This page displays all the intel - items, memories, or otherwise - Cass has collected over the course of the story. Click on an element for more information. Link to the Inventory page or the main page of the story.
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Arson attacks
Multiple victims have been claimed in arson attacks across the city. Notable cases include:
June 4th: Ben's apartment, an investigative journalist and friend of Cass.
June 5th: The city archives, leaving a historian and librarian dead and several artifacts destroyed.
June 8th: A block of low-income apartments in the city slums. Dozens died.
June 10th: A furniture factory on the outskirts of the city. The attack was foiled and the assailant chased away.
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Puncture wounds
Cass woke up in Ben's apartment after a significant fire with two puncture wounds just above her collarbone. A double syringe of poison? A vampire bite? An overly-enthusiastic doctor? Who's to know? In a dream of a starry sea, they emitted golden light. The clinic found highly unusual compounds in a blood test.
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The Dreamlands
The Dreamlands have many names but consist of a mishmash of the unconscious thoughts and dreams of all sapient creatures. Knowledge and power can be found there, but so can nightmares and death. Going deeper increases the rewards, but also the danger.
Cass passed out part way through investigating Ben's burned apartment and dreamt of an impossibly clear ocean above a starry void and below a shining aurora. A flooded cityscape, identical to that of New Brighton, glowed in the distance. A small green fish attacked her. The wounds carried into the waking world.
In her second dream-visit, she awakened on a dock on a small sand island. Stairs descended into the depths with a vague sense of malice, leading to a massive underground archives.
In her third dream-visit, she found herself in an apartment building identical to her own in the real world. Shadows crawled nearby and attacked.
In her fourth dream-visit, she was back in the sea, on a crystal pillar with a doppelganger throwing chum to the little green fish. She awakened holding a doll with her own features.
In her fifth dream-visit, she ran afoul of a large fishing vessel casting nets for a large pale fish, apparently to be constrained and used in some sort of process.
In her sixth dream-visit, she encountered Emma and Tom searching for a large pale beast in a subway station. The beast attacked, severely injuring both of them before Cass could shoot it.
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Flooding
Unseasonable rains leading to flooding have been reported across the city recently. A new addition to the subway system is threatened by the floods.
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Pale creatures
A puzzlingly large fish was found washed up on a beach in New Brighton. Witnesses describe it as 30 feet long, albino, with purple eyes and too many teeth.
Later, in a visit to the dreamlands, Cass encountered a large hairy pale beast capable of effortlessly fatally injuring humans. It bled purple blood when shot and seemed to interfere with her light.
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A fish?
A small round green fish with yellow eyes, too many teeth, and a pulsing blue light in its forehead. Seen in dreams of a starry sea. Fast and aggressive. Noise irritates them.
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Waif
A small creature about the size of a kitten, its form hazy and semi-transparent. Found in a storm drain, is capable of minor telepathy. Bit Cass, saying it was giving her a gift. Mentioned a mark. Seems to have bonded with Cass, following her around and offering itself to be petted. Fragments of lingering wills. Formed of a slurry of souls not dedicated enough to pass on and not powerful enough to maintain themselves. Tend to be either affectionate or feral.
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Cloaked figure
A stooped figure cloaked in rags of fabric. Found in an underground library in dreams of a starry sea. Provided a book when asked.
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Void Heart
A large pulsating semi-purple sack connected to dozens of tendrils throughout an area. Seems capable of connecting to living creatures to some end. Appears to produce fog or haze. Can puppet victims and use their memories to impersonate them and lure additional creatures into the plant's reach.
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Shadows
Cass has had a dream of clinging, crawling shadows that were extraordinarily aggressive but sensitive to the light pouring from her neck. Seem capable of affecting the physical world, at least in a limited fashion.
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Essentia Salt
Essentia salts are created by burning an object or creature with a particular desired aspect in conjunction with other specialized ingredients. They are used as components in spells. Preparing an essentia salt is a somewhat complicated process, involving several reagents and one invocation.
The outline of a man, formed entirely of inert essentia salt, was found in Ben's apartment on the bed after a fire. The salt is fine and frictionless, with an extremely smooth texture. It's not soluble, it doesn't melt, and each individual grain is incredibly tough. A paper from 1935 mentions a similar substance as a byproduct from creating a novel resin - the resin would sometimes dissolve into the salt if improperly heated.
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Fabric scrap
A torn scrap of fabric, unusually heavy and exceedingly black. Found in Ben's apartment with the ashen body.
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Broken syringes
A handful of small glass syringes in various states of damage. Some still contain a light red residue. Found in Ben's apartment with the ashen body. Biers states they contain chemicals related to dreaming and the controlling thereof.
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Metal stakes
Heavy steel stakes, found driven into the ground around Cass's apartment after a series of troubling dreams. Seem capable of controlling dreams, at least partially. Found after a boy's recent suicide and traced back to a particular foundry near New Brighton, Henderson Casting and Metalwork.
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The Starfury
Cass spotted a large fishing yacht in the dreamlands, fishing for one of the large pale fish that had previously washed up on the beach. Two people on the boat mentioned using the fish for some sort of ritual, to be completed in less than 2 weeks.
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Three students
A trio of students at Midwest Tech who woke Cass up after she passed out from the hazy creature's bite. One of them seemed to notice the creature and may be suspicious of Cass...
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Emma Newfeld
A fourth-year chemical engineering student at Midwest Tech, and also possibly an arsonist linked to the cult. Curly brown hair, dark jacket. Linked to Tom Davis or the Starfury. Severely injured in an encounter with a pale beast in the Dreamlands.
Met at the Celestial Hotel, trying to escape from the cult. Gave Cass a lot of information about the cult's activities, goals, and operations. Killed during the escape by a cult guard. Reborn five days later, her doll burning to ash at the same time.
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Tom Davis
A fifth-year mechanical engineering student at Midwest Tech, and also possibly linked to the cult. Sparse mustache, slightly creepy demeanor. Possibly linked to Emma Newfeld or the Starfury. Gruesomely killed in an encounter with a pale beast in the Dreamlands.