Hide Whispers
Mage The Awakening Episode 40 - part 2. The No Rough Stuff peaceful time
GM (GM):Good evening everyone
Dante:mm
Eve K.:Nert
Jessica:evening everyone
Dante:y0
anyone else have issues with the campaign just randomly crashing?
GM (GM):Not me
Dante:huh
Eve K.:I'm good
Dante:Has happened to me a few times now. Not in a row, just in general
Jessica:that's weird
Dante:ye
Jessica:you running a funny browser?
Dante:Chrome
Jessica:see, you really should be using Internet Explorer
Dante:Oh, you're probably right.
They do things so much better
Especially their security
GM (GM):Chrome for the win
Been using exclusively Chrome for years
Dante:I have Firefox, but I use it less and less all the time. Used it before Chrome really took off.
Jessica:same. i don't have it on this computer but that was my old browser
Dante:Now if I could just get Netscape Navigator working...
Jessica:omg wow
time travelling
Dante:lol
doing your job for ya
GM (GM):Okay, so you all have checked in by 10 pm, it's still the same day of the shooting, but it's now night. You took care of Aiping's mom, Dante washed the Sniper, and Kurt found Jess's dad's cell phone.
Jessica:i thought we were eating?
GM (GM):Kurtis tossed Slabod's amulet to Justin.
You're doing whatever you want, I'm just recapping.
Are we at dinner?
Jessica:that's what i thought we decided
GM (GM):Well, then you're doing that. Last RP bit I got was Jessica wrapping arms around Kurtis.
After which he promptly throws himself on the bed to stretch, still in clothes.
Dante probably has stuff to do before we go to dinner, like re-address the chalk marks on us.
Chalk the new truck
Ward the new truck
Whatever
GM (GM):Do whatever prep you want to do before dinner and we can skip straight to dinner. Figure out what kinda place you're looking for.
Justin:Box!
GM (GM):Did, above :D
We're in the box!
Jessica:Box
Justin:0.0
Dante:you were the box all along
Justin:Justin liked this post.
Dante:[Message has been removed]
Justin:{Message has been removed.]
Mage The Awakening Episode 40 - part 2. The No Rough Stuff Kind Of Thing
Jessica:i feel like eve wouldn't go for a bag of 40 tacos from taco bell
where would she want us to be?
Dante:"We should eat. Something greasy and fattening." Dante rubs his stomach hungrily.
Jessica:"That's like, everything."
Dante:"Show me the man who got fat on carrots and broccoli. But if we're going out, point taken. We could also just eat in." Dante casts his gaze across the group, inspecting.
"When you've changed and bathed however you see fit, I will re-mark you all for safety's sake."
Jessica:Jessica pushes back her hair. "Behind my ear?"
Justin:"Alright, gonna take a quick shower." Justin tosses the amulet back to Kurtis and heads into the shower closet.
"Did alot of running. Security guards and whatnot."
Dante:"I can do that. Don't blame me for whatever childhood memories it brings up if I accidentally tug your ear."
Dante nods to Justin and moves to mark Jessica in the place she indicates.
GM (GM):Kurtis dodges the amulet and lets it fall on the bed. Fuck that zapping bs for now.
Kurtis Kerner:"Alright, I'm next in shower after Justin's done."
"I'm up for ordering in. Your choice what food. But I ain't looking forward to more walking. I traveled about 100 miles today and I'm beat."
Justin:Justin closes the door to the bathroom and gets out of his clothes, He flicks his wrist at the clothing in order to clean it of dirt and repair any holes offhandedly as he starts up the water.
(Repair Object)
rolling 6d10>8!
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3 Successes
Jessica:Jessica sits on a bed after Dante's done with the chalk. She kicks her feet, full of hopeful energy and unable to think about food for long. Could she find her dad using his phone?
((I forget; Kurtis hasn't fixed our phones yet right?))
((he's gotta assign new numbers and such?))
Dante:((Dont think he did that yet. We only just now met up.))
((and he had to do it in person))
Jessica:((right right.))
"That place you found...why is it scary?"
Justin:Justin finishes with the shower and dries off. He gets dressed and heads back in, feeling refreshed.
GM (GM):Justin, your clothes mend the molecular bonds, rearranging the broken sequences to be put together again, and any missing material is replaced by changing ambient molecules in the air.
Dante:"The forest.. well, its scary to be in a forest at night in general isn't it? That was the meaning I took." *Dante looks to Kurtis, then Jessica.
Seeing Justin, Dante gestures with the chalk in his right hand with an inquisitive look.
Kurtis Kerner:throws a phone Jessica would recognize as her dad's to Jessica.
"I wouldn't use it. It could be monitored."
Justin:Justin steps over to Dante. "Calk me up kemo sahbe."
Jessica:She nods and pockets it. "I...feel like you're not telling me something. Woods in the dark can't be scarier than what we dealt with at the hotel and you guys acted like that happens all the time."
Kurtis Kerner:"It's scary because I found an empty car, which I believe to be your folks' car, and then there's a steep slope into a forest covered creek. If your dad is alive, he doesn't want to be found, and he's surviving out there. But also it could have traces of some crazy magic. I don't know the specifics, but I do know one thing that made me not want to proceed."
Dante:"I don't understand half of what you said." Dante smirks and moves to mark Justin. Unless otherwise instructed, he will mark underneath the cuff of his shirt.
Justin:"Lone ranger? You never watched that show?"
Dante:Dante just shrugs. "Don't think so. The name is familiar."
"Hey, while I have you here, think you could look at this chalk with your sights?"
Kurtis Kerner:Kurtis showers next. He takes the coat off, and the shirt, stowing the gun holsters into the contrabass case, hanging them on the hilt of the affixed sword inside. He keeps the case open, but turned away from the entry door. In the shower, he scrubs off the sweat and the dirt, and since he doesn't really use magic to tend to his clothing, he sure misses the laundry and ironing services that those fancy hotels always provided. He comes out shirtless, with a towel on his neck, and just his pants, no shoes, no socks, enjoying the toe freedom! He's gotten pretty muscular over the last month. He dries the spiky wheat colored hair.
Justin:"Oh yeah, sure."
Jessica:"Wait, what was the thing that made you not want to proceed?"
Justin:Justin flicks through his sights, looking over the Chalk.
Dante:((Toe freedom after a long day.. magical.))
Justin:Life 7 Spirit 6 Matter 11
rolling 7d10>8!
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rolling 6d10>8!
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rolling 11d10>8!
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3 Successes
Kurtis Kerner:"What happened this morning was NOT something we deal with all the time and sure isn't something I want to repeat. We almost died."
Eve K.:"If no one else is going to shower I'll hop in next. I vote we order from a hoffbrau
Jessica:"What was the thing that scared you?"
"In the woods?"
GM (GM):Justin, simply flicking through the sights, you can tell that the chalk is: 1. Holds a weak imprint of Dante's life aura. 2. Has a distant relation to Spirit magic. 3. Is made of nothing in our periodic table of elements that the Fallen World enjoys.
Kurtis Kerner:"You mean other than I was alone?"
Jessica:"I guess. You said one thing made you not want to proceed and didn't elaborate.:
Kurtis Kerner:"Let's just get some food and rest. Didn't you have enough adventure today? How did ghost mom thing go?"
Dante:Dante's hand drops to his stomach as he feels a rumble at the mention of food. "Not sure what a hofbrau is, but I'm up for finding out."
Eve K. chuckles "A hoffbrau has various German meats, sausages, like currywurst and schnitzel... German fried food."
Dante:"Oh.. yeah, I vote for that."
Jessica:((goddamn it i accidentally turned on filter keys for a minute))
Dante:((is that from spamming alt?))
GM (GM):Justin, you can deduce with Matter sight, that the chalk is made of the subset of substances the Gates book identify as types of "Dark Matter". Problem is, it's like saying, it's made of "a special material". Many substances constitute Dark Matter. What you can relay from the way its bonds structure though, is that it can replenish, if contacted with its paired substance counterpart. It is magnetic, if certain conditions are met, just not to itself.
Jessica:((not on purpose but I guess??))
Dante:((Oh, filter keys shortcut is holding shift for 8 seconds))
Justin:Hmm, as far as the replenishing goes, does it look like I can create more?
GM (GM):Can you roll an Intelligence+Investigation for me?
Jessica:Jessica lets the subject drop for now. For now. "Aiping's mom um, got to say bye. It was a little worse than I pictured to be honest."
Eve K. looks through the phone book for a hofbrau menu for a restaurant that delivers
Justin:Chance die!
Jessica:((I don't think I held anything for 8 seconds. T_T))
Justin:
rolling 1d10>8!
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GM (GM):Roll a Int + Crafts?
Dante:((That -3 on mental skills is too strong))
Jessica:((Right?!)
Eve K. looks up from her menu search "You... let the dying woman see her dead daughter's ghost?"
Justin:Int 3 + Crafts 1
Dante:((Oh, dunno then. Did you at least get the shortcut turned off?))
Justin:
rolling 4d10>8!
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GM (GM):and let's try Int + Occult
Jessica:((yeah it's fixed now, after Jon sat and laughed at me for two minutes))
Justin:
rolling 5d10>8!
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err
rolling 4d10>8!
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Dante:((That sounds like my first experiences with sticky keys and filter keys. Awful))
GM (GM):Justin, considering your Academics and Science knowledge of the Fallen World, you could create some if you ever got a chance to go to that Mountain
BZZZZZZT BZZZZZZT BZZZZZZZT
Justin:"Oh neat..."
Dante:"Neat?"
Justin:"Yeah, touch the chalk to the chalk mark you just made on me."
Jessica:"Well Aiping's mom couldn't be fixed with Life magic because there was a spirit of death trying to eat her. It offered to let her go if we made an even trade..." she looks at Justin, who is looking at chalk. "Well we thought it would be good to let them say bye." Jessica's face shows she doesn't probably think so anymore.
Justin:Justin unfolds his lapel or whatever and gestures to Dante.
Dante:Dante does as instructed, placing the jagged, powdery edge to the marking under his cuff.
Kurtis Kerner:"So you fed Aiping's ghost to the Spirit to let the mom live? Damn, I thought I was evil."
GM (GM):Dante, Justin, nothing happens.
Jessica:"He didn't eat her. Doesn't death just take you to the after??"
Justin:"Huh... it should be able to reabsorb the chalk..."
GM (GM):The lapel just gets some more powder on it.
Justin:"Maybe try the back end?"
GM (GM):((I think Jon may have misread me, but Justin didnt. The chalk does not stick to itself. It requires proper conditions and a matching counterpart substance that is not itself.))
Dante:Dante flips the chalk around and taps the same place, trying not to add more as he does so.
Justin:((OOooh))
"Disregard, I misinterpreted my magic eyes."
Eve K. blinks multiple times at this information. Her lips part as if she's about to say something, she pauses, looks down at the menu. "I'll have the Veal Schnitzel. With potato salad.... I'm going to shower." Eve hands the menu to Dante and grabs her bag moving to the bathroom
GM (GM):((Like, if you could dip this apple in caramel, it would caramelize into more apple. But what caramel is, you dont know))
Dante:Furrowing his brow, he returns the chalk to his side. "So what is it made of then?"
GM (GM):((Justin, you can redo the description, you in character, understood this))
Dante:((but this is more comical))
GM (GM):((agreed))
You have no inkling what it's made of, it might as well be Dantenium
it's not made of chalk
it really isn't a chalk
Jessica:((Dantenium is amazing. fund it))
Dante:Dante takes the menu from Eve and pops it open with a flick of the wrist and begins looking over the options.
((Yes please.))
((I'll get a kickstarter campaign going))
Kurtis Kerner:"I'll have two steak burgers. Do they have steak burgers?"
Eve K. closes the bathroom door behind her. She washes her corset and underthings in the sink and hangs them on the towel rack to dry before hopping in the shower herself, washing away both sweat and the stress of the past few days.
^ Menu
Justin:"You ever feel it attract to something? As if it were a magnet? Oh, it's like umm... so chalk is ground calcium carbonate. So imagine that was the general makeup of it, but it were more of a mixture of about 2 or 3 elements from outside of our table. Stuff that only really exists outside of our scope."
GM (GM):We're not in Berlin, we're in Leipzig
But yes, let's assume they have one here too
Dante:From behind the menu, Dante casts a glance to Eve as the door to the bathroom closes. He then turns his attention back to the menu. "Yeah, I'm sure they do."
Eve K.:(spoiler alert... they don't)
(but. They do have pork knuckles XD)
Kurtis Kerner:"Well anything with steak. Just get me a steak, medium, with extra potatoes, and mushrooms."
Justin:"Same!" *Justin echoes Kurt's sentiment."
*
Kurtis Kerner:"I'm fuckin hungry, just make it happen! A lot of meat! I burn a lot of cals!"
Jessica:"Schnitzel. And red kraut if they have it. And a potato."
Eve K.:(just the one potato)
(all alone)
Jessica:((one potato))
Eve K.:(nothing on it)
Kurtis Kerner:(no like EXTRA potatoes!)
Dante:((raw))
Eve K.:(just. potato)
Kurtis Kerner:(tell it to bring friends
Eve K.:(only potato)
Jessica:((i want it carved like they used to carve turnips for halloween))
Dante:Dante realizes suddenly that he just became the defacto order guy. "Well shit."
(Universal languages=8)
Jessica:((and its name has to be steve or i will send it back))
Dante:
rolling 8d10>8!
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3 Successes
Dante flips out his phone and dials up to order the food. He orders for himself a fatty pork dish with sauerkraut, then orders for everyone else. And a single potato.
He also orders "a lot of meat"
Eve K. turns off the shower and dries off, putting on a pair of black yoga pants and a black camisole top with jack skellington on it. She comes out of the bathroom with her bag and slightly wet hair.
Jessica:"I'm gonna assume there's no hot water left and shower in the morning. I got a shower earlier anyway." The running was awful but mostly because of the context.
Eve K.:(literally a thing on the menu is a meat plate)
Jessica:((yay!))
Dante:((I order the meat plate as a shared appetizer))
Eve K.:"It's a hotel, crappy yes, but they have hot water for days. I'm sure there will still be hot water."
Justin:"Kurt can heat up the water. I'm sure there's a way I could too but it wouldn't be as easy."
Dante:"Danke, danke." *Dante hangs up and looks to everyone else. "I have no problem with cold showers. I'll go last."
Eve K. approaches Dante now that she's showered "Where should the new chalk mark go?"
Jessica:((oh you know))
Dante:"If you have a preference, I can do that. But somewhere discreet and less likely to be wiped away is best I think. I marked Justin under the cuff of his sleeve. Jessica is marked behind the ear."
((Oh you know.))
GM (GM):A shitty motel is still a motel. There is enough water. Not a lot of guests are using showers right now, so water heater has plenty. Jess can shower if she wants. When Eve came out, water was still hot
Eve K.:"Isn't the chalk mark where you "pull" a person from? Seems weird to put it behind the ear, you'd be grabbing me by the head... Lets go with wrist"
Dante:((We have GM confirmation that the water is still hot.))
Kurtis Kerner:"Feels much better, don't it, Eve?"
Jessica:((jess will shower then but not get her hair very wet. I don't wanna make Dante redo the thing))
Dante:"I did warn her about that." Dante grins a bit and then marks Eve at the wrist.
Jessica:(("wrist"))
Eve K.:"Hot showers and coffee are the best things in civilization."
Dante:"Coffee has enslaved us all. Not that I'm complaining."
Eve K.:"I'll wear that collar thanks." Eve smirks winking lightly
Dante:Dante smirks, then makes his way to Kurtis. "You want a mark at the wrist too?"
Jessica:(("wrist"))
Dante:((everyone knows what that means))
Justin:(("wrist"))
Kurtis Kerner:"Just put it on the dick. Oh wait, has to be somewhere where it won't get rubbed off?"
Eve K. snickers and plops down on the bed
Dante:"Right. I don't want it to disappear overnight."
Kurtis Kerner:"I'm less in danger of that now, I feel. Here, mark the inside of my shirt collar."
"With all the sword fighting I don't trust wrist marks wouldn't smudge."
Dante:Dante does so, marking the inside of his collar. "Perfectly logical."
Eve K.:"So, where do we go from here?" Eve lays back a moment, stretching her body, before sitting up, crossing her legs Indian style
GM (GM):The food will arrive once everyone has showered. Who is paying the delivery guy?
Eve K.:(probably Dante since Eve spent the last of her money on a Hummer)
Dante:Dante will tally up the total and leave it by the door, then grab the clothing Eve picked up and go shower.
(From Dante): ((While showering Dante will reach out to see if he can still sense chalk marks on the alley in Leipzig, his motorcycle, Kurt's greatsword, and where he remembered the mark being on the van before it exploded.))
Justin:"Well, I need to investigate that library."
Jessica:"Eve, if a ghost has an anchor...is it ever something unachievable? Can a ghost really want something that can't actually happen?"
Eve K.:"Sure. Happens all the time. Ghosts are no more logical or rational than the people they were in life, and we all know people aren't always logical or rational."
(To Dante): The mark on the van is gone. Other three are good.
Eve K.:"We might want to see Diana's accountant as well."
Jessica:"Why that person?"
Eve K.:"The accountant? Because if we can cut her funding she will have less room to go gallivanting around Europe in her expensive helicopter, and so forth"
Kurtis Kerner:"You buy me any new clothes by chance?"
Eve K. nods to a bag by the bed
Eve K.:"Speaking of funds. We are running low. I don't have any more credit on my card. The hummer truck was the last of it for me."
Kurtis Kerner:"Good girl. You get your phone fixed first. Hold it up, would ya?"
"My money is in New Haven. All in cash. The two grand I took with me, I blew like in the first week."
Eve K. hops off the bed and pads over to her purse, pulling out her phone and hands it to him with a smile
Jessica:"I grabbed some cash from my parents' place but I don't know how long it will last."
Kurtis Kerner:smiles back and looks at the phone
"Wait, so... what do you guys want me to do to the phones again?"
Jessica:Raises an eyebrow at blowing 2 grand in a week
Eve K.:"The cops have all of our numbers. It would be nice if they couldn't trace that to our actual names. Well.. They have my shadow name for all the good it will do them. But I didn't give names for anyone else. Only cell numbers."
Dante:Dante scrubs himself down, cleaning away the sweat he never expected to produce in the long hours of ritual casting. A loud noise of something small falling onto the floor several times in succession can be heard throughout his shower. Eventually the water cuts out and he comes out, hair pulled back and wet. He's wearing a vest, white t-shirt, and dark blue jeans. A long, relieved sigh escapes him as he swings open the door, letting the cooler air blast him in the face.
Kurtis Kerner:"Okay okay, hold up. Let's follow that logic. I mean, I know you're CSI, but let's think like a smart criminal here for a moment."
"As far as we know, and as far as cops know, you are in the clear? You cooperated, told the truth you knew, and gave numbers. If we scramble these numbers, and cops call them, what happens then? They either reach someone else or reach nobody. I can get these phones new lines, but I can't control what happens to the numbers we discard."
"Wouldn't it be smarter to not use magic, but come up with a really solid story and just keep it straight with the cops?"
Eve K. looks up as the door to the bathroom opens, then back to the conversation
Eve K.:"Yes that would be a good plan as well. I already gave them a story involving meeting you all at a dance club and coming back to the hotel for more fun.
Kurtis Kerner:"As long as Justin and I are disguised when we talk to cops, there really is no harm in any of us talking to them, except for Jessica, who is at this point, is involved in a whole bunch of shit around Germany."
Eve K.:"It.. did stop them asking some extra questions."
Eve K. smirks a bit wickedly
Jessica:"Speaking of phones..." Jessica mumbles. She starts copying contact information from her phone onto her hotel pad. "I didn't do anything bad. I just happened to be in bad places at bad times. Circumstantial evidence."
Eve K.:"I also mentioned Jessica's dad working for the military as a reason why someone might shot at our room"
Kurtis Kerner:"Man of the hour!" - Kurt looks at Dante. Unlike Dante, Kurt is still shirtless, looking over the clothes Eve brought, and eating his dinner hungrily akin to a wolf. He eats abnormally fast, not even chewing. Feet crossed, sitting at the table, eating with his left, pulling out shirts with the other, nodding in approval.
Dante:Dante puts together a dish of his own food, taking also some food from a large meat platter. He eyes the potato skeptically, then carries on. "Man of an hour, at any rate."
Eve K.:(oh did the food arrive?)
Kurtis Kerner:"Okay, so as long as we have a good story about getting laid at a party at Katerholzig, we're good. Jessica, being bad places bad times is a kind of thing nobody is going to believe. Don't bother even wasting breath. If they learn your name, you're a terrorist. You've been all over the television, seen on site of two explosions, shoplifted, and shot. You're a criminal. Unless DC can mind chop every single officer who processed your file."
Dante:((He said food would arrive after last person showered))
GM (GM):((yeah, everyone showers, Dante pays, we eat))
Delivery guy is uneventful, takes money, smiles, leaves.
Jessica:Jessica takes her baked potato and other items and sits on the floor near the side table, still scribbling names and numbers while keeping an ear on the conversation.
Justin:((Capture delivery man. He's an assassin.))
Dante:((If he's an assassin then Dante's already dead coz he's definitely eating this poisoned food))
Kurtis Kerner:"So Dante, what did you do with the Sniper while the ghostbusters were busting?"
Dante:"Well that.. that is a question."
Eve K. takes some of the pork roast from the meat plate and her veal with potato salad and sits on the bed happily eating,
Kurtis Kerner:"Solid call on this food by the way, it's great!"
Dante:Dante swallows his bite of food and takes another, using the time to frame how he wants to say it. "I gave him a new lease on life."
"We will never see him again."
Jessica:"...Mind wipe?"
Kurtis Kerner:"You sure as shit did, I was gonna blow his head off."
Eve K.:"This way was more elegant. And one less vendetta for Merlin's crew to come after us for. "
Dante:"Not so.. blunt as something like that. He had a laundry list of repressed memories. I gave those back to him. Hard to explain."
Kurtis Kerner:"Agreed. How'd you do it?"
Eve K.:"The veal is delicious by the way, if anyone wants to try it before I eat it all"
Kurtis Kerner:"Wait, you GAVE him memories? Who does he think he is now?"
Dante:"He is who he was before he became a mercenary."
"A farmer, in france."
Dante takes a large bite, chewing it for a good while.
Kurtis Kerner:"No shit? Figures. The moment his gun breaks, he runs. A true frenchman."
cuts into the meat
Dante:"He may never touch a gun again. Time will tell, but we should never be privy to it."
Kurtis Kerner:"Better not be. You spent all day on that guy."
Kurtis Kerner:goes for the veal
Jessica:"I'm glad you didn't kill him."
Kurtis Kerner:"Oh damn that's really good!"
Eve K. freely offers Kurtis bites of veal
Kurtis Kerner:eats!!!
Eve K.:"I know!"
Dante:Dante nods slowly. "It took a hell of a lot out of me." He smiles at Jessica, then falls silent a moment. "The night we spent in the hotel.. do you, uh.. have any strange dreams?"
Kurtis Kerner:"So. Sweet new ride. Let's try to not blow this one up. Blow up other people's cars. Not ours."
Eve K. chews veal nodding at Kurtis' comment
Jessica:Jessica breaks eye contact and looks back at her pad, and then at Justin and Kurtis. "I'll say. It was um, something."
Kurtis Kerner:"Great food. Expensive cars. Expensive drugs. Just like Amsterdam. Love it. But yeah I agree we're short on money. Here's all i have left in cash." puts down 172 Euro
"This whole thing's a great vacation. Not that I'd know, not having a job."
Dante:Dante's eyes glint faintly and he nods in confirmation, falling silent again. He takes another hungry bite of his food.
Kurtis Kerner:tries to avoid talking about dreams
"We got any drinks?"
Eve K.:"Eh as vacations go this one is a bit more eventful thank I would have booked. Not so much into the, being chased around by people who want to kill me scene."
*than I
Dante:"Drinks would be good. I didn't think to order from the hofbrau. I thought there might be a minibar, but this place is pretty low budget." Dante looks around for something resembling a cabinet for booze.
Jessica:Jessica watches Dante look for booze, chews on her words a moment, and says, "Is she um, dangerous?"
Eve K.:"Who? Diana? We've never seen her. Only her cabal members"
"Who are dangerous."
Kurtis Kerner:"Really? I thought you were CSI, chasing killy people is all about your jam"
Dante:Dante's eyes look immediately back to Jessica, a brief moment of confusion before realization behind them.
"Do you mean Diana?"
Jessica:"No."
Kurtis Kerner:"She's badass as far as we were painted a picture."
Jessica:She keeps her eyes on him, like she is waiting.
Eve K. raises a brow, confusion on her features
Justin:Justin idly taps on the table as he cuts bits off his steak and eats them.
Dante:Dante looks over to Eve and Kurtis, then back to Jessica. His eyes flash and he sets his plate down on the floor beside him, fingers starting to dance on his thigh. He ignores the response for a moment and turns to Justin. "Did you also have strange dreams?"
Justin:"What are you attempting to suss out Dante?" Justin looks up from his plate, the look on his face is engaged like he's expecting some trouble to go down imminently.
Kurtis Kerner:"I don't believe in his dream bullshit. It's been following us ever since we took the damn job, Tristin had it, and Tony's had it. It's just nonsense."
Dante:"I want to know what you experienced that night is all."
Justin:"I need you to go first."
Dante:"That won't happen."
Jessica:"Why not?"
Dante:"I will tell you I have seen your vision."
Eve K. glances at Justin now, idly munching on potato salad, eyes flicking from person to person as they talk about dreams
Kurtis Kerner:"I went to a soup kitchen hallow to get you guys mana, I didn't even sleep that night. So I'm gonna lay down and watch TV, thanks for the dinner, D.C."
"Bullshit is all those prophetic dreams are, I'm telling you. I do not get shot. I bounce bullets back at fuckers who try. I don't get shot to death."
Jessica:"I know how to fix it."
Dante:Dante turns to Kurtis and nods, then back to Jessica and Justin. "Do you, though?"
Kurtis Kerner:walks over to the bed and grabs the remote
Jessica:"Yeah. But I want to know why you can't just talk to us."
"That was a scary fucking dream, Dante."
Eve K. scoots on the bed to give Kurtis room, listening silently to the dream conversation while still eating her potato salad
Dante:"I'm unsure what you saw, only that you were connected. We might not have even seen the same things, for all I know."
"The answer to your question is no. 'She' is not dangerous."
Jessica:"I saw the dream about Kurtis getting shot, Justin getting crucified, you getting a lobotomy, and Eve getting chemical poured into her eyes. Sound familiar?"
*chemicals
"I woke up with wounds. I want to know more about her."
Eve K.:"We've already talked about the prophecy. It's what they say happens if we fail to stop Diana."
Dante:Dante sighs softly. "I have seen it twice now. Justin shared this with me on the train. I saw it that night. Did you also see yourself trying to change it? And the danger you put yourself in?"
Dante looks over to Eve. "I .. don't remember that."
Eve K.:((It was like ten years ago.))
Jessica:"It wasn't very hard to change it, you guys are just missing a piece."
Dante:((Thats a great reason))
Eve K.:((we also talked about it over the link during Messanger downtime stuff))
Dante:((shit I have no memory of that at all))
Jessica:((Dante Dante'd))
Dante:((He's co-located out of the 4th wall.))
Eve K. rolls her neck "Is there any chance you could both stop talking so cryptically? Not all of us have prophecy dreams. I was just told about it before even leaving New Haven. Also who is "She" and why does Jessica think she might be dangerous? There's enough dangerous without something lurking in the background"
Eve K. looks pointedly at them both having run out of potato salad to distract her
Jessica:Jessica crosses her arms and looks at Dante, then Eve. "I can kind of walk around in dreams at night. But I obviously don't have much practice at it. I accidentally wandered into Dante's dreams when I was trying to escape Justin's." Back at Dante: "I know I wasn't supposed to be there. I'm not trying to break a confidence of yours..." She purses her lips, trying to think of the right way to explain it.
Eve K.:"Hmm. I know whatever Dante was dreaming was probably pretty intense. But is it dangerous? If it isn't then I won't pry." *Eve glances at Dante"
Dante:Dante lets out a sigh, shaking his head. "Maybe you can corroborate this, Jessica, but what was so intense was my diving into Justin's dream to save you from taking Tristin's place. This sounds completely insane coming out of my mouth..."
Eve K. smirks "You restored a man's memories today to allow him to go back to being a French farmer instead of a sniper assassin... Insane is our lives right now"
Television: "News around the world. A series of miraculous events shook Europe this week.
GM (GM):Mayor of Kirdasa donated half of his estate to a local charity after his terminally ill daughter was cured overnight, reportedly by an american native medicine practitioner, calling himself a shaman, and choosing to stay anonymous."
Dante:Dante gives Eve a long, meaningful look, opens his mouth as if to speak, then stops and nods. "Yes, I suppose it is."
Jessica:"If you were taking me out of his dream on purpose why did she act like I was trespassing?"
Justin:Justin looks like he wants to talk, but is instead sitting back and letting Jess go into stuff.
Jessica:glances at the subtitles on the tv
Television:: "News from Italy shook the country as a favored tourist site, Castle Roselli suffered an explosion from what was deemed to be faulty foundation and electrical wiring. Officials discovered an underground mining operation under the castle, which may have hinted to the explosion being a result of improper use or storage of mining equipment and expired accidentally detonated charges. The owner of the castle, Jason Roselli issued a statement that whatever operation was active at the time on the premises is the responsibility of the National Association of Historic Arts and Architecture Preservation of Rome, as the building was donated many years ago, and Mister Roselli had not visited the property since 2007."
Eve K. taps her fingers on her knee "Taking Tristin's place in what way? And who is "She?".." Eve frowns hearing a familiar name from the Television, she glances at the subtitles and smirks "Well he's a liar.."
Dante:Dante purses his lips, reflecting for a moment. "Because you were. Do you not confront strangers who enter your home?"
He turns to Eve "He was taken away in a van, bound by iron shackles. Jessica... inserted herself into his place. But she became the hostage. And she... is my fiancee."
((not iron, silver. I misspoke))
Dante clears his throat. "What I have left of her."
Jessica:looks somewhat stricken "I'm sorry."
Dante:"Now that my personal business is being aired out, can you fucking come clean about what you witnessed?" Dante looks pointedly, clearly uncomfortable now.
Television: "Undergoing investigation of a devastating forest fire struck a wide area around Budapest, Hungary two weeks ago. Firefighters arrived on site to save very little of the local jaegermeister's office and facilities. Latest evidence suggests spontaneous combustion of powerful liquid explosives. The facility owner Robert MacGreth had not been reached for comment. There is some grounds for assuming the commissioner may have perished in the fire, despite no body having been found in proximity."
Eve K. nods along with Dante's words until he comes to the last where her eyebrows briefly raise. After he clarifies Eve nods again, a little more slowly now. "Ah, okay." *nods a bit more and looks to Jessica now
Television: "Back to local news!"
Jessica:Jessica flips to the first page of her hotel pad. "There's a war coming...that has already kind of happened. I guess it's a war that stalls and picks up over and over. I went through a bunch of timelines, same shit different day. It was pretty awful."
Dante:(( I love the live commentary of all the absurd things involving us. ))
Jessica:"There were trucks where people were putting mages." She holds up the pad. "I drew the symbol."
Eve K. frowns at the TV and slips off the bed a moment going to her bag, she mentions as she moves "That would be the path of the gem I would imagine." She grabs her phone and types in something before glancing at the symbol
Jessica:((Silver Ladder insignia; can't find the description in the log))
Eve K.:*All the wars you saw
Eve K. shakes her head 'That's the Silver Ladder 's symbol. They don't play nicely with other mages."
Jessica:"They packed Tristan into one of their vans. I jumped in instead. And then everyone's fates started going the right way."
((thank you))
Dante:"Were you aware of what was happening to you after you took his place?"
Television:: "Investigation is still ongoing regarding a series of mass attacks in Leipzig and Berlin. A privately owned Banquet Hall, E-Sports Convention Center and Mercedes Benz Arena are closed for reconstruction. Several industrial warehouses belonging to local businesses have also suffered acts of vandalism. Witnesses on location reported conflicting information, and the mayor has issued an official statement: 'Whoever is responsible for these threats, will be dealt with in appropriate harsh fashion. We have no leads that suggest any racial or religious motive, so there is no reason to take this to the middle east place at this time. Many german citizens are peaceful imigrants, and we will not this chain of events shake the spirit of international unity and warm hearted welcome which define modern Berlin and Germany."
Jessica:"Yeah. Well I wasn't aware of what you were doing. My dad was in the truck. We had a short conversation, and then they took him out of the back and--" her voice gets a little tight "--they shot him."
Kurtis Kerner:at TV "Ha, I'm sure you won't!"
Jessica:"The driver's face changed a few times and then I was in the van."
Dante:Dante nods with a hint of grief in his eye. "I can't speak for their fate, but you don't get shot anymore."
Jessica:"Anymore."
Bites her lip and looks down at the notepad
Dante:"So you didn't know that part. Sorry.. insensitive of me." He turns away briefly, poking at the remnants of food on his plate, a smattering of scraps. Evidence of his ravenous hunger previously.
Television: "A strange incident happened two days ago on the Bluher Autobahn as a pile up accident involving fifteen cars shook the traffic. Related to the terror incident or not, a strange and unbelievable behavior of several hundred birds was reported, including a footage taken by one of the peope on the road. The significance is punctuated by the sheer numbers of bald eagles found in one place. This would mark the first and only occurence of such a collection in the entire modern history of natural observation. National Natural Society of Germany has looked into similar incidents in the past and concluded that no collection of bird species on such scale and abrupt dispersion has ever happened in nature before. 'It's not just improbable, but simply impossible. Except, I guess it isn't, since we clearly saw it. A true anomaly, in every single sense.' - Dr. Klaus Virmer commented."
Justin:"Anomaly, is that what awakened call that?" To Kurt.
Dante:Dante perks up for a moment at the TV, listening intently. He then turns to Justin. "Well, Mr. Visions? Any input?"
Eve K.:"They call it whatever they can to try and explain what they know to be impossible in their view of the world."
Justin:"If I provide input will you stop your fiance from attacking me again?"
Kurtis Kerner:nods to Justin, grinning at the blurry footage, as the anomaly is not well captured on digital media and the whole thing looks like phony crap.
Dante:Dante furrows his brow. "What happened?"
Justin:"No, I need to know you have control before I say anything."
Eve K. wanders back to the bed sitting so she can watch the TV and the conversation in turns
Dante:"I have control, but its complicated. The less you pry the less you will have to deal with it."
Television: "37 men and women were already arrested this week in relation to suspicion of involvement in terrorist activity. Local law enforcement are working diligently and hard, sparing no resources to track down as many suspects as plausible. Combined forces of GSG-9 and Metropolitan Police are narrowing down the net of suspects. Two suspects are wanted by Berlin Police with regard to attempting to gain access to a crime scene at Mercedez Benz arena. Police are suspecting involvement. crude portraits of Justin and Kurtis are shown "Any information on their names or location is appreciated. Citizens are urged to stay alertful and strong of spirit in this days of confusion and hardship."
(From Dante): ((This is a whisper. Is it possible for me to ask Lidia mentally what the fuck Justin is talking about?))
Justin:Justin gives Dante a pointed look. It's obvious that he doesn't think Dante has any sort of handle on the situation whatsoever.
(To Dante): ((You gonna try it?))
Eve K. clicks her tongue "Those police sketches of you two are terrible. Barely even looks like you. They got Kurtis eyebrows all wrong."
(From Dante): ((Not when you phrase it like that))
Kurtis Kerner:"Perks of being generic looking. Why do you think I had it so easy as a thief."
Eve K. chuckles and smiles at Kurtis
Justin:"The visions aren't literal and I wouldn't put too much stock in the guns and hellfire stuff." Justin scratches his head.
"It seems like the two of you were joyriding through my dream, so I don't think I saw anything that you didn't. With the exception of the wolf in sheep's clothing stuff.
That could have been Slabod acting like Kurt, might be something different."
Jessica:"I wonder if I can look into the symbolism there, if I can figure out how to get back in your dream space. If that's okay."
Justin:"Sure, feel free. There might be some wonky spirit stuff going on there. Apparently Shadow recognizes me by a moniker of "The Knight of Waters.""
Jessica:"Yeah what is the Knight thing about? That's how you introduced yourself to the death spirit."
Kurtis Kerner:"Oh yeeeeah. He called me a knight too. I kinda like it. A knight of flame or something? Yeah right, some knight I am."
Justin:"Yeah, I'm the Knight of Waters and Kurt is the Knight of Flames. The dream showed them to me, they have a sort of resonance with Spirits and that sort of magic."
Dante:"Joyriding was never my intent. I saw something that looked imperative to act on and so I did. This is all.. very new to me."
Kurtis Kerner:"I think you have a very vivid imagination."
Justin:"Uh huh, apparently me and Kurt teaming up means the end of Diana's cabal. In as much as you want to care about prophecy."
Kurtis Kerner:"Really? What, did the universe declare so or do you just have a crush on me? Cause you're not the only guy, and I don't judge."
Jessica:rolls her eyes, but is smirking
Television: "Latest news: Elda Habermann and Hanna Zieberg, two austrian tourists found dead in a hotel room in Berlin downtown this morning. The murder suspect was arrested, a local 27 year old Jeoffrey Hierschfield, found in a state of homicidal shock and paranoia in the same hotel room. The man was mumbling incoherent sentences, most likely under influence of a cocktail or multiple narcotics. Laboratory experts are at work to finding out more. Clear signs of struggle and presence of video equipment suggest that the three were to be involved in a pornographic production, which lead to it becoming a snuff film. The man is convincted of two counts of murder of the first degree and will be facing trial this week.
GM (GM):
And now on to sports news."
Justin:"Pretty sure I'm more popular with girls than you are Kurt, just saying." Justin sticks his tongue out at Kurtis.
Jessica:((did you guys fucking stage a porn murder and I somehow didn't hear about it?))
Justin:((Those were the girls hitting on Dante yeah?))
Jessica:((D: ))
Dante:((rip))
Jessica:((Fiance ate them))
Television:: "Football remains a hot topic. Haldesheim played Bremen this week, 2:0"
Dante:Dante turns his attention briefly at hearing the familiar names, but then back to the group.
Jessica:((Dante you bastard))
Dante:((wat))
((you think so poorly of Dante ;_;))
Kurtis Kerner:"Oh yeah? Let me get on stage the next club. I'm gonna set it on fire."
Jessica:((who's dead? of them, okay, what was i saying?))
*oh
Justin:"Like, literally? Cause people don't like arson as much as you think they do."
Jessica:Jessica clears her throat. "Is that everything you needed to know, Dante?
Kurtis Kerner:"No, not literally, you silly bastard. A wager. Next place we go, I'm gonna get a date with any woman you pick. 100 bucks."
"Hell, double it and I'll pick one up at the library."
Justin:"Deal! Library 200 dollars."
Jessica:"Oh god."
Kurtis Kerner:"You better pay up now. Cause it's as done as a burger!"
Dante:Dante looks over to Jessica. "Ah, yeah. For now, I guess. Unless there is something else you want to share with everyone. I have more to share with you, but its more personal. We can speak about it privately" he taps his temple "if you like."
"Personal about you, I should say."
Kurtis Kerner:"A knight, huh. Well, I'll take a knight's salary. And a castle. That's for sure."
Justin:"We cleared out like 3 castles so far. Can't be that much harder to actually take one."
Jessica:Swallows, maybe thinking about the revelation that she originally got shot. "Yeah. We should do that."
Justin:"Oh!"
"The gem."
Kurtis Kerner:"What about it?"
perks up
Justin:"It was created in the bowels of a mountain. I don't know if the mountain is actually in the Primal Wild or if we can get there from the Shadow world.
But there's a forge there, and I feel like I know how to use it..."
Dante:*Dante drums his left hand fingers on his thigh, sitting now cross-legged against the wall of their room. His eyes fix on Jessica's for a moment. ((telepathy=8))
rolling 8d10>8!
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1 Success
Justin:"I'm not sure how useful that information is, but I could make stuff like the chalk, for instance."
Jessica:((there's gotta be a skill like Meditation or something to make it easier to let someone in your mind))
Dante:((you dont have to resist.))
Jessica:((I'm not))
Dante:((You mean like add successes?))
Jessica:((but I mean give you more dice or something??? I dunno))
Dante:((Ya, I wonder if there is something like that))
Eve K.:((a success is a success..? Yall can mind talk now?)
Kurtis Kerner:"Yeah? I used a forge in the spirit realm once too, and an anvil. That's how I made my sword."
Eve K.:"Wouldn't we have to have money for you to have a wager on who's hotter?"
Justin:"We'll figure out money after he's done owing it to me."
Kurtis Kerner:"Yeah you better break open your church donation piggy bank."
(From Eve K.): did the hotel give me a refund since we got shot at?
(To Eve K.): They are processing it to your card, it didnt get in yet
(From Eve K.): mmkay
Eve K.:"Ya know I'm a little sad that the prophecies don't have a more interesting fate for me than blindness by chemical burns. Seems mild in comparison to some of the others."
Justin:Justin makes yapping motions with his hand in response to Kurt's trash-talking.
"It's pretty unoriginal. I get crucified, which isn't even iconography my church uses."
Eve K.:"See I didn't know that. I suppose a person trying to do something ironic would assume crucified carries a similar connotation across all Christian faiths"
Justin:"Yeah, villains never put in enough research." Justin leans back in his chair and takes out Lamprey's bible and starts working on translating with the cipher he created.
Eve K.:((silence))
GM (GM):It will take Justin some time.
It's most definitely a code.
Dante:Dante seems distantly listening to the conversation unfolding, but his eyes are focused on Jessica.
Justin:Justin chews on the end of his pen, as he goes between jotting things down on a bit of notebook paper, and referencing page numbers and obscure passages.
Jessica:Jessica whitens slightly.
Eve K. moves to lay on her stomach on the bed watching TV
GM (GM):You're pretty sure you got like a legit and unmistakable series of digits, Justin.
12-17-34-99-06-17-52-84-71-10-06-71-21-43-99-60-71-25-48-17-12
Kurtis Kerner:give Eve a hug?
GM (GM):Justin, these numbers are the end product of your decoding. They clearly go to something somewhere that requires something numeric.
Justin:"Kurt, can you take a look at these numbers? Do they look like a vault password or something else your dark criminal past would clue you in on?"
Kurtis Kerner:"Sure. Hand it over. Also, when yall are done talking nonsense, before I go to bed, I want to review the data I recorded off of the LQ-scopes. It's been recording all day, and I can play it back, whatever we caught. But I'll need everyone's attention, cause playing recorded sound back takes mana and I can only do it once, after that, this mana dissipates and you better memorize everything."
Eve K. is hugged
Eve K.:"I'm ready whenever, but I think I'm the only one."
Dante:Dante, pulls his LQ from his things and tosses. "Give me a minute."
"On second thought, I don't think I remembered to record anything."
Eve K.:((more silence)
Justin:"Well I'm ready to listen, at least."
Kurtis Kerner:"Okay."
Justin:Justin produces a bottle of mysterious liquid and endeavors to look at it more closely in a bit.
Jessica:"I think we're ready."
Kurtis Kerner:Kurtis pulls the Loquimorescope he was recording, and a projection pops up.
GM (GM):Initial state is silence, and the green border detects the following magical ticks:
with several minutes in interval
these are spells crossing the line
Dante:
A long mental silence.
I hope we find your father. He is a good big brother.
((oasouidhgnoashndg))
Dante turns his full attention to Kurtis.
Eve K. pulls out her phone an types something
GM (GM):Male voice: I'm going over to check on owl.
A weird sound.
The green line behavior changes from
Fate/Space/Mind/Time, to only the following hits:
Jessica:((OWL!!!)))
GM (GM):Prime, Space
This goes on for a while
Kurtis's recording keeps a time stamp, but it skips all the silence. Several hours pass on the recording with only these two detected
Then, the following conversation occurs
As LQ-18 and LQ-16 all pop up at Saint-Fargeau
Forester: You should find Remington and Hardwell.
GM (GM):Male voice: You have no concerns here. We've proven prophecies to be unreliable.
Male voice #2: What about the five americans?
Male voice: The rumored five are nothing but a rumor.
Jason and Forester: Wrong. They are real.
Jason: They killed Simon. They almost killed Robert.
Female Voice: Then why can't you track them?
GM (GM):Jason: They're too small.
Female Voice: Yes, I've heard that before. And Nestor has tried. What should be easier than a bug to squash.
Male voice #2: Every time I try, it's like all new nimbi. There is only one denominator in common, the young obrimos. And believe me, I tried.
Male voice #3: I have also tried, unleashed hell in Netherlands, which left no survivors, but this Kerner somehow proved more resilient and refused to die.
Forester: You have his name and you can't find it?
Male voice #2: Well obviously it must not be the true given name. And it doesn't light up on the mundane. Those damn orphans.
GM (GM):Female Voice: I don't want to hear your excuses. I'm due in two months. I want them handled. What about Lang?
Male voice: A non issue. Gone so deep I doubt there is a way back.
Female Voice: Lemming?
Male voice: That is... complicated. Best explained in person.
Eve K. types down names and notes into her phone
GM (GM):A change in Arcana on the green line again, as LQ-17 pops up at Saint-Fargeau
Forces now is also tracked, Forces, Prime, Space
Jason: I just arrived in Saint-Fargeau. There are a number of defficiencies. I think we need to talk, bring me over.
Female Voice: Come.
Forces disappears from the scanned lines, Matter pops up. Matter / Prime / Space is scanned now
GM (GM):LQ-17 jumps to LQ-15, and LQ-16 and LQ-18 stay in Saint-Fergeau
Eve K. writes more notes
GM (GM):Female Voice: Robert, we have a problem. Our mutual friend is no longer to be trusted. You know what to do.
End of record.
Jessica:(!!)
GM (GM):All LQs jump to Miedwie, except LQ-17
The scanned lines change one last time.
Eve K. shakes her head and writes more notes
GM (GM):To Fate, Mind, Space, Time
And they stay that way
And that is the way they are now
Kurt's mana mote evaporates, leaving smokey mist
Eve K.:"They are at Miedwie, except for one of them. Or they left their LQ's there. I think.. they might know Cubic isn't supporting them any more."
Kurtis Kerner:"Could be a different friend. There are 3 voices I didn't recognize."
"Additional allies?"
Dante:"Could be anyone. Cubic is an easy guess, but who knows? Sounds like we have a hard deadline of two months as well. Not that I want this to take that long."
Dante mulls quietly, looking around again as if that is going to make a minibar appear out of thin air.
Justin:"Did we even know that Diana was already pregnant?"
Eve K. shakes her head
Eve K.:"Yeah it was in the dossier"
((like 10 years ago))
Jessica:"I guess we need to get to that library then."
"Cubic already knows what they said near those things right?"
(From Eve K.): I recognise the names Remington and Hardwell, but I personally don't remember who those are since it's been 10 years
Dante:"Forester mentioned Remington and Hardwell by name, but he seemed dismissed. Are they at risk? And do we know who Hardwell is?"
Kurtis Kerner:"What did he tell us? 10 feet. If I was Cubic, I'd lie and have the devices record at 1000 feet or whatever. I assume he knows everything."
(To Eve K.): Theodore Remington is Diana's accounted, Alexander Hardwell is her armorer, armed security and weapon supplier, mundane. Like, her armed security forces.
Jessica:((falling asleep over here))
((think everyone else is too))
Kurtis Kerner:"Ted Remington is Diana's accountant, and Alexander Hardwell is her provider of armed security forces, armorer, weapons supplier. Non magical, mundane sleeper forces."
Eve K. nods to what Kurtis just said in confirmation
GM (GM):((we can stop here for tonight if folks are satisfied))
Eve K.:"We need to move on Remington soon if Forester is already thinking of stepping in
Justin:((Yes, satisfied.))
Eve K.:((I'm sleepy))
Jessica:((good session))
Dante:"I remember Remington. Cool as a cucumber in early spring while shit hit the fan."
((Sleep is gud. Session was gud.))
GM (GM):ok 3 exp everyone
Jessica:whoo!
Eve K.:"Well.. he's an accountant. They aren't know to be excitable."
Jessica:((lol))
Dante:"...Fair."
Kurtis Kerner:"My accountant is very excitable, we used to smoke weed together."
"Went by the name of Splooge."
Jessica:((oh god))
Eve K.:"... I'm not... okay.. That's something I know now."
Jessica:((night night))
Eve K.:((night))
Dante:"Hell of a guy, sounds like."
((night all))
rolling 5d10>8!
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2 Successes
Eve K.:(oooooh dante... new look, nice. I like)
Dante:yeah
Justin:Dante, post a picture of new look.
Dante:its me. sleeping in my chair, drool coming out of one corner of my mouth and disappearing into my beard
Eve K.:<.<
Justin:Reedy's awake though.
He's sitting across from me.
Dante:That's good
Eve K.:can you not see Dante's new avatar??
>.>
Justin:I can but it's small.
Lucas:Yo am aqwee
Dante:Yu mo gui gwai fai di zao
Lucas:JACKIE!!!
GM (GM):Okay!
Lucas:vagina
Mage: Gates to Atlantis, Episode 42
Eve K.:(we gonna get a lot of answers in this one... I mean.. Look at the episode number)
Lucas:(Because thats another way to say box)
Justin:(box!)
GM (GM):Lucas, you have met with Christoff's, Gertrude's and Sebastian's relatives, and have been on a bit of a spiritual journey. As you sat down with your last visit, Gertrude's family was english speaking, and you have tried to explain the attack at the arena, from which she died.
You could not, of course, talk to anyone about what REALLY happened, and feel kind of alone, aside from the 5 people who rescued you from the pool, the people who wouldn't think you're crazy when you told them the truth.
As your visit neared the end, the television they had on, had news on, and a report mentioned a shooter attack at the hotel they texted you they'll be staying at.
Naturally, you connect the dots right away and deduce the attack was on them. You get in touch and they give you their new location, a cheap motel in a less nice part of Leipzig. It's a few hours south from Berlin by car.
Everyone else, you have hopefully by now deduced what arcana Diana's accomplices had from the information Kurt's recording revealed, you have a plan to meet Remington and convince him to hear you out, and you have a lead on a library that contains information on the Gem, according to Justin, so do whatever you need to before we go to sleep and roll the night to the next morning.
Lucas:Lucas bids Gertrude's family a polite farewell and then calls for an uber to Leipzig.
GM (GM):Uber app rejects your credit card. You may have to use other means of transportation.
GM (GM):Or choose to pay cash
You can text one of us to get you an uber from your location to ours.
Lucas:Lucas laments spending so much of his money by skipping his flight back home. He had decided refunding his return ticket would be a better option than leaving to go back home. especially after all that had happened.
Lucas texts Eve: "hey Eve, Uber wont take my card. any way one of you guys could get me a ride to Liezpig?"
Eve K. reads the text, then aloud to the group "Hey Lucas is trying to get back here from Berlin, do we want to go fetch him with the truck or pay for an Uber?"
(From Eve K.): does eve's card have enough for an uber?
(To Eve K.): yes
Eve K.:(everyone fell asleep)
Kurtis Kerner:"Just get his ass here, I'm hitting the sack."
Justin:"Uber, want sleep."
"Jess, please don't steal from me while I sleep tonight again alright?"
Eve K. texts Lucas that she will pay for an Uber for him to join them. Gets the app open and does the paying.
Kurtis Kerner:"Jess? What did you steal?"
Eve K.:Text to Lucas "I got ya, they should be there in a minute. See you in a couple hours"
Jessica:Jessica sighs and rolls her eyes. "I didn't steal anything." Flops on a bed
Eve K.:"Taking without permission is stealing."
"She" air quotes "Barrowed" Justin's Atlantis book"
GM (GM):Lucas, the very arabic very muslim driver with a very nice SUV picks you up and you can sit back for a few hours as you make it to the seedy motel. You can come in at about this time.
Eve K.:"I call dibs on the middle of that bed" points to one of the two beds in the room
Lucas:Lucas knocks lightly on the hotel room door
Jessica:((eve andwhich))
*Sandwich
Kurtis Kerner:looks at Jessica
Eve K. stands on tip top to check the peep hole
Eve K. looks back at the others
Kurtis Kerner:"Didn't we talk about stealing? Either don't do it or don't get caught."
Eve K.:"what should we ask him to make sure he's not a fake Lucas?"
Jessica:"Ask him for a folksy analogy."
Eve K. frowns at Jessica as she opens the door for "Lucas"
Lucas:(god damn it, Coral. im not some magic fount of southern colloquialisms)
Jessica:((you super are stfu))
Eve K.:(well... git gud)
Lucas:(Whats the temp like outside IG?)
Justin:(Temperate.)
Jessica:((German))
Eve K.:((around 50s in September at night))
((wins at google fu))
Lucas:Lucas steps inside, rubbing his hands together. "about time. It's colder than eskimo's asshole out there."
Justin:In the spirit of Lucas showing up, Justin flops down on the nearest bed and passes out soon after.
Kurtis Kerner:"Welcome back, Big Guy."
Lucas:Lucas picks Kurt up in a crushing bear hug.
Kurtis Kerner:Kurt returns the hug as good as he can. "Oh, not so hard, not so... good to see you too, it's been a day."
Lucas:"I missed you guys like an old dog misses the shade tree and memaw's"
Eve K. chuckles "Guess that will do. Doubt a German fake Lucas would know that saying." closes the door behind him and goes to climb into the middle of the bed she claimed dibs on. Gestures to whatever pile of meat is still remaining from their meat feast "If you are hungry, we ordered waaaay to much hafbrau food.
Lucas:at memaw's*
Kurtis Kerner:Once released Kurt will lay on the bed next to Eve. Jessica gets a text message.
Lucas:"Half brow? its not eyebrows, is it?"
Jessica:((I thought kurt disconnected it?))
GM (GM):((he did))
Jessica:((ooooh snap))
Justin:((!!!))
Dante:Dante eyes Lucas momentarily, offering a nod and a smile. He quietly watches the group reunite.
Eve K.:"It's like... German style BBQ... all meat and potato salad basically"
(From Eve K.): mind link still up?
(To Eve K.): no
Lucas:"That's all you had to say."
Eve K.:"Without the sauce.. unless mushroom gravy counts as a sauce"
Jessica:"Uh, Kurt, I have a text. On the phone you disconnected. Should I check it?"
Lucas:Lucas locates the victuals and begins to eat like he hasnt eaten since he arrived in Germany.
Kurtis Kerner:nods to Jessica
Lucas:Although he was certainly fed well by several of the families he visited.
Jessica:Jessica opens the text
(To Jessica): [From: Kurt] If you want one of these books, swear fealty to Eve and myself, and we will let you have one to keep. If you touch another's book without permission again, I'll kill you.
Eve K. makes eye contact with Dante, then looks meaningfully at the empty space on the other side of the bed next to her, then back to Dante with a questioning curious, but inviting expression
Kurtis Kerner:closes his eyes and goes to sleep. Eve, you get a text on your phone.
Eve K. frowns and checks her text message
(From Jessica): Fealty? Really?
(To Eve K.): [Forwarded][To Jessica][From: Kurt] If you want one of these books, swear fealty to Eve and myself, and we will let you have one to keep. If you touch another's book without permission again, I'll kill you.
GM (GM):
[To Eve] If she swears to help us get the gem, get her the spare book.
[To Jessica] Yes, really. Til the gem is secure at least.
Lucas:Lucas washes his hands and face and then heads towards the beds.
GM (GM):((thanks, roll 20))
((enter means new message apparently))
Eve K.:((aww it thinks it's helping))
Dante:Dante strides tiredly across the room and takes off his boots. He sits at the empty section of the bed by Eve and lets out an exhausted groan, prepared to go to sleep.
((Yeah IDK what they were thinking when they set up the chat.))
Eve K. gives Dante's back a light rub while reading a text message
(From Jessica): I'll think about it. I feel like that has more consequences than a pinky swear.
Jessica:Jessica sets her phone on the bedside table and rolls on her side facing away from everyone.
Eve K.:(("nobody writes multiple paragraphs in chat any more, I'm sure it will be fine")
Jessica:((heh))
Lucas:Lucas throws his leather jacket on the floor and falls into the other bed. his shoulders roll Justin slightly and his feet hang off the end of the mattress, boots and all.
(To Jessica): It does. It means never act against us. If we are to mentor you.
GM (GM):Everyone ready to sleep?
Justin:(Yes.)
Dante:(sure)
Jessica:((we should set up magical defenses))
((we don't learn))
GM (GM):Feel free to.
Kurtis can't do anything that would last while he's asleep.
Eve K. before going to sleep Eve goes to the windows and doors turning them into titanium
Jessica:((nice))
Eve K.:((door))
er... *door
(how many rolls you want?)
GM (GM):This will only last for a scene, so, sure.
Doesn't matter.
Right now the only roll that matters is if Dante sets up a space ward against sympathetic magic
and if anyone who has space wants to throw in their arcana
Jessica:((I have Space 1 if that helps))
Eve K.:
rolling 10d10>8!
(
2
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2
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10
+
7
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5
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1
+
3
+
7
+
9
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6
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6
)
=
2 Successes
Dante:Dante gets up from bed and tiredly traces a path around the room, blinking slowly as he does so. ((Is that enough to assist?))
Eve K.:((Baby))
GM (GM):Things are titanium.
Jessica:((I don't know, I kinda doubt it though))
GM (GM):((you can assist and it will take you 1 hour.
Dante:((So how do we roll that then? Do I add to my dice pool or..))
Jessica:Jessica rolls out of bed and follows Dante as he casts the spell, inexpertly copying what he was doing and trying to understand his process.
GM (GM):So, Dante, you guys are gonna do an extended roll. You two hook up, and you as the main caster, get a sense of Jessica's arcana weaving into your ward pattern. You come to understand that your ward can reactively respond to spells, if certain arcana are cast on top as a ban.
Dante:Dante will spend time working with Jessica, pointing out ripples and folds in space and gesturing with his hands in a pulling inward motion. "So you see you can conceal remote viewing by weaving the space around us in such a way that it blurs together."
Jessica:"Can they still see the room or is it just blurry if they look here?"
GM (GM):Jessica, as you activate your spacial senses, you can actually get a sense of what Dante is doing, you feel the ward and the places where you can channel your power into.
Jessica:"Can you make it so they see the room and it looks empty?"
Dante:Dante thinks a moment. "Well, they would be trying to look in on one of us, in theory. So if someone tried to scry on you, they would have to overcome the ward. If they fail to do so, they simply can't see in."
He scratches his cheek, not sure how else to clarify. "I don't know about making the room look empty."
GM (GM):To cast the ward collectively on the entire space of the room for the duration of the night, with potency 1, you will need 10 successes together. Any additional successes will raise the potency. Each roll will cost you 1 hour. Once the ward is placed, you can choose from any of the following arcana effects to place your Ban. Space, Mind, Fate, Time, Spirit, Matter.
Your ban can be generic, like "all matter" or "all fate effects" -3 penalty, or very specific like "aluminum" or "bad luck curse", etc.
Dante:((I must have had a different mental image of the size of the room.))
GM (GM):more specific = less penalty. Single item specific is no penalty
((it's a room big enough to fit 6 people))
Dante:(So was the van. Anyway, did anyone want to add to this ward? And am I the only one rolling for these successes or what)
GM (GM):(Jessica is too, with Space + Gnosis)
(you can roll with improv or Ward rote)
Eve K.:(Eve would be awake and can add death, matter, and prime if you want. She doesn't have space does she need it to add?)
GM (GM):(yes everyone who helps must have space)
(so those not casting best off getting sleep)
Eve K.:(well RIP then)
Justin:((Can I participate and buy space?)
GM (GM):((you could ask to learn yeah, though the sensations will be new and overwhelming at first, reading up on Space in the Book will help. You can buy Space 1 now if Dante guides you and teaches you at least the sight spell, but you wouldn't be able to aid right away with the ward on this night, you'd need some time to get accustomed to the new abilities.))
Justin:Justin sits up and rubs his eyes as people meander around the room.
"Hey, you guys doing a space ward? Can you teach me?"
Dante:Dante looks over to Justin and waves him over. He starts gesturing around the room and explaining what he was telling Jessica. Then he reaches out to grant sight to Justin. ((spatial awareness =7))
rolling 7d10>8!
(
3
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10
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7
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1
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8
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10
+
5
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1
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8
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=
4 Successes
GM (GM):((you can use willpower for extended casts))
Dante:"Things are going to look weird."
Jessica:((no wp rip))
Eve K. yawns and comes over to assist as well "Sign me up for lessons too hmm?"
Jessica:((Rumored Five are gonna have spicy wards))
Justin:Justin blinks alot in a row, looking around at everything like it's his first time looking through 3d glasses.
"Huh, this feels a little bit like spirit sight, like I can look past what is there."
Dante:"Right. Layers upon layers going beyond just what's in front of you." Dante gestures for Eve now, doing the same thing and granting her sight.
GM (GM):So, Justin, you feel like your brain has expanded in a new dimension. It may seem familiar since you have spent some time as an insect. It's a different way to look at things. You can see the space now with more than just eyes, you can feel it outside of the boundaries of the physical objects that occupy it. The space itself. This sensation, this power, of all-consuming thing that exists everywhere and connects everything, courses through you, but it feels borrowed, mastered by Dante and granted to you. To truly tame it, you must practice. But now you know which cogs to turn, which mental muscles to stretch. You get quite a headache.
Dante:
rolling 7d10>8!
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10
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2
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3
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1
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5
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8
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9
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2
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=
3 Successes
Lucas:Lucas rolls over with a deep, grunting snore and throws his arm over the edge of the bed.
Justin:Justin blinks a few times in a row and groans at the weird headache
"Ugh..."
Dante:((Now, class, listen carefully and repeat after me: "If your ward ain't spicy, its gonna get dicy."))
Jessica:((Get lit or get hit))
((it's gon' be dire if yo' ward ain't fire))
((yeet))
GM (GM):Justin, you understand innately what space truly is. It's not just space in terms of the physical emptiness between objects, it's not even air, but a connection, a part of the equation, the other part of which is time. You sense an infinite spectrum, in which, given probability, everything could meet. This room could also be another room, and anyone in the universe can and will eventually be in this space, in that way a relationship between people who actually meet can be linked and developed. Sympathetic understanding makes sense to you now. That space is an anchor for serendipity, a conduit for mundane connection. As little as knowing someone's name brings their personal space in contact with yours.
Eve K. blinks a few times as the space sight activates. She's had this spell cast on her before, but now she really focuses on how its effecting her. Trying to remember the information she's read in the Gates to Atlantis book about space as well.
Justin:Justin's brows knit together, he looks as if he's in intense thought.
GM (GM):Eve, roll occult+composure please, and then a simple stamina roll
You have a magnitude more experience, so you have a chance to sort of grab this by the horns.
Eve K.:
rolling 8d10>8!
(
8
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5
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9
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7
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5
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10
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7
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7
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7
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=
3 Successes
rolling 3d10>8!
(
7
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6
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7
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=
0 Successes
(aww no stamina)
GM (GM):You understand as much as Justin, so what he felt applies to you. Unfortunately you also get a headache and can't at the moment contribute to the ward, but you can learn from it.
Both of you can buy Space 1, and if you progress in Space further, Ward will be a purchasable rote to you
Eve K.:(yay)
Justin:(yae)
Jessica:(yeet)
Dante:"Watch carefully now, as best you can. We will now try to create a wall out of these layers.. this.. permeation. Jessica, take what you see and follow my lead."
Dante's right hand reaches out to the space in front of him as he exerts his will into the room around them.
((hour 1))
rolling 10d10>8!
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2
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8
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7
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7
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7
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3
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9
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10
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=
3 Successes
Dante:((you get to roll space and gnosis right?))
GM (GM):((Jessica does yes))
Jessica:
rolling 3d10>8!
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2
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6
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2
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=
0 Successes
GM (GM):Jessica, you two concentrate for a while. Several laps around the room, before you start to see some Ancient One from Dr. Strange kind of shit. Space slowly starts to warp and turn.
Jessica:Jessica frowns as she tries to imitate Dante but can't seem to grasp what he is manipulating.
GM (GM):11 P.M. hits. Lucas and Kurtis happily sleep. Eve and Justin have to stay up to watch this stuff to learn.
Probably noses in books, studying the imagos and comparing notes.
Jessica, mark off 1 mana
Jessica:((done))
Dante:"It connects the universe to itself, clinging to everything like a residue. All that needs to be done is smear it in a way that becomes difficult to discern."
((hour 2))
rolling 10d10>8!
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3
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7
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7
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6
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3
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3
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1
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=
0 Successes
((r u srs))
Jessica:
rolling 3d10>8!
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4
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4
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8
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=
1 Success
"I...I think I get it. Like this?"
Dante:Dante scratches his cheek, seemingly distracted by something. He turns to look at Jessica and his downturned lips soften. "Yes, that is good."
GM (GM):On the second hour Dante feels the resistance of the space quite strong to overcome. It's unruly, hard to collect. The cheap motel has seen too many shifting variables to make impenetrable, but Jessica picks up the ball and together you stabilize a fraction of it, as it hits midnight, though you can't let go for the ward is not quite yet stable. You have enough to ward about half the room, if you cared to ward just the space around the beds.
Jess -1 mana
Dante:((Is it sufficient to mask us all while we sleep? And what would we need to add potency at this dimension?))
GM (GM):((just more successes. yeah as long as you stay in beds, you can start rolling for potency now. you've warded the beds))
Dante:"This is sufficient for where we sleep. If you want to make it bigger we can. Or we can start making it stronger."
Jessica:"I don't think I can keep pulling at it. Feels like it's getting away from me." She frowns at her fingers. "Out of gas I guess."
Dante:Dante just nods. "I can finish up. Thank you for your help, get some sleep. Lots to do tomorrow."
"Or continue to watch if you want. I'm not your boss."
Jessica:She nods and tries to squeeze on the edge of the bed Lucas is almost monopolizing. "I'm gonna sleep. Don't wanna be too tired tomorrow."
Lucas:Lucas is sprawled wide across the bed
GM (GM):Did Jessica not eat any sugar cubes Kurt brought?
Each of those cubes is 1 mana and they take 10 min to digest
Jessica:((I ate 2, just used them.))
GM (GM):ok
Dante:Dante returns to the ritual, right hand swirling in slow, wide circles as he tries to bring his full attention to the working. ((I'm going for potency now.))
((hour 3))
rolling 10d10>8!
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7
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6
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9
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=
1 Success
GM (GM):1 a.m. tic toc tic toc
you have a basic ward up with 2 potency total now
Eve K.:(wasn't it just 11pm?)
Justin:Justin eventually passes out.
GM (GM):he just spent 2 hours
Eve K.:(ah)
GM (GM):Justin if you pass out, you wont learn Ward
wanna stay awake?
Justin:Oh.
But that's like a level 2 rote right?
Or 3?
Dante:Dante sighs tiredly, his exhaustion mounting. One last push, he mutters quietly.
((it can be taught later when its relevant too))
((ward is 2))
GM (GM):2, but if you see the ritual to completion, you will be able to buy it, this is like your rp unlock precedent.
You can witness the spell be completed.
Up to you
Justin:Justin wipes his eyes and sits back up. He's studied all night before.
Eve K. yawns but continues to watch Dante with the spacial sight up, trying to commit to memory what he's doing, in her sleepiness she smiles lazily as she watches him
Dante:((hour 4))
rolling 10d10>8!
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9
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2
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7
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=
4 Successes
GM (GM):6 potency
2 A.M.
Dante:Bringing his full concentration to bear, he fortifies the ward and turns to the others. He's beat, hunched over tiredly. "This.. should be strong enough for tonight.*
GM (GM):You see Dante seal off the imago over the beds and the space folds over on itself, creating a bubble of connection severing static of space.
Lucas:Lucas rolls over again, nudging Jessica off the bed and slapping Justin hard in the shoulder
Eve K. nods looking over the work "It looks sturdy, good job" She smiles and then nods towards the bed
Dante:Dante takes a few steps toward the bed, falls to one knee, places his hand on the edge of the bed for support, slips, and falls flat on his face on the probably awful carpet.
"Here is fine..."
Eve K. frowns and moves to help Dante up onto the more comfortable than the floor at least bed
Jessica:Thud "Ow fuck. Move the fuck over you oaf."
Justin:Justin turns to Lucas with a frown, he concentrates on him, attempting to suss out what is causing his PLMS disorder so he can fix it for tonight.
Eve K.:"Bed. Sleep. You've no idea what might be living in that carpet"
Justin:
rolling 9d10>8!
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=
6 Successes
Dante:Dante accepts the help, making very little effort to move himself. The moment his face hits soft cloth he's out.
Eve K. wiggles into the space between Dante and Kurtis, sighing softly as her body meets soft mattress, falling asleep in short order
Justin:Justin concentrates and channels his will into Lucas's sleeping form to cure the PLMS for the night.
rolling 7d10>8!
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8
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8
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9
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3
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1
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1
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8
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=
4 Successes
GM (GM):Lucas sleeps a peaceful restful sleep.
Justin:Justin's will settles into Lucas's bones and muscles, allowing them to stay calm and still and get more rest from his actual sleep.
Justin grunts and flops onto the bed, passing out quickly
Jessica:zzzz
GM (GM):Okay, everyone who is going to sleep now, if you wanna recover, we will be sleeping till 11 AM next day. Everyone regains 1 willpower, heals 1 lethal damage, those who scoured their life pattern stats, the effects are gone, you awake feeling yourself again, Jessica, as you awaken your tattoo burns with a familiar cold heat as it reloads, and Kurtis gets awakened by a ZZZAP
rolling 5d10>8!
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3
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10
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10
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3
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4
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3
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=
4 Successes
for 4 lethal damage
Kurtis Kerner:"Aaaagh! Son of a bitch what the hell?!"
Dante:((top tier amulet, 11/10))
Jessica:((jesus))
((cursed amulet/10))
Eve K. startles awake at his exclamation, her sleepy mind looking around to the windows looking for signs of attack "Waaa What..?
Dante:Dante rolls out of the bed and onto the floor in response to the shouting, unsure of what's going on.
Jessica:Jessica sit bolt upright. "Wht happened?"
*What
GM (GM):The windows are glass again, the spell wore off. Dante, the ward was not breached, but there was one attempt.
Kurtis Kerner:"The fucking necklace hit me again!"
Lucas:Lucas sits up and stretches with a wide, and very loud, yawn
Kurtis Kerner:"Someone else has gotta wear it, and I need to wake up before the wearer to put a shield on them."
Lucas:"necklace?" Lucas asks with a raised eyebrow
Jessica:"Not it."
Justin:groggily "Lucas."
GM (GM):Lucas, how much willpower do you have now?
Justin:"Lucas needs it."
Eve K. yawns shaking her head to wake up, she looks over the side of the bed at Dante "You okay?"
Eve K.:"What does the necklace Do besides zap people?"
Dante:Dante sits up and rubs the side of his head. "Yeah, yeah.. I thought maybe something was going down. I'm fine."
Eve K.:"Yeah that was what I thought to, was already running through rotes in my head chuckles*
Kurtis Kerner:"It makes the body stronger, more durable, as long as something heals the morning shock."
"Fuck this thing."
Kurt takes it off and tosses it on the bed
Dante:He stretches his muscles before getting up, then looks to Kurtis as he stands. "Seems like more trouble than its worth."
Justin:"It'd be one thing if it added a Stamina, but an extra box of health isn't worth it."
((uhhh third wall.((
((Shit.))
Dante:((your spatial awareness really messed with your head))
Jessica:((Justin is one of those mages that summons stuff from the abyss))
Justin:((jjkldg;sjahgdsl;)
Kurtis Kerner:((it is for a thyrsus who lives in a hallow. take the zap, heal the zap, oblate, load up on mana, go smoke noobs. it fit slabod perfectly))
Justin:((Yah, hallow would make it better))
Lucas:Lucas thinks about the yelp made by Kurtis. "Nah, man. I don't think i want something thats gonna make me scream like that every mornin.
he hops off the bed and stretches properly.
"Man. i slept great!"
Justin:"Can we like..."
"Use it as fuel to make different magic items?"
Justin stares at the awful thing.
Kurtis Kerner:"Yeah we can put a pin in that. Right now I'm thinking I'll fling it at people we fight."
Justin:"Yeah, Jess can use that as her primary attack."
Kurtis Kerner:looks for a stick of some kind, finds a tooth brush, carefully lifts the amulet with the tooth brush and hangs it on the sword hilt inside his contrabass case.
"Alright, what's on the agenda after breakfast?"
Justin:"I'd like to check out the library."
"Jess probably wants to look into her father's deal."
Kurtis Kerner:"Where I win 100 bucks from you by picking up a girl."
Justin:"Where you pay me 100 dollars and cry."
Dante:"I think I need to see that go down."
Kurtis Kerner:"I already am crying from how hard this amulet hurt."
"Jesus. It all feels.... ooky."
Jessica:"What do we need to do to get ready as far as rescuing my dad?"
Justin:"You fishing for a heal?"
Jessica:jessica takes a mana cube out and eats it
Kurtis Kerner:"If she's fishing for me partaking in the dad business, then yes, I'm fishing for a heal."
Eve K.:{baby}\
Justin:Justin snaps his fingers and the cells in Kurt's body start getting to work. Knitting and repairing the damage the amulet left.
rolling 9d10>8!
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10
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2
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6
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9
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5
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3
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5
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9
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9
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1
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=
4 Successes
Kurtis Kerner:"Otherwise, I'm happy to stay in the room and practice and rest while you folks do what needs doing. I'm understanding that until we as a group get all the personal shit out of the way, I'm not getting any closer to the Gem of Kings oooooof thank you!"
Kurt bends over and falls into a chair staggering from the sudden surge of healing power
"Partaking in dad business it is."
"Gimme a quick refresher on the library thing. What exactly is up with that? What did you dig up on the gem?"
Justin:"Well I figured out where it was once upon a time. I was hoping to get more info on where it came from and where it went. Maybe what it has done. Any additional info about it's powers wouldn't hurt."
"We're looking for a guy named Karl. He has a library on Riberkropft and Genderdorf."
Lucas:Lucas turns to Jess. "Is your dad in trouble? I'm sort of an expert in rescuing dads."
Dante:Dante begins tidying up the hotel room a little bit, picking up the remnants of their delivery and so on. "Knowing more about the gem could spare us an untimely demise. Or it could turn up nothing useful. Worth checking out, though."
Jessica:"There's a group of wizards that covers up the fact that magic exists, and they attack your family when you Wake up. They tried to get my parents."
Kurtis Kerner:gets dressed
"They're called The Guardians of the Veil. They got me arrested and wiped my bank account, oh, and set my home on fire."
Eve K.:>em streaches on the bed "The Silver Ladder don't always come around to "clean up" after an awakening... Only after the messy ones. The ones that make the news mainly. To hide it from sleepers."
*Not Silver Ladder Guardians of veil. Sleepy Claire is bad at lore
Kurtis Kerner:Both are kinda valid answers
Jessica:"Yeah...mine caused an explosion."
Kurtis Kerner:Both do this shit
brushes teeth, does some push ups, a few punches to the air, feet warm up, combos
Eve K. slips off the bed and goes to her bag, she pulls out the dossier on the Gem and walks over handing it to Justin "A little lite reading for you." She then goes to the bathroom, dodging an air punch to brush her teeth
Justin:Justin cracks open the dossier and starts reading, probably a good bit of info he already knew.
Kurtis Kerner:"Alright, well, I feel like the dad operation is a group business. I ain't going there alone."
carefully slides the necklace into his backpack, and puts the gun holsters on
Dante:*Dante kneels down in front of an end table and pulls out his revolver and begins inspecting it. After doing so, he stands, back to the group, and practices drawing it from behind. Left hand, right hand, left, right.
"If you say its spooky, I say we send the full group."
Justin:"Yeah, I don't know if we want to roll in with the whole crew or split up. You have a better idea of how dangerous these things are than I do."
Eve K. leaves the bathroom now that her teeth are brushed, watching Dante go through his gun motions, she checks on her own pistol "So we are going for a hike in the woods?"
Jessica:Jess is next in the bathroom for morning routine
Justin:Justin just waves his hand in front of his face, cleaning off all detritus from his mouth, hair, pretty much everything.
rolling 7d10>8!
(
2
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2
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7
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2
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5
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5
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7
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=
0 Successes
....
Justin hangs his head and goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
Jessica:((he grows mold on his face))
Eve K. chuckles "You don't need to use magic for everything you know. "
GM (GM):The Gem of Kings - an ancient artifact of unknown origin, formerly in possession of Timur Tamerlane, (possibly Adolf Hitler or one of his compatriots) with a confirmed property of massively increasing an individual's influence on masses. Hannah Riley and associates (Jared Willow, Michael Reed, Jefferson Clay and others), in conjunction with management and staff of Aurora Casino (represented by Annette Neil) hire this contractor to procure the Gem for its subsequent handover and destruction by The Mysterium.
Kurtis Kerner:"Yeah, it's definitely a hike in the woods kind of thing."
Lucas:"Imagine if a metal band got a hold of that thing."
Justin:"Alright fine." Justin exits the bathroom, running his hands through his short hair. "We ready?"
Kurtis Kerner:"So. Just a heads up on this one. There are gravitational anomalies."
Jessica:"Like in Avatar?"
Lucas:Lucas wrinkles his nose, "I never could get into that cartoon."
Dante:"Compress you into a meatblock kind of anomalies, or low gravity, high jumping anomalies?"
Eve K.:"Hmm I'll go with the flat heeled boots today then..." *picks out cloths for the day from her bag, dark green corset, black jeans, leather jacket"
Jessica:Looks alarmed at Dante's first suggestion
Eve K.:"I think she means the movie with the blue aliens not the TV show with the magic
Jessica:"Yeah that one."
Eve K. goes to change into new cloths unless someone else is heading towards the bathroom, then she'll wait her turn
Justin:Justin has no clue what anyone is talking about so he just reads the Dossier.
Kurtis Kerner:"Like in... "
picks up the TV remote and hovers it in the air like its levitating
"Anomaly anomalies, look, Jess, I'm like the best student of forces that I know and I don't have a word for what I was seeing, okay?"
Lucas:Lucas bends down to pick up his jacket off the floor and throws it on. "Are we ready guys?"
Kurtis Kerner:"If I knew how to describe it I would. Like light where light don't belong?"
Jessica:"Sounds like an SCP." shudders
Eve K. comes out changed into new cloths "Ready"
Kurtis Kerner:"Yeah let me drive. I know the exact place."
Dante:After getting ready, Dante will make sure everyone has a chalk mark, then demonstrate the basic idea of how it works to Lucas.
Kurtis Kerner:"Oh and for the record, we're doing this cause we're nice people. This is like, in no way related to anything."
Eve K. grabs her gun and shoulder holster as well as her purse "are we coming back here tonight?"
Dante:"The ward wasn't breached, so we are not compromised in that way, at least. We could come back here."
GM (GM):Lucas, what you and Dante discover is that Lucas can pull Dante easily through the connection, while Dante has to work to carry Lucas over.
Eve K.:"I'm sure my moral compass is glad you pointed that out Kurtis"
Jessica:"I really appreciate you guys helping me with this."
Kurtis Kerner:"Yeah, my moral compass's needle started twitching when I heard someone took Justin's magic book."
GM (GM):Lucas, so, as long as you have a mark made by Dante's piece of chalk, he can initiate physical contact with you at any distance, visual or not.
Is everyone going to the dad adventure?
Jessica:((yass)
GM (GM):After a quick breakfast, we get in the hummer and drive about an hour north.
Kurt stops the truck on the side of the road that looks like nothing at all. It's not a rest area, nothing. Just field and forest in the distance. There is a broken section of the fence, but driving off into the field would call attention. So from here, it makes more sense to go on foot. Kurt turns off the engine.
Eve K. feels weird with Dante not driving
Eve K.:(why is the forest on fire?)
GM (GM):(someone trolling)
(its not on fire)
It is in fact, eerily solemn. It's 1 PM now. Cause we all took turns using bathroom and breakfast and an hour of driving and we woke up at 11
Jessica:"So...when you say anomaly--" Jess says as she exits the vehicle. "Can we see them or will you have to point them out to us?"
GM (GM):Pretty blue sky, clouds
Jessica:The idea of playing red light green light with magic sounded bad
Kurtis Kerner:"Oh you'll fuckin see em. That way." Kurt points towards the forest.
Dante:Dante casts his gaze out across the field, opening his eyes to the space around him.
Justin:Justin gets out of the car, making sure to switch on his life sight.
Dante:
rolling 7d10>8!
(
3
+
3
+
4
+
5
+
4
+
9
+
5
)
=
1 Success
Kurtis Kerner:"There, that's where I traced it from"
Eve K. hops out of the car and looks around, then casts her supernal vision rote and looks again
Justin:
rolling 7d10>8!
(
3
+
10
+
3
+
4
+
9
+
4
+
5
+
2
)
=
2 Successes
Eve K.:
rolling 10d10>8!
(
6
+
6
+
8
+
5
+
2
+
1
+
3
+
5
+
2
+
1
)
=
1 Success
Kurtis Kerner:Supernal Vision:
rolling 7d10>8!
(
1
+
8
+
8
+
10
+
8
+
10
+
6
+
8
+
1
)
=
6 Successes
Justin:He also solidifies the air around him, providing a bit of a shield against anything that attempts to come his way.
Dante:((rigged))
Lucas:Lucas tries to change his eyes to see death again
Justin:
rolling 11d10>8!
(
7
+
8
+
8
+
7
+
2
+
10
+
3
+
5
+
3
+
7
+
2
+
6
)
=
3 Successes
((3 armor))
Kurtis Kerner:Force Sight:
rolling 8d10>8!
(
3
+
9
+
5
+
6
+
9
+
2
+
5
+
4
)
=
2 Successes
Lucas:(whats the roll for death sight? Death+Gnosis?)
Eve K.:(yup unless you learn the rote)
Jessica:Time Sight
rolling 7d10>8!
(
9
+
3
+
6
+
8
+
7
+
6
+
4
)
=
2 Successes
Lucas:(Since i actually dont have it?)
GM (GM):(yes)
Jessica you immediately detect a time anomaly
Time in this area had been recently fast forwarded.
Eve K. eats a sugar cube and then pulls up her Entropic Guard
Eve K.:
rolling 12d10>8!
(
7
+
3
+
3
+
1
+
8
+
2
+
4
+
4
+
4
+
3
+
5
+
9
)
=
2 Successes
Dante:((Can I buy and cast Untouchable as a rote? I thought I'd bought it last time I cast it but I guess not))
Jessica:"Uh, time got fast-forwarded here recently."
"Everyone else seeing weird stuff?"
Lucas:
rolling 3d10>8!
(
2
+
8
+
5
)
=
1 Success
GM (GM):((Dante, you have cast it before yes you can buy it))
Dante:"Nothing stands out just yet, but that doesn't mean this won't change suddenly."
Dante follows the defensive lead and wreaths himself in an imperceptible shroud of warped space.
rolling 10d10>8!
(
10
+
1
+
6
+
6
+
4
+
8
+
9
+
5
+
1
+
1
+
1
)
=
3 Successes
((4 armor))
GM (GM):Lucas, you put up your grim sight, and you can see a destructive force wrap around Eve, attempting to consume and destroy anything that comes near it. She has it filtered and under command, but it hungers, begrudgingly obeying, it seeks to destroy entropy and put things to rest, ruin it to dust, it reminds you of those black things roaming the valleys of far regions of Stygia
Justin:Justin's eyes widen as his newfound understanding of space modifies his application of life sight.
Jessica:((eating another cube just in case))
Eve K. looks around focusing on any remnants of spells or other spell threads
Kurtis Kerner:"Alright folks, if all your shields are up, I'm going to make a force bubble around myself, if you stay close, if shit comes flying, it will bounce back."
Justin:"Wow, guys.. I think I can pinpoint where every bit of life is for like, a pretty far distance."
"Normally I can only do it for a few meters."
Jessica:"Can you tell what it is or is it like a radar?"
Eve K.:"Can you focus on one that's related to Jessica?"
Kurtis Kerner:With penalty -5, a 5 yards radius on telekinetic shield.
rolling 4d10>8!
(
9
+
8
+
8
+
6
)
=
3 Successes
Justin:"It's just like a radar. I know where the life is exactly and what sort of thing it is. Human, dog."
Eve K.:(woot)
Kurtis Kerner:5 forces armor for anyone who stays within 5 yards from Kurt
Lucas:Lucas walks over beside Eve and gestures to her aura. "this is death, right?"
Eve K. nods with a smile "This is death yes. This is a death shield. Would you like one?"
GM (GM):Okay, Justin, being in the wild, there is a plethora of life here, so you filter your focus to people and big animals, make sense?
Lucas:"Can you teach me how to. . .?"
Justin:That's the idea.
Eve K.:(is Lucas at Death 2?)
Lucas:(He is)
Dante:Dante will stay within Kurt's bubble.
Justin:Justin stays in the bubble, looking around warily
Eve K. nods again "Sure. So. The death shield, or Entropic guard, as I'm sure you can see, is always trying to consume and destroy everything around it. To make that useful, you have to exert your will over the part of death which always hungers, and control it so it only consumes things which are trying to harm you."
GM (GM):Kurtis crosses over the breach in the fence, and Jessica, you can tell that once he crosses, he is in the time affected area. He is two days in the future.
To the rest of you the effect is not visible, you see Kurt just fine
Jessica:"Kurt is in the future."
Eve K. walks while she talks
Eve K. following the group
Kurt Kerner:"Excuse me?"
Jessica:Scrunches her face trying to figure out how that even makes sense.
Eve K. frowns looking at the space Kurtis is in, specifically with prime sight
Jessica:"You're in the future by two days. I'm not sure why we can still see and talk to you."
GM (GM):Everyone who crossed over the fence going in the direction of the forest pointed to by red arrow on the map, is now in the time stream that belongs to sunday
Lucas:Lucas closes his eyes and focuses on pulling death around himself in a shield. he attempts to bend the starving darkness to his will.
GM (GM):Eve, you detect a time anomaly, as does Kurtis
Dante:((The Future Fi - Six))
Eve K.:"Hmm... I can see it, but that's about all, the change starts about here." taps her foot on the border
GM (GM):Acanthus magic was applied here.
Dante:Dante hesitates at the mention of the area being forward in time and begins looking around again.
Eve K.:"Never was very good at understanding that time fate stuff personally. I should probably study it more."
GM (GM):Jessica, you can try to trace the steps back so to speak.
Roll time+gnosis Jess
Lucas:(death+gnosis to attempt entorpic guard?)
GM (GM):(yes)
Justin:(entorpic)
Eve K.:(1 mana if you want it to last all day)
Jessica:
rolling 4d10>8!
(
2
+
7
+
4
+
3
)
=
0 Successes
Lucas:
rolling 3d10>8!
(
5
+
10
+
1
+
7
)
=
1 Success
GM (GM):Dante, as far as you see, there are no space magic remnants here.
Lucas, 2 points of armor. You feel like the power Eve wields over the element - obeys to you as well. The inky blackness which you rocked in Stygia tournaments, subtle, transparent, surrounds you now.
The visual effect lasts but for a moment, but you and Eve both leave traces in the grass. Plantlife wilts where you two step. If you touch a branch, it becomes brittle and falls.
Eve K. looks over at Lucas and nods grinning now "Good! Excellent! Got it on the first attempt. You are a quick study."
Lucas:(Does casting the shield take down grim sight?
Dante:Content with his spatial finding, or lack thereof, he drops one magical sight for another and opens his Third Eye
rolling 9d10>8!
(
3
+
1
+
2
+
6
+
2
+
2
+
8
+
4
+
9
)
=
2 Successes
(From Dante): ((thats the one pertaining to use of mind arcana/psychic power))
GM (GM):(no. You can maintain 4 spells, 3 on them can be on you without penalties)
Lucas:Lucas looks at his hand, studying his own aura. "Thanks, Eve. next ill have to study how to manipulate matter."
Justin:"So, going into the future... that's not going to mess with us or anything?"
Kurtis Kerner:"There! I get it now. Future. See this grass we walking on? This grass should be bent. A car ran through here. There were tire tracks and bent grass. But now the grass is straightened. As if someone manually lifted every blade of grass to fix it up."
Eve K.:"Well.. we will be in the future... but if we come back out we should be back to the same day"
"Ahhh... They sped up time to hid their tracks?"
Kurtis Kerner:"Well I'm not a Time guy, but... yeah, I think so. Time has been... shit. I don't think it was sped up, but.... overlaid? Can you layer time?"
Justin:Justin frowns, the whole concept being very odd to him.
Jessica:"I'm not really that experienced yet."
Kurtis Kerner:"Well just you fucking wait for what's ahead."
Jessica:"But I mean...I bet you could do it if you can fold up Space to hide things."
Kurtis Kerner:leads the team into the forest to the edge of the trees, then puts his fist up to signal caution and once they are deep enough that they can't be seen from the road, he draws a pistol
Eve K. raises a brow and follows suit
GM (GM):Okay, so I don't have a picture for this, so please try to visualize it as best as you can.
As you go into the woods, there seems to be not exactly a fresh path, but a path enough that was made out of a place that had no path by just a few people choosing it as the route, so they sort of made it a path. We are tracking.
Broken branches, bent bushes.
Then, things get freaky. Imagine you are walking through the forest.
It's day time, so you can see the light on the ground through the trees.
Sun makes light spots on the ground, with trees casting shadows.
GM (GM):If you look at the leaves and roots on the ground in a thick forest you will see shadows of the trees and leaves, with spots of sunlight between them
Now, reverse that
That's what you see on the ground.
Jessica:That's fucky
GM (GM):Trees cast lights in the shape of their shadows, while the sun is the shadow
But the trees are not glowing. It all looks as normal.
Jessica:"What's the point of a spell like this?" Jesica murmurs
*Jessica jesus christ
Eve K. shakes her head "They let the spell go havoc I bet."
Kurtis Kerner:Kurt squints before he answers "Is it scary?"
points down as we come to a steep incline of a creek "It was scary enough to make the driver abandon the car."
GM (GM):Jessica and Justin you recognize the car as the one her parents got into in the Spirit's memory
Justin:"Well, that's it."
Eve K. looks around with prime sight a moment, then overlays death sight focusing on the car
Eve K.:
rolling 8d10>8!
(
2
+
9
+
7
+
8
+
3
+
9
+
4
+
2
)
=
3 Successes
Jessica:((how steep are we talking, like jog down the side to the car steep or are we climbing down?))
GM (GM):Eve, the car has Forces magic applied on it.
45 degrees steep
Eve K. squints at the forces magic, trying to tease out what it does
GM (GM):Eve, 1 person died here. Lucas, you sense this as well.
Eve K.:"Kurtis do you see the forces spell on the car?"
(any ghost?)
Jessica::(
GM (GM):No ghost
Lucas:"Someone died here"
Eve K. shakes her head and starts to climb down to see if there's a body "Yup. Question is who. I'm gonna see if there's a body."
Jessica:Jessica flinches. She starts tromping down the bank. Her face is white
Lucas:Lucas climbs down to the car and places his hand on the roof
Kurtis Kerner:"Yeah. That's what scared me. So listen up. This will probably not make sense at all, but when I look at a normal car or a tree or a person, I see their weight pushing on the ground, and the ground pushing back. You know, Newton's law? First or second or whatever. Countermass?"
Dante:At hearing of someone dying nearby, Dante begins looking around with more mundane senses to try to find signs of a struggle or an altercation. He listens as Kurtis speaks.
Kurtis Kerner:"This car here... it's... in a web. The trees are pushing it back, and it's trying to .... fall apart. I'm talking like, Doctor Manhattan exploding that tank fall apart. Like, Boom, fall apart. When I throw dudes out the window? That kind of fall apart. Why would anyone do this is beyond me. And the effect is seeming to be lasting."
Jessica:Jessica skids to a stop. "They made the car a bomb?" Starts climbing back. "It's a trap. Gotta be."
Eve K. stops before she reaches the car
GM (GM):Lucas, the moment you touch the car, you fly 50 feet into the air. Roll dex+athletics.
Lucas:
rolling 4d10>8!
(
9
+
5
+
6
+
7
)
=
1 Success
Dante:Dante staggers backward as he watches Lucas fly into the air. ((Can I use the suspension rote impromptu to catch Lucas and prevent him from falling to the ground?))
((like as he nears the bottom, not while he is 50 feet up))
GM (GM):You manage to grab onto some branches up in the air and.... Yeah Dante go. Kurt is also trying to help by positioning himself at the bottom to try to use that kinetic bubble to soften his fall.
Kurt like, takes off hard to do so as soon as he sees Lucas do that, he wasn't fast enough to warn him.
Dante:Dante frantically weaves his right hand, not entirely familiar with what he is trying to do, but reacting in the moment.
rolling 7d10>8!
(
2
+
3
+
1
+
1
+
7
+
8
+
1
)
=
1 Success
((that's also vulgar))
Lucas:Lucas manages to catch the branches of a nearby tree. he grips them tightly and begins to shimmy down the tree.
"Nobody touch the car!"
GM (GM):
rolling 2d10>8!
(
9
+
3
)
=
1 Success
gonna absorb or havoc?
Dante:((absorb))
GM (GM):1 bashing
Lucas, you are thrown so hard and fast, it's like 4-5 Gs, you grab what leaves and branches you can, but you're far from shimmying, at best you break the branches and cut your hands, you do slow down though, the fall softens, and for a while you seem to stagger and hover unnaturally in the air, as Dante has his right hand towards you and Kurtis is doing the hockey goalie dance under you, and you land on your back, more or less in tact. You take 2 bashing. Coulda been a lot worse.
The roof of the car where Lucas touched it, has slight traces of corrosion in the shape of his hand. Like rust started to build up on it.
Eve K. breaths a sigh of relief. "Well then.. lets see what we can do about this spell..."
GM (GM):Eve, you know this as the work of the Entropic Guard, he is too raw at controlling it still.
Does anyone have Survival skill?
Dante:((yes))
GM (GM):wits + survival please
Dante:
rolling 5d10>8!
(
5
+
7
+
3
+
2
+
1
)
=
0 Successes
Eve K. takes a minute to study the spell trying to figure out where its based so she can quell the spark of the spell
Eve K.:(we appear to be in a desert...)
Dante:((Too distracted with the pain of paradox bashing and having cradled Lucas with space I guess))
GM (GM):Eve, you can't seem to be able to figure out what the spell originated from or where it begins.
Lucas:Lucas lays on his back for a minute. "Can someone check the plate on the car? I wanna put it on my accident claim."
(To Eve K.): i.e. it's a paradox result, unquellable
Dante:Dante moves forward, offering his hand to Lucas to help him up. "We'll get the proper information before we leave."
GM (GM):Hmmm. Eve, could you maybe investigation check? Wits+investigation?
Kurtis Kerner:"It's gonna put you on its accident claim."
Lucas:"Can anyone tell me why the hell a parked car tried to put me in orbit?"
Eve K.:
rolling 5d10>8!
(
10
+
7
+
2
+
1
+
9
+
1
)
=
2 Successes
Justin:"Someone's trying to kill people who are investigating it probably."
Dante:"You were very high in the air when they said it was a trap. Or appears to be, anyway."
Eve K.:(wits investigate ^)
"It's not a spell... shit... they just let a whole lot of vulgar spells go havoc in this forest..."
Kurtis Kerner:"Yeah, when someone says Forces spell, Brick, it's not a good idea to touch it."
Jessica:"My guess is they knew I'd come looking for my dad, maybe. Maybe it's supposed to go off when my phone get near it?" She looks at the assembled. "Anyone have better ideas? Who else would come looking for my parents?"
"Wait, it's not on purpose?"
"It's just a bunch of fucky magic here?"
Eve K.:"No, its not a trap.. They just... didn't control their spells. They were probably throwing spells at the car and didn't try to mitigate the paradox."
Lucas:"it felt pretty fuckin on purpose to me. . ."
GM (GM):Eve, this looks like someone abandoned the car, and tried to drag a dead body, over... that way, deeper into the woods, to the water stream.
Eve K. narrows her eyes..."Someone survived..was dragging a body....."
Eve K. points in the direction of the bodies path "Kurtis, anything funky that way? Can I follow the path?"
Dante:"A real psychopath, then.." Dante's right hand swings casually behind him and rests on something at the small of his back. He looks around, but given his failed survival roll that probably doesn't matter. He sticks with the group and will follow Eve if she moves to investigate the path leading to the stream.
Kurtis Kerner:"Oh, that way... yeah I didn't get past the car yesterday. Let's see.... ummm... wow, yeah. Heat is interchanged with sound. If we go that way, the more we talk, the hotter it will get."
Eve K. glances at Dante
Dante:"We have a solution for this."
Eve K. grins
Eve K.:"Read my mind"
Jessica:(BA DUM CHING)
Dante:As Eve looks over to him, his left hand is already curling its fingers. "That is a thing I can do."
rolling 9d10>8!
(
9
+
9
+
9
+
3
+
9
+
5
+
5
+
8
+
2
)
=
5 Successes
Eve K. mouths the word "hot" and winks
GM (GM):Dante, you're pretty sure you know the way to water. Dante doesnt know that Eric failed the survival roll :)
Jessica:((that's my favorite way to do failed rolls XD))
GM (GM):Oh right right
Okay.
Int + Academics will do
Justin:((That worked!? FUck yeah.))
GM (GM):((well you'll get different knowledge but yeah))
Justin:((Int 3, academics 5))
GM (GM):((better than knowledge with higher roll))
Justin:
rolling 8d10>8!
(
2
+
3
+
2
+
1
+
8
+
5
+
3
+
10
+
3
)
=
2 Successes
GM (GM):okay, now do with animal ken!
Justin:((Int 3 animal ken -1))
GM (GM):and btw, after butterflying, u can buy it
Justin:
rolling 2d10>8!
(
4
+
10
+
4
)
=
1 Success
GM (GM):okay!
By 2 PM, which is what it takes us to unearth the body, you establish exactly what it is
Eve K. has a lovely stroll through the woods looking for clues
GM (GM):A north-european mole cricket.
Justin:((fuck))
GM (GM):Except, you know
The size of a great dane
Eve K.:((that's gross and I instantly want to squash it)
((Or kill it with fire))
GM (GM):It is very confused why it's so big, why it can't get enough to eat, and she can't find her eggs.
Eve K.:(( sad))
GM (GM):She doesn't understand how to be this big. And she's singing by rubbing her wings together, to hope to get a call back, that's the chittering you were hearing.
Lucas:(Awww. pooor bb. she just needs lubbins)
Jessica:((She! So not Edworm))
GM (GM):But since now she sounds nothing like her kind, obviously all her friends are scared shitless and do not respond. The loneliest mole cricket in Germany
Justin:"So the monster is just a gigantic insect.. Normally they're a couple of inches, this one is like a meter long."
Jessica:((omg stahp making me feel bad))
"*Can you tell if it's on purpose or another havoc?"
^over link
Justin:"Probably not on purpose. Those spells don't last like this."
Kurtis Kerner:"Well fucking goodness, am I so glad I learned this important information, thank you Justin. Meanwhile, we dug up a dead person..."
Jessica:Jessica flinches, but she isn't looking in that direction.
Lucas:(the oxygen content of our atmosphere would make survival super difficult for giant insects as well. add to that list of suffering
Justin:"Now I kinda want to keep it..."
((Shut the fuck up Chris.))
Eve K.:over the link "Good job. We are not keeping it."
GM (GM):Actually, what we dug up is a lining of tarp. Kurtis, sweaty, hands dirty, hating the waste of time the hulking goth dude put him through, leaves the honors to Brick.
Justin:"I can keep it alive! I can feed it with magic."
Eve K.:over the link"I'll buy you a puppy later. We do not need a giant bug. If you want to help it. Make it small again"
Lucas:Lucas ignores the cricket and pulls back the tarp
GM (GM):Lucas and Kurtis look into the grave and see....
Justin:Justin focuses on the cricket to see if he can figure out how to undo the havoc.
(To Lucas): An elderly man with 5 knife wounds. stomach, chest, chest, neck left side, and cut throat. Dressed in a black suit and tie. Covered in blood. Shoes taken off, socks taken off. Bare footed.
GM (GM):Lucas saw what he saw.
Justin:(I prepared explosive runes this morning.)
GM (GM):Justin, to even hope to undo this magic, you have to see this thing face to face, can't do it at the sensory range of your Sense Life. Either go underground or have it come up.
Lucas:Lucas places his hand on the man's chest
Jessica:wat
GM (GM):(Wow, that's a throw back Justin)
Lucas:"what happened to you, friend?" he whispers
Eve K. hiking hiking hiking
Justin:"Gonna name him Wallace."
Eve K.:over the link "We are not keeping Wallace... also its female."
GM (GM):Lucas, roll gnosis+death please
Lucas:Lucas examines the corpse with grim sight
Justin:"It's a bug. The difference between male and female is a really quick and easy spell. Jess knows."
Lucas:
rolling 3d10>8!
(
7
+
1
+
4
)
=
0 Successes
Jessica:((it's actually alive!!))
"Oh my god please never bring that up again."
Eve K. profound silence over the mind link...
GM (GM):Lucas, the body is silent, its death's secrets stay with it. Nothing happens.
Jessica:((Billy, call for help!))
GM (GM):Eve, how far are you gonna wander off?
Justin:"Wallace doesn't prescribe to your gender norms. Wallace has evolved beyond them, get with the times."
Lucas:"Hey, Eve. I cain't seem to figure out whats goin on with ol' John Doe here."
Eve K.:(well I had hoped to have stumbled over some clues by now, but if I'm finding nothing I'll head back to the bug whisperer defender of gender fluid bugs and talk with the dead)
Jessica:"JOHN Doe?"
Justin:((oversized gender fluid bugs.))
Jessica:((don't size shame her))
Justin:((Body-positive.))
Eve K.:((Its really Jessica's mom.. just.. gender fluid))
Lucas:*"Yeah. it ain't your mama or your daddy, far as i can figure. some suit."
Jessica:((man life mages are fucked in the head))
GM (GM):(you have a sense of direction, Eve, he was heading north east, and definitely over the creek, but your next clue is far away. So how far, or rather, how long you want to track is the question. If you go assist Lucas, you wont make it to the next clue, if you press on, you will find it))
Eve K.:((not all of them.........))
Jessica:Jessica turns to look, she's sort of squinting like that would soften the blow somehow if it was an unpleasant sight. What does it look like?
Justin:((Mark of the beast, survival of the fittest, improtaton.))
GM (GM):Jessica sees........
Eve K.:over the link "Try not looking at its connection to Stygia but rather.. what you can see from the body that would indicate why he died. (try forensic gaze)
GM (GM):An elderly man with 5 knife wounds. stomach, chest, chest, neck left side, and cut throat. Dressed in a black suit and tie. Covered in blood. Shoes taken off, socks taken off. Bare footed.
Eve K. presses on a bit more
GM (GM):(he did try it, he has to succeed to learn it)
Jessica:((that's real fucking violent))
Eve K.:(No he tried grim sight)
GM (GM):Lucas, you can try it again at -1, you can use willpower if you have any
Eve K.:(Forensic gaze is a completely different spell)
Lucas:Lucas pulls open the man's shirt and lets grim sight fade from his eyes. He then focuses on the more clinical side of death. the nature of decay.
Eve K.:(specifically for seeing HOW someone died)
GM (GM):(yeah thats all he knows how to do, he is rolling gnosis+death)
(yeah but he doesnt have the Books, he's just trying to think about death, he's learning)
Justin:Justin focuses on little pockets of life and directs Wallace towards them, helping the adorable little mole cricket get some easy kills.
Eve K.:(Yes and Eve is trying to teach him)
GM (GM):Ok fair enough, Eve's explanation negates your -1 this time
You can try gnosis+death again at no penalty
Eve K.:(git gud)
Lucas:Lucas looks at each stab wound. each drop of blood. the hands and knuckles.
Jessica:"I don't understand. Why would the suits leave their guy out here in a mound, or why would my dad bury him?"
GM (GM):Lucas, your chisel vibrates slightly.
Lucas:(With WP this time.)
Eve K.:(<.<
>.>
Hawt)
Lucas:Lucas closes his eyes, holds the chisel tightly to his chest, and then opens his eyes
rolling 6d10>8!
(
8
+
2
+
5
+
10
+
4
+
9
+
1
)
=
3 Successes
GM (GM):Justin, you find mostly that Wallace is better at being a cricket than you are, so as long as you just leave her to her instincts and just ping her food pockets, she will find the way. She's depleting the shit out of everything though.
Justin:Justin grins as Wallace eats the shit out of some roots.
GM (GM):Lucas, you have a vision. Two men fighting for their lives. Death creeps closer and closer with each stab. The final death of this individual came when a strong hand wielding a military styled knife sliced his throat open. Death occured on September 24th, 1 AM. Two days into the future.
Jessica:((future or past? I thought we were lready in the future))
((because it covered up the grass indentations))
GM (GM):((You are in the area where time is replaced with the future's time))
Jessica:((nvm i see, i'm tired sorry)
GM (GM):((the question made perfect sense))
Lucas:Lucas relays the information over the link
GM (GM):((if the body was outside the effect, it would have added two days instead of subtracted 2 days))
Eve, at 3:00 PM, you find another clue. A mound.
Like, pretty far north east.
Jessica:"Are you okay, Eve? I think we're gonna check the car real quick before we meet up with you."
(To Eve K.): This mound has been covered up very neatly, much different than the other one, it's laid out with stones, it's nice, under a tree, some flowers placed near its head. A makeshift cross is made out of wood. Initials carved: D.J.M.
(From Eve K.): do I know Jessica's last name?
(To Eve K.): Do you?
(From Eve K.): If I remembered I wouldn't be asking you. I think so?
(To Eve K.): if you do, Eve does. I dont keep track of that
Eve K.:over the link "I'm good. Did you check the body for ID?"
Lucas:Lucas rifles through pockets to find anything useful
GM (GM):A white handkerchief, that's it.
(From Eve K.): Do I need to actually see the corpse to do Forensic gaze with Death 5? Spell doesn't specify if I can do at sensory range but its only a level 1 death spell
Lucas:"Hey, Jess. can you do that thing where you look at someone's past or whatever by holding their stuff?"
Jessica:"It kind of reminds me of Cubic's goons. The troops I saw with my spell were dressed like this too. You think they're puppet people too?"
(To Eve K.): yes you have to see the corpse, but unlike your stubborn colleague you probably dont need to dig it up, your matter powers can just make shit transparent and see through it.
Jessica:"Uh, sure, but wouldn't it just show me him dying?" She takes the handkerchief.
Justin:"If your dad's out here I figure we and Wallace should probably go find him right?"
Jessica:
rolling 6d10>8!
(
6
+
6
+
7
+
6
+
5
+
1
)
=
0 Successes
GM (GM):You don't see anything, but that familiar headache pinches your temples
Eve K.:(Eve is about to start singing "Put that thing back where it came from or so help me" from monsters inc...)
Justin:
rolling 1d10>8!
(
9
)
=
1 Success
Jessica:"I got nothing on the hanky. As far as Dad goes I was just following Kurt's idea of checking all clues."
Eve K.:steel windows
rolling 10d10>8!
(
10
+
9
+
3
+
1
+
2
+
2
+
3
+
1
+
2
+
7
+
8
)
=
3 Successes
over the link "By the way I found a clue"
Justin:"Nice, good work!"
Lucas:*"keep it just in case we can get somethin off it later. aside from that, I reckon we should go meet up with Eve.
Jessica:Pockets the hanky
(From Eve K.): steal windows makes stuff see thru btw
Lucas:Lucas grabs his clothes and throws them over his shoulder and then walks to the stream. he washes his filthy hands in the water.
Justin:"Alright, let's head off."
Justin starts off in the direction of Eve, making sure that Wallace follows.
(To Eve K.): Leaves, rocks, and eventually, a layer of thick branches, go transparent, and you gaze upon a middle aged woman, red haired, looking a lot like Jessica
Eve K.:((https://images.app.goo.gl/kJdbW33Z1FtaXJCs5))
Forensic gaze
(To Eve K.): she is buried 4 feet deep.
Eve K.:
rolling 8d10>8!
(
4
+
1
+
10
+
10
+
10
+
2
+
10
+
3
+
3
+
3
+
2
+
8
)
=
5 Successes
Jessica:((singing We're Following the Leader))
Kurtis Kerner:points to the grave, completely flabbergasted
"Well what happened to the respect for the dead? We gonna just leave him dug up?"
Justin:"I can clean it up really fast if you want. No digging required."
Lucas:Lucas turns back to the grave. "You're right. must be tired from all that diggin."
Kurtis Kerner:"Now you're talking, Justin! Welcome to the 'Not my mom, don't give a shit' club! Feed it to your bug."
Lucas:He walks over and wills the earth ad
nd rock to swallow the body
Justin:((You matter 3?))
Eve K.:(baby)
Lucas:(nope. but hes gonna try anyway. he no knows)
GM (GM):Lucas, you have unlocked Forensic Gaze. You can buy it for 2 xp, and the rote is Int + Medicine + Death, Reaper's Scent
Lucas:(we got xp for last week too, right?)
GM (GM):As far as willing the earth and rock to swallow the body, you feel like a certain power forms on your fingertips, and should you touch the body, it might just work
Lucas:Lucas kneels down and places his hand once again on the man's chest.
GM (GM):make a stamina + intimidation + death roll
Jessica:((scare the body back into the earth))
Justin:((Relentlessly))
Lucas:(scare the earth into hiding the body)
Justin:((Alpha-Male, Relentless, Jackhammer))
Lucas:
rolling 9d10>8!
(
1
+
6
+
2
+
10
+
6
+
8
+
7
+
8
+
4
+
2
)
=
3 Successes
GM (GM):
rolling 1d10>8!
(
10
+
8
)
=
2 Successes
Lucas, roll 4 dice please
Lucas:
rolling 4d10>8!
(
4
+
10
+
3
+
5
+
8
)
=
2 Successes
GM (GM):Lucas, as you will the earth to swallow this corpse, your head flashes with a memory of your time in the Tower, and another memory, of your skeletal father's form. "Return to Dust" - you recall the words whispered by the apparitions as you learned from books on occult and alchemy. You remember the attic and the room, which belonged to Elizabeth. You remember watching things fade to dust. Overwhelmed by that feeling of futility again, you lose 1 willpower, and you cannot spend willpower for the duration of the rest of today. That melancholy of all things being pointless as the cycle of the coin devours all, overtakes you, and you can feel it wants to spread to others, but Kurtis and Justin, specifically, resist the teaching. You feel misunderstood and alone, they have not seen what you have seen. Maybe even Eve doesn't truly get it. You feel like Death has a grip on you, the pull of Stygia calls strong, and should Death powers affect you today, you would have a harder time resisting them, being yourself tethered to this weak mortal flesh. Your body here is nothing compared to the titan you were in the arena.
As these thoughts overtake you, the dead man's body starts to rapidly rot and disintegrate. The earth swallows it alright, after its skin boils, bubbles, oozes, scabs, sheds, dries, and rots, as its bones decay, as its eyes get devoured by maggots, and then those maggots dissolve as well. The destruction is not fully complete, but not this corpse is but bare thin bones, which look a year old into decay.
You have successfully cast your first decay corpse spell.
Jessica:((gross af))
Eve K.:((That is epic))
Lucas:Lucas turns away from the bones, "So shall we all return to the dust of the grave." his voice is dark and quiet. he scowls into the distance, seeing things in another place and time.
Justin:Justin is sad he doesn't get to sic the ants on the corpse.
Lucas:He shoulders roughly past Justin and Kurtis and continues on the path to Eve.
GM (GM):((Lucas is effectively under the Depression derangement for the rest of today))
Lucas:(Too real)
Jessica:((that's intense))
Justin:((Too sad.))
"Huh.."
Eve K.:meanwhile... deeper in the woods...
Jessica:((new dead body pile))
((there's like 8))
(To Eve K.): The red head woman died due to a sudden heart failure. Her heart literally stopped, because it was turned to stone for 20 minutes, and then returned to a form of a heart, once her brain was dead. She died 5 days ago, or whenever Jessica awakened, i think it was 5 days.
(From Eve K.): so she was brought out here dead? I should be able to see the scene of her death
Kurtis Kerner:"Okay, that works." shoves some dirt on top of the bones real fast "Don't wander off to far now, unless you wanna get hot." realizing that they are leaving and he needs to keep shielding them from the anomaly, and a dug up hole looks super sketchy, Kurt finally decides to cover the hole quickly with telekinesis so that he can hurry after the others
Justin:"So I was thinking that I could modify bugs with razors and things. Make them really nasty."
GM (GM):
rolling 2d10>8!
(
9
+
1
)
=
1 Success
Kurtis Kerner:
rolling 11d10>8!
(
9
+
2
+
3
+
3
+
10
+
6
+
8
+
1
+
2
+
6
+
10
+
3
+
7
)
=
4 Successes
Eve K.:over the link but in a distracted tone "Justin so help me.."
Jessica:D:
Kurtis Kerner:Absorbing 1 bashing damage, Kurt covers up the hole, as dirt pours into it, leveling out the grave.
Justin:"Matter and Life have some really solid combinations. I could summon a spirit to help track if we want. Anthony used to do stuff like that right?"
Justin leads Wallace a little higher up, following us along as we walk but well underneath us.
(To Eve K.): To get the scene of her death, you need time. [Because of the limitations of the Death Arcanum, Forensic Gaze reveals
GM (GM):only cause of death and not
mitigating circumstances.]
Thanks roll20
Jessica:"Wouldn't a tracking spirit in the forest be something mean like a wolf?"
Justin:"Yeah, but spirit magic can make it like us."
(To Eve K.): It basically gives you exact time and exact cause of death, but it would not play out the scene, unless there are ghosts around, like there were with Hans and Mladen.
(From Eve K.): soooo... when Lucas used the exact same spell he got a death scene?
(From Eve K.): without ghosts around which Eve checked for earlier...
(To Eve K.): He did not. He got the cause of death, 5 stab wounds, and a final slice of the throat. Your equivalent is, this woman was dying for the duration of 6 minutes that she had no functional heart, it was an agonizing death as her brain wasn't supplied oxygen, and her blood circulation basically stopped
Jessica:"Let's not hinge everything on magic. Eve found another clue. We might have to fight the guys in suits if the spell wears off. Let's not fight a wolf too."
Justin:"Whatever works."
(To Eve K.): Her killer used a Life - Matter spell. She never saw the hand of her killer. The corpse Lucas examined was killed by a mortal man physically.
(From Eve K.): is Eve outside the time abnormality?
(To Eve K.): And yes, her ghost is not around, she has moved on, which may suggest she may have gotten to say goodbye, or you know, most people dont leave ghosts. The fact that the time of death is not in the future, but matches the time of Jessica's awakening explosion, you could conclude that you are out of the time anomaly, you're like a few miles away, so yeah you are way outside it. In fact, you got outside it once you crossed the stream.
GM (GM):So, we walk along the stream until we are outside the force anomaly, and everyone who crosses the stream, make dex+athletics rolls
Eve K. waits for the others to catch up, looking around for any other clues
GM (GM):People who have crossed the stream, the Time anomaly ends there. Other side of the stream is no longer in the future.
Justin:
rolling 5d10>8!
(
1
+
7
+
6
+
4
+
6
)
=
0 Successes
Jessica:
rolling 1d10>8!
(
9
)
=
1 Success
HA
Justin:(fk)
GM (GM):Crossing the stream made Justin remember the dream about making river accesses. What happened to Ashley distracts him and he slips up and falls down.
Lucas:
rolling 4d10>8!
(
8
+
8
+
10
+
5
+
10
+
3
)
=
4 Successes
Jessica:((this is acanthus nonsense right here))
((bad luck bullshit))
Justin:Justin grunts as he falls and reflexively attempts to part the red sea around him
((SHape Water 6 dice.))
rolling 6d10>8!
(
6
+
10
+
4
+
1
+
6
+
1
+
4
)
=
1 Success
GM (GM):Jessica rolls up her sleeves and her pants to elbows and knees, grabs her shoes in her hands and crosses on her tip toes
Lucas being tall, also crosses just fine.
Justin fights the water current and....
rolling 2d10>8!
(
8
+
5
)
=
1 Success
Justin:((Should be 1 die.))
((Since it's a rote.))
GM (GM):
rolling 1d10>8!
(
7
)
=
0 Successes
and is fine
Water flows around him and he can cross much easier
Let's see how Dante does.
Dante Faustus Canavacciuolo:
rolling 6d10>8!
(
8
+
6
+
10
+
5
+
9
+
7
+
3
)
=
3 Successes
GM (GM):He crosses fine
The Loquimorscope:
rolling 20d10>8!
(
9
+
3
+
9
+
6
+
9
+
2
+
9
+
8
+
2
+
3
+
9
+
4
+
6
+
3
+
5
+
1
+
5
+
1
+
9
+
4
)
=
7 Successes
GM (GM):Whatever that was
Eve K.:(apparently the LQ is very athletic))
Justin:((=)))
Jessica:((wtf))
GM (GM):((Alias shenanigans. Someone has powers))
Lucas:(I wish i had a body like that)
Kurtis Kerner:And Kurtis is going to levitate over it, cause he ain't messing up his shoes.
rolling 2d10>8!
(
2
+
3
)
=
0 Successes
rolling 12d10>8!
(
10
+
7
+
4
+
3
+
10
+
5
+
9
+
6
+
5
+
6
+
9
+
9
+
1
+
9
)
=
6 Successes
and does so successfully, and we have all crossed
Justin:Justin kicks the dirt from his shoes and focuses on cleaning his clothes.
rolling 6d10>8!
(
1
+
4
+
8
+
1
+
1
+
3
)
=
1 Success
GM (GM):About a mile and a half north east, we reach Eve.
Eve K. is sitting on a log at this point
GM (GM):She is near another mound. This one is a properly tended to grave. It looks like a nice place to rest, under a beautiful tree. It's surrounded in stones, has flowers at its head, grass is cut around it, it's much nicer made, and a make shift wooden cross is placed over it. With initials carved on it: D.J.M.
Eve K.:"No need to dig this one up. No ghost either. She passed on without incident."
Lucas:Lucas turns his eyes away from the mound. the futility of life and death are too much for him.
GM (GM):Justin, after we cross the stream, Wallace's life form reduces in size by 3000%
Eve K.:"It's been about five days since she passed."
Justin:Justin salutes Wallace and relinquishes control.
Eve K.:(or how ever many days ago it was that Jessica awakened)
GM (GM):The time stamp on the stiff here would match the night of Jessica's game with Mladen
Jessica:Jessica's knees feel suddenly weak when she sees the grave. It is a slap to the face again. She almost stumbles but keeps walking towards it. When was the ride going to be over?
Kurtis Kerner:Kurt lights up a cigarette and walks off to lean on another tree
Jessica:She stops near the flowers. It takes her a few tries to talk, and her voice is hoarse and tight: "Any more clues about my dad?"
(To Eve K.): After burying this woman, whoever did so did all they could to vanish without a trace
Lucas:Lucas smells the smoke from Kurt's cigarette and pulls out his pack from Stygia and lights one. He briefly regrets using up the pieces of his friends, but he knew better now. His mind and soul were the only place they existed now in this world.
Jessica:((all the grave materials look like found materials, correct? So looking at their past would likely just show where he found them))
(To Eve K.): But google maps would point you to a farm further north east. Logical deduction might point there, if you'd be willing to chance it.
(To Eve K.): there is just no tacks nor trace confirming that
GM (GM):((you won't know til you try))
((but yes, all materials look found))
((nothing personal was left for easy taking))
Eve K.:"I looked around. Thoroughly. There's no tracks. No mundane trace of which way he went from here. But.. I do know from google mapping this area that there is a farm further north east, which was the direction he was heading. But there's no track to confirm it.
Justin:"Grass emits a specific type of distress chemical when it gets damaged, which is why it smells good when you mow the lawn. I could focus my life sight on that sort of thing and see if there's a trail."
Kurtis Kerner:To Brick
"That's a shit way to go, shit place to die, and god damnit, no talk of cosmic balance can change that, my friend."
Eve K.:"There are worse ways than being stabbed."
(From Eve K.): Eve is not explaining to the group how mom died
Kurtis Kerner:"That's a good idea, Justin. If 5 days is not too long ago."
Justin:"I can try and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work."
rolling 7d10>8!
(
2
+
8
+
1
+
6
+
5
+
3
+
6
)
=
1 Success
GM (GM):You get a sense of some damaged grass in the direction matching the marker to the farm.
Eve K.:"Time line seems weird to me. He was here in this spot 5 days ago. And then two days from now he will be there by the creek to fight with the John doe."
Justin:"Yeah, I think Eve's got it. Let's go to the farm."
Jessica:"Two days from now the fight's already over. When did the John Doe die again?"
Eve K.:(Two days from now as I understand)
Jessica:((that would have been same day then right?))
((cause we were also two days in the future when we walked into the time bubble))
GM (GM):((yes, so there are 7 days difference))
Lucas:Lucas looks at Kurt with disinterest and takes a long drag on is cigarette.
"life means nothing to the balance. a shitty place to die or a sweet, peaceful sleep are the same in the flow of time."
"Return to dust"
Eve K.:(outside of the time thing its September 22nd yes?)
("Death occured on September 24th, 1 AM")
GM (GM):((yes, thats the present, the now, the 22nd))
Eve K.:(Mom died same day Jessica awakened "5 days ago")
Justin:"Calm down Lucas. You're making a bad situation worse."
GM (GM):((the second stiff death occurred september 17th))
Justin:Justin gives Lucas a pointed look.
Eve K.:"He will die in two days"
Lucas:"No one will remember what i said even ten years from now. you think the eternity of Stygia has better records?"
Eve K.:"Problem is, we can't go back to where he encounters your dad because of the time abnormality. So we try to find dad before he gets there"
Eve K. looks at Lucas narrowing her eyes
Jessica:"If we find my dad today and take him somewhere what happens to the suits since he won't be here to kill them?"
"Does that fuck with us since we went through the time bubble?"
Eve K.:"Everything is recorded. You just need to know where to look to read it."
Justin:Justin shakes his head at Lucas's spiraling and walks up to Jessica, ignoring him.
Lucas:"Heads, the coin remembers. Tails, it forgets."
Justin:"I don't know that time works that way. I wonder if we, and him, were just wondering through an environment that was made to look like the future."
Eve K. looks back to Jessica with a frown "I'm not expert on Time magic. It's not one of my strong suits to understand."
Lucas:Lucas pats him on the back lightly.
Farmer:Hands shaking, he's still near shitting his pants. He looks at Jessica
"You... you... you're her. What are you called?"
Eve K.:(and that is how the old farmer died. Of a heart attack when the giant building mime patting him on the shoulder))
*back
Dante:(PAT PAT PAT)
Eve K.:(XD)
GM (GM):((yeah except Justin won't let him die, and will keep his heart going in a cycle of perpetual patting.))
Lucas:(it's Mime-building. Get it right.)
Eve K.:(sorry to offend ;) )
Justin:((:)))
Lucas:(at least Lucas isn't wearing his corpse paint.)
Jessica Murphy:"Jessica."
Eve K.:((Eve liked the corpse paint. :( ))
(but she was the only one))
Farmer:He fiddles with his fingers at the temple, like trying to keep things straight and remember.
"Yes, yes, that's right. Jessica, Jessica. And... And what's your father's name?"
Lucas:(maybe later. He hasn't had time to reapply)
Jessica Murphy:Dante, I feel like something is up.
((can sympathetic connections tell me if someone is messing with him with magic?))
((interconnections, sorry))
Dante:Dante perks up and makes his way back to the door. "I'm coming back inside, what is going on?"
GM (GM):((if you word the spell right and depends on how you roll. You have to connect to specific things))
Dante:(Raising Third Eye as well, dropping shield)
rolling 9d10>8!
(
4
+
7
+
2
+
4
+
4
+
2
+
1
+
2
+
7
)
=
0 Successes
(or not)
Jessica Murphy:He asked for my name, but then he asked for my dad's. He's ready to shoot us but he can't remember my dad's name?
Dante:(I'm aware that this failed and can recast at -1 right?)
Eve K. over the link "maybe trying to confirm you are who you say you are?"
Lucas:like a secret agent code or sumthin?
GM (GM):(yeah you can)
Dante:
rolling 8d10>8!
(
3
+
3
+
4
+
4
+
8
+
1
+
7
+
6
)
=
1 Success
(Jeepers)
GM (GM):No signs of telepathy or mind magic here.
Jessica Murphy:"Edward."
Dante:Dante presses up to the house and tries to listen. (Can I hear the conversation from the other side?)
Farmer:The old man rubs his noggin and then strokes his beard, nodding. "Edward, yes, yes, that's right. Edward Murphy. He said people may be tricky, use illusions, use hypnosis, lie. But that's all I can do, an old toad like me. You're the real Jessica?"
Dante:"I don't sense anything out of the ordinary around me, as far as mind magic goes."
GM (GM):Dante, you can hear the conversation partly with your human ears, but really, it's all going into your brain via network.
Yeah there's no magic here, he's... just old. And scared.
Jessica Murphy:"I'm real. I just want to make sure my dad is okay."
Eve K. looks up at Dante, speaking quietly "anything in the shed?"
Dante:Dante shrugs. He never entered. Now that the seeming danger of the old man is passed, he'll move back over to it with renewed curiosity.
Eve K.:(lol I thought he made it inside before he came back)
Dante:(I thought of it more that he approached and was eyeing it. Never got anything so I just didnt want to assume.)
Jessica Murphy:"I'm really sorry we busted in here like that."
Eve K.:(ah)
Farmer:"He showed me a picture of you in his wallet, younger, but, it's you alright. I'm sorry, I... I may have some poor news. Why don't you sit down?"
Eve K. over the link "I'm going to check the barn, someone come watch Dante's back out here."
Eve K. pushes away from the wall and heads towards the barn
Jessica Murphy:Jessica's face pales. "If it's about my mom..." her voice hitches, "we already found her. Where he buried her." She sits anyway, puts her hands on the table like she's not sure what to do with them. Taps her thumbs.
Eve K. draws her gun just in case before entering the barn
Jessica Murphy:(please hold Jon and Chris said we didn't find her grave, checking the log))
Eve K.:((Pretty sure we did...))
Jessica Murphy:("She is near another mound. This one is a properly tended to grave. It looks like a nice place to rest, under a beautiful tree. It's surrounded in stones, has flowers at its head, grass is cut around it, it's much nicer made, and a make shift wooden cross is placed over it. With initials carved on it: D.J.M.")
GM (GM):((Eve found her))
Eve K.:(( XD))
Jessica Murphy:(("No need to dig this one up. No ghost either. She passed on without incident."))
GM (GM):((We didn't excavate it... Kurt would be happy to if you wanna look at her ^^ ))
Jessica Murphy:((jesus christ))
Farmer:"It is terrible. To rest like so, in a foreign country, in wild land. He asked me to look after her grave, and not let the animals disturb it. It's not how your mother would have wanted to be laid to rest, she would want to be near her family's cemetery. It isn't right, isn't right at all, I am so sorry."
Lucas:(I think I was delirious at that point and don't remember.)
Eve K.:(is dante broadcasting this?)
Jessica Murphy:The corners of Jessica's mouth tighten and her eyes redden. Her eyes lose focus for a minute, thinking back to the grave.
Dante:(I'm assuming that unless you are specifying someone to relay to, all information is shared.)
Jessica Murphy:((makes sense))
Dante:(I'm not a switchboard anymore, that was before I had the rote.)
Eve K.:((KK))
Jessica Murphy:((we're digital now))
Eve K. over the link "Seems to know a lot about your mom, perhaps he knew her? Or would your father tell him these things?"
Dante:(Fully digitial, analog is for old people)
GM (GM):The Barn investigators: the barn is a barn. Kurt will look your way if you call him, but he's smoking and looking out into the forest. Nothing in the barn is peaking his interest, even the farming treasures no longer catch the thief's eye. Like the super high quality rake collection, or the shovel in excellent condition. And all the bird feed and rubber boots, fishing tackles, and sledgehammers and wrenches.
Dante:Dante makes his way over to the tools and marvels at the wrenches.
Jessica Murphy:Talking helps some people grieve. My dad probably talked a lot after it happened. Not like this guy has other company.
GM (GM):(yeah the way DanteNet works now is you are your own switch-routers, addressors and addressees now, Dante's mind just acts as a mail server. If it's up, we're connected.)
Lucas:Lucas excuses himself and steps onto the porch next to Kurt. He pulls out a cigarette and pushes the end lightly onto the end of Kurt's and quickly moves it to his mouth to inhale and feed the cherry.
Justin:Justin starts quietly inspecting the pipes to see if he can figure out where the plumbing is busted.
Jessica Murphy:"How long was my dad here?"
Kurtis Kerner:"All under control in there? Gettin' tired of this shit. Distractions. Every day not dealing with Diana costs us." - he mutters quietly to Brick, trying to keep it off-network.
Farmer:motions to the old well dusted, and mostly dirt-free couch, as he fumbles and rummages for sugar and tea spoons
GM (GM):Justin, do int+crafts
Eve K. holsters her gun after the riveting search of the barn. Comes back out nodding at Kurtis and Lucas as she moves back towards the back side of the house.
Justin:((4 whoooo!))
rolling 4d10>8!
(
2
+
10
+
4
+
8
+
4
)
=
2 Successes
Lucas:Lucas's mood still hadn't lightened any from their trek through the woods. "Does anything really matter, though? I mean, once you stare into the black depths of the void of Stygia. Well, man, ain't nothing much that holds meaning after that."
Farmer:"Yes. Edward came here two days ago. He was wounded, losing blood, exhausted, dirty, and scared. We spoke. He stayed to sleep, in the bedroom upstairs. I tried to beat his fever down and asked him to stay longer, but he was in a hurry, said people are after him."
Jessica Murphy:"So he's still sick and injured. Which way did he go? Did he say where he was going to hide out?"
Dante:Dante wanders a bit aimlessly about the property, listening in as things unfold. He smirks to no one in particular and gradually makes his way back to the back door.
Jessica Murphy:((do I remember right that we have a bloody bandage of his?))
Kurtis Kerner:stares off, nodding to Lucas
"A grim perspective to hold, friend. Believe it or not that's what I thought too, before the whole, you know. This."
Eve K. watches the chickens pecking around at the ground, head leaned back against the wall. Occasionally refocusing on the greater view of the back yard watching for anything out of the ordinary.
GM (GM):(yes, you have a bandage)
chicken: Bawk.
GM (GM):Eve, the Rooster is about to give you ass
Like, don't you fuckin look at mah hoes.
Jessica Murphy:((roosters are fuckheads))
GM (GM):Justin, the plumbing could take you a while to fix here, but you know where to start. The water supply here is kinda dirty to begin with, but the biggest problem is that all the pipes are rusty and the tape is loose in like every shoulder. Even with magic, this would take a while to fix each section. You could spend hours on this house.
Eve K. scowls at the rooster "I will eat you."
GM (GM):But a person without magic would probably take weeks or months.
Jessica Murphy:Jessica purses her lips. Looking at the bandage's past didn't reveal much because of the time spell on the area. But maybe sympathetic connections could help? Guys, can we do some voodoo with the bandage and the sick bed?
Justin:Justin shrugs and gives up when he realizes how big of a project the plumbing is. Instead he focuses his attention on the farmer.
((Healer's Trance 8 dice.))
rolling 8d10>8!
(
1
+
7
+
9
+
2
+
7
+
8
+
2
+
4
)
=
2 Successes
Farmer:The farmer gives one of those long sighs. He pours you some hot water and offers coffee.
"Edward behaved like a military man. He thought you died, you see. Said there was an explosion right where you stood. Saw you die. He buried your mother as well. Denise, right? I lost my wife too, I promised him I would do what I could. He said the people after him could see into my mind. He wouldn't tell me where he'd go. But I know a man when I see him. Edward went off to make sure he is not going to be found...."
Jessica Murphy:"Why did you believe him when he said they could see into your mind?"
Farmer:The farmer sips the muddy coffee, sighs, and speaks all of this slowly, with a pace of a turtle.
Jessica Murphy:((ugh))
Dante:Dante shifts his weight to his other leg and listens quietly. "You are the future lady, right? Maybe you can use your magic to find out more. Mine could make it easier to maybe cast spells on him."
Farmer:"I asked no questions. I saw a wounded man on the run, desperate for help. I heard of terrorist attacks in the cities. The country is going to hell. Men in suits drink our blood til we all die and give up our land so they can build more of their city until naught but city is left. But I'll never get off my land, I tell them, I won't get off my land, and don't you offer me no sums. Anyway, yes, poor Edward. I helped him beat the fever, fresh eggs I fed him, yes. Changed his bandages. Told him about my wife. And my children. I've had three, you know. He asked me not to look, and not to tell my name to anyone who comes. And not to talk about the grave. I was to tell them that he's dead, but they wouldn't believe anyways. So I just made sure to stay in my bed, and Edward left in the early morning."
"I wish I could say that news is good, and that he's looking for you, but all I can help is to give you food and shelter, poor girl. Edward I met was a man struck by tragedy. His eyes were red with grief, he's lost hope. His aim was to disappear. To hunt down those who killed his family. He doesn't know you live."
Jessica Murphy:I dunno if I have enough gas for that, but I can try. She gets up from the table, still listening to the farmer, trying to figure out how to put the spell together. "Do you have any of his bandages?" She takes his shirt scrap out of her pocket, places it on the couch, maybe where his sleeve would have been if he was laying down, trying to picture him laying down. "He can't fight these people. They'll murder him." If the farmer has the bandages she'll wait for them but otherwise she'll try to cast
GM (GM):Justin, what are you looking for in the Farmer's health?
Justin:Terminal diseases.
Jessica Murphy:Interconnections, + WP. WP adds 1 or 3 dice?
GM (GM):Are you just kind giving him the ol' Justin Tune Up of Kindness and improve his general health?
Justin:Looking for stuff that's building up that might put him in the grave early.
GM (GM):Okay, so, we need to talk, since Justin has done this to several people throughout his career as a mage.
Dante:(It adds 3)
Jessica Murphy:(thx)
Dante:"Not enough gas? Do you need a morsel of magic?"
Jessica Murphy:No, I mean I'm not sure I can make a spell that big. She thinks back to trying to make a Mary Poppins bag.
Eve K.:(He's increasing the worlds life expectancy one person he encounters randomly at a time!)
Justin:(Think locally act locally.)
Jessica Murphy:((it's fine Fate will fuck over someone else to mke up for it))
Dante:"Only one way to find out, right? I can try to locate him remotely, maybe. But if he is trying not to be found and knows about people like us, that could be dangerous. To him or us."
((Fate is sworn to carry your burdens.))
GM (GM):Justin, you've done similar things to the elderly, even to Cubic, whom you hate. Looking at this farmer now, you see osteoporosis, arthritis, vision and hearing loss, general dementia, the old man's body is just old and subject to natural decay, there are traces of early stage skin cancer, but that will probably not even manifest before he dies of heart failure, he's got maybe 3-4 years to live. But the thing is... this shit is messing with your belief in God, like real hard. The Mormon in you is shaken every time you, and not God, decide when a person should delay death and just not go. This might be one of those breaking moments when you defy God for the last time, before you can't really take "god" seriously anymore. Can you justify being a mormon at this point, holding that kind of power?
Jessica Murphy:((but...hard core religious people believe in miracles. I feel like a sufficiently religious person would be like, oh, this is why miracles happen. because some people are magic.)
GM (GM):((are you Justin?))
Justin:The power Just wields and god aren't mutually exclusive. Why is it so hard to believe that Justin's exercise of his power might just be an extension of God's will, of his plan? This doesn't shake Justin at all.
GM (GM):((let him do the thing, worry about your dead mom XD))
Jessica Murphy:((alright, well i'm rolling interconnections 'cause that's the closest thing i can actually cast))
Justin:Justin grew up his entire life hearing the gospel. He trusts in his ability to make the sorts of decisions that God entrusted him to make.
Jessica Murphy:+wp = 10 dice
GM (GM):((i mean, yeah she has a good point, if you can justify it that way, that's cool too))
Eve K. smiles softly, then over the link "Are you trying for a ritual? I'm not sure that's wise in front of this poor farmer."
GM (GM):((oh wow))
Okay, so Justin, you believe, you are a tool of God? It's the only good explanation, if God exists.
Jessica Murphy:Justin turned his door into steel and he believes in mind-reading. I don't think magic triggers him like most people.
GM (GM):Thus, if you make a mistake, and heal or harm the wrong person, then God has made the mistake, or enacted his Plan through you?
Jessica Murphy:But yeah, Justin can you distract him?
Justin:Absolutely. Every mormon believes themselves to be tools of god. That's why they go around proselytizing his word. Justin was just gifted with more ability to do this than other followers of His Grace.
GM (GM):Alright. (Reading back up, cause Justin character development distracted me)
Justin:God didn't make a mistake entrusting Justin with this power, independent of Justin's fallibility. He knows that if he makes a mistake, there is a reason for it, independent of whether or not it's readily apparent.
Jessica Murphy:((mormons in particular believe that god works with mistakes. Unlike the majority of denominations they see the Fall as a good thing))
GM (GM):((thats fucking scary fanatical))
Justin:"Yeah, I can distract him."
"Sir, you have some medical issues going on. If you're willing, I can see what I can do about some of them. I'm sort of like a doctor in that I can help fix things or people."
Farmer:"I... I have the bandages, yes, they are in the bin." He goes up to get them, and takes forever, cause he walks slowly.
Justin:Justin walks beside the farmer as he goes to get the bandages.
Farmer:"He said he was wounded in a knife fight, with a mysterious man. He won. By the look of Edward, I presume he killed him."
"Are you... are you the people Edward warned me about? People that can... do things? My door... the shotgun..."
"You can heal? I... I have some back pains... and my legs swell. Water retention, they said."
Justin:"I don't think I'm what Edward had in mind when he warned you about people with powers. But yeah, I can help with those."
Farmer:"Oh and every night after I drink too much and eat something salty, it hurts right here."
"Oh yes, and sometimes I get constipated, but only after eating a lot of potatoes."
"And sometimes I can't fall asleep, for hours, and stay up til dawn. And once the dawn hits, I'm all tired, and sleep all day."
"And sometimes I have nightmares too."
"Ah yes, and my hands get shaky sometimes. And I get nervous. I really miss my Giselle."
Justin:Justin nods and listens as the man describes his various aches and pains.
Dante:(Congratulations on your first patient, Doctor.)
Farmer:"Oh, and sometimes I can just hear my heart pounding, like, pom pom, pom pom, like this, like this" - shakes his fist a bit..
Justin:"Well after you get Jess that bandage we can sit down and try to take care of some of this."
Eve K.:(at least he isn't describing the color and frequency of bowel movements yet.)
Farmer:"And my neck gets stiff, and sometimes I get bad hangovers, I didn't used to, but now I do."
"Ah yes. Why do you want a used bandage anyway? It's no good, I ... I have clean ones!"
Jessica Murphy:Jessica gets a knife out of the drawer in the kitchen while the farmer is busy getting the bandages. She cuts off her own shirt sleeve where Edward's is missing, sort of ad-hoc-ing the ritual. She grits her teeth and cuts her arm a little where she imagines the knife wound was, and lays on the couch with Edward's shirt piece. Her dad slept on his stomach. She tried to imagine him lying down with a ziploc full of ice melting under his head. His grief. That was easy. If she could just get inside his head a little, maybe the magic would go further. (i'mma roll without waiting on the bandages, i already have the sleeve and the sick bed and it's a useful distraction. 10 dice)
rolling 10d10>8!
(
4
+
3
+
4
+
6
+
3
+
7
+
8
+
9
+
4
+
8
)
=
3 Successes
((interconnections trying to figure out where edward went from here in his grief-stricken state of mind))
GM (GM):Jessica, your mind enters a state of trance, as the piece of Edward's shirt takes you off the couch, and your mind wanders the corridors of fate. The shirt piece crawls over to where you cut out yours, and substitutes the missing piece in your own shirt, becoming a mismatched spot. Then the color bleeds to the rest of your shirt, until you are wearing your father's whole shirt. You feel a sharp pain in the stomach that makes you cry out, you rip the shirt's sleeve, and mess up, ripping only a tiny piece, insufficient. You try to cover your wound with it, but it only gets bloodied. You discard it into the forest ground, and rip again, this time tearing off entire sleeve, that is enough to patch up your gut sufficiently so that your bowels don't come leaking.
Nobody else sees any of this, these experiences are in Jessica's head only.
You come out of trance knowing that your father was wounded in the stomach.
The numbness of the wound still stings you, and you might wanna breathe to not vomit
Jessica Murphy:Jessica sits up and clutches her stomach, looks at her hand for blood. Shit. Um, spell didn't work. Or it didn't do what I wanted anyway. She breathes slowly, her diaphram clenching unexpectedly. She leans over the floor in case she yaks by accident. Oh fuck I don't feel good.
Dante:"Are you alright? What happened?" Dante shifts his weight, prepared to come back in if needed.
Jessica Murphy:I tried to look forward at where my dad is now. The pain in her abdomen is distracting for a moment, even too much to think. It took me back instead. Feels like I got fucking stabbed. She tries to breathe through her nose.
Eve K. over the link "what happened?"
Jessica Murphy:I think I lived through part of the knife fight, kind of.
Her fists clench and slowly relax, clench again. God it hurt.
Eve K. over the link. "So the spell took you to the time the shirt was in contact with your dad......What if..you tried the porch steps?"
Jessica Murphy:The porch steps? I still don't think it'll let me look forward. What do you want to know from the steps?
Farmer:"Here, here are all the bloodied bandages. I wouldn't touch em though. You can take them. It's probably rotten blood by now." - he shows the dirty rolled up bandages in the trash bin.
Dante:"Let me see if I can find a solution. Do you have any of Edward's personal effects?" Dante makes his way inside the house.
Jessica Murphy:Just the piece of shirt.
((do i have anything else? from the house? looking at the log))
Justin:"Hmm do you have any plastic bags or anything I could use?"
Eve K. over the link "Well if the shirt showed you the last time it was in contact with your dad. Then the porch steps might also show you the last time they were in contact with your dad. As in, which way he went?"
Dante:Dante approaches Jessica, assessing her visually before gesturing toward the front door. "Jessica, can I talk to you out on the front porch for a minute?" "Bring the shirt piece. I don't want to do anything in front of the stranger."
Jessica Murphy:Jessica follows Dante. We can try.
Dante:When they are out of immediate view, Dante will gesture for her to hand him the shirt piece. "Try the porch, I will see what I can glean from the cloth."
Jessica Murphy:((we still have the phone)
Jessica hands Dante the phone as well.
Farmer:"Plastic bags, yes, in the kitchen, under the sink."
Eve K. begins to pace the back porch still watching for anything unusual. Over the link "If I can help give me a holler"
Justin:Justin nods and goes to get a bag before returning to the farmer to get the soiled bandages.
Dante:*Dante sits at the edge of the porch, setting the phone beside him and grasping the shirt piece in one hand. He opens his spatial senses, trying to determine its strongest sympathetic connections.
(Casting Correspondence impromptu = 7 dice)
rolling 7d10>8!
(
9
+
3
+
8
+
4
+
6
+
6
+
9
)
=
3 Successes
Farmer:Farmer made like 10 steps down the stairs by the time Justin got the plastic bag and made it back to him. You collect the dirty bandages. They smell pretty bad.
Justin:Justin frowns at the smell. "Jessica, you still need the bandages?"
Jessica:Probably couldn't hurt?
GM (GM):Dante: Both the shirt piece and the phone radiate strongly with Edward Murphy, his phone has some of his body oil and hair flakes, but sympathetic connection through the blood in particular is the strongest. Using magic on Edward through the bandage would provide you a -2 penalty, that's as good as sympathetic magic can get.
Kurtis Kerner:laughs at the joke, considering Jessica literally got hurt by her spell
Eve K.: It is -A- judgement. Not many reach -the- judgement. A soul has to free itself of its fetters before it can do that. Make peace as it were with what it was and was not able to accomplish. "
...
Dante:"I could try to scry your father's location with this, if we have no other avenues to pursue. No idea if he is protected somehow, but only one way to find out I guess."\
Kurtis Kerner:"That's deep. What is it with you Moros and philosophy? You know, since I awakened, I figured, to hell with judgement and futility. Glory and Might - that's the power we were given. And to hell with inner peace. I say, let war drive you forward, and accomplish everything there is."
(From Eve K.): (Didn't mean to post that to everyone... XD)
Justin:Justin takes the bandages and goes to bring them to Jessica.
Jessica:We tried everything else. Might as well. He's going to get himself killed if we don't. The farmer guy is a little loopy.
Eve K. over the link "He's just elderly, lonely."
Kurtis Kerner:"What gave you that idea? Seems a reasonable fellow to me."
Jessica:(god I am bad about introductions in this format. I think I have failed to ask people's names like almost every time)
Eve K.:(he said he was told not to give it)
Jessica:I didn't mean anything by it. I'm a little loopy too after all that.
Kurtis Kerner:sarcasm leaks through the link
"He shot me with a slug, of course he's loopy. "
Dante:"We busted into his house and he's been through a lot of shit recently. Anyway, let me see what I can do.." Dante clutches the bloodied shirt fragment and begins to trace the tendrils of connections, narrowing in on Edward's ties to the cloth and attempting to use that as a catalyst for remotely viewing his location.
(Scrying impromptu -2 = 5)
rolling 5d10>8!
(
9
+
1
+
3
+
5
+
4
)
=
1 Success
Jessica:((better than 0?))
Eve K.:(not gonna lie. If dante gets visions of Jessica's dad and the sensation of being stabbed I'm gonna laught)
Jessica:((Et tu, Edward?))
Dante:(I don't want to be stabbed.)
(There'd be some seriously fucky magic at work if that happens, considering the spell being cast.)
Eve K.:(I don't think anyone in their right mind wants to be stabbed)
Dante:(Typically reserved for people in their left mind, usually)
Eve K.:(XD)
GM (GM):Dante, your impulse fires off and shoots through the ever present tendrils of space, and Space. In a few moments, a window opens, which you can view. It opens to your eyes alone. Edward is butchering a deer in what appears to be a cave. Or a make shift hut. A hut in a mountain side? He has a bonfire going.
Dante:His eyes closing in concentration, he relays the information through the network. "Hard to make out.. someplace discreet, a shelter or cave. Are there mountains nearby? There's a bonfire going."
Jessica:Can you contact him? Actually that might be a bad idea, he might freak out.
Dante:"I think that is a not good idea."
Eve K. pulls out her phone and checks google maps for nearby mountains
Dante:"He told a total stranger that people can read his mind."
Jessica:How the hell has he survived this many kinds of magic users?
Dante:"Your father is clearly some kind of badass. He's butchering his own deer right now. Considering the state the old man said he was in.."
(his own deer? weird wording. a deer.)
GM (GM):(bambi noooo)
Eve K.:(possession is 9/10th of the law?)
Dante:"My guess is he knows a lot and is incredibly resourceful. Do you have any reason to think he could be awakened himself?"
(bambi is delicious)
Jessica:No, but...maybe my Uncle Charlie. Maybe. It was so hard to imagine her dad as believing in magic, but here he was being Rambo against the Death Eaters. Does...the military have a real Men in Black kind of department? She could maybe picture her dad doing something like that. Maybe.
Eve K.:(Yeah he is)
Eve K. over the link "Mages, vampires, and faeries exist. Yeah. I'm gonna guess the military has some sort of men in black."
Dante:"Considering organizations like Cubic's exist.. Regardless, what is our next move? The longer we stay here, the harder this gets."
Jessica:((did eve get a google ping on the nearest mountain area?))
Justin is there a dog nearby that you could get to help us track him or something? We'll need to narrow it down once we figure out vague directions.
Justin:Justin focuses on the old man inside the house and works what magic he can on him with the time that they have.
GM (GM):Sure, there is a near by mountainous area, by nearby we mean like, probably a day or two worth of hike.
Jessica:((god damn it))
Dante:"I can send him a message, but if he thinks you're dead and people who can mess with minds are after him there's no reason he would believe anything I try to send him. I could also.. try to link your minds together the way we are linked right now. If you think that's a good idea."
GM (GM):Justin, there are no dogs nearby, the farmer doesn't have a dog.
Eve K. over the link "I have an obeservation. Your father have effectively gone off the grid and is apparently surviving despite mages hunting him. -If- we find him, then what? Is he going to follow us around while we try to gain an advantage over Diana?"
GM (GM):You were lucky to not run into wolves.
Justin:"Hmm? No dogs."
Jessica:So we just leave him here?
GM (GM):Justin make some healing rolls if you like
Justin:Justin starts with the vascular damage in the brain causing dementia and works his way down.
Dante:(Constipation #2 priority)
Jessica:((dementia is caused by a strain of the herpes virus))
Justin:(Depends.)
(Different types of dementia.)
Eve K.:( XD lolololololol))
Jessica:((the kind that causes brain plaque does))
Justin:(Banish Plague 7 dice.)
rolling 7d10>8!
(
1
+
6
+
4
+
4
+
1
+
7
+
5
)
=
0 Successes
(No luck on that dimentia.)
Jessica:((the plaque is your brain's version of a scab))
Eve K.:(sorry... "constipation #2 priority" followed by 'Depends" hit me just right)
Jessica:((heh))
Kurtis Kerner:*"Personally I think you should reunite with your father and leave Germany, where you are obviously hunted. Tell him you're not a little girl anymore, and that you are gonna stop baby Hitler. Yeah.... I was going somewhere with that. Hell, I think one more badass in the team to stop Diana won't hurt. I mean, in case Brick fails, extra meat shield."
Justin:((Solid combo.))
Dante:(heh)
Justin:((Back Problems))
rolling 7d10>8!
(
7
+
8
+
7
+
3
+
6
+
10
+
3
+
9
)
=
3 Successes
Justin focuses on his spine, working on restoring the damaged cartilage.
Eve K. over the link "non-magic meat shield. Though he does seem to be doing very well on his own"
Jessica:Look, I know this is slowing you guys down. Even if we went back for the truck we'll be like another day down. Do you think we should split up? I can't leave my dad out there thinking I'm dead.
((Eve animate the dead deer over the link and have it talk to Edward. Not really, it was just a funny random thought))
Justin:"I think that Dante should link your minds. If you wanted to go a different way, we could probably summon a spirit, but that can be chaotic."
Jessica:((it'll be like the Evil Dead deer))
Eve K.:((Only evil Eve would do that. We haven't frustrated her enough to switch that on))
Justin:Justin works on the man's heart, attempting to clear out those clogged arteries.
rolling 7d10>8!
(
6
+
6
+
10
+
9
+
2
+
2
+
5
+
7
)
=
2 Successes
Dante:"I am entirely capable of making you known to him at this point. If you want me to do that I will. Whether or not he genuinely believes it is up to him, though."
Kurtis Kerner:"I think this might be the moment, Jessica, where you decide if you're truly, really with us, if you want to help our mission and move back to America, or if you will try to make your life here, in which case, nice knowing ya and good luck. Maybe this is where the fork of decision is."
"There are two ways this will go. Honey I finally found you and I'm never letting you go anywhere again! Or.... Let's kick baby Hitler's ass together!"
Eve K. checks the time on her cellphone, then takes a picture of the chickens and the little garden just because
GM (GM):You have a picture of chickens at the farmer's house dated September 25th, 5:30 AM
Justin:Justin focuses on the man's knees, attempting to mend the damaged cartilage.
rolling 7d10>8!
(
2
+
6
+
3
+
6
+
10
+
10
+
6
+
3
+
8
)
=
3 Successes
Jessica:Jessica didn't think her dad was the type to try to cage her, but she couldn't really risk putting him as the only normie in this group either. Dante, can we just give him a message and like a phone number or something if he wants it? I don't want to bring him along to storm the fortress. He'll probably die.
((Justin shut up))
Justin:"If he's wounded in the belly, he needs medical attention from me very soon."
Justin speaks distractedly into the link as he works on the man's gastro-intestinal tract to try to fix his plumbing.
rolling 7d10>8!
(
9
+
4
+
10
+
3
+
10
+
7
+
3
+
10
+
1
+
9
)
=
5 Successes
((Hell yeah!))
Jessica:Didn't the farmer say he fixed the wound?
Dante:(Now that's some regularity!)
GM (GM):Dante, in your scrying window, Edward looks bandages up.
Jessica:His brain's still fucked but boy howdy can he poop
Dante:"He has been bandaged, I can see that much."
Justin:The dementia might be the plaque kind.... Justin focuses on a different rout. (taking -1 for this roll)
rolling 6d10>8!
(
3
+
5
+
8
+
9
+
1
+
10
+
1
)
=
3 Successes
GM (GM):Jessica, the farmer is not a magic fairy, he "fixed" the wound as in he gave him clean water, helped wash it, gave bandages, food, drink, rest. He maybe saved him from immediately dying, but it's not "fixed"
what is this, a video game?
Dante:(No its tabletop)
GM (GM):What Justin does is FIXING
Jessica:((abdominal wall injuries aren't terrible. if it actually punctured his gut then we have issues))
Eve K.:(only virtually. Over a computer monitor...)
Jessica:((like you can accidentally have your intestines come out where your belly button is as an adult))
GM (GM):It looks (to Dante) like a pretty broad bandage. Likely the cut was broad.
Jessica:(not out of the skin but like out from behind the wall))
Justin:Justin taps his chin, what else did he say? Eyesight? Justin works to rid any cataracts that might be developing.
rolling 7d10>8!
(
6
+
2
+
6
+
9
+
8
+
8
+
3
)
=
3 Successes
Eve K.:(You are describing a "Hernia")
Jessica:((gotcha))
Dante:"So you want me to tell him your phone number and that you are not dead or..."
Jessica:Not my number, my phone's borked. Justin's?
Justin:Justin focuses on muscles, wear and tear and degradation of connective tissue with age.
rolling 7d10>8!
(
7
+
6
+
9
+
4
+
4
+
3
+
6
)
=
1 Success
Dante:Dante relays the details of the bandaged wound in his scrying vision to the best of his ability
Eve K. looks up at the sky and counts to10 in her head. Over the link "We have his cell phone...what is he going to call you with?"
Justin:Justin looks incredibly distracted. "What?"
Jessica:Is he living in the woods forever?
Justin:Skin cancer, generally isn't much of an issue, but it'll help him stay outside longer without running into problems...
rolling 7d10>8!
(
2
+
6
+
10
+
2
+
7
+
8
+
2
+
8
)
=
3 Successes
Jessica:Justin, can you heal over the link??
Justin:"Not without learning alot more about space."
Jessica:Wait, can you get us there since you've seen it? to Dante
Dante:"Its not impossible, but I would have to go first. And he has no reason to not treat me with deadly hostility."
Kurtis Kerner:"Don't tell him you're alive, unless you're prepared for him to live the rest of his life trying to get to you and protect you. He lost your mom, not that I give a shit. And he's never gonna let himself lose his last little girl. Not that I give a shit. But he will die for you. Right now he's in survival mode. You get to choose."
Justin:"Kurt, that isn't a real choice. You're putting more emphasis on doing nothing than is necessary."
Jessica:That was just so hard, not saying anything, not even good bye. He's probably right though.
Justin:Justin focuses on the man again, trying to see if there was anything that he missed.
Jessica:((he's fucking old leave him alone))
Justin:
rolling 8d10>8!
(
2
+
9
+
3
+
6
+
10
+
4
+
3
+
10
+
1
+
10
+
8
)
=
5 Successes
Jessica:"Alright. But, can we find him again when everything is over?"
Dante:((Later this afternoon, a space rock is going to fall from the sky and crush him anyway.))
Justin:((Least he felt good beforehand!))
((Like a dog who gets eaten by a hobo, at least he got his chance to LIVE))
Kurtis Kerner:"I just think leaving a man in a cave with his daughter's phone number is heartless, unless there is a proper period to grieve. He will probably want to lay his wife to rest properly, now that he'll have a family again."
Eve K.:((At this point simply because we've spent so much time on it yes, I expect karmically that will happen ))
Dante:Dante offers the bloodied cloth back to Jessica. "If that's what you want, we can try."
"Don't lose that."
Eve K. over the link, with an effort towards sounding patient "What are the choices? Have Dante go to him and then pull us to some mountain cave? Leave dad alone on his mountain? and what else? Send Justin to heal him?"
Eve K. over the link "Did I miss any?"
Eve K. over the link "Talk to him over the link? Was that one?"
Dante:"With respect, I am not going there alone even if to bring the rest of you. That is way too dangerous."
Justin:"Theoretically he can't hurt anyone over mind link. I'd suggest just patching Jess to him and seeing if she can get him to calm down.'
Kurtis Kerner:"Can you open a portal and tell him to enter it? You looked pretty impressive manipulating Bella's portal. You figure it out?"
Dante:"I could try to do that. But short of commanding him magically, why would he go through that?"
Kurtis Kerner:"I mean, I suppose we could Dante him into calming down. Cause I doubt natural calm will come from "Hey your daughter's alive and you should have never left the house", cause that's not self inflicted misery being rubbed in one's face."
Eve K. over the link "Not sure if that would be self inflicted so much as 'us' inflicted misery. If it's misery at all. Could be a relief. Or he could think he's going crazy, or a hundred other senerios. "
Eve K. starts pacing the back porch again
Justin:"Let's just hope that the universe isn't as negative as Kurt is here."
Jessica:"*Maybe there's a third option? Or fifth or whatever number we're on. If Dante can make him sleep he could bring Justin over and heal him. He can just think it's weird, I don't care. Then we can be gone and he doesn't have to get involved with stopping Hitler, and I can talk to him when it's all done with."
Justin:"Huh.. good plan."
Jessica:((i wonder if Dad knew Cubic Corp was magical when they sponsored me D: ))
Kurtis Kerner:"The 'universe' got nothing to do with it. There are just good ideas and bad ideas. I think this last idea is good."
Dante:Dante scratches his cheek and eats a mana cube, grinding his teeth on it for a while. "I guess that could work. If that's what we want to do."
Justin:"I think we're all for it. Will you work your magic Dante? (Literally)"
Jessica:"Never say that again."
Kurtis Kerner:"He didn't. He thought it."
Justin:"Technically I ... Kurt got there first."
Eve K. over the link is cracking up at the terrible Justin joke
Dante:"You are all incorrigible." Dante returns his focus to the scrying window, staring intently at Edward. Through the link, a soothing hum reverberates, something akin to a lullaby. His right hand makes sweeping motions back and forth as he tries to reach out to Edward's mind to coax him to sleep.
((-2 penalty = 5))
rolling 5d10>8!
(
10
+
6
+
7
+
6
+
4
+
10
+
3
)
=
2 Successes
Jessica:((nice))
Dante:((I assume he rolls resolve. Or Composure. No idea. And gnosis if he's actually awakened.))
Eve K.:((spoiler alert..))
Dante:((I've been assuming it all night pretty much))
Eve K.:((same))
Jessica:((I bet he's a badass normie))
Dante:((A sleepwalker type?))
Justin:((Normie camp.))
((He's a hunter.))
((Taskforce: Valkyrie.))
Jessica:((that would be so cool))
Justin:((Not for you it wouldn't be.))
Jessica:((shhhh))
Eve K.:((truth))
Dante:((Oh no, Dante's spell went havoc because he's actually a total sleeper and it manifested into our reality and I'm suddenly verytiiiredddd....))
Jessica:Fernando returns exactly as he was when he first appeared. He is behind us, He is always behind us
Did he get closer? Someone needs to watch him
Justin:We all get 1b usd but Fernando is constantly following us, trying to get revenge.
Jessica:Don't blink
Dante:(Mio amico, Fernando!)
Jessica:Fernando eats the party. everyone roll new characters
Dante:(Dante writes him an entirely new mind.)
Jessica:D:
GM (GM):Resolve for Edward, as he is intent on cutting that deer before the sun goes up high, so he has food to eat that doesnt spoil.
Justin:(How do you think he got -this- backstory?)
Eve K.:(Eve wakes up from a too much caffine induced nightmare.. saying aloud "damn, well at least there was a hot mime-building in my dreams. Not to mention the Italian or the blonde psycho. I need a cold shower.")
GM (GM):
rolling 3d10>8!
(
3
+
7
+
6
)
=
0 Successes
Jessica:yasss
Dante:(I just realized I have sensory perception of Edward. I didn't need -2)
Jessica:((heh))
((don't reroll))
Justin:(200m)
Dante:(lmao)
GM (GM):Edward starts dosing off, his wound takes toll on his mind, and he leans on the deer and sticks the knife in one last time, before taking a break.
Dante:Once Edward settles in, he will prepare for his next spell. (Do I also have sensory perception for casting a portal to his location? I assume so.)
GM (GM):(you might not cast on him, so you don't land on his face, you could scry the location and find a reasonably good spot)
Eve K.:(do it. Land Justin on his face.)
Dante:(If I portaled directly onto him, would that drag him through?)
Eve K.:(XD)
Jessica:((be nice to my dad, guys, he's MIB))
Justin:(Battle of the boyscouts.)
Eve K.:(yaaaaas!)
Jessica:((be protects us from aliens))
*he
GM (GM):(Dante you have no idea what would happen if a spacial distortion landed on a person while stabilizing)
Dante:(SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD TIME TO LEARN.)
Jessica:((D:))
Justin:(Justin brushes the Edward from his pants and sighs.)
GM (GM):(in before Edward breaks into pieces. Well, now the stomach wound aint so bad, youre welcome Jesss)
Jessica:((rip))
Dante:Dante scries an adjacent location, attempting to gain a visual.
GM (GM):roll wits+composure for perception please
Dante:((6))
Justin:
rolling 6
6
=
6
Dante:
rolling 6d10>8!
(
5
+
9
+
3
+
10
+
4
+
1
+
2
)
=
2 Successes
(lol justin)
GM (GM):
rolling 9d10>8!
(
4
+
9
+
5
+
2
+
6
+
8
+
5
+
6
+
3
)
=
2 Successes
You find a pretty suitable location at the backwall of the cavern, where Edward seems to have a loot stash of some kind, and you have a good location on a flat rocky surface at the entry way. Now it's just down to personal decision. What seems less hostile? Where would attention of a resting wounded person be fixed on, should he wake up?
Dante:(I mean if he wakes up he's going to look wherever the fuckin noise was I assume)
Jessica:(lol)
GM (GM):Well, you have a spot to pick. Entrance to the cave, or behind Edward in the back. He is asleep like, somewhere in the middle, by the campfire. Here, let me draw the cave.
Jessica:(he means do you want edward to catch you walking up or presumably going throguh his stuff i think)
Dante:(I get it. But either way my cover is blown.)
(I'll try for the entryway I guess)
Jessica:(it's fine he's just a wounded rambo mage killing specialist)
Dante:(yea
(cant wait to find out what my next character awakens to)
Jessica:XD
Justin:(Edward is a manticore!)
Jessica:he's sleeping on the deer
Justin:((With))
Jessica:there's a fuckhuge envelope in there
Justin:((Here's the mail it never faillssss))
Eve K.:((WHERE Did he get that envelope!))
GM (GM):where the gray lines are the ceiling is too low and there is danger to lob your head off by porting part way into rock
Jessica:((he won one of those giant check contests))
GM (GM):Deer Mail from santa
Justin:((Oooh it's a raindeer))
Dante:Dante moves to the side of the house away from the windows and presses his fingers together in a knife-like position, arm extending in front of him. He concentrates his will at the point of his fingertips, attempting to cut through the folds of space.
(Impromptu portal = 7, this is vulgar as fuck)
rolling 7d10>8!
(
3
+
8
+
3
+
10
+
1
+
7
+
9
+
4
)
=
3 Successes
Jessica:yass
GM (GM):
rolling 2d10>8!
(
4
+
2
)
=
0 Successes
you okay boo
Dante:"Well.. Justin, you will be feeling a tug from me in a moment."
Justin:"Will do."
Dante:Dante takes a steadying breath and steps through as if behind a stage curtain.
..and will then immediately attempt to pull Justin to him via chalk connection.
GM (GM):And Justin, roll wits+composure too
Jessica:Jessica covers her mouth with her hand. This was nerve-wracking
GM (GM):You see Dante disappear into a quivering portal, and Justin disappears as well.
Justin:((6 dice))
rolling 6d10>8!
(
4
+
5
+
6
+
5
+
8
+
4
)
=
1 Success
GM (GM):Jessica, if you wanna see your dad, you can try to go, or roll willpower to resist if you want.
Jessica:I don't have any WP left. Chance die
GM (GM):Alright, you guys see a cave that is dark enough, as it filters light, a really good shelter away from civilized life. By the looks of it, it's in the forest again, a good bit north east. There is cool draft, and it smells of meat and stone.
Jessica:
rolling 1d10>8!
(
4
)
=
0 Successes
((doesn't Dante have to pull me through though?))
Dante:((Technically the portal is still active. Dante is not sure about how long his stuff lasts if he doesn't dismiss it, so he grabbed Justin.))
Jessica:Jessica bites her lip. What could it hurt, to check on him, to make sure? She approaches the portal. He was asleep anyway, right?
GM (GM):Justin, your Life sight immediately picks up Edward himself.
Dante:directly to Justin: "Are you able to do your thing from a distance or do you need to get your hands on him? I am not keen on approaching if we don't have to."
Justin:((Makes sense.))
"Depends on the severity of the wound..."
Justin stares at Edward, getting asense of his wounds.
rolling 8d10>8!
(
9
+
8
+
8
+
5
+
6
+
8
+
5
+
9
)
=
5 Successes
Dante:(8 actually is like the best objective dice pool to have, jesus)
GM (GM):He's kinda hidden by the deer he is laying on, hard to inspect, but you do see the general life aura. The strain on the life is considerable. Like, 4 lethal out of 8 sort of considerable.
Jessica:Jessica slips through the portal, unable to help herself.
GM (GM):Jessica appears behind you
Justin:"Can you keep him under while I work on him?"
Dante:"I haven't had to force someone to sleep like that before, but I can try yeah."
Justin:Justin startles and looks back at Jess.
Dante:Dante immediately puts a hand on her shoulder and a finger to his closed lips with the other.
Jessica:She nods.
Justin:"Maybe we worry about that if he starts getting up..." Justin gives Jess a look before speaking again into the link. "Can either of you give me a better vantage point with magic so I don't step around and mess everything up?"
Jessica:I can try.
Justin:"Need to see him from around the other side of the deer."
Jessica:Angle vision into the mind link
6 dice
Dante:(That's the ticket right there.)
Jessica:
rolling 6d10>8!
(
5
+
2
+
1
+
3
+
2
+
3
)
=
0 Successes
or not
Just go up to him
Justin:Justin frowns and focuses on attempting to do what Jess just tried to do.
(( Angle vision impromptu Space 1 + Gnosis 3 = 4))
rolling 4d10>8!
(
9
+
5
+
3
+
10
+
5
)
=
2 Successes
Jessica:nice
Dante:(wew)
(young spacelings)
Jessica:(hey 6 dice isn't bad)
Dante:(Not at all.)
GM (GM):Okay, so with Space 1 you can bend the vision around one corner, and the hard part is that he is laying on his stomach, the wound is what he's laying on, so yes, you can see Edward, from his back now, but still not the wound. In addition, now that you are looking at him, he has made himself some kind of makeshift cloak out of foilage or god knows what, and is wearing it. You see he is bandaged though. There are also used bandages in the corner.
Jessica:((sounds like you gotta touch him))
Justin:((I should be able to see all his health stuff with healer's trance though.))
Dante:(Yeah, I thought healer's trance was sexy like that)
Justin:((Word. You can't -see- cancer but you can still detect it with the trance.))
GM (GM):(And it is, so you can, you can see the aura and health condition, yes. You were just trying to look at the wound, so that's the situation)
Justin:Justin shrugs a bit and focuses on stitching the wound shut from here.
rolling 9d10>8!
(
1
+
10
+
5
+
6
+
8
+
9
+
9
+
10
+
6
+
7
+
1
)
=
5 Successes
Jessica:((yassss))
GM (GM):mark 1 mana off. Are you using any of these successes to make the healing painless, or are you just doing your usual?
Justin:((I already marked off the mana for the two spells.))
Jessica:((well at least 1 can go to painless, he only has 4 damage))
((jesus justin don't fuck us up))
Justin:((I feel like I need to roll in order to figure the anesthetic thing out.))
Dante:((I have a contingency plan, do w/e)
GM (GM):cause it's gonna feel awful, and may wake him up, so i'm giving you advance notice so you dont get boned
Jessica:((why are you feeding the dm right now??)
((psycho))
GM (GM):Justin has plenty of evidence from people how awful abrupt healing feels
could roll empathy for bedside manner
Justin:(He'll use one of the successes to dull the pain.))
GM (GM):good plan.
Edward stirs a bit and groans. Jessica, you probably have a growing desire to embrace him
or not, w/e
Dante:Dante notes the stirring. "Is that your work?"
Justin:"Well yeah, he probably felt something there. We should maybe get out of here."
GM (GM):As Justin is targetting just the aura in general, the healing process simply accelerates generically, since he can't see the wound, but just does it by intuition of a mage.
Dante:"The longer we linger, the sooner fate gives us the finger."
Justin:Does Justin sense any infections or anything?
Jessica:Jessica bites her thumb nail. This was so hard to watch. She wanted to hug him. Talk to him. Make him get on a plane or something. Stop being Rambo. She turned away so she didn't have to watch
Eve K.:(Do we think Eve will be needed before end of session.. I'm dozing off over here)
GM (GM):yeah, there's festering, slight, but the badass burned it out with a hot piece of metal, caterized it, which probably caused some more of that damage
Dante:"I'm also not sure how long my portal will stay open. I was surprised Jessica could even follow us, to be honest." Dante gives a little turn in her direction, then looks back to their exit.
Jessica:Are we leaving now?
Justin:"Yeah, I think he's good."
GM (GM):The portal closes.
Jessica:...
Justin:..
Eve K.:(of course it does)
Jessica:next time we fight rambo
omg
GM (GM):Nah i got chalk mark
Dante can travel to his marks
Eve K.:as does eve
Dante:(okay well mechanically it should last a lot longer than we've been here. so I assume something else is going on.)
Jessica:Dad turned off the magic
GM (GM):how long does it last?
(From Dante): (at space 4 with 3 successes I think it was like 12 hours)
(From Dante): (I'd have to doublecheck)
GM (GM):Oh riiiight
at space 3 its one turn
but you got
ok ok
gotcha gotcha
nevermind
GM (GM):the portal does not close
Jessica:phew
So we leave
GM (GM):All's good
If you like
Or you can invite dad in
your call
decide next week?
Dante:Dante, feeling a weird sense of sudden deific meddling or something, urges everyone to go, but will wait for the others to go first."
GM (GM):i think this decision is best made fresh and mull it over
Jessica:i feel like you would kill him just to save on bookkeeping
Dante:(He might kill him in the background for bookkeeping anyway)
GM (GM):i wouldnt kill him, natural dangers of our quest might, just like they can kill any of us
Jessica:hm
well that is a decision then
GM (GM):at least you'd be able to witness the killing if he sticks around XD
Jessica:right?
Justin:Justin makes his way slowly and quietly back to the portal
GM (GM):you were pretty much standing at the portal, afaik
you used angle vision
and remote healing
you didn't approach
Eve K.:(He could get hit with a big chunk of space rock right after you all leave the cave.))
Dante:(yea coz I sure as shit wasn't going to stealth with my -1)
Jessica:XD
Dante:(Eve lmao)
Justin:Justin heads through the portal back to the others.
Jessica:Dante slams his head into the cave
OW
GM (GM):yeah, i was paying attention if anyone tried to walk :D
Jessica:dad wakes up
GM (GM):Ok Justin leaves
Dante and Jess remain in cave
ending here?
or?
Jessica:yes
Dante:Dante seems to be waiting on Jess's decision.
I like this sort of soft cliffhanger
Jessica:me too
Dante:jesus christ its a quarter to 6
Jessica:8 here
Dante:time for bacon and eggs
GM (GM):Ok i really wasnt gonna let you find him, but how fucking tenacious you were, and how Dante fucking saved from Merlin's remote ambush
you dodged some invisible bullets
Jessica:oooh
Justin:WHooo
Invisibullets!
GM (GM):this whole Dad arc
Jessica:he's so cool.
End Session
Jessica:he rambo'd some wizards
GM (GM):he did
he legit rambo'd some wizards
his stats are pretty solid
good night
oh and
4 xp all
Jessica:whoo
Dante:night all
Justin:yaaayyy
Dante:morning
also
GM (GM):ye
Dante:Good session
ok peace
Jessica:Bix
Lucas:Baux
Continued!
GM (GM):Okay, we're back to exactly where we left off
Justin leaves for the portal, and Dante awaits Jess's decision.
Edward is passed out with a knife halfway in deer.
Jessica:Following advice was the logical thing, but maybe her path wasn't logical. She should have stayed outside the portal. She knew this would be too hard to just leave.
He was just so fucked out here. He was hunting for animals like a--well yeah, a caveman. It was hard to weigh the greater possible danger against the real danger he was already in.It was just inhumane to leave him like this.
Jessica puts her hand on Dante's shoulder and then carefully moves past. I'm gonna take the knife and talk to him.
GM (GM):Move yourself to where you are going
Dante:Dante makes a disapproving gesture, but doesn't try to stop her. "He seems plenty capable as is. Justin already helped him."
Jessica:(one sec)
(i thought it was shift to move on partials)
(there we go, alt)
(I know I need to duck in the grey area)
GM (GM):As you go half way, a creak, and gravity suddenly takes you down. Wise old Edward laid a trap everyone failed to notice.
Lucas:"should we go too?" Says Lucas, seeing Jessica fall.
Dante:(Did you go through the portal too? Only Justin and Dante originally were going.)
GM (GM):Landing on a surface riddled with sharp sticks and bones, Jessica is penetrated in multiple places on her body, taking....
Lucas:He stands ready just on the other side of the shimmering portal
GM (GM):
rolling 9d10>8!
(
8
+
4
+
1
+
10
+
10
+
7
+
7
+
8
+
6
+
5
+
8
)
=
5 Successes
Eve K.:(can we see through the portal?)
GM (GM):5 lethal damage
That not being twice her stamina, she is conscious, albeit very, very hurt
Dante:Dante relays that a trap was sprung in the cave, Jessica fell in, Edward is here, seems to still be asleep.
Jessica:((is that like twisted ankle or broken ankle? how badly fucked would a normie be at 5 lethal?)
((just so i can react properly)
Dante:(I don't know that the portal is see-through. I would guess so.)
Lucas:(I'd imagine it is. It's basically a year through space causing two separate spaces to connect in a specific place. It's not a wormhole.)
(tear)
GM (GM):((Well, the type of damage here is like, you have a bone sticking through your shoulder, another bone through your elbow, wooden spikes through your thighs. You landed on a spike trap, so you're a bit incapacitated. WoD characters are incredibly tough, so you're prone, but can like, wedge yourself out of there, it's just gonna hurt. Twisted stuff would be bashing. Lethal is like, shit's definitely broken, shattered, cracked.))
Dante:(This spell creates a spatial warp through which the caster (and anyone else who uses it) can move from one point in Creation to another without traversing the intervening space. The mage steps forward and “vanishes” from one place to arrive at another, “appearing” instantaneously.))
Lucas:((you fuckin ouched bad bad, girlie))
Jessica:((yeah i can read you butthole))
Justin:(That doesn't sound like you can see through it, but Dante did the hard part for us and told us.))
Jessica:((you can't see big boi))
Eve K.:((like the average human has 7 health...))
((so... they would be uncounsious))
Lucas:((I can read, ya jerk))
"I'm goin, Eve. Maybe we can help."
GM (GM):If Dante wants to try to create some kind of scry-portal combination, he can try impromptu it
And we can invent him a rote
Lucas:Lucas steps through the portal
Dante:((do what now? If Jessica was able to follow, anyone else should be able to.))
((It has a duration of several hours))
GM (GM):(Right, I might be misunderstanding what the current question is. I think it's whether others but Dante can see through the portal)
(I'd say that you as the caster control access for who can see and go through it, there is a Ban spell, and Key spell, so it's within Mastigos capability)
Eve K.:((that is the question. The answer was "No' but Dante conveyed what happened over link)
GM (GM):(ok then no problem)
Eve K.:"Wait... gahh... There could be other traps!" then over the link "There could be other traps! Slow down!"
Lucas:"I'm aware, Eve." Lucas holds still as soon as he gets to the other side, letting his eyes adjust to the dark.
Jessica:The shock of the fall took the breath out of her or she would have screamed. She bit down painfully on her bottom lip to keep from crying out but a high-pitched sort of whine escaped through her nose. Arcadia's aches and pains had had a sort of ethereal quality. She'd been unconscious or in shock for all but a moment of the gunshot. This was probably the most pain she'd ever been in and still in a good state to process it. She squeezed a spike with her good hnd until her knuckles turned white but she still couldn't keep a tight lid on her pain reaction. She couldn't even put proper words through the mental link, just something sort of like: aaaaaaahhhh
Dante:Dante gestures to the pit and the path Jessica took to get to it. Tension deeply creases his face.
Lucas:He crouches down carefully scanning the floor as he slowly approached the others.
Jessica:Over the mind link she transferred what she could see of her injuries.
Lucas:((rolls trap sense))
Justin:Justin steps back through the portal as Jessica immediately gets hurt, he zero's into her live signature and fires off a spell.
rolling 9d10>8!
(
9
+
9
+
8
+
6
+
7
+
8
+
1
+
2
+
8
)
=
5 Successes
Eve K. watches this side of the portal, tapping her foot for lack of anything else to do
Justin:All potency, no anesthetic.
Jessica:((thanks))
((can you even fix piercings?))
Justin:(( I can. Do you have any that you need looked at?))
Lucas:((is there a perception roll or something to identify hidden dangers?
Jessica:((I mean like, does it force the spikes out?))
Justin:((Yeah, your flesh squeezes 'em out.))
((DM DIscresion, but it's pushed bullets out and stuff.))
Jessica:((omg that's awful))
Lucas:((ouch))
Justin:((Discretion.))
Dante:((more like secretion))
Lucas:((like suddenly Jessica is lifted several inches as her skin squeezes out spikes))
GM (GM):So Justin comes to the edge of the dug out pit, so he can see Jessica, once in visual range, he fires off the spell. Jessica's flesh pushes her off the spikes, cause these are spikes that are wedged into the floor. Your good old prince of persia kind of trap.
Eve K.:((sounds painful. Hope she doesn't scream and wake up Rambo dad))
GM (GM):Lucas, make a matter + gnosis roll please
Jessica:((I imagine having your flesh crushed is similar to your flesh more or less crushing stuff out of it. I mean the spikes are intact but that's the kind of force we're talking about))
Lucas:
rolling 3d10>8!
(
10
+
9
+
8
+
5
)
=
3 Successes
Justin:((3/3 is pretty good.))
Lucas:((baby mages got the goods))
Jessica:The pain gets even worse a moment later when Justin peaks down through the hole. Forgetting the link, Jessica yells, "STOP!" or maybe it's over the link too. It hurts way too much to process everything. And then it's already over, too late to stop. She reaches up a very shakey hand for help out of the hole
GM (GM):Lucas, you seem to convince your brain into a new sort of vision. The scent of Stygia in your nostrils, and that sense of its material surface. When it first activated back there inside you, you didn't quite know what you were looking at or how you're doing it, but now you remember the technique, you feel like scanning material surfaces is mystically palpable for you. You see two additional hidden crevices in this rocky cave. Large compartments in the foundation, located, one behind Edward, and one at the deepest corner by his stash.
Lucas:Lucas sort of imagines sending pictures of what he sees over the link. "Two more traps, guys. One's behind him, the others in the corner by his stuff."
GM (GM):((You can now purchase a rote Find Hidden Hoard, for 2 xp))
Jessica:((very nice))
Justin:((What a great use of that rote.))
GM (GM):((This rote will allow you to scan surfaces made of uniform matter that have hidden compartments))
Jessica:((trap sense indeed))
Lucas:((sweet!))
Dante:((That's a pretty cool-ass rote))
Lucas:((Mime-building/rogue))
GM (GM):Dante, Jessica's scream stirs Edward. You might have to assert your will lest you risk his sleep to interrupt
Dante:((what do you want me to roll?))
GM (GM):A veiny very tan, blood crusted hand establishes a squeeze on the handle of the knife. You can reroll sleep rote.
And I'll give him resistance +1
Actually +2, one it's a scream, one - it's his daughter's voice
Dante:
rolling 9d10>8!
(
7
+
8
+
5
+
9
+
6
+
5
+
2
+
7
+
8
)
=
3 Successes
Lucas:(bought and paid for)
"You alright, darlin?"
Jessica:Help. Me. Up.
GM (GM):Ed's resistance is 3, +2 is 5
rolling 5d10>8!
(
2
+
5
+
1
+
7
+
7
)
=
0 Successes
Dante:((sleep old man))
Jessica:((that could have been real bad))
Justin:((Is it a roll like that, or does his resistance just reduce the pool like everything else?))
GM (GM):The veiny hand relaxes, the man mutters "Jessc...." and as if in a nightmarish stir, hugs the deer tighter, letting the knife rest, and passes out.
Dante:Dante curls the fingers on his left hand as he reasserts the spell cast earlier to put him under. He notes the locations of the traps as mentioned by Lucas, but takes no steps away from the portal's location.
Lucas:Lucas carefully approaches the edge of the trap and lays on the ground to better reach down into to hole and grab Jess' hand.
GM (GM):((it's a roll like that, look up telepathic control))
Justin:((I refuse, in that I believe you.))
Dante:((its a reflexive contest, not a subtraction, just to clarify))
Lucas:((you're a reflexive contest))
Dante:((Sometimes!))
Justin:((WHOOOAAAAAAA!!!!))
((Burn.))
Eve K.:((<.<))
Kurtis Kerner:is finishing his smoke on the porch, trying to not get involved
"Told you it was gonna be bad, told you it was a bad idea. Well, the coast is clear here, in case anyone's wondering. The farmer's still inside, if anyone cares."
Lucas:((I love you guys. Lol))
Jessica:All the adrenaline and pain transmitters are still in her blood stream, even though the actual wounds are gone. Phantom pains and her heart pumping so hard it makes her ears throb, make it hard to move with any kind of grace. She grabs Lucas' hand with both of hers for a steadier grip, and climbs out. Her knees are shakey.
Eve K. over the link "So are the chickens."
Jessica:Jessica is still determined to get to her father. She just takes a second to get her breathing right. ((I'mma move))
Lucas:((what's the cost for death sight again? I forgot to purchase the rote))
Dante:((probably 2xp))
Jessica:((yeah)
Eve K.:((its a first dot spell yes))
((*rote))
Justin:((It's a first rote spell.))
GM (GM):There he is, brave, strong, wounded, and dominated by a superior force into unnatural sleep that he couldn't tell from natural. A plaything to the skilled awakened, but a formidable foe to cocky ones. Nothing separate you now. You've found your father. You can smell his breath. You probably haven't appreciated this man when he was there for you, always in his garage, being someone to take for granted. Now that you've almost lost him, he's found.
Dante:((It should be the first spell you rote. wait..))
GM (GM):((yeah 2 xp for Grim Sight Lucas))
Justin:((It's a rote spell spell yes.))
Dante:(( y-e-s ))
Eve K.:((spell rote spell, xp yes))
GM (GM):((r-o-t-e s-p-e-l-l))
Justin:(( Many many eckspie yes Rote spell man yes.))
Dante:((He's turned into a goblin))
Jessica:Jessica reaches out and carefully take the knife out of the deer. If nothing happens she will toss it to the group.
((i am not relying on edward getting a bad roll in hand to hand if he wants his knife back))
Justin:((One of us dies as Jess expertly throws a knife into our jugular.))
Jessica:((shazam))
(maybe poke your feet. It's an underhand toss))
Justin:((An underhand toss killed houdini.))
Jessica:((that's what mormons are for))
GM (GM):whoever picks up the knife, add Edward's Knife (+3) to your inventory
Eve K.:((tossing knives at houdini?))
Justin:((Tossing fists at him.))
Jessica:Let him wake up.
Lucas:Lucas bends down and picks it up, holding it with the back of the blade against the palm of his hand and the handle out.
Dante:"Group brain huddle. What are we doing once he wakes up, if that's even a good idea?"
Eve K. over the link "I'm watching chickens and staying away from this mess."
Jessica:I'm right in front of him. I'm a meat shield. What are you afraid of?
Lucas:"I doubt he'll kill ya, even if he's disoriented. But I'll hang onto this for a bit till you're done talking to im."
Eve K. over the link "Oh I don't know.. the normal man who was able to kill a mage who was perusing him and caused all that havoc in the woods."
GM (GM):Lucas, the knife adjusts itself very easily to your palm, it's a well balanced piece of weaponry.
Lucas:"I sorta have a soft spot for family reunions. I had to rescue my dad in Stygia, remember?"
Dante:"I'm not so much afraid as I am apprehensive about something happening and having to kill or save someone. But do what you're gonna do. I'm sure if you just give him a big hug he'll wake right up."
Kurtis Kerner:"Yeah I'm covering your back, as always, just jump out of the portal if you have to and tell me when to shoot."
Jessica:((how processed is this deer carcass out of curiosity?))
Lucas:Lucas appreciates the heft and balance of the blade. Old and worn, but still honed to a razor's edge
Dante:((I think he had only just started on it? Not sure))
GM (GM):Uh, yeah he's already opened up the guts somewhere away from the cave at the kill site, and dragged this here. Near his loot stash you can see a makeshift sled. The deer's hind leg is skinned and opened up, he's just begun, maybe close to one third of the way.
Jessica:Jessica puts her hand on Edward's arm. Her wrist is touching the cold deer fur. The rib cage she is standing before still radiates the slightest bit of body heat. She would have been a lot more freaked out to be next to a dead animal like this before Awakening. For a moment she sees herself as a different person. A small moment of disorientation on top of all this craziness. Her focus returns to Edward. A whisper: "Dad?
Lucas:"I can finish up the deer if he's not feeling up. . ." Lucas trails off when Jessica tries to wake her dad.
GM (GM):Within Dante's grasp, Edward's mind rests in peace.
Do you let loose, Dante?
Jessica:((do eet))
Dante:((yea sure))
Edward:slides his hand over Jessica's and squeezes, as he opens his heavy eyelids
"Mmm... Jessica? Jessica!" his eyes shoot wide open as he grips her in the tightest hug
Jessica:Jessica hugs him back. Her lip quivers a little and she doesn't know what to say for a minute. "Daddy..." Tears form at the corners of her eyes. She smirks slightly. "Can we move away from the deer?"
Lucas:Lucas stands still as a corpse, limply holding the knife handle out as if he we're about to hand it to someone. He doesn't want to make a sound and startle Edward into attacking.
Edward:Unable to hear her, he bursts into tears, rocking her back and forth in full shock that hits him, now that he allows himself to feel again.
"My little girl! Thank god you're alive! Thank god! Thank Jesus! Oh my god, thank you, thank you, thank you...."
He sniffs and wipes his face into her shoulder.
"Mama... mama didn't make it, baby!"
Jessica:((edward can kill you by looking at you))
Edward:It's just sobs and sobs and sobs from him now.
Jessica:Jessica's face bleaches a little. "Yeah, I know Dad. I saw." She
Justin:"This is about what I was expecting."
Jessica:She's barely audible, maybe not audible over his sobbing
Justin:Justin turns around and gives them some privacy.
Edward:"Thank Jesus, thank god, oh god, thank god, thank Jesus... I thought I lost you, we thought you died, we're not safe.... what happened to you? There was a blast... an attack... I'll never let go of you! Daddy's got you now, I won't let anything, ANYTHING touch you now!"
Eve K. paces around the porch from front to back in a circuit. Scowling at the roster each time she reaches the back porch.
Dante:Dante just watches in silence, making himself as unimportant as possible. ((Incognito presence on self))
rolling 10d10>8!
(
2
+
6
+
1
+
5
+
1
+
2
+
5
+
10
+
10
+
1
+
5
+
2
)
=
2 Successes
Lucas:((Lucas uses corpse mask to look dead))
Justin:((Worse.))
Jessica:She's never seen her dad like this, or had to be the supportive party to an emotional outburst from her parents. Sure, anyone their age would have had some loss from time to time, some friend who got into a bad car accident or something, but there was always that barrier. Parents don't seek comfort from their children, especially when they have each other. It was somewhat unsettling. "Dad, you have to take a breath. You need to breathe for a second. I'm okay. You're okay. It's okay."
Edward:"I failed you, I failed her, I failed you both! I should have never let you go to Berlin, I knew these game would not end well, I should have kept you safe on base... I should have.... I should have..."
Jessica:"Dad," god, wasn't this a turn of events, "you need to be realistic for a second."
This was all backwards. All backwards.
Edward:"We were followed by people who spoke to us in our heads! Something strange is going on! It may be the germans. I think the war is starting. Some kind of chemical weapon, or... biological, or sonic. They did something to mom, her heart just stopped... and then the dead started to rise. But turned to ashes, scattered to the winds. Hallucinations. Or... supersoldiers gone wrong. I don't understand, but we have to stay here, in the woods, away, off the road, we have to get back to the U.S."
Jessica:"Dad. Stop. Stop. It's not any of that. Just stop for a minute."
Edward:He's not really listening.
Jessica:Stopped her heart. Another Slabod.
Alright, I'm doing magic
Eve K. 's pacing stops for a moment at the mention of the dead rising and then turning to ash. Tilts her head to the side frowning thoughtfully. Resumes pacing.
(To Eve K.): you know that Denise's heart was turned to stone for 6 minutes, until her brain died
Lucas:Lucas' jaw drops. " Dude thinks magic is Dubya Dubya three or sumthin"
Kurtis Kerner:"I'm not convinced that he's wrong."
(From Eve K.): eeesh
Jessica:"Dad, those people are magic. It's magic. It's real magic."
Justin:"You think the germans invented magic?"
Edward:Hugs you tighter, petting your head
Lucas:"yeah yeah, baby Hitler and all that."
"wait. Was Hitler a mind mage or sumthin?"
Edward:"Oh baby girl, you and your magic. It's okay, daddy will keep you safe. Are you tired? You should get sleep. Is that man with you? I'll have some food ready soon."
Lucas:"Dante, I think our boy is broken. Can you unfuddle his brain a bit?"
Jessica:"Yeah, they're with me." That was some whiplash. She expected him to be more paranoid than that. "I don't need you to protect me."
Eve K. over the link "Pretty sure you are pronouncing "Atlantians" wrong. "
Kurtis Kerner:"I think magic is going to cause WW3 if we don't find the gemstone is what I think. Germans and French and Mongols, they were all just in the right place at the right time. The Gem causes major uprisings, fanaticisms, and wars. Everything else - decorations."
Jessica:"Look, we'll show you some magic. Mine's kind of, uh, subtle I guess."
Dante:"Sorry, you want me to what, rewire his brain? In front of his daughter? He's been through some harrowing shit and with no power to do anything about it. We should have left him alone."
Jessica:How do you show someone luck?
Edward:"What happened? How did you come out alive? What happened in Berlin?"
Jessica, like, he is NOT listening. He's looking for the knife so he can cut some meat out.
Jessica:"DAD. STOP."
Eve K. over the link "I'm a big big nope on messing with this guys mind. Can we, I dunno.. not make it worse?"
Edward:"Huh? What? Stop what?" - tears and madness in his eyes. He's still sniffling.
Dante:((Did we ever establish that all the weird shit in the forest was because of haywire magic? Coz that's kind of important right now if Jessica is about to try to give him magical sight.))
Jessica:"Dad, we have only a little bit of time. Are you listening? A little bit of time. We need to go fuck up some bad people who are trying to start the war you were talking about. If we don't get to them before they're ready we lose."
Lucas:"I ain't handin him no knife while he's got them wild deer eyes."
(To Eve K.): you sense presence of the undead. Faintly. Distantly. But it is massive. Like an approaching whale. In hundreds, maybe more. Underground.
Jessica:"You gotta fucking get it together."
"Look at your belly. We fixed it. With magic. Do you remember the X-Men movies? It's like that. Some people go through shit and get powers. I know that's a shitty fucking explanation but that's how it works."
Eve K. stops in her tracks. Frowning.
(From Eve K.): can I use death sight to get a better idea of where its coming from? How quickly, how closely?
Eve K.:((Yes we established it was many many havoc'ed spells)
Edward:Edward was not listening. Then she said belly. Fixed. He frantically reaches down and opens his bandages to find healed scars. Now he's listening.
"W... wha... how? What?"
Lucas:((yeah. That's how we got yeeted to the future))
(To Eve K.): roll death sight, you need 5 successes to get the data
(From Eve K.): lol forgot I already have it up... but I'll do another roll
Jessica:Alright. He needed to be anchored it seemed. "I took your knife." She points at Lucas, holding the knife. "I didn't know if you would know who I was because they talked in your head. That was magic. Like the X-men. You got telepath'd."
(To Eve K.): you have it up, thats why you sensed it, but you are trying to mine for direction and specifics, when they barely entered your range
(From Eve K.): yeah got it
Jessica:"I can do magic too now, Daddy. That's how I got out of the explosion. You did the right thing. You didn't do anything wrong. Sometimes things are shitty anyway."
Eve K. blinks several times, her eyes flashing from white to black as she frowns whispering softly to just herself in Atlantian "Let the shadows clear so I may see their souls"
Dante:"I don't know what your angle is here Jessica, but if you start casting spells in front of him, you could get weird anomalies like we had in the forest. No telling what will happen."
Eve K.:
rolling 8d10>8!
(
4
+
3
+
5
+
3
+
7
+
1
+
7
+
1
)
=
0 Successes
Dante:((8 is supposed to be the lucky dice pool...))
Justin:((Statistically unlikely))
Jessica:((wow, that was unlikely))
(From Eve K.): amazing
Edward:"T...telepathed? Like the X-men...? I... I killed a man, back south, by the road, in the forest, he was... he was like that. His eyes were piercing... of a color I could not see, but feel. It was cold. But I got him."
Jessica:((I love you Jon))
Justin:((I love you!))
Eve K.:((just took all the bad luck for you guys. You are welcome))
((I'll bill you later.))
Dante:((Pay her in fresh souls))
(To Eve K.): it feels like there is a massive ring all around the farm, half a mile out, and the noose is tightening. This feels like more than we all could fight even if we all spend all our mana.
Justin:((What about not-as-fresh ones? Like 50 and up?))
((Or like 7 year-old dogs.))
Lucas:((you guys should.just fucking get married already))
Eve K. over the link. "I can feel undead incoming. Underground. A fuck ton of them. Here to the farm."
Justin:((I could get you about 30 senior dogs by Thursday or a mostly-white baby.))
Kurtis Kerner:"Define a fuck ton. I'm ready. Get the old fart out. I'll fly him out of here if I have to."
Jessica:"We found him. You didn't do the wrong thing coming looking for me. You didn't fail me or mom, Daddy, it was just impossible. It was impossible. I don't know how you're fucking alive. We thought you might be a secret wizard or something because we didn't know how you made it out."
Eve K. licks her lips looking around again. Over the link "More than we could handle."
Edward:"Baby, none of this is making sense..."
Lucas:Lucas stomps over to Jessica and Edward and puts the handle of the knife about 18 inches from Edward's chest.
Edward:"We... we need to eat, we need to hide... we can't survive. Home is not safe. Someone's after us..."
Lucas:"Believe her or don't, but we gotta get the hell outta Dodge."
Eve K.:((how far from the farm is the cave?))
Jessica:"Somebody is after us. Come with us. You can't live in a cave. Jesus."
(To Eve K.): the woods in the horizon are starting to form some kind of dark line.
Dante:((last I remember there was a vague "miles and miles" description))
Jessica:((far enough we used a portal))
Justin:((About three hours on a senior-dog-carried sled.))
Kurtis Kerner:"Ummmmm I think we need to get back to the farm and get the fuck out, there's something in the woods, all around us. I'm talking like, army. Last time I saw something like this, it wasn't good."
Eve K. over the link "Shit. They are getting closer. Kurt. We might want to get through the portal. Get the old man. Go through. Close portal."
Lucas:"sounds like y'all need to get your asses through that glowin hole right chere"
GM (GM):((Well Eve, how would you know that information? The mountain formation is 6.8 miles from you by GPS, but you don't know where exactly they are in the cave))
Eve K.:(("miles and miles" was enough for me XD))
Kurtis Kerner:"Okay. Um. But where's the portal to? Further up shit creek or....? Oooh, who's in the cave now? I'll ping a cellphone"
Lucas:"I got mine"
Kurtis Kerner:grits a near dead cigarette in his teeth and goes inside the farm house
"Granpa! Time to go! Grab your shit!"
"Okay, gonna triangulate to your phone, Brick."
rolling 9d10>8!
(
5
+
3
+
10
+
10
+
7
+
5
+
4
+
6
+
2
+
10
+
1
+
2
)
=
3 Successes
Eve K. over the link "Everyone but us is in the cave now Kurt. Get the farmer through the portal. Go through the portal. Then I'll go. Then Dante closes it."
Kurtis Kerner:"Roger that. Oh nice. That rock formation on the map? They're on the northern end of it. Like, the far side, 14.3 miles. Holy shit, Daddy is badass to have marched that far. "
Jessica:((army thing is alarming))
Eve K. focuses on how far out the zombies are
GM (GM):One third of a mile out, from every direction.
Jessica:(Jesus)
Eve K. over the link "Kurt pick him up if you have to. They are 1/3rd of a mile out and closing"
Kurtis Kerner:"Okay, pack your shit, here, here's your shotgun, here's your wallet, what else? Cooking pot. Knives? What do you need? This place about to go tits up"
GM (GM):Kurt is not having much of a good time communicating with an old german farmer
Lucas:Lucas grins briefly at the thought of a zombie army. He remembers the feel of bone crunching under his fists. He grips the chain wrapped around his shoulder and tries to remember the feeling of that black aura that made him feel so invincible...
Kurtis Kerner:"Guys, he's barely moving and barely listening, I can't exactly take him to a MAGIC PORTAL. He'll paradox it to Egypt."
Justin:"Knock him out or something."
Kurtis Kerner:"Okay. Okay. Got it."
Jessica:Jessica finally tunes in to everyone else. Just make a bright light so he closes his eyes. Geeze, guys, handle with care.
(we don't have universal language up?)
Dante:"Says the girl telling her father magic is real"
Farmer:"What? Where, what are you doing? Are they coming?! Well you go! You go and I will hold them off! Aint no man getting me off my land! You go and wish Edward and Jessica my best!"
Jessica:Okay but he's already seen magic. I was saying don't knock him out.
Kurtis Kerner:"Hey hey, grandpa, look, what's that?"
Eve K. over the link "There is a zombie army closing in on us. I don't care what you have to do. Get him through the portal. -I- have never seen this many zombies before on this side of the gates. GET HIM INTO THE PORTAL"
Jessica:Oh my god. Are we too late?
Kurtis Kerner:
rolling 10d10>8!
(
4
+
8
+
1
+
4
+
10
+
10
+
8
+
1
+
7
+
9
+
1
+
5
)
=
5 Successes
Jessica:((grandpa has new cataracts))
Kurtis Kerner:
rolling 2d10>8!
(
6
+
4
)
=
0 Successes
Kurtis pretend punches the farmer into the forehead, while actually sending a kinetic strike to his head, and does deal twice his stamina (2), and knocks him out. The rest is semantics. He grabs all the guns there are to grab, hangs them over his shoulder, grabs the farmer, and some cooking utensils in a totebag, and hoofs it to the portal. It will take Kurt a while, cause all the shit is heavy, so he'll arrive last.
Eve K. paces near the portal watching the zombies. Waiting for Kurt.
Dante:((Mechanical question: Can I freely dismiss a portal or do I need to lock with a portal key until it expires?))
Justin:((Any spell that counts against the maximum number of spells you can have up you can dismiss at will.))
GM (GM):((The book is flexible on this, but in my world, they work like in Jumper. They naturally close over time when duration expires, or the caster can close it, but after a portal is closed, reality needs a few minutes to heal itself back up, so a small jump scar rift remnant remains that another mage can reopen and follow. But once that smoothes out, it's good as new and can't be reopened, and would have to be done sympathetically))
Justin:((Thumbs-up))
Dante:((Sure, that sounds fine.))
Jessica:Did the time spell wear off and that's why the zombies are here?
GM (GM):Jessica, you detect no time distortions where you are. Those were by the car wreck and by the river.
You are miles away from all of that
Dante:((The zombies are here coz they want your father's brains))
((thats my theory anyway))
Eve K.:((its a havoc spell. so probably not. we probably have a moros following us))
Kurtis Kerner:Kurt hobbles out towards Eve, with unconscious farmer and a bunch of shit hanging off his neck
Jessica:((the Big Bad REALLY wants him dead))
GM (GM):Eve, (and Kurtis)
you see a scene which happens just as Kurtis leaves the house
Dante:((a moros following us? why? Edward already said that the dead rose near him originally))
Eve K.:((followed us cause we are tracking him I would imagine))
GM (GM):The farmhouse creaks at the foundation. A single word show on its walls in glowing blood. Eve, you have death sight of potency 6 up from last session, and you did NOT see the effect coming.
Jessica:((that's crazy))
GM (GM):The single word reads:
KATERHOLZIG
the farmhouse collapses with a crash and a cloud of dust
Jessica:((omg))
Eve K. over the link "FUCK it's the Tremere Lich. Kurt go. GO.."
GM (GM):The line of undead stops advancing. The black line stands in the woods. Watching.
Jessica:((shit))
Kurtis Kerner:Kurt goes.
Wzzzzoooop
Eve K. goes through the portal. Over the link "Close it! Close it!"
Dante:As soon as everyone is through, Dante kneels down and runs his fingertips up the center length of the portal, sealing it off.
Lucas:Lucas sees Kurt covered in stuff and gently grabs the old man off his shoulders.
Dante:"No shit."
GM (GM):Kurtis appears with a crash as he drops the farmer and a duffelbag full of cooking pots, shotgun, hunting rifle, revolver, some other shit like cutlery, knives, a teapot, a mug, yeah like a single mug. Some matches. Whatever he swept off the farmer's table in a rush.
Correction - passes farmer to Lucas
Edward:Edward needs to roll for suspension of disbelief or risk going insane
he uses willpower
Jessica:((does he have enough xp to take that Aware merit?))
Edward:
rolling 6d10>8!
(
7
+
7
+
9
+
7
+
4
+
8
)
=
2 Successes
Jessica:((or whatever it's called))
Edward:He's okay
Jessica:((Edward is awesome))
Lucas:((he's pretty boss))
Justin:((You should have to spend -your- xp to give him that merit.))
Eve K.:((lol))
Jessica:((I fucking will))
Eve K.:((like a familiar))
Jessica:((I wish i could do gifs on here))
Lucas:(( yeah. I'm a witch. This is my dad. He's my familiar. Kinda like a cat, but more useful.))
Jessica:((he's a normie that kills witches))
Edward:((He hasn't really earned it yet. It takes a while))
Dante:((Yes, embrace the normalcy of mortal servants. All in service to the promised land.))
Edward:"What the hell is going on?"
"Who are these people? You need to explain all this?"
Jessica:What the fuck are we even doing now? "These are the people that saved me from the explosion."
Lucas:"I mean, you want an explanation, or you wanna take a looooooong nap?"
Jessica:"Shut the fuck up, Lucas."
Eve K. over the link "If there is a way to lock the portal scar do it. I don't know if he has space magic and we Do NOT want him on this side of the portal. He had a spell on that farm house. I didn't even sense it, and I could feel the zombies from really far off."
Kurtis Kerner:"Oh my god, this shit is heavy. Hey, you must be Daddy Eddie. Brought you a cup. Souvenir from a farm long gone. Would do nicely for your get up here."
Lucas:"I'm just saying we're all gonna die if we stand around shootin the shit all day."
Jessica:"Where do we go? What was the plan before we came here?"
Eve K. frowns at Lucas
Justin:"We've got a couple of more things to do, then we go in for the gem."
Kurtis Kerner:"I'm Kurtis Kerner, commander and fearless leader of a daring mission to stop World War Three that may start here and now if a special gem doesn't get repossessed and seized. Also, your daughter can stop time."
Justin:"Specifically the accountant and the library with info on the Gem."
Justin shrugs at the explanation. "Close enough."
Kurtis Kerner:"Eve?"
Eve K. over the link "I hope the zombies haven't found our car."
Lucas:"what, Eve? I can take on an army of Zombies, sure, but a full on lichpire? Come on, now."
Kurtis Kerner:"This dude timed the collapse and gave us his identity. If he wanted us dead, we woulda been dead. I feel like it was an invitation. And if we don't visit, he'll find us."
Eve K. over the link "Yeah. He stopped the zombies. Dead stop to make sure we saw his message. I don't want all of us to go. It could go sideways really quick."
Kurtis Kerner:"Okay we got multiple fish to fry... Damnit. I'm not very good at this dual thing. Sorry, Edward, we're having a separate conversation telepathically."
Jessica:I volunteer for library duty. I can give people luck without being a liability on the field.
Edward:just stares at people being silent
"Um... nice to meet you... Kurtis... and... I think.... you can.... talk freely....."
Eve K. watches Edward stare
Justin:"Hi, I'm Justin. I healed your wounds."
Edward:"Edward M-Murphy."
Justin:Justin waves
Jessica:"They're actually from the US. Except Dante."
Justin:"And your daughter when she fell into your pit trap."
Lucas:"God, I wanna punch that dude in the face. With his stupid fuckin night club and dancing DJs and shit. Zombies. Fuck."
Jessica:Don't mention the pit trap
Edward:"Justin. Hello." - moves to shake hands. "Thank... you... OH be careful, there are traps! Oh god, did one of you fall?"
Dante:Dante waves from a distance, deliberately saying random things in Italian and then going back to the mental conversation.
Jessica:"I'm okay, dad. I just tore my pants."
Eve K. over the link "too late. Can we not discuss our plans out loud in front of Edward here."
Justin:Justin shakes Ed's hand firmly
Jessica:((did edward take his knife back when lucas offered it?))
Edward:Ed's handshake is FIRM. Like, strength 4 firm.
Jessica:((YEAH))
Eve K. introduces herself "You can call me Iris Mr. Murphy. Terribly sorry for invading your space here."
Justin:Ouch!
Dante:"He will certainly keep hunting us down until we address him. But what reason does he have to not just kill us outright anyway?"
Edward:He doesn't aim to hurt or overpower the handshake, it's just a rock of a hand
Justin:Gotcha.
Eve K. over the link "We took out one of his better crews. Perhaps we impressed him. Might want to recruit us like Cubic wanted to."
Lucas:Lucas holds his hand out. "Lucas Turner. But you can call me Brick, mister."
Justin:"I'm down for the library. I think Eve should go to lichclub again. Dante should go for the accountant, no preference on where Lucas and Kurt go."
Eve K. over the link "Not sure if we should split into -that- many groups. Just don't want all of us to wander into a spider web."
Lucas:"I wanna see this library, but I think I should go with Eve. I gotta learn as much as I can about my magic, and she's the only Moros I know."
Justin:"I have no interest in meeting your "vampire" guy."
Kurtis Kerner:walks up to Lucas
"I think I see what you mean. In your time within your special world journey, you were a total badass, right? You said you killed countless zombies? Similar stuff happens to a lot of us. When we first awaken, we're like super powerful, but then it fades, and we have to gain it back by practicing. It's like, for a glimpse of a moment, you were at your full potential. But as we are now, zombies are a real threat. I fought zombies before. There was a group of 10 of us or so. We took out about 50 zombies before starting to get pretty tired. We've gotten more powerful since then, but thousands... might very well croak us."
Lucas:((Lucas shakes Ed's hand I guess?))
Eve K. over the link "-Will- croak us. That's too many. Even if we were at full mana"
Eve K. over the link "We would need an army of zombies of our own against that. And I don't have the time to find that many bodies."
Edward:Shakes Lucas's hand, with a firm grip
"Edward. Sorry, I'm.... I'm very shaken by all this.... how did you people just... appear? What is... magic?"
Kurtis Kerner:"Can you take control of HIS bodies?"
Jessica:How bad of an idea is it to grant him magic sight?
Eve K.:"Mmm a bit hard to explain. There are many types. But the more you know about it the more danger you will be in."
Kurtis Kerner:"*I feel like I should go with Eve, considering fire is potent against the undead, and a library is not my scene. On the other hand, DC might need backup too. We could do a Eve-DC-me group and go see the accountant and then the DJ.
Lucas:Lucas shakes Ed's hand bad then turns to the group. " If I could just get back my aura from Stygia, those fuckers would melt just from touching me."
(From Eve K.): -Can I?- I feel like death 5 would let me. But there's no spell specifically for it.
(To Eve K.): Eve never tried, so in character, you don't know. Mechanically, sure, I'd always find a roll to make. You'd have to beat his roll.
Jessica:If Dante goes to the club he can't pull you out if stuff goes sideways.
Eve K. over the link "I... have honestly never tried... probably? But... It would be a contest of my skill vs his, so a struggle."
Kurtis Kerner:"An aura? What kinda aura?"
Lucas:Lucas grits his teeth and clenches his fists, shaking them like he's trying to dislodge a stubborn substance.
Jessica:((lucas shakes Edwards hand and then looks angrily at his hand))
Eve K.:((Lucas to his hand: grrrrr why is the human stronger than you!!))
Edward:"Are you people talking in your minds again?"
Eve K.:"Yes. Sorry."
Lucas:"it was like black fire covering my body. It felt like rage. And sex. And all the good stuff."
Eve K.:"There is a lot to discuss with having found you. Next steps for example."
Farmer:"Whaaaat.... they can't take my farmland...." - stirs
Kurtis Kerner:looks over and readies the forget me stick
Justin:"Yeah, they do that. Magic is sort of like how some people have higher fast-twitch muscle fibers than slow-twitch ones. They can do things that normal people wouldn't be able to.
I don't think it manifests itself physically though, at least from what I've gathered mages are biologically indistinct from non-mages."
Lucas:((the farmer is still hanging from Brick's shoulder))
Jessica:((if the knife has not been transferred back to her father Jessica will take it from Lucas since he had it in his hand and give it back)) "Come on, Dad, let's get this guy comfortable and then we'll talk about next steps."
Eve K. smirks, over the link "Sounds hot."
Lucas:"it's freezing cold, actually."
Jessica:"Is there a good place to set him down?"
Edward:"That's the old fellow from the farm! He saved my life! Set him down, what happened to him?"
Eve K. over the link "I propose two groups, One to library, one to accountant. We can send Merlin a message letting him know we will come visiting. After library and accountant we can have the back up team ready to pull us if things go south at the club."
Lucas:Lucas finds the softest spot and lays the old farmer down on it
Justin:"Sounds like a plan Eve."
Eve K.:"We had to leave the farm house in a hurry. It was collapsing.. foundation gave."
Dante:"I don't know that I'll be able to pull anyone from wherever Merlin hides himself. You remember the anti-magic field right?"
Jessica:"We were making sure he was safe. dad. The bad people came by his place."
good point
Eve K. over the link "What about the chalk?"
Dante:"Haven't tested it in a zone like that yet."
Jessica:can we make one and see?
Justin:"The chance that it -might- serve as a means of escape in an anti-magic field may be enough of a reason for Dante to hang back."
Edward:"Is he hurt? He looks hurt. Let's get him something to eat."
Kurtis Kerner:"Good idea. I knocked him out, because I'm not good with old people, and his house was gonna drop on him, or he could have died when we transported here. When you people witness what we do, it makes our powers go crazy. That's the power you have, Edward. Your existence limits the type of stuff we can do around you."
Eve K. over the link "We don't have enough prime between us all to make one yet."
Kurtis Kerner:"That's probably what happened to the loser you iced. Good kill, by the way."
Edward:"They murdered my wife! They are after my family!"
Justin:Justin focuses on the old guy to make sure that the old man didn't suffer any serious injuries.
rolling 8d10>8!
(
2
+
1
+
1
+
3
+
4
+
5
+
10
+
1
+
1
)
=
1 Success
Kurtis Kerner:"Oh I'm with you, Bear Grills, I'm with you. We gonna get them. You're a tougher cookie than I anticipated. I thought you'd freak out and be useless."
Eve K.:"Mmhmm they are. They don't like leaving mage's families alive. Loose ends."
Jessica:Jessica crosses her arms. "We're gonna figure something out.
GM (GM):Justin, well, what can one say. He's alive, but he's suffered a kurtis amount of injury. To knock him out in the first place, the concussive force had to be bad enough. Nothing you can't heal though. 5 bashing. Kurt held back the lethality of the force. Made it blunt, not sharp.
Jessica:Can he get used to magic and stop making it go haywire?
Justin:"He's not hurt super bad. He should be feeling better in a couple of hours, might have a bruise for a while longer than that, but no permanent damage..."
Kurtis Kerner:"DC, you're able to pull yourself to any chalk mark too, right?"
Dante:"In theory. I mean, had a hell of a time pulling myself to Eve given her size."
Lucas:Lucas looks down at Dante. "You could pull yourself to me."
Dante:"Easily. You are gargantuan."
Edward:"Guys! Could you talk talk?"
Justin:Justin frowns as he looks at the guy, wondering if he could figure out a way to heal lesser damage like this without burning mana. He's certainly capable of greater feats with lesser effort...
Jessica:((justin was talk talking to him))
Dante:"Non parlo inglese, spiacente."
Jessica:"Dad let me help you with this guy."
"Show me how to do the deer."
Kurtis Kerner:"Okay, I had a moment at the club to look at the Dead Zone. What IS a Dead Zone? I've read about it in the Book, and I think I'm strongest in Prime Magic. It's my arcanum after all. I could try to create one so we can test the chalk."
Lucas:((Dante why you speaking Mexican?))
Eve K. smirks at Dante
Dante:((Mexican what))
Dante looks to Kurtis and nods.
((Need to wrap or go without me soon, coz I'm falling asleep and I have shit to do this morning.))
GM (GM):Justin, you could soothe his pain and bashing damage will eventually heal on its own, but your powers of true healing always appear to come at a cost. A tool of God.
Justin:Justin kneels down next to the man and puts his hand on the back of his head and channels pure anesthetic, no potency.
rolling 7d10>8!
(
8
+
1
+
9
+
10
+
5
+
2
+
2
+
6
)
=
3 Successes
Kurtis Kerner:Kurt walks to the middle of the cave, and pulls a porn magazine out of his jacket pocket. He opens the first page, and as the page flips, the magazine is an ancient thick tome with a copper key on its cover, floating on a pair of gold angelic wings. Kurtis flips through the pages, looking at the floor, and reading intently
GM (GM):Justin, you put some soothing vibes into the old man's body, and he calms a bit. Confused as he is, you just let him rest and make him feel like he's okay.
Lucas:Lucas watches as Kurt pulls out a porno mag that somehow turns into a spell book straight out of Harry Potter.
Justin:"Alright, that should take care of the pain."
Lucas:"do I get my own spell book?"
Eve K. over the link "It seemed like a beefed up Squaring circle...though it could also be a mix of death and prime."
Kurtis Kerner:"Oh this is bad guys. A mage cannot pull other people's mana within the dead zone, but can spend their own internal mana. It's not Dead to its owner."
Jessica:Can you negotiate the dead zone away or meet someplace where you can't make one? Is that a thing?
Edward:Edward takes Jessica and Farmer to the deer, carefully showing them where the traps are so they stay away, and instructs on how to skin. Farmer is already profficient, and they start to gut deer together, and if Jessica pays attention, she can buy a dot in survival. We will have good dinner tonight.
"Baby, dear, pay attention, and can you talk outloud? It's really creepy how you stare off"
Eve K. over the link "We could ask I suppose. The hollow is his. If he can create a dead zone he might have even created that hollow himself. So I'd prefer neutral ground. But he could also get bored and send his zombies to fetch us."
Eve K.:"Believe me sir. The less of this you hear the better off you will be."
Kurtis Kerner:"All good questions, Jess, all good questions. Can I put my Dead Zone on top of his....? Or something like that. Allllright! Let's do this motherfuckers."
Kurt spreads his legs wide, gripping the ground with his feet, as if he's trying to dig the heels of his shoes into stone floor of the cave. He rolls up his sleeves.
"You'd like to hear some outloud talk, Ed? Well listen to this."
Jessica:"Sorry Dad." She didn't realize skin was held on by all this translucent membranous stuff. "I need to get a knife like yours."
Jess looks up.
Dante:Dante watches Kurt intently, waiting to see what happens.
Kurtis Kerner:Kurt opens his mouth and chants:
NISHENTOP ADLANTISAG KELOBTEM
MIG TEB KIMILKORAK NIRBAG
DEMOTTEM NET GETANOSENTEM
BIGAK TEB KIMILTONREB
LEWIDYOH
GM (GM):That's something like what Edward hears
Eve K. blinks, her eyes shifting to prime sight to better see what he's doing
GM (GM):The awakened of you hear this:
Eve K.:((I imagined Atlantian to be more... elegant for some reason...))
Jessica:((depends on who's saying it))
Dante:((KLAATU VERATA NIKTO))
Eve K.:((XDXDXD))
Jessica:((jess' Atlantian sounds like yodeling))
Kurtis Kerner:"Guardians of the Veil, Grant Me The Rote of Banishing. In This Place On This Plane None But Mine Shall Strike True. No Spark But Mine Burn Potent. BANISH!"

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