Wushu Skidoo
He dodged the hobo's gaze like Neo in The Matrix, but the stench got him right between the eyes. He soldiered on. The end of the alley bloomed as he approached. Then, fear and desperation. The man who stepped into his path was hideous. Both of his eyelids had been sewn shut; scar tissue dripped down his face like tears of flesh.
The symbol on tattooed on Luke's palm would be useless against this monstrosity. He turned to flee, but the other one cut off his escape. Luke tore the bandage from his hand and thrust his palm at the sighted one, who crumpled to the ground, but it was too late. A length of piano wire pressed against his throat, bit into his skin, sliced through his...
My favorite flavor of modern magic has always been grimy, street-level occultism. Fireballs and telekinesis are fine, but they get old fast. Give me something quirky that must be used with cunning. This month's premise mixes the Tower of Babel with Sumerian mythology to create a potentially vast collection of narrowly focused kewl powerz and some truly eerie antagonists.
Genesis
In the beginning, there was Man...
And Man created The Word...
And The Word changed Everything.
The first language was nothing like the ones spoken and written today; its sounds and shapes did not merely symbolize objects and actions. To see The Word for a thing was to know everything about it. This is how knowledge of agriculture, irrigation, music, warfare, and architecture spread among the first human beings. The Sumerians called them "mes" and believed them to be the wisdom of the gods.
They were wrong.
To hear the Word for an action is to immediately perform it. There is no choice, no thought, no free will. It is hardwired into the brain. Tyrants used The Word to wage war on each other and build great monuments to their own hubris. They turned their brothers into slaves.
That is why the Brotherhood of the Bloody Tongue destroyed The Word. They infected mankind with a cipher, a kind of memetic virus that confounds language. They freed us all, but The Word cannot be wiped out entirely. It is etched into our every neuron and, from time to time, it rises unbidden from the tongues of the unsuspecting.
Then, the Brotherhood comes for them.
Children of Babel
Usually, it's a linguist or archaeologist who stumbles upon a Word, digs it out of the dirt, or pries it loose from their own mind. Inevitably, they try to use it. The benign ones simply learn how to weave baskets or build and play an ancient instrument. Still, the Brotherhood comes for them.
The dangerous ones learn how to wield a spear with supernatural skill or make others trust them implicitly. Once in a great while, they manage to stay alive long enough to benefit from their crimes. These "lexiphiles" eventually try to learn more of The First Tongue and, with all of their resources, they can pose a real threat to the Brotherhood.
Others are just innocent dupes or do-gooders who find themselves trapped in a secret war between self-mutilating assassins and wizards with magic words.
Jezebel - She was once a psychologist; now she's a whore. One of her test subjects spontaneously produced The Word for "bliss" while under hypnosis and she got it on tape. That was several years ago. Since then, she has built a vast network of wealthy and influential men who are sexually addicted to her. At the moment of climax, she whispers The Word in their ears. After that, they're hooked.
Barabbas - This enterprising archaeologist became an art dealer after he learned to write The Word for "covet" from an archaic inscription. He works it into otherwise worthless paintings, sculptures, and antiques. Once in a while, he even draws it on Monopoly money and passes it off as cash. He's a small time fraud, but he'll do anything to keep himself in business.
Luke - Studying Sanskrit isn't the life for a thrill-seeker, but then this young linguist didn't know he was a thrill-seeker until he discovered The Word for "sleep." He never managed to learn to draw it, since it's impossible to remain awake while looking at it, but he did manage to copy it down in pieces and get it tattooed on the palm of his hand. As a non-lethal weapon, it's hard to beat. So far, he's used it to stop three rapes and a robbery, but it's only a matter of time before he attracts the Brotherhood's attention.
Lilith - One of the Brotherhood's dark secrets is it's failure to exterminate a bloodline of mercenaries who use The Word for "knife" as a mantra. They meditate on it during training and speak it to themselves before a fight. Of course, it only imparts knowledge of stone knives, but that's more than good enough to beat even a well-trained gunman. Lilith is one of the last of her kind, a masterless warrior whose weapon of choice is a jagged rock.
Harod - An African warlord has acquired The Word for "fear." Blind men carry it on banners ahead of his army as it marches from one lawless region to the next. He's about to reunite his homeland without firing a single shot. Is he bringing peace to a war-torn land or walking the path of tyrants?
Brotherhood of the Bloody Tongue
The Brotherhood defines the term "fanatical." Their operatives, the only people allowed any contact with The Word, are raised in pairs as close to birth as possible. Twins are especially prized. One is deafened and the other's eyes are gouged out. Both of their tongues are mutilated so that they may never pollute their breath by uttering The Word.
They learn to communicate without language, anticipating each other's every thought and deed. They are taught to hunt and kill the Children of Babel with neither mercy nor remorse. It is the one and only reason that they exist.
Operatives are supported by a vast network of lay people, most of whom know nothing about The Word. All they need to know is that a cult of dangerous lunatics needs their help from time to time and, if they cross them, no corner of the globe will offer them sanctuary.
The operatives themselves observe austere vows of poverty. Though they have access to immense resources and information, they use as little as necessary. Most targets are easy enough to handle on foot, alone, with nothing more complicated than a length of piano wire.
Pick Me Ups
A professor of linguistics at an ivy league university has died under suspicious circumstances. While cataloging his work, his graduate students discover a Word or two. At first, they try to use them in pursuit of personal goals (I'd use a motivation for at least one of each character's Traits), but they quickly attract unwanted attention: the police suspect them of crimes (maybe even their professor's murder), Jezebel tries to recruit them (in an attempt to learn their Words), and the Brotherhood of the Bloody Tongue starts taking them out one by one (start with a red shirt NPC).
A team of clueless FBI agents are on the trail of a pair of mysterious killers. Start with a post-mortem investigation of one of the Children of Babel (I recommend Luke or Barabbas). Along the way, they discover a Word or two and have to deal with the unexpected consequences of using them. Finally, they catch up to the Brothers while they're running Lilith to ground and get caught in a three-sided conflagration!
Jezebel is getting serious about this whole Puppetmaster bit. She hires a team of investigators to track down other Children of Babel and bring back their Words. She even loans them a Word or two, probably written on their gloves or a badge they can flash around. (Teaching them to speak a Word would be too dangerous.) Of course, their secondary purpose is to draw the Brotherhood's fire away from her...
Play as Brothers of the Bloody Tongue! Investigate crimes that may have involved The Word and uncover those who have brought its profanity back into the world. Murder them and drop their corpses in a shallow grave! Then, hunt down and destroy any trace of The Word they may have left behind.
Next Up: Stupid physics tricks from the Destroyer of Worlds!
