The Codex Umbra

*In a city trapped in perpetual night crime is commonplace and conspiracy is a close ally. Common thieves work alongside corrupt politicians to enact plots for (?) and revenge. There is no line between what is acceptable and what makes you a monster. The guiding principal is greed and the only rule is don't trust anyone. The dream is to last long enough to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Welcome to Doskvol.*

The first episode opens with a meeting under a bridge. O.C is bringing a special book she has acquired to a man she's never met before named Nyxerian Desterosi. They chat briefly about the lack of respectable gentleman in the city, and Nyx takes O.C to meet his contact Violette Vale who hopefully will be able to give O.C some valuable information about said book. Nyx takes her on a bit of a 'tour" of the city, talking nonsense along the way to the Vale estate. A trip that should have taken ten minutes takes forty-five. A lot of his little stories are complete lies, and O.C knows this but lets him talk.

They arrive at the estate and introductions are made. Nyx calls O.C by her alias and she doesn't like this. He also refers to her as the one who "stole the book". O.C's distrust of Nyx is evident.

Violette leads them into another room filled with candles and crystals. She instructs O.C to place the book on a table. She then taps into her ghost sight to study the book. She is fascinated by what she sees. She asks O.C where she got it and O.C gives her a non-answer. Instead O.C offers an exchange of information in lieu of money.

Violette informs her that the book is pre-cataclysmic and worth a very pretty penny. It is infused with magical energy. It's a ledger of magically protected items in the area. There are additional notes in the margin in purple ink, and along with runes there are also pictographs. One of the pages is red and the writing is in a language she doesn't understand. O.C is concerned about Violette's ability to protect the book. The estate is the best place for it, she says, and O.C is happy with this response.

In light of this new information Violette sends a message to Raymond Bowerstone, summoning him to the estate. It appears this book connects to Raymond.

We cut to Raymond leaving The Vale in haste. The Vale is a night club that Violette frequents. He arrives at the estate and introductions are made to O.C. She gives him the book when he offers his services in return. The book used to belong to his family, and may be the cause of a familial curse.

The book, upon casual layman's inspection is a mundane ledger of items. When Violette goes into the ghost field she sees different items written in blue ink with additional notes in the margin in purple and red ink. The language is a pre-cataclysmic dialect. The red page is in a language they don't understand and the pictographs are frightening to Violette.

Violette asks the ghost of her aunt Mable for help with reading the red page. Mable is startled and tells her it is written in the blood of demons. A demonologist is needed to read it. They decide to proceed more cautiously and look for a demonologist at The Vale rather than hitting the more legitimate sources. Raymond is looking forward to finishing his risotto.

The Score: find a demonologist and decipher the red pages.

They make it to The Vale and Raymond sees a friend of his, Trevor, a student who is taking a class in demonology. Trevor gets very upset with them, demanding to know why they brought this information to him. He can't read it but he knows the symbols are a warning. He's clearly shaken, and refers them to a Prof. Valen, but the problem is Valen has been missing for two weeks.