Tempus Background

Background

• Rafiq is born in Basra (Southern Iraq) 8/12/869 to parents of free East African (Zanj) descent.
• The Zanj Rebellion, a major revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate by free Zanj as well as many slaves and other socially downtrodden peoples, starts in September 869
• Basra is burned in September 871. Rafiq is 2 years old. His father dies in the fighting. His mother takes him to the city of Mukhtarah.
• Fall of Mukhtarah and the violent end of the Zanj Rebellion in August 883. Rafiq is 14 years old. His mother dies as they are trying to escape the city.
• Vowing revenge on those who killed his parents, Rafiq begins to make his way towards Baghdad.
• In November of 883 Rafiq is in the city of Wasit and overhears rumors about a powerful djinn trapped in a small statue in the ancient city of Kaskar, across the Tigris from Wasit. Believing he might be able to find the statue and use the djinn's power to exact revenge, he makes his way into the ruined part of Kaskar he had overheard the others talking about.
• Rafiq discovers the entrance to a long buried Sumerian temple. Inside, he finds the statue he was looking for and releases the djinn. Although Rafiq is a sharp and resourceful young man, he is no match for the wits of the djinn. The djinn tricks him and trades places with him, trapping Rafiq inside the statue instead.
• Over 1,000 years pass. Rafiq is trapped in the statue with no way to get out.
• At some point the statue is discovered and becomes part of the historical collection at the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad.
• A few days before April 10, 2003, staff vacate the National Museum ahead of the advance of US forces on Baghdad. Looters break into and ransack the museum over the next 36 hours until the staff returns, taking some 15,000 objects. Among those objects is the statue that Rafiq is still trapped in.
• 5 years later, in May of 2008, the New York City chapter-house of the Zodiac Society, known as the Taurus House, locates and acquires the statue. They believe that the djinn is still in the statue, and while dangerous, can be used in a situation they are facing of dire importance. They prepare wards and get ready to do battle with it should anything go wrong and they are not able to contain it. They release the inhabitant from the statue and are shocked that instead of finding a powerful djinn before them that inside the artifact was a 14 year old boy.
• Feeling a sense of responsibility for Rafiq, the Zodiac Society takes him under their wing and begins to raise him and train him. Beverley Dawson, Head of House of Taurus House in New York City becomes his primary guardian. Over time, Rafiq grows to care for Beverley and see her as an adoptive mother, even taking her last name.
• Shortly after his release from the artifact, the elder Invested from London, Foggy, heard about the strange man "pulled out of time" and decided to visit and welcome him to the new world. Rafiq was still having a rough time adjusting to suddenly being in a new time, still harboring a large amount of anger and resentment. He noticed that Foggy had an old Victorian pocket-watch. Rafiq found the device both beautiful and fascinating. In a moment that Foggy turned his head, Rafiq quietly moved the pocket-watch into his own pocket. Foggy knew he'd done it, however, and at the end of the visit revealed that he had known all along, but with a smile told Rafiq that he was being given the watch as a gift, cementing a fatherly relationship that endured as Rafiq grew up. Rafiq has since started to emulate Foggy's Victorian style of clothing as a way to show his fondness for Foggy, but also because he does feel a little out of place in time and the steampunk Victorian styling allows him to express that while also providing a place in a community where he can meet and socialize with others.
• Once Rafiq reaches adulthood he begins deeper training with the Society, first physical training, and then magical training, and eventually joins the Society of his own accord and becomes a Society agent using the agent name Tempus.
• When her connection to the River Styx first manifested, Ophelia got lost wandering its shores, trying to find her way out. She ended up possessed by an old ghost. She then met her mentor, MENTOR who advised her to find the Zodiac Society. The young necromancer finally escaped the underworld, and her mentor's magics brought her to Tempus. Tempus experienced Ophelia 's possession and quickly got her to some place with wards: the Taurus House in New York. Though the Society assisted her in finding the name of her possessing ghost and shaking it free, Tempus was reprimanded for endangering Taurus House by bringing a strange sorcerer to it without conferring with the Head of House. Though she loves him, Beverly Dawson was forced to re-assign him to the Leo House in Los Angeles, where he currently resides.

Last Year

• Hexana hears that the Zodiac Society has an interest in the doings of Shaitan and contacts them, telling them they are in Salem. She has information for them. Sedona and Hexana are waiting in Salem for Foggy to make the Atlantic crossing via his Invested asphalt cyst ability. Hexana hears the screams of her previous incarnations, and then the Order of the Hammer hits. The two Invested barely make it out alive, thanks to their combined elemental powers. They get out of town, and Hexana sends Foggy and Sedona on their way, refusing to cede her town to the Order. Foggy promises to return and help after he's seen Sedona to safety. Hexana finds Shaitan and offers to assist them against the Order of the Hammer. They agree to her doing freelance work for them, in exchange for some magical lore from them. They drive the Order out of Salem even before Foggy can make it back. Tempus arrives in Salem, asking about the information about Shaitan. Hexana claims she has no real information to give them.

This Year

• On a night when Hexana,Sedona with Foggy, Tempus with a small group of fellow Zodiac operatives, and Ophelia with her ghost-mentor are at Dvaravat, the club is attacked by Beasts of Bal'Hemoth. They cut through the defenders of the establishment, and Chandi is hard-pressed to fight them off, so Foggy and Tempus and the others jump in to help. They are enough to turn the tide and drive away the Beasts. Chandi is grateful and bestows a membership on all who helped.
• Tempus has a dream about Foggy walking the far bank of the River Styx. He is looking around, confused, and then looks up as though he sees Tempus. He then raises a hand to wave sadly, and vanishes like mist.

Now

Session 1: 8/07/20

• Tempus receives a text message from Foggy asking him to come to London right away. Sensing urgency, Tempus asks a favor of the Zodiac Society Taurus House (Los Angeles) Head of House, Regina Seville, and she opens the Zodiac Arch located in the Taurus House basement that grants access to the otherworldly Thirteenth House and to Gemini House in Oxford, England. There, he is met by Head of House, Kilasla Thamry, and given access to a Society car.
• Arriving at Foggy's home in London, he meets Ophelia, Hexana, and Sedona, who also received text messages. They are welcomed into Foggy's home by his wife, Queenie. She tells the group that she is the one who sent the text message to them because Foggy has been missing for a couple days and she is growing concerned. She asks the the small group who knew Foggy if they can help locate him.
• Queenie states that the last item in Foggy's agenda was an appointment at a tattoo shop in East London. Taking the group into Foggy's study, Tempus uses the Analysis of Aion invocation to rewind time and observes Foggy speaking in Arabic to someone on the phone. Foggy can be heard saying that mutual friends in Morocco suggested that the person he is speaking with might have some insight into a recent event he could shed some light on. He then mentions that he will see this person that night after the shop closes. He writes down the name "Fanus Tattoos" and an address in East London.
• Tempus and the other 3 drive to the address of the tattoo shop. Once there, Ophelia uses her ghostly magics to turn invisible and intangible and attempts to enter the shop to scout it out. Meanwhile, Hexana, in her cat form scouts around the side of the building and up to the second floor, eventually entering through a window back in her human form. The owner of the shop, Amir Tazzi, is alerted to Ophelia's presence by the a magical ward he has in place above the door drawn in the image of a lamp. Amir casts a spell intended to reveal Ophelia's presence. While the spell doesn't reveal Ophelia, the flash of light created by the spell does alert Tempus and Sedona who had been waiting outside that something is happening inside the shop. Tempus and Sedona knock on the shop's front door posing as tourists looking for a tattoo. Upstairs, Hexana finds an altar to Abbridon.
• Tempus confronts Amir, revealing that he knows Foggy came to visit him a few days ago but is now missing. Amir tells the group that he is a member of an order of sufi sorcerers known as the Modruiyya and that Foggy came to him in hopes that he had information about the murder of the invested of Marrakesh. Amir states that unfortunately he didn't have any information to give Foggy and he doesn't know where Foggy went after leaving his shop. Tempus once again uses the Analysis of Aion invocation and rewinds time to view Foggy leaving the shop and getting into a cab. Tempus is able to get the name of the cab company and the cab number, but not much else.
• The group discusses their next steps and decides that old fashioned detective work might be best. They decide to talk to the cab company to see if they can get any additional information.
• As they head out to the car, the group is attacked by 5 multi-legged monstrous beings that seem to have been waiting for them and meld out of shadow. At least one of them is able to become insubstantial. The group is able to destroy all 5 creatures.
• Ophelia notices a mark on one the creatures' foreheads while both she and the creature are insubstantial and draws the symbol out for the others to see. One of them recalls that they have seen the symbol before - on the wrist of a woman they have seen gambling at Dvaravat. The group decides to visit Dvaravat.

Session 2: 8/14/20

• Before heading to Dvaravat, the group decides to follow up on their lead at the cab company that had picked Foggy up from the tattoo shop. They head to the offices of the cab company. Hexana and Sedona, posing as Foggy's American niece and nephew concerned about their missing uncle, head inside to talk to the young woman staffing the front desk. They learn that the cab that Foggy was in, and the driver of the cab were in an accident the night Foggy was picked up. The driver, a man named Rudolf, was currently at a psychiatric hospital called Serene Care Unlimited suffering not just from physical damage but from what appears to be some mental damage as well. There weren't any reports of a passenger in the cab, leaving Foggy's fate still unknown.
• The group visits Serene Care Unlimited, but Hexana and Sedona are told by the front desk staff that Rudolph is not allowed any visitors they cannot give out his room number. Ophelia goes into her ghost form and is able to move behind the counter unseen and see the Rudolph's room number. Remaining insubstantial and invisible, Ophelia attempts to make her way to Rudolph's room, but encounters a darkhound. The darkhound doesn't notice her, however. She returns to the others and lets them know. Hexana wipes the nurse's memory of their interaction, and the 4 head back out to the car.
• Ophelia decides to try getting access to Rudolph's room again, this time from outside the building. She phases into the building and again encounters more darkhounds but is able to avoid their notice. She eventually finds her way into Rudolph's room and is talks to him. Rudolph confirms that he picked up Foggy and confirms that the cab was attacked. He gives her the location of the incident. Ophelia reassures him that he's not going crazy and uses her phone to text the others and let them know that she would like to create a door to Dvaravat and bring Rudolph through with her because she feels it would be safer than there at Serene Care. She opens the door and take Rudolph through. The others drive down a road a ways and find another location with a door. Hexana uses her sigil to also gain entrance to Dvaravat.
• Once inside Dvaravat, the group gets some additional information from Rudolph. Rudolph gives his permission for Tempus to use the Analysis of Aion invocation on him, which allows Tempus to look into Rudolph's recent past and future. In the past, Tempus is able to view the attack on the cab and determines that the location of the attack was slightly different than the location that was given to the police. When Tempus looks into Rudolph's future he sees him returning to the hospital, being released and then continuing on with his life. Tempus notices that the darkhounds do no seem to be at the hospital because of Rudolph and do not seem to be concerned with him. With this new information, the group determines that the hellhounds are likely not a danger to Rudolph. Hexana wipes his memory, and Ophelia returns him through her door back to the hospital.
• In Dvaravat, Hexana is approached by Rasenna, the assistant to the Iosan Sibyl, who informs her that Alansera, the woman who the group would like to speak with the about the symbol on her wrist, won't be free for about an hour and that the Iosan Sibyl would like to speak to her in the meantime. Hexana goes with Rasenna.
• Sedona notices a dark haired man staring intently at him. He claims to know Sedona, but when Sedona doesn't know who he is, he quickly moves off.
• Tempus heads to the Kitava Hall to see if he can spot Alansera and decides to read a paperback book and sip an old fashioned as he waits. He he waits at the bar, his acquaintance Kerdia shows up and introduces him to a man named Boreanus. Boreanus states that he is looking for someone with access to an invocation known as Temporal Archaeology to accompany him on a mission and perform the invocation. Since Tempus is a member of the Zodiac Society, he believes Tempus might be able to gain access to the invocation through the Society's library. He states that if Tempus will come with him on the mission and perform the invocation that he will pay him with a rare grimoire containing the Arcana of Ithaqua. Tempus takes Boreanus' card and tells him he's interested and will see what he can do.
• After about an hour, Alansera comes to the bar. Tempus offers to buy her a drink. She thanks and asks for his assistance in finding a seat. Tempus asks her about the symbol on her wrist as the others join at a booth. Alansera explains that the symbol is related to the Cult of Kar'Kradas, a cult from which she has escaped. She also explains that an order associated with the cult of Kar'Kradas, the Order of Night Eternal owns the Serene Care Unlimited psychiatric hospital and has their headquarters beneath it. She offers to give the group access into the Order's headquarters in exchange for a favor from each member of the group. Tempus, Ophelia, Hexana, and Sedona all agree. Across the room, the same dark haired man who spoke with Sedona earlier is watching the group. Alansera informs them that he is known as the Houndmaster and is part of the Order of Night Eternal. When the Houndmaster sees that he has been spotted, he heads out.
• The group feels a sense of urgency and discusses entering the headquarters of the Order of Night Eternal as this might be were Foggy is being held. However, Ophelia feels that they should first investigate the site of the attack on the cab in case they miss any clues. The rest of the group decides to put the opportunity to rescue Foggy on hold and give the Houndmaster plenty of time to prepare for their arrival, and instead travel through the River Styx to the site of the attack on Rudolph's cab.