of whether I'd even be allowed to handle them by my dad, but I figured that at least I would know the theory behind them. I thought I was a decent driver, but after being in Theia's passenger seat and seeing the way she manoeuvred the car during the mission made me realize I am an amateur at best. Something about being acknowledged by the contract people and having my goals affirmed spoke to me, because I finally sat down one lonely 2am to try the makeup I'd accumulated over the past few months...

At the end of the contract, they gave me a gift, and for a while I was unsure of how to use it. Nothing really came to my mind at first, but at one point during the church camp I overheard some of the kids who were clearly forced to be there mumbling about fanfiction. I keep that shit to myself, but of course I listened in to their exasperated recounts of crazy things they'd read or heard of... and all I could think was damn, these amateurs. Literal amateurs. I've read and know so much more than they ever could, things they could never dream o--

Wait. That gives me an idea.

 

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Illuminated Earth

Illuminated Earth is a twisted reflection of the modern world where the advent of smartphones and the internet confirmed the existence of the supernatural instead of disproving it. Here, witch hunts have merit. Billionaires and Senators employ paranormal advisors and bodyguards, and everyone knows. Charlatans become pop culture icons, and each revelation inspires a new cult. The world is changing. The secret societies that pull humanity's strings scramble to adapt.

Now's a good time to move up.

House Rules

Contractors from The Torrent Are portable, and may play in Contracts in other Playgroups.
The Torrent grants 6 Experience points to GMs who achieve the Golden Ratio.

 

  • Supernatural Powers: All non-mastery, non-concealed Powers must be obviously supernatural when activated or grant a mutation that marks the wielder as supernatural or bizarre if discovered.
  • Asset Limit: The maximum amount of assets and liability points combined cannot exceed 21.
    • For Example: a new Contractor could take Hemophilia (15 point Liability) and Tough (6 point Asset) for a total of up to 21 points between both. They could not take Hemophilia (15 point Liability) and Immutable Body (15 point Asset) for a total of 30 points between both.
  • Discord Server: Join the Discord server and follow the rules in detail there.

Full Setting Description

They named that time The Illumination, and it was by the flash of a camera phone.

 

The year was 2004. Until that point the Earth was as we had always known her. We filled her cruel vastness with legends, superstitions, and rumors. Warlocks, monsters, and gods lurked on the edge of the collective consciousness, always a possibility but never more. We lacked evidence. That evidence came as humanity filled its pockets with technology equipped to capture and transmit.

 

An iPhone found on High School senior Nate Klienman’s mangled corpse held a video of his girlfriend’s bone-snapping transformation into a monstrous wolf creature. A Brazilian widow documented a series of conversations with the misty figure of her late husband. A Chinese fishing boat caught a mermaid in a net and put it on display in the Beijing aquarium.

 

Each week brought a new revelation that we were not alone. Superstitions reversed their slow death overnight. Salem held their first witch trial in a century. The jury rendered a verdict of “guilty on all charges” and sentenced Maxibelle Horux to death. A week after her lethal injection, half the jury died from a tainted batch of flu vaccine. A fearful, populist movement arose to rid humanity of the creatures lurking in its ranks. Suspects are forcibly subjected to bizarre tests of their humanity, and the results are often open to interpretation. A mob’s justice is swift.

 

Yet the paranormal is not merely relegated to a persecuted class. Where some see monsters, some see sentience, and others see opportunity. If a vampire can sustain themselves on cloned blood and work the graveyard shift, why not legalize and tax? Politicians and Aristocrats employ odd-looking individuals as "advisors" or "protection." Entertainment magazines publish revelations every week about which celebrities shed their human skins at home. Charlatans of all stripes, from palmistry mediums to televangelists, have flourished despite the risks. The treatment of the paranormal varies from place to place, person to person.

 

Long have cabals, cults, and secret societies thrived in the shadows. Their roots run deeply through humanity’s oldest systems of power. Machinations are challenged, and sleeping dangers awaken. The world is changing, forcing long-dormant powers into desperate action. And it is in the midst of this great period of change that The Powers That Be have once again turned their attention to the blue marble. For the first time in two hundred years, Harbingers approach worthy individuals with an offer they won't refuse.

The Games have returned, and a new generation of Contractors are being forged.