When me and my wife started Jessy’s Story, we had a pretty solid idea of what we wanted to do: I write the story, she makes the art. At least one piece per session. Though it was hard, we stuck to it, and now that Jessy’s Story is done I can collect all this art into a huge gallery. It is an awesome feeling. Before we get to the art: a few words from the artist.
This is a session recap for a Kult: Divinity Lost roleplaying campaign. Jessy Button is played by my wife, who also does the art, and I am the game master.
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Marie Ericson-Buckle, Jessy Button’s mother, is a shadow of her former self. She is on her knees, back twisted out of shape and legs bent in ways legs should not bed. The clothes she was buried in are rags, slashed and stained garments. Marie has cuts all over her body, infected wounds with dried blood and pus filling them. Long strips of skin and flesh have been cut from her arms, she’s bruised in blue and yellow, and exposed reddish bone sticks out of the wounds on her hand. Jessy’s eyes fill with tears as she runs through the filthy basement, overwhelmed by the sight of her mother. She was dead, never to be seen again. Jessy lost the only person she could trust when her mother died, leaving her life confusing and directionless. The left side of Marie’s head is caved in, exposed bone and hair tangled up with blood and brain. In Marie’s remaining right eye, Jessy still recognizes her mother’s green luster. It really is her. Jessy reaches down to hug her mother, whose outstretched arms wrap gingerly around her daughter despite the obvious agony. Why is Jessy there? Her mother speaks in fragmented, confused sentences, shuddering from pain but refusing to let go even as her ribs shift under Jessy’s embrace. Their conversation is slow, interrupted by long periods of wordless sobbing. Jessy was brought there by her grandmother, she admits, and Marie fills with dread. So she has gotten to Jessy too. They both know Angela well, better than either would like to. Jessy cannot explain half of what has happened to her, but in mentioning the ring Marie stops her with babbled interruptions. Why use the ring? Her disappointment and outright fear makes Jessy’s stomach sink. She thought her mother wanted her to have it. Marie swears, cursing out her own mother with a twitching kick to the ground that ends with a sad, wet thud. Jessy should have remembered what Honey told her after he had stolen the ring. Her mom didn’t put it in the will. She never wanted this. The realization is nauseating. Her mother hates the ring. Through broken teeth Marie spits out a rant about how it makes people bad, it ruins them and turns them into something so much worse than they were. Jessy’s grandmother wasn’t always how she is. Marie’s voice cracks. The cruel voice in her head is what the ring made of Angela, and it will do the same to Jessy.
Continue reading “Session 19 – Love and Inhumanity”This is a session recap for a Kult: Divinity Lost roleplaying campaign. Jessy Button is played by my wife, who also does the art, and I am the game master.
This post contains visual nudity.
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All morning, Jessy feels blood trickling from her neck onto her clothes. Nothing there. She hurriedly packs all her most expensive things into two duffel bags and dumps the blood-stained tarps from upstairs in the garbage bins out front. It’s a dark day out, thick gray clouds covering the sky and making noon seem like twilight. The Mississauga and Toronto city centers are barely visible, just muddy shapes in the distance. Jessy calls an Uber to get to Tan’s place, watching empty stretches of highway and sad apartment buildings where people stand by their windows, staring out at the streets with empty eyes. Jessy has never seen Toronto quite like this, so broken and dismal. Color has drained from the prominent graffiti and senseless advertisements, marketing products she’s never heard of. It is a surreal experience, made worse by the only exception to this dullness. Each police car they pass gleams in proud white and black, a vivid display in the otherwise washed out surroundings. They’re not after her right now, she knows that, but their everpresence still discomforts her. At least Tan’s condo welcomes her with warmth and bright decor. She takes a brief moment to soak in it, but with some dismay realizes she has much to do still. Online, she builds her contact network and starts laying out some backup plans. What happens if she needs to flee? Where can she stay? The ritual is in two days. She has so much to do. Jessy spends most of her time agonizing over what is to come. When should she place Sol’s golden coins? What will she do about the last one? How should she attack Sol?
Continue reading “Session 18 – Mancipia”This is a session recap for a Kult: Divinity Lost roleplaying campaign. Jessy Button is played by my wife, who also does the art, and I am the game master.
This post contains sexual violence and torture.
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By the time Jessy and Tan return to the condo Carolina and Daisy are waiting, having a quiet conversation in the massive first floor lounge. Jessy spots a hint of worry in Daisy’s eyes. Is she getting nervous? Tan instructs Jessy and Daisy to go to separate rooms and remain there until he and Carolina have the rite fully prepared for them. Jessy lounges in her bedroom, comfortable and honestly eager for the ceremonial warfare she’s been promised. She doesn’t fear her opponent, some dumb teenager who couldn’t possibly understand what she’s gotten herself into. She spends her time going back over the research notes, puzzling together how the ceremony will change without James and amusing herself with personal details from Daisy’s home life. When Tan finally enters and tells her that they are to begin, Jessy easily slips out of her lounging clothes as instructed and fastens the goat mask of black stone to her face. She is effectively blinded and the leather strap digs in unpleasantly close to her still healing wound. The pain eggs her on, and Tan guides her through the apartment and up the stairs. On the second floor, Daisy is given the same treatment by Carolina. It is a quiet atmosphere, just simple instructions to alert the blind combatants of what comes next. In the third floor ceremony room, Jessy steps into the center where linen sheets have been laid out to cover the floor. They expect some bloodshed.
The girls are told that they stand in front of one other, and to reach out and make sure of this. Jessy’s hand first goes to Daisy’s mask before finding a shoulder, while Daisy fumbles against Jessy’s chest and down to her waist. They each take two steps back, and wait for the word. Somewhere beside them, Carolina begins to sing a wordless hymn, a somber hum while Tan speaks. He begins with praise to the Twins, assuring that this ceremony of blood and love is in their honor, and that the participants’ conflict will now bloom and live in full. Dehu and Mil are introduced to the issue at hand with Daisy’s desire to bring the same fate to Jessy as was brought on James. Tan speaks at some length of James, reminding everyone in the room and beyond it of his love for the flock and his sharp mind, diligent work ethic, and full-hearted worship. Sweet words which ring hollow to Jessy. Not hours earlier Tan had asked her to kill the same man. Daisy’s grievance with her, from bringing that man down to his knees and breaking his mind and soul, is pointless now that James is dead. Jessy shifts her weight from one foot to the other, ready to show Daisy just how bad an idea it was for her to agree to this. As the sermon finishes, both Tan and Carolina come forward to give Daisy and Jessy one embrace each. A knife is placed in Jessy’s hand, and presumably also Daisy’s. Judging by the weight, it’s a rather large weapon. May Dehu and Mil guide their blades, though the will to come out victorious lies in each of them. With Daisy right in front of her, somewhere she can’t see, Jessy steels herself and focuses on the only thing that matters – defeating her opponent.
Continue reading “Session 17 – Inferno”This is a session recap for a Kult: Divinity Lost roleplaying campaign. Jessy Button is played by my wife, who also does the art, and I am the game master.
This post contains visual nudity.
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Waking up in a daze, Jessy reaches for her phone to check her messages only to be reminded of what happened last night. Instead of letting herself spiral into another panic, she leaves her emails and DMs unread and uncared for, instead focusing on what’s important: the ritual. She’s staying at Tan’s place for now. She studies intently, and harasses Daisy whenever she spots the girl. It’s easy to make her angry, and Daisy already holds a grudge against Jessy for what happened with James. After lunch, she makes a call to Simon, her friendly and willing torture victim. There’s no doubt he saw Jessy’s episode on Instagram, and the fallout of it, but she believes that he if anyone wouldn’t judge her for it. Simon doesn’t pick up immediately, but calls back an hour later after hearing the message Jessy left. He voices some concern for her, asks if she’s okay and tells her Andi is really worried. There’s no way for Jessy to approach their common acquaintance again, to explain to her what’s really going on. Simon agrees – she wouldn’t ever be able to get it. Simon tells her with a small chuckle that everyone goes a little crazy sometimes, and that he understands Jessy’s actions, at least the parts that matter.
Simon thanks her, again, for what she did to him the first time they met. He is still healing, but what Jessy gave in return… She hears his shaky breathing. He knows much now. Speaking of which, Jessy tells him that she needs him. Artyom will be there too. Simon pauses, and the silence from the other end of the line speaks volumes – he is afraid it may be too much for his still wounded body. Jessy asks if she should find someone else, and Simon caves and tells her that he will do it. He wants to, of course. The reward is worth any risk. He wants to see her again so badly, speak with her. They are the same, he claims, and Simon has so many questions for Jessy. What has she seen? What does she know? Their paths cross, and his heart beats to explore that intersection. Jessy tells him sweetly that they’ll have time for all of that. She gives Simon the address of her Brampton home, and tells him to come there in three days time, at five in the evening. Bring something to eat.
Continue reading “Session 16 – Loose Ends”This is a session recap for a Kult: Divinity Lost roleplaying campaign. Jessy Button is played by my wife, who also does the art, and I am the game master.
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| The ring burns like fire when Jessy places it on her finger and a burning sensation spreads through her entire body. She cannot hope to control the power flowing from the ring, and the raw sensation of it incapacitates her in an instant. Jessy collapses onto the floor beside the bleeding, dying old hag possessed by her grandmother. Angela watches from her eyes, delighted as Jessy is forced to recognize a suffering unlike anything she’s felt before, or even imagined. Through the ring, her mind is invaded by another, something once a woman but now barely human.1 In a few fleeting moments, Jessy relives a lifetime of hurt. Nothing could have prepared her for it. Lashes, burns, restraints and darkness, punishments so surreal that her own soul feels torn to bits, each piece wound and bound like silver thread then tortured again. Vomit rises in her throat and chokes her, a half century of unrelenting agony taking over every thought and emotion. That suffering lives in the ring, but Jessy can sense that the woman who knew it is still out there somewhere, alive. The pain has eroded her thoughts, her name, her entire soul, yet somehow she lives on. |
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Keep It Together Failure
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Hello again, Kultists. Over the past several years, I’ve shared Jessy’s Story with the internet, and after a long (long) hiatus the time has come to finish this. Whether you’re a returning reader or someone just joining, I want to offer a quick summary of the story so far and some of its principal characters. One week from now, May 5th 2024, Session 15 will go live, and each session will thereafter be posted in three week intervals until the story concludes in August. I hope you will enjoy the ride. All hell is about to break loose.
Continue reading “Jessy’s Story – Recap of Arc 2”This is a session recap for a Kult: Divinity Lost roleplaying campaign. Jessy Button is played by my wife, who also does the art, and I am the game master.
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Despite her headache and definitely not wanting to go, Jessy does head out in the morning for her first doctor’s visit since her ‘accident’. The hospital’s bright lights and long wait times already have her in a bad mood by the time her doctor, Edward, enters the examination room. Jessy’s new bandages and wounds, sores made from a thousand needles burrowed into her skin, force Edward to ask many worried and intrusive questions until Jessy guilts him to stop. She had sex. It was consensual. Deal with it. While examining and redressing her shoulder wound, nearly healed, the doctor asks Jessy about her head injury. Has she experienced migraines, mood shifts, noises, flashes of light, anything else strange? While Jessy tries to explain to Edward that she’s been hearing and seeing her grandmother, he at first appears to ignore her response entirely and later dismisses it as dizzy spells. Jessy gets the sense that what she tried to tell him and the words that actually came out of her mouth didn’t match up. She told him something different.
Continue reading “Session 13 – Sinking Deeper”This is a session recap for a Kult: Divinity Lost roleplaying campaign. Jessy Button is played by my wife, who also does the art, and I am the game master.
This post contains visual nudity, memory loss, sexual content and flagellation.
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| Jessy sits in the bedroom, confused, and listens to James run down the stairs. Carolina and Daisy immediately go to check on him. Realizing this situation might get out of hand quickly, Jessy hurries to catch up to James. He is on the verge of tears, trying to give Daisy a rambled recollection of what happened. He was terrified, stuck with suffering and pain for an eternity. No joy, no passion. He sought his god, and found only torment. Carolina and Daisy are shocked, but Jessy approaches and tries to mend her now ruined relationship with James1. She didn’t mean him any harm, she only did what she thought he wanted. She cares about James and making this right, but right now he needs to calm down. Carolina has already called Tan, recognizing the weight of what’s unfolding, so perhaps they should just wait for him. Daisy leads the temporarily placated James to a chair in the lounge, and when he asks for his 3DS she gets it for him from the staff lounge. They all sit down and wait for Tan, with the cheery sounds of Animal Crossing as background noise. Jessy’s mind is running at full speed, trying to piece together an excuse or explanation Tan might listen to. |
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Influence Other Partial Success |
This is a session recap for a Kult: Divinity Lost roleplaying campaign. Jessy Button is played by my wife, who also does the art, and I am the game master.
This post contains sex, sexual violence, non-consentual bedroom acts, and gore.
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The text on Jessy’s phone is clear. Carl wants to talk. Specifically, he wants to call her. With little time to prepare, Jessy grabs her headphones and sits down on the balcony in the cold afternoon. She’d rather not be overheard by Tan’s staff for any reason, and she doesn’t know if his camera surveillance also picks up sound. Better not take any chances. Carl and Jessy haven’t been talking, since his wife is apparently close to discovering his relationship with Jessy. Now, though, he is worried. Jessy has to explain to him how she got into the hospital and why she wasn’t registered as a student at the university. It’s all one big sob story, and one big lie. According to herself, she couldn’t keep her grades up and was forced to leave. Carl in turn tells her that he’s bought a place for her to stay, as he promised that he would. It’s up in Brampton, a bit far away, but at least she won’t have to stay with friends. Jessy isn’t nearly as excited about this as he would have expected, telling Carl that she’d rather not be alone right now. She explains it away with her wounds, which she still needs help tending to. Better to just stay with friends for the time being. Thanks anyway.
Continue reading “Session 11 – Transcendence”
Beyond Elysium 