[nWoD : MtAw] The Academia : Infinite In Faculty : IC [Archive]

The Architect

2014-08-05, 07:12 PM

http://s15.postimg.org/x7dcnyxjv/Bannerpbpmage.png

Isle of Lewis : Albion Tetrarchy

A figure stands amid the shadows of standing stones.

Beneath one arm sat a Beretta he had not fired in five years. It's purpose was intimidate sleepers. Tattooed over his body were the bound fetishes of three spirit entities the pentacles would identify as minor gods. He had use of them much more often than the fire arm. They were not for the sleepers. The man wore a loose shirt and slacks that cut a strange figure on the chilly Scottish Island. His name, as much as he remembered, was Heracles.

He waited there amid the stones for several minutes before a second figure emerged from the mist of the early morning "Mr. Sherley I presume?"

The man who had approached was a portly, middle aged man, of unplaceably vague Asian descent, and his accent at clung so much to the stereotype as to have seemed an ignorantly offensive impersonation, if of course he had not seemed to be impersonating an insult of his own people. The second man, was in all respects, a cliche. http://s1.postimg.org/pitfw9olr/Mage_PBPArt2.png

The figure already in the stones looked over and glanced the man up and down "Are you him?" The man's own tone had the feeblest hints of an Australian accent behind the twang of an adopted British demeanor.

"If I said I wasn't would you believe me," the portly Asian cliche said as he busily took pictures of things as innocuous as the sun and grass, along with the many standing stones.

"I was sent by the Exarchs. They want-" Heracles was interrupted by the man breaking into a coughing fit.

"Oh... *cough* ... you were sent by the man who owns you, who is no Exarch. Worried about his little school?" as the man finished Heracles impressive hearing picked out several profanities in the shorter, rounder man's coughs.

"You know about the school?" Heracles asked with a sort of forced absent minded-ness.

"My grand daughter attends. I may not be human but one keeps track of such minutia," the man was still taking photos, or pretending too, but his camera had since died.

"Regardless. The Exarchs have a question," the second man seemed to grow a bit darker at that moment, the shadows around him seemed to stretch and the insects in the grass and mist seemed for a moment louder and more sinister.

"Ask. I'm obliging of your puppet masters at the moment," snapped the portly Asian man who was now rubbing at a ketchup stain on his floral pattern shirt.

The man called Heracles seemed to flinch at the words 'puppet masters' but pressed on, rolling each word off his tongue like a threat "have any of your kind ever . . . Awoken?"

***

Prometheus University : Albion Tetrarchy

The first thing that enters their consciousnesses is the feeling of their restraints loosening. The next is the sound of pacing feet on marble.

Their eyes flutter and a scene opens before them. A quintet of long oak table, over a hundred feet long, stretch out side by side before them on a nearly featureless white marble floor. Beneath the rows of tables and chairs is a strange crest, like that of an old school, in the shape of a shield. Still groggy their drifting eyes see the walls of gold filigree over yet more white marble and finally drift to a glass ceiling over which walk a scattering of figures far up in the rafters.

The quintet sit on carved wooden chairs, back to back in a pentagon like shape. Behind them all is an empty elevated chair like area, bare despite its prominent position. The tables also seem empty, the chairs up and to the last unoccupied. The space is cavernous and illuminated softly, but by no evident source of light.

Finally from near one of the far walls a figure approaches. He wears a black suit over a red shirt, appears to be in his mid thirties, and is unquestionably handsome. (http://37.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_llgp1gmeYN1qabacto1_500.jpg) Something though, beyond his altogether well put together appearance, is sinister enough to unsettle the no doubt already terrified students.

All he whispers in the half light though is "Are any of you hurt?"

What do you do?

You are no longer bound to your chairs.

You have only just woken up since being grabbed, Merits related to school groups/factions/activities activate after the timeskip, and you all gain the following condition;

Spooked (Temporary, Emotional):
Recent events have had a substantial emotional effect on you. You may not be showing any fear but you're definitely unsettled enough for it to be effecting you one way or another. Take a -2 to all actions while under the effect of this condition.

Resolution: Resolve this condition when you fail a roll while under the effect of this condition. Take a Beat.

Post away folks! :smallsmile:

SuperCracker

2014-08-05, 07:55 PM

YOLO

Sitting amidst the teenagers rousing to consciousness is a strong-looking, handsome young man with a brown fauxhawk, a black hoodie with leopard print on the inside of the hood, a pair of new jeans and some converse sneakers. Around his neck is a silver chain with a big silver medallion that reads: “YOLO”. He has several wristbands on each wrist (visible when the sleeves shift). His look is unmistakably flashy.

As Yolo wakes up, he shakes his head and rubs his forehead. Someone had him tied down. Where was he? Chocolate eyes looked about the room. It was a weird place. And when Yolo feels something this weird, he assumes the worst. Street survival.

His eyes snap to the man who speaks. Something about this man is just wrong. It sets the kid on edge, and when he’s on edge, he tends to react in a certain way. Yolo stood up from his chair, hiding how disturbed he is at the moment under the convenient mask of the tough guy.

“You better not worry about me,” he says with a definite Jersey accent, “You better worry about you. Cause if you don’t tell me where I am and how to get back to Newark, I’m gonna shine my shoes with your face.”

*Prepares to be made an example of.*

Green Bean

2014-08-05, 08:33 PM

Henry was groggy and disoriented. He remembered going to sleep at the hospital, but nothing else until this very moment. He'd clearly lost time; could he have had another psychotic break? He felt his panic grow a little, but he tried to reason himself back to stability. His history meant another break unlikely; neither he nor his brother had ever displayed retrograde amnesia after a psychotic episode. Could he have been transferred? It seemed unlikely it'd happen without telling him - he was only under observation, there would be no medical reason not to let him know in advance.

When he started to notice the rest of his surroundings, it became utterly clear to him that this wasn't any kind of official thing. The room was far too richly appointed to be an NHS building, and his parents definitely couldn't afford a private consultation. Like what always happened as he became more stressed and overwhelmed, he started to doubt his own thoughts. Had he been kidnapped? It seemed likely, but could it be delusions of persecution or danger? It was a common symptom. Was any of this really happening?

"Are any of you hurt?"

This rather ominously phrased statement snapped Henry out of his confusion. The man's words, and those of the young man sitting next to him forced him to calm down. It wasn't just him, there were others here, and that meant this could be actually happening. Henry quickly took stock of the older man - clearly he was an authority figure of some sort, and until you figured them out, you shut up and listened.

Wits + Empathy to try and figure out what this guy wants to hear and what his intentions are.

Wits + Empathy: [roll0]

smuchmuch

2014-08-05, 08:58 PM

"Ma tete" A rather small dark haired girl wearing some pretty nice skirt, shirt an denim jacket wakes up and try to stand up in her chair. She slowly lift her hands to her haching head, she seems rather out of it. She feels weak and groggy. "Ou suis je ?"

The last things she remembers was standing with her luggage near the buss station and there was a sharp pain she doesn't remember anything ? Did she pass out ? why ? it never happened to her before. A sudden thought What is she was abducted. no that's stupid, it only happen in films.

She has no idea who thiese people are but it looks like she's in some kind of school hall. Some weird cliche boarding school that she though only existed in films or overseas but she was espoused to go to a very private school, she did expect things to look different, just not that different. She must have fainted, it never happened to her before but there's a star for everything, and people brought her in.

Oh wait is that English people seems to be talking around her ? There' s a little pause as she mentally switch from on language to another. "Is this the St Exupery ?" Her mind keeps screaming there's something wrong about this whole situation, she takes a deep breath to try to think more clearly. "Did I pass out or something ?"

In case it isn't obvious from context, she's saying: "... My head" "Where am I ?" and "What is going on ?"

Shadowy

2014-08-05, 09:16 PM

The sixteen year old blond girl looks dressed for the occasion. The last thing she remembered was her parents explaining that everything would be alright, a spell being cast, then darkness.

But now, there's nothing but the picture of an absurdly expensive place. There's a group of other teenagers near her, and those'll be weighed up later.

A quick personal inventory reveals no blood or missing limbs. She's perfectly willing to let the others talk while she weighs up this man. This is what she's been prepared for, chosen for. Look at all the symbols, see what they represent.

Intelligence + Occult + Skill Specialty (Mage Orders) - Spooked = 6 dice.

One success (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4596685/)

The Architect

2014-08-05, 09:49 PM

Prometheus University : Albion Tetrarchy

The man turned to look at the boy. There wasn't the lifeless vague power of the overbearing controller in this man, his every moment was tinted with emotion, over flowing with intent, and his slow movements seemed the preludes to a lunge. Turning slowly to face Yolo. The man's face twisted slightly into a forced plateau of emotion as he spoke "I would like to see you try. Boy."

Still keeping his eyes on Yolo he responded to the girl who had just spoken "you are within a school for those of your kind. I have been ordered to inform you of the basics of what is required of you, then to assign you students to inform you of the basics. Which of you already know what you are?"

What do you do?

While searching the room you see carvings, sculptures and glass panes you fail to understand but a central symbol on a wall carving behind the raised platform is one you recognize with out fail, with a mix of fear and familiarity.

The High Speech rune for the Seers of the Throne. (http://www.elftown.com/stuff/SeersoftheThroneTransparent.gif?jpg=y)

What Henry picks up most is how emotionally removed from the situation the man seems to be. He doesn't seem threatened or engaged by it at all, nor he doesn't seem to share their feeling of entrapment. He's here because he needs to be but the idiom no dog in this fight seems to fit him down to the ground. This is a job to him, he's just going through the motions.

Which if this is some sort of kidnapping is actually more unsettling.

smuchmuch

2014-08-05, 10:31 PM

The girl looks confused. people like her ? She has no idea what he means.
She knew she was going to a boarding school but this welcome is just weird.

It may seems like my character is slwo on catching up but in her defense she was told she was was going to a boarding school, she woke up in one so 'hey I must have ben aducted' is not what come to her mind. Expect "hilarity" (and by that I mean panicking) to ensue once she catch up to the afct she's been kidnaped

SuperCracker

2014-08-05, 10:42 PM

Yolo

"I would like to see you try. Boy."

His eyes widen with anger in the face of being tempted, no, disrespected like this. This jackass has the nerve to slip Yolo a roofie or whatever they did, bring him to some stuffy boarding school against his will, freak him the hell out, and on top of that imply that Yolo is sawft?!

“Your wish is my command, mother******!” Yolo says as he puffs up, bringing his arms out to the side, flexing what was impressively wiry muscle for a sixteen year old. He then shot out from where he was standing, rushing the threatening man, throwing a right hook at the man’s jaw.

This will not go well. Spending a willpower to have 1 non-chance die.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4596791/ - Failure. And because I know he’s going to kick my ass anyway, I’ll make it a dramatic failure and take that free beat.

My vice is Pride, so I’ll probably recoup that willpower. =P

The Architect

2014-08-05, 11:07 PM

Prometheus University : Albion Tetrarchy

The man sidesteps the blow like Yolo was moving in slow motion and then seems to look at him with a mix of pity and annoyance "you remind me of a young me."

He brings forward his open palm and beneath his cloths a geometric pattern shines through the thick fabric, a pulsing red glowing vaguely though the fabric of his right arm. It slams into Yolo and a moaning pulses through the room and fades immediately, Yolo fading out of existence with it.

With Yolo gone the man brushes his hands together as if he had just taken out the trash "so trust me that kid had that coming."

He takes out a handkerchief and cleans off his hand before turning back to the others "NOW, where was I?"

***

Shadow Realm : Albion Tetrarchy

Being pulled across the Gauntlet, the boundary between the Material and the Spirit World is a feeling that can only be compared to being spared too thin over too much bread and awakening to a bad LSD trip. When Yolo collected himself he was standing in a trench at the center of a bombed out field, like something out of an old movie about the Great War. Looking up the sky stretches out a sickly green with blisters of red. It seems to be night but it's hard to tell for sure beyond it being dark. It takes Yolo only a moment to notice the near absolute silence of the place.

He can't tell what is beyond the field surrounding the trench from his location standing in one, but even with the mud climbing out of it doesn't seem like it would be that hard.

What do you do?

You take 2 Beats (taking a Dramatic Failure, Resolving the Spooked Condition), get 1 Willpower back for fulfilling your Pride Vice.

You also take the following Condition:

'Trapped In The Shadow Realm' (Temporary/Circumstance) :
Your poor choices have come back to bite you. You have become trapped in the Spirit Realm by another, or are you as trapped as it first seems?

Resolve: Resolve this condition when you leave the Shadow Realm for the Material. Take a Beat.

SuperCracker

2014-08-05, 11:52 PM

Yolo
Active Effects
Organic Resilience, Potency 2: 1 Scene, 3/1 Armor
Transform Self, Potency 4: Claws (Unarmed Attacks are +1 damage Lethal), Cat Eyes (No penalties from darkness), 8 Eyes (+2 bonus to perception), Spider Leaping (+2 to athletics)

“Yeah, well blast from the past,” Yolo says, turning into the palm strike, willing to take whatever punishment the guy was dishing out, as he brought his left hand around for another strike. Unfortunately, before he can finish said strike or his wonderfully eloquent quip, he finds himself… somewhere else. “…b**ch.”

He staggers under the feeling of dizziness that accompanies leaving reality as he knows it. His vision goes blurry for a moment, causing Yolo to bang his fist against his temple in an effort to right himself.

“What the f…” He looks around at the world around him. He recognizes it. It’s that place he’s seen before, with those things he talks to sometimes. But this, he doesn’t recognize this place.

Ironically, the apprehension he had about that man was gone. He’d taken his shot and he’d lived. “I gotta find that guy and deck him.” But to do that, he realizes he needs to find a way out. And with this place looking like a war-zone, he had to be ready for war.

He exhaled a deep breath and brought his hands together like something he’d learned in his karate class. When in doubt, be tough… be strong… be more than human. Weaving his will, using his own body as the canvass for art, he first makes his body more resilient, denser bones, thicker skin. Then, weaving stronger magics, he gets a little crazier with it.

His eyes split once, becoming four. Those eyes split again, becoming eight. The eyes each take on a golden glow in the night. His muscles shift within him, growing more capable of leaping distances. And finally, the tips of his fingernails elongate in deadly claws.

He takes a moment to admire his handiwork, that which was possible with this power he'd awakened to. Hell yes. With that, he climbs out of the trench. Time to look for a way out.

Casting Organic Resilience first.
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4596843/ Two successes. I now have 3/1 Armor active.

Next, casting Transform Self.
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4596845/ Four successes! I can get 4 features. Choices are up above in the small text.

Seanfall

2014-08-05, 11:58 PM

Morty groaned out, the last thing he remembered was laying his sister to rest. Her body at least, her soul was another matter. As was his, he stayed silent listening and watching as the others spoke. Some brash and bold, others wiser. They were all around his age mostly. Wherever they were this was deliberate, taken when they were off their center and mostly disoriented.

Rubbing his wrists absentmindedly He began to take in the room around him. It was Grand no doubt about it, and that worried him. Whoever had taken him and the others had resources, obviously. Morty was a little off balance and spooked, but he bit down his fear and tried to force it aside.

He watched in silence as the Young Man who looked your run of the mill street punk was sent away. Morty's eyebrows shot up, taking his glasses he wiped them with a small cloth swatch before replacing them he stands up. He was still dressed in the dour black clothes he had worn when he laid his sister to rest.

"Know what we are? Does this have something to do with the Watchtower with the Lead Coin?" His voice was strong for the most part though had that distinctive crack of someone still developing. This must be the place those others spoke off, guess they got impatient with him. That did nothing to calm his nerves.

Shadowy

2014-08-06, 12:12 AM

She watches closely as the flashy youth takes a swing at the man, and her jaw drops when she sees him disappear. She lowers her head when he turns back.

"I'm not hurt. And I know what we are. We're the Exarch's chosen. We were awakened to a higher realm to serve the will of The Father and his various aspects and to bring about a world where the sleepers know no magic, so that it may be remade into a paradise. To purge all opposition. Servants in the Iron Throne." She gets louder as she goes on, becoming progressively more animated.

She smiles, her eyes lighting up. "We're Seers, aren't we?"

smuchmuch

2014-08-06, 12:27 AM

Oh. Un reve.
True, it doesn't feel like a dream, It's a lot less trippy than the usual. ven those those strange long vivid ones, and it's the first time ever it's lucid but it has to be one. Because that blusterous street tough wannabe with the ridiculous clothes just went poof. And people don't go poof unless it's a dream. QUED she's dreaming.

Wits+Int (invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4596840/) roll to realise it's not a dream

Except no. It's feeling all too real. and somethin in her scream that yes people can go "poof".

"W... W...What ?" The words 'jsut happened' don't manage to come from her lips. It doesn't take a genius to understand that from her increasingly blank voice and face that she's finaly catching up to the situation and his getting increasingly terrified. It's not a prank. It's not a dream. And she's not in kansas anymore either.".. W..Who.. are you ? what do you want ? .. I ..If it's money you want ...my parents can pa"

And then the blong girl says something about 'Exarch and 'choosen'.' Oh god she's been aducted by some kind of crazy cult. she though it was the kind of thing that only happened in stories.A crazy cult that can make people go poof. And then the word 'magic' get tossed at some point. It's crazy. It can't be happening !.

The Architect

2014-08-06, 12:46 AM

Prometheus University : Albion Tetrarchy

"Know what we are? Does this have something to do with the Watchtower with the Lead Coin?"

The figure turns to Morty "yes. It does. Here you will be taught the purpose and responsibilities of the powers you have been given. This is a school for those like you."

"I'm not hurt. And I know what we are. We're the Exarch's chosen. We were awakened to a higher realm to serve the will of The Father and his various aspects and to bring about a world where the sleepers know no magic, so that it may be remade into a paradise. To purge all opposition. Servants in the Iron Throne." She gets louder as she goes on, becoming progressively more animated.

She smiles, her eyes lighting up. "We're Seers, aren't we?"

He then turns and looks to Roxanne as she finishes "Yes. We are Seers. Servants of the Rulers of all of existence. If you believed in a God before now, take solace in that they know your name, and be afraid for just that reason."

".. W..Who.. are you ? what do you want ? .. I ..If it's money you want ...my parents can pay."

He looks around the cavernous space and then back to the assembled teens "We are the Prometheus University. We train those like yourselves and we invented the monetary system. What we want is all of you. All of you at your fullest potential. Normally you would awake before the entire school but I was asked to transport you and I'm not the sort to stand vigil over a bunch of kids. This also means the carrion eaters won't be picking you over before noon. So let us begin with the obvious, what questions jump to you about your new circumstances, if any?"

***

Shadow Realm : Albion Tetrarchy

As Yolo emerged from the trench he saw it appeared to be cut impossibly straight through the landscape, which as far as he could tell was a series of hills, well not hills but jutting octagons of mud of varied levels through which the trench cut abruptly. In places were craters and dents where some sort of battle had broken out and just over the tallest nearby octagon Yolo could see a great humanoid skeleton that with no other word for it his brain assigned the species of 'giant'.

In places there was grass but it didn't move and seemed to of nearly random shades of greens and oranges, as if the world couldn't decide on one color. It was then that something bounded over the edge of a nearby Octagon and raised towards him its hand outstretched.

The figure cleared as it rapidly approached, a girl not much older than himself in strange clothing (http://img.over-blog-kiwi.com/0/79/29/57/obpictWIR3v.jpeg). She shouted as she held the ball of energy in her hand "Get back in the trench if you want to live!"

The girl seemed to be running in an arc around Yolo and heading for the trench herself.

What do you do?

SuperCracker

2014-08-06, 12:56 AM

The Architect

2014-08-06, 01:06 AM

Shadow Realm : Albion Tetrarchy

The girls looks YOLO up and down, does a double take despite her own strange appearance, and then seems to reabsorb the flames of the fireball into her hand. she sighs and sits down in the trench, ignoring the muck "You SLF? Undeadites?" She sighed and pulled something from a pack on her leg, a P99 Walther, checking the clip and reloading it "what a bloody waste of moolah ... You're a fresher aren't you? Why haven't I seen you before? I was there for the last arrival party and I didn't see any kids like you."

The girl pointedly doesn't explain the danger she is hiding from but checks the sky while clutching her weapon.

What do you do?

SuperCracker

2014-08-06, 01:46 AM

The Architect

2014-08-06, 01:58 AM

Shadow Realm : Albion Tetrarchy

She looked to the clawed hand but didn't take it, as if it was radioactive, and Yolo got the impression it wasn't because it was clawed. She motioned with her free hand to the edge of the trench "Exarchs preserve us you are a fresher ... out there there's a Knight of ... I think Fire maybe, I think it's loyal to the SLF's Court. They tend to like Fire Spirts. Anyway that Spirit carpeted bombed the other Mages I was here with. I got hired on by a Moros who wanted to go spirit poaching, with two others. We didn't make it far before one of those things came on us . . . I don't know if the others got away but if they did they're long gone now."

She looked Yolo up and down again, then with a sigh said "Kame, by the way. If you want a name."

She glanced to the sky again "I'm guessing it's too much to ask that you have the magic to get us out of here, right?"

Seanfall

2014-08-06, 02:42 AM

"I'd ask what authority you had if I didn't already suspect the answer." The same bull**** my dad fed me all my life. From one hell right into another. Morty took in a calming breath, suddenly that 'punks' act seemed mild in comparison to the thoughts floating around in Morty's brain. "Can we leave if we wanted?" He already suspected the answer to that too. In fact most of the questions he came up with probably had the same vague answers as those he always posed to his father. He was in a place controlled by Nutbags who could bend reality.

Under his breath he muttered something about same **** new day. "What about clothes, supplies? Food and basic necessities?"

I'm really wondering if I should roll for Morty to repress an 'uuuggghhhh' and Eyeroll.

Green Bean

2014-08-06, 06:37 AM

Henry nearly had a panic attack when the other boy talked trash and was disappeared, but all this talk of Exarchs, towers, and coins oddly reassured him. So this was a mental institution. He didn't know why there was an older man in here with them, but all of these impossible events could easily be explained by the fact that he was having another psychotic break. Sure, he felt surprisingly self-aware for someone in the middle of a meltdown, but clearly he wasn't, because self-aware, sane people didn't see other people magically disintegrate. He knew this moment of lucidity wouldn't last long.

Henry looked around the ominous, be-symboled room. "Where's the call button for the doctor? I'm seeing things again."

SuperCracker

2014-08-06, 04:02 PM

Yolo

He shrugged and took his hand back. “Your loss, girl.” He listened to what she told him about the thing she was running from. Knight of Fire. A lot of the other stuff she said was kind of gibberish to Yolo, so all he really took from it was that some Fire Knight was trying to gank her and her pals.

“Alright, Kame,” he says, standing up tall and pulling himself up enough to peer over the edge of the trench with those strange mutated eyes of his. “I ain’t got the mojo to get us back there. But I do got two things goin’ for me. I can talk to these things that live over here. And if that fails, I can kick some major ass. So if you wanna come with me, we’ll figure it out and get outta here, maybe find your friends. If ya don’t, well… have fun in the trench.”

With that, he’s tired of cowering, he pulls himself back up onto the field and begins to make his way through. That said, he’s not a total idiot. He can use the element of surprise. So he sneaks ahead, unfortunately badly.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4597465/

Failed stealth.

smuchmuch

2014-08-06, 09:18 PM

Catherine would probably have lots of question if she dared ask, she has no idea what nay fo those poeple are talkign ,out, but right now she's a little too overloaded and scarred with the situation. If she keep on cowering in her chair, maybe the crazy fanatic kidnappers will forget she even exists.

"Where's the call button for the doctor? I'm seeing things again."

"If it''s your nightmare rather than mine I'd really like if you could wake up soon, please ?"

Shadowy

2014-08-06, 10:40 PM

Roxanne looks around at the other students, and their reactions. Fear, disbelief, violence, suspicion. It would appear that not everyone is as well-adjusted as she is.

Oh well. They'll come around once they're sure it's all safe. After all, the Seers of the Throne have everyone's best interest at heart.

She speaks up. "I've only one. When do we start?"

The Architect

2014-08-07, 05:36 PM

Shadow Realm : Albion Tetrarchy

As YOLO goes to climb out of the trench Kame seems to reach out to him "NO, We need to pl-" then seeming him poorly try to slink out of the trench and ending up stumbling over the top she forces herself to scramble after him "I hate freshers . . ."

Once out of the trench it takes YOLO only a few moments to scan the sky for the entity that has clearly caught sight of he and Kame. The creature has the silhouette of a squid but the body of it is formed from eternally burning wooden debris, like the compressed carcass of a home, that terminates in a dozen tendrils of constant aqua blue flames. Rolling off the torso of blacked wooden floating and rotating pieces are paths of smoke so large and so rigid that the sooty air seems to form stag horns near as large as the creature's body. Around all of this eight orbs of various colors, all shades of flame, orbit like furious eyes. The whole entity must be about twenty feet long.

Instantly Kame's P99 was pointing into the air as the creature turned on a dime in the air ahead and swerved towards them "YOLO, are you STARTING to appreciate why a brought the gun?!"

What do you do?

***

Prometheus University : Albion Tetrarchy

"I'd ask what authority you had if I didn't already suspect the answer."

As he only half cared about Morty's response the man's answer was said while glancing towards the others "as your fellow new student can inform you the Exarchs rule reality, they are the highest authority. They are the reason most of the Sleeper populace get to happily live as unknowing cogs, without the monsters that could end them at a moments notice."

"Can we leave if we wanted?"

"Only when acting on behalf of the school, or upon graduating," this time he looks back to Morty "and if you had any idea of the dangers of an untrained Mage of your age to those around you, and the kinds of things that would enjoy nothing more than chewing you up, you might well be more than grateful for the opportunity.

"What about clothes, supplies? Food and basic necessities?"

"A handful of spare changes of your school uniform will be found in your allocated room. Basic food stuffs and water are supplied. Other students charge for other services and goods if you desire them," he seemed now to getting a little tired of this, as explaining this place was clearly not his job he was starting to sound a tad bored.

"Where's the call button for the doctor? I'm seeing things again."

"You're not mad, and if you want to survive I'd stop pretending you believe you are. You Awoke, which says more than anything that some part of you knows, has the Gnosis, the understanding, that all that has been said here is true."

"I've only one. When do we start?"

The man turns back to Roxanne and grims, his whole demeanor dropping an octave of fierceness while a chill runs down Henry's back for a reason he can't place "I'm sorry guys. We totally got off on the wrong foot and that was my fault. I'm just doing my job is all mates and I don't want you guys to think this place is hell, especially since you'll be here for a while," he points to Roxanne "you keep an eye on these folks if you can. You've got your head together. Help 'em out and they might just let you be Auger."

The figure turns and whistles loudly, then looking back to the students "one last thing. Don't give anyone you're real name. A real name helps people use certain incredibly dangerous magics on you, giving them a fake name hurts their ability to use that kind of magic. Under no circumstances should you give out your real name. In fact if I were you I'd discard it."

A few moments after the whistle subsides a figure emerges from the main entrance to the hall, a bowie knife in a scabbard at the side of his leg and a surprisingly well worn look about him for someone who must be seventeen or eighteen. The man who had been speaking continues as the apparent student approaches "this is Barrier, he's a Moros who'll be showing you around. He's been paid in Mana for the service so try to be polite."

The young man looks over the group and shows little emotion "okay. Let's get this started simply. Any of you Necromancers? I mean did any of you Awaken in a place that looked like a goth's wet dream or a heavy metal cover? Moros I mean. We're going to go get coffee."

What do you do?http://s29.postimg.org/l3wro3esn/Mage_PBPArt3.png

SuperCracker

2014-08-07, 05:55 PM

Yolo
Active Effects
Organic Resilience, Potency 2, 1 scene: 3/1 Armor
Transform Self, Potency 4, 1 scene: Claws (Unarmed Attacks are +1 damage Lethal), Cat Eyes (No penalties from darkness), 8 Eyes (+2 bonus to perception), Spider Leaping (+2 to athletics)
Spirit Tongue, Potency 1, 1 scene

He knows when he’s messed up, and that was when he rushed his exit. He can see that creature in the sky. It was a nasty thing of fire and smoke. Yolo imagines that he’ll burn himself punching the creature, but there may be no other option. Well, almost no other option.

“Hey Kame,” he says to her as the thing speeds towards them. “You go, run back into the trench. I’ll keep the thing on me so you can get outta here.” If she stalls at all, he looks at her and says it again. “I said go!”

Quickly he focuses his will once more. He wasn’t very good at interacting with things on this side of the fence, but he could do it. Yolo gives it all he’s got, and once the power is in place, he looks up to the speeding creature and calls out to it in a manner it would understand.

“Hey yo! Come over here. I got something to say to ya.” Granted, the thing didn’t look like it wanted to talk, but at the very least… Yolo hoped he might draw its ire. Was this dangerous? Absolutely. But he didn’t want that girl to pay for his mistake.

Spent a willpower and cast Spirit Tongue. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4598568/ 1 success

Green Bean

2014-08-07, 06:08 PM

"You're not mad, and if you want to survive I'd stop pretending you believe you are. You Awoke, which says more than anything that some part of you knows, has the Gnosis, the understanding, that all that has been said here is true."

Henry stopped at this, and considered the man's words. Wrong-footed and semi-panicked as he was, he'd not payed any attention to the Awakened part of himself. None of this was foreign to him, though before he'd dismissed it as a sign of his own mental illness. There was only one way to confirm or deny this; something he'd done it the first day of institutionalization, quite unintentionally, and after the results had promised himself never to do it again. These however, were special circumstances. Henry concentrated...

Improvising two spells, Aura Perception and Multi-Tasking. Gnosis + Mind on both.

Aura Perception: One success (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4598598/)

Multi-Tasking: One success (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4598599/)

Trying to discern the emotional state of everyone here.

The Architect

2014-08-07, 06:39 PM

Shadow Realm : Albion Tetrarchy

Kame does as she is bid and flees for the trench as the creature descends from the sky. The smoke that billows with it begins to fill the air close by and in moments each breath possess the rough texture of dispersed smoke. A voice in an alien tongue comes forth from within the debris and it sounds like alien words being screamed in the pain of some distant chorus, a simulacrum of a burning victim's voice "burn. Who? What? Burns."

What do you do?

***

Prometheus University : Albion Tetrarchy

Barrier's Aura:

A mingle of lavender and light green indicating annoyance and distrust.

The Older Mage's Aura:

Unnaturally muted and mingled colors, no strong or significant emotion whatsoever.

Other players should include their emotional states in their next posts for Henry.

SuperCracker

2014-08-07, 06:49 PM

Shadowy

2014-08-07, 07:34 PM

Roxanne inwardly beams at the praise. Half a pylon that thinks they're insane isn't exactly ideal material, but at least there wouldn't be too many challengers to being leader. Unless the loudmouth from earlier is still around. He could be troubling.

She nods politely at Barrier. "Nice to meet you. I'm an Obrimos, I've been briefed a little before coming here."

She decides to leave out the fact she doesn't drink coffee. "You can all call me Rose."

Rose is undeniably smug. With an edge of tension, but she's feeling superior and in control.

Green Bean

2014-08-07, 08:22 PM

If Henry hadn't been seated, he would've taken a step back. He could feel his mind splitting, and as he panicked further, the second and third mental iterations of himself shared in it, trying to make sense of his sudden synaesthesia that washed his world in colours. "No, no, no, no, no. This isn't right, it's too much, it's all falling apart." He started breathing heavily in panicked bursts.

He stood up, and pointed at the one figure in the room not awash in bright colours. "No, I was right the whole time. I'm ill and so are you and you're MAKING IT WORSE. Stop it!"

Presence + Persuasion: 0 successes (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4598686)

I'll voluntarily upgrade it to a dramatic failure.

Shadowy

2014-08-07, 08:41 PM

"Calm down and be quiet." Roxanne snaps at Henry, looking him over for a moment before casting Prime sight on him. (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4598692/)

"This is real. This is, in fact, realer then anything else you've ever encountered. You're not sick, you're not diseased, you're not ill, you're chosen. You've seen the truth of the world. Now learn to deal with it and stop screaming!"

She gets up, turning away from Henry to go with Barrier for Coffee. "Honestly, it's just rude."

Seanfall

2014-08-07, 09:40 PM

Morty advances towards the new Figure, "A watchtower with a lead coin. I Awoke there Moros hmm? sounds right." Morty looked toward the other's. "Calm down, you're safe for now." Morty moved towards them and put a hand on Henry's shoulder. "Deep Calming breaths." His sister used to have fits, he was used to calming her down.

Sorrow for his loss.
Anger at the older man's words.
Fear of the unknown.
Excitement for his new powers.

The Architect

2014-08-07, 10:21 PM

Shadow Realm : Albion Tetrarchy

"You can all call me Rose."

The boy forces a smile as his aura drifts through a momentary flurry of attraction, increased distrust, curiosity until finally leveling out at calm distrust. It is perhaps of benefit that only Henry saw said flurry of emotions and that the boy throughout maintained the same passive look.

"Well then it's nice to meet you Rose. We-"

"No, no, no, no, no. This isn't right, it's too much, it's all falling apart." He started breathing heavily in panicked bursts.

He stood up, and pointed at the one figure in the room not awash in bright colours. "No, I was right the whole time. I'm ill and so are you and you're MAKING IT WORSE. Stop it!"

"Calm down and be quiet. This is real. This is, in fact, realer then anything else you've ever encountered. You're not sick, you're not diseased, you're not ill, you're chosen. You've seen the truth of the world. Now learn to deal with it and stop screaming! Honestly, it's just rude."

As the others begin to turn away and move away with Barrier it seems as if no one is going to react to the outbursts, at least beside Morty, but slowly the man turns back to Henry, raises one arm, and simply says "Belus, if you wouldn't mind."

This time the red glow of the man's right hand is associated with no movement, but Henry fades out of the world all the same. The man turns away from where Henry was back to the others simply saying "the truth will hit him faster and harder where he's going."

What do you do?

***

Prometheus University : Albion Tetrarchy

“And hey, I don’t have no problem with you burning stuff. I just don’t want you to burn me and my friend here. Maybe you and me can come to an understanding. Help each other out.”

As YoLo effectively shouts these words at the alien entity Henry fades into existence and tumbles away from the trench, only to look up and see the strange spirit looming above him. In the university proper whatever spell the girl Rose had cast on him had nearly blinded him with its intensity. The combination of perceiving live emotion alongside the intense concentration of free magics in the area had been a sensory overload and even now it was difficult to focus on the purely material aspects of his new surroundings.

The entity above possessed the aspects of calm and hunger, as much as one could ascribe such things to apparently living fire.

The Knight spoke again in the same emulated scream voice "What? Offer To Burn? Must Burn. Offer?"

Henry can't pick out the source but he's sure he hears another voice from the trench a moment later say "Damn! We've got company Yolo!"

What do you do?

You take 2 Beats (taking a Dramatic Failure, Resolving the Spooked Condition).

You also take the following Condition:

'Trapped In The Shadow Realm' (Temporary/Circumstance) :
Your poor choices have come back to bite you. You have become trapped in the Spirit Realm by another, or are you as trapped as it first seems?

Resolve: Resolve this condition when you leave the Shadow Realm for the Material. Take a Beat.

SuperCracker

2014-08-07, 10:31 PM

Yolo
Active Effects
Organic Resilience, Potency 2, 1 scene: 3/1 Armor
Transform Self, Potency 4, 1 scene: Claws (Unarmed Attacks are +1 damage Lethal), Cat Eyes (No penalties from darkness), 8 Eyes (+2 bonus to perception), Spider Leaping (+2 to athletics)
Spirit Tongue, Potency 1, 1 scene

The entity was alien. It didn’t have the thoughts and motivations of a human being. But in a way, it was more natural than anything he’d ever seen in Newark. In many ways, Yolo was in awe of this creature, this thing that could burn him to the ground at any moment. It was something to be treated with the respect it deserved.

He heard some tussling somewhere behind him, and Kame shouting in his direction. He doesn’t dare look away from the Knight, not yet. Must Burn. It has to burn something. Offer. Give it something to burn.

“Alright, my man. I’ll give you what I can right now. But the place I just came from, there were lots of **** made outta wood. I bet I could make a big bonfire outta some of that stuff. A big bonfire all for you, bro.” Yolo unzipped his hoodie. God dammit he was going to miss this hoodie. He took it off, now exposing his black muscle shirt underneath, and held it out in front of him. “You see this? I love this thing. Leopard print, my man. Classy ****. But I’m gonna give it to you. I’m gonna let you burn it. Cause you and me, we’re gonna be tight. You feel me?” That said, he tossed the hoodie down in front of the Knight. Only then did he take a moment to look for what Kame was shouting about.

smuchmuch

2014-08-07, 10:36 PM

Not going to cry, not going to shout. Not going to panic. Yes she's been abducted. Yes she just learned that possibly her whole definition of reality is a lie (but while a small portion of her might subconsciously know it already, her full conscious mind is not ready to even consider this yet). Either that or she's surrounded by crazy people. Who make people disappear on a whim. A situation in which most people could understandably feel just a little shaken up.

No she need to be calm this might be a reason of survival. She's going to take a deep breath, think about this calmly, play along quietly, not get disappeared. Ask as many question as she can and then maybe she'll find a way out, a way to contact outside. Yeah that sounds like a plan

Deep breath.
Deep breath.
Deep breath.

Composure roll
[roll0][roll1][roll2]
(In case of dice explosion: [roll3][roll4][roll5])

And then suddenly one of the boy freaks out and they grab him and...Oh god they just made another person go poof !

DEEP BREATH.

"W.. what have you done with them ?" Caroline manage not to stammer, she's stilla fraid but it barely shows in her voice. And beyond fear maybe just a little hint of .. curiosity ? fascination ? she looks intently at the place where the boy was. No way it could be trick and maybe she's crazy but if it's the case it feels all to real. So could it be real ? And could it be that a part of herself knew about this ?

Her mind wanders, to a few months ago.. there was the fever, the lack of sleep then that strange dream. The museum in the mist and it's infinite the marble halls of eerie beauty. Caroline opens her eyes and realise that something has changed. No it's not true, it was there for a while but she had ignored it, refused to see it. But now that she's cocnentrated on the emory of the dream again she can't unsee it, it's like a superposition above her regular vision, light invisible threads around people coursing though the air.

She sounds a lot more focused, when she finaly finds the courage to ask a follow up to her question ".. How did you do it ?"

Green Bean

2014-08-07, 10:43 PM

Henry was filled with a wholly new sense of terror, but oddly enough also clarity. Before, when it had just been words and lights, and doubts were easy, but this, this was entirely beyond rationalization. There was no mundane explanation for any of this; nothing that made sense, so all he could do at this point is trust in his instincts. The strange multi-mind he now seemed to possess tried to adjust to the surroundings. The first iteration tried to make sense of the entity before him in his newly enhanced sight, while the second compiled what mundane information about his surroundings he'd managed to pick up (someone was talking, someone familiar?). The third he reserved for sustained inward terror-shrieking - not really helpful, but somehow it made him feel better.

The Architect

2014-08-08, 06:54 PM

Shadow Realm : Albion Tetrarchy

There is a pause then the creature drones a response of muffled screams "Burn. Feel. You."

With that entity lashes out at the hoodie and its licking flames incinerates the garment.

As YoLo searches out what Kame was shouting too he sees one of the other 'students' from earlier. Henry.

What do you do?

***

Prometheus University : Albion Tetrarchy

In response to Caroline's question the man raised his right arm again and it glowed softly "I sent them to the Shadow Realm. They'll make it back, just hopefully a little less snarky. How I did it? My name is Heracles and bound to my skin are greater spirits, minor gods; one of those greater spirits, which I crafted, has the ability to send students to the Shadow Realm, the realm of the spirits."

He looks to Barrier "if there's nothing else you should get going. I've got other matters to attend to tonight."

Barrier looks over the group, glancing away from Rose "guys, you're probably in a bit of shock. Lets get you guys some coffee and I'll walk you through what you need to get by. I know it's hard to take at first but I'll try to help. If you need something a little stiffer we can head to a club after you're settled."

Barrier starts to leave the hall, expecting you all to follow, while Heracles simply waits.

What do you do?

SuperCracker

2014-08-08, 07:11 PM

Yolo
Active Effects
Organic Resilience, Potency 2, 1 scene: 3/1 Armor
Transform Self, Potency 4, 1 scene: Claws (Unarmed Attacks are +1 damage Lethal), Cat Eyes (No penalties from darkness), 8 Eyes (+2 bonus to perception), Spider Leaping (+2 to athletics)
Spirit Tongue, Potency 1, 1 scene

Once he caught sight of that kid from earlier, Yolo held a hand out, silently telling Henry to wait. Wait just for a moment.

The creature speaks, and Yolo grins a wide grin, his voice getting more excited, as if he just taught a nerdy kid to use some slang. “Yeah, bro. You got the lingo down!” He watches as the flames burn away his favorite garment. It didn’t matter; Yolo felt a rush that he’d never felt before. Something about dealing with this creature. It felt natural. It felt right. Yolo nodded a couple of times slowly. “That kid over there, too. He’s my friend, too. We’re all friends right now.”

Deciding that he can trust this creature for now, he motioned for the other two to come closer.

“She said you’re a Fire Knight. So I’m gonna call you Blayze.” The Y is silent, but Yolo envisions it in his head. “Do you know how we get back across that wall? To the place where I can burn stuff for you.”

Shadowy

2014-08-08, 07:12 PM

Rose is trying her level best not to annoy the man and get banished. She's trying even harder to make it look like she's completely in control and fearless. At the moment, that means keeping calm, cool, and not freaking out. Beyond that, stay quiet except for formalities, one of which is due now.

"Lead the way."

smuchmuch

2014-08-08, 07:22 PM

Caroline musters the courage for one last question in the direction of Heracles before going "I'm sorry but Before I was enrolled" kidnaped. "I had things with me, is it possible to have some back ?" she knows they aren't stupid enough to let her have her cellphone, she can probably kiss a lot of her clothes goodbye as well, but if she could just have her sketchbook back.. maybe one or two book as well. Maybe that'll make the situation all the more bearable. Like a weak l link to the exterior, something to remind she had a life before this .. ah. school.

Assuming the answer is no (which is likely), she turns around and follow Barrier quietly and with a slight feeling of heartsickness.

The Architect

2014-08-08, 08:32 PM

Shadow Realm : Albion Tetrarchy

While drifting away Blayze simply says "Bridge. Toll. Place For Burning. Return For Burning," with a single tendril he motions to a crest of raised octagon like bulges in the earth, then begins to turn and fly away. Once the entity is clear Kame scrambles out of the trench with her P99 angled at Henry "any chance you know who this one is? I don't recognize him from around. Is he a fresher who came in with your batch?"

What do you do?

***

Gallery of Places : Prometheus University

Heracles doesn't seem willing to answer Caroline's request but then, almost as an after thought, as the group is leaving he says after them "I can't get you your things, but ask Barrier to take you to the Dungeon, you'll be able to find replacements for most things there. The Exchange if he doesn't help you find what you need there."

With that Barrier leads the group out of the chamber, through a larger foyer that looks more akin to something from the palace at Versailles than a school, then into a courtyard with strange and impossible looking flora and ten equally strange statues of materials as varied as solid gold and lead, and then finally through two plain white handle-less doors off to the east of the courtyard.

Heading through it the group comes upon a space that looks exactly like a modern all white art gallery, paintings included. No other students seem to be nearby but no one accosts the group entering as Barrier leads them towards one piece in particular.

Under the painting reads a label 'Nighthawks, 1942 - Edward Hopper'. Without breaking stride Barrier leaps forward into the painting and suddenly appears inside, a tiny figure in the distance before the cafe in question. He turns off panel to the right and reemerges within the cafe and seems to be speaking to the man behind the bar.

He turns back to the window and seems to wave for the students to follow him, the man behind the bar waves for them to come into the painting as well.http://s11.postimg.org/v8d8mym1v/Mage_Art_PBP4.png

What do you do?

Shadowy

2014-08-08, 08:59 PM

Roxanne walks through the foyer, appreciatively noting the decor. It's fitting.

But then there's the art gallery. She's aware of art, but it's never really been of much interest to her. Still, a good selection. She's about to ask where the cafe is when Barrier leaps into a painting.

Which is unexpected. Is he now in the painting? Is this some sort of space portal effect? This is just fascinating.

Roxanne takes a moment to throw up a prime sight (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4599748/) on herself so that she can closely examine the workings on this painting. Once she's studied it to her satisfaction, she attempts to go inside and join them in the painting.

She grins giddily. "I really think I'm going to like this place."

Seanfall

2014-08-08, 09:06 PM

For the first time since arriving, Morty's jaw drops. He shakes his head and takes off his glasses wiping them down again. "Nope...I'm not seeing things...but why?" Shrugging he takes a few steps back, Maybe that other guy was right and we are suffering from a delusion...well might as well enjoy it. He then runs and jumps towards the picture. Hopefully not slamming into the wall and making an ass out of himself.

smuchmuch

2014-08-08, 09:06 PM

Caroline follows barrier head down and then suddenly freezeas they go trhough the double doors.
Is that... no way it can be the real one but it's still a pretty good copy. .. right and this statue and this painting is that ... ? "No way"

All though about her current situation brushed aside for a little while, she looks around at the different pieces of art around, staying in front of each at least a couple of minutes, looking judging. Oh if she had paper and pencil she could sit there and sketch for the rest of the day, that would be a great way to calm her nerves. (the fact the others just went through a painting hasn't quite registerd yet because she wasn't paying attention)

Maybe it won't be all bad after all ?

The Architect

2014-08-08, 09:25 PM

Gallery of Places : Prometheus University

Rose is decidedly confused as she arrives on the city street outside Phillies. It's not that she looks real and the world seems made of paint that is odd, or that she can see a small world within the painting, hidden from the view of the painting's border, but that she sees ... no magic. In the same way one notices the taste of the air only when it is thick with smoke or rancid fumes, she is overwhelmed by an absence. If not for the unusually low flickers of background magical interference she might not notice anything with her magical senses beyond the usual. Her mundane senses were telling us this bubble of existence in a painting was impossible, but her magical senses were telling her there was nothing magical about this place at all.

The confusion must have been at least hinted at by Rose's face because Barrier spoke up as she entered the cafe "the guys who run the Gallery keep most of the spells in this place Spell Cloaked. Means it takes a bloody age to figure out what spells they used. Um.. How do I put it ... Every spell puts out a certain sound, that lets you know what it is. Well these guys, and anyone with enough Mana or knowledge to afford the same, makes the sound of their spells sound like background noise, birds in a forest, waves on the ocean. Its one way they try to keep trade secrets to themselves I guess."

He knocks on the paint-wood of the bar "hey, Philly, can you get me an Americano, and put whatever my new pals want on my tab."

The man of paint behind the bar smiles and nods to the newcomers, Morty and Caroline filing in after Rose, saying in a cheerful tone "any friends of Barry is welcome here. Make yourselves comfortable."

Barrier turns back to the freshers "Philly here isn't that bright, think of him somewhere south of Kit and north of Siri. My guess is some light Mind, maybe a bound home built spirit. I'll admit I never put much energy into figuring it out. It's a relatively safe place to hang and chat though, and you get a lot of time for a handful of Mana a term."

He motions to some bar stools "now that the robot without a heart is gone, how are you guys holding up?"

What do you do?

Green Bean

2014-08-08, 09:51 PM

Not having any context or really any idea what's going on, Henry shut up when YOLO wanted him to shut up. Fortunately, the older boy seemed to have the situation well in hand. It wasn't until the firey entity took off that he got a good look at his rescuer(?). He didn't look anything like, well, a human being, but Henry's newly transcendent sight was telling him that the differences were artificial (it was actually telling him that the magic was far realer than any mere physical flesh, but it's all relative). The clothes (sans shirt), the posture, and the voice made it a pretty easy deduction. "Oh, you were the one from earlier, you attacked that man. That was terribly brave of you."

Before he could continue, Kame approached with her P99. Henry put his hands up, slowly and visibly. "I'm friendly! I'm friendly!"

Do I get anything off of Kame from either of my sight spells?

Seanfall

2014-08-08, 10:23 PM

Morty ordered a black Coffee and took a seat near the others. "Well. I was taken when I was at my Sister's Gravesite so...pretty pissed." Morty looked over to Barrier, "That being said, If I'd been taken on any other day I'd feel the same." Morty didn't bother to hide his feelings at this point, or keep his tone rigidly civil.

"So that's what happens if you get outline? Poof and you're sent to another world till you learn better?" That was what had happened as Morty understood it. Once he got his coffee he put in a little sugar and blew on it before taking a small sip. I can't decide if that's better or worse then.... Morty repressed a shudder as memories that were all too fresh flooded his already overly-taxed mind. Sometimes having an Eidetic Memory worked against you.

Something said earlier came back to him as he turned to Barrier, "What exactly is a Moros? Is that the place I went too?"

The Architect

2014-08-08, 10:24 PM

Shadow Realm : Prometheus University

Staring down the barrel of the P99 a handful of patterns run through Henry's mind, like computer code he can somehow read as it runs. The swirling light green of distrust burns bright at the edges of her aura but faded within are the blurred streaks of orange, the repressed fear. Matter magic in the gun, an manipulation of the density of the projectile, a warping of the relationship of force per unit area, all coalescing into insuring the small handgun's shot hits with the force of a rifle shot. More than that he sees the code that has been added to the pattern of the gun, a sickening mixture of the Unraveling and the nature of the Prime Material, such that bullets on the point of impact warp Shielding Magics, and unfold holes in such spells for instant. An incredibly destructive magic armor piercing light pistol, a tool solely of lethal force.

Without lowering her gun Kame shouts over to Henry "any chance you're going to tell me how the hell you ended up in the Shadow Realm?"

What do you do?

***

Gallery of Places : Prometheus University

Barrier shrugs at Morty's first question as he sips at his coffee "normally the teachers aren't around that much. They're mostly here for classes and when new students come in. You're the first students to arrive in the middle of the night, with no warning, and that got to keep their street clothes. SO that's weird. When you act up a student with power and influence might smack you down, but I don't think I've heard of many students getting punished for their actions ... and trust me some students have done things here that would get them life sentences or lethal injections in other places. It's all about having the power and influence to get away with it. I guess that way this place is just like the rest of the world, maybe because the Seers made it that way, one way or another."

He sips again and pauses, then finally when he has an answer he's happy with he replies to the second question "Moros is your Path, how you use your magic and what your magic is best for. Mages draw their magics from one of five realms, the place you went to is called Stygia, and all Moros went there once, and all Moros draw their power from their. Technically the formal title for one of our path is Necromancer but Sleepers gave that a bad name so a lot students go by Moros or Moroi. Our dorms are in a hotel in the Dungeon."

What do you do?

Green Bean

2014-08-08, 10:28 PM

Henry maintains the hands up, and tried unsuccessfully to smile disarmingly. "The same way he did." He jerked his head in the direction of YOLO.

The Architect

2014-08-08, 10:37 PM

Shadow Realm : Prometheus University

Kame motions with her P99 ever so slightly in YoLo's direction but her face remains the same fierce placid mask "He hasn't actually explained how he got here either, but he gets a pass due to the whole sending away the giant killer spirit. You don't get that pass fresher. Now how did you get here? Keep in mind your friend here can keep you alive if I shoot you, so I'm under very little obligation not to if you don't answer me."

What do you do?

SuperCracker

2014-08-09, 12:11 AM

Yolo
Active Effects
Organic Resilience, Potency 2, 1 scene: 3/1 Armor
Transform Self, Potency 4, 1 scene: Claws (Unarmed Attacks are +1 damage Lethal), Cat Eyes (No penalties from darkness), 8 Eyes (+2 bonus to perception), Spider Leaping (+2 to athletics)
Spirit Tongue, Potency 1, 1 scene

Yolo looked human enough, once one got past the feline-arachnid eyes and the wicked claws upon his fingertips. His mouth was the same, nose, the shape of his body was still human. And for a moment, he was simply in awe at the interaction he had just experienced. Possibly a little too in awe, because the situation between his two new acquaintances was rapidly amping up.

He turned towards Kame, gently reaching out to touch the top of the gun and lower it. He does so in a very unthreatening manner. Yolo had already gone to bat for Kame, put his safety on the line for her to get away, hopefully it would engender some goodwill.

“Hold on, hold on. He’s with me.” Yolo reached out and grabbed Henry by the shirt, tugging him over. Yolo put his arm around the boy’s shoulders like he might do with a good friend back home. “If he got sent here, he’s my boy.”

He goes on to explain. “We were all tied up and sh** in a room. Some douche in a suit is there. He didn’t look tied up. I wanted to know how to get back to Newark, and he pissed me off. So I swung at him. Dude hit me with a palm thrust and I ended up here. He do the same thing to you?” Yolo asks Henry.

Green Bean

2014-08-09, 12:53 AM

Henry shied away a little from Yolo, but not as much as one would expect as a result of being side-hugged by a sweaty stranger. There was goodwill all around, really.

"The same thing happened to me. All of this..." Henry waved vaguely to indicate the bizarre landscape, Yolo's metamorphosed form, and really, the whole day in general. "My family, some of us are...unstable? Well, people talking about magic and spirits and towers, I thought I lost it. I said some pretty stupid things, and I got sent here."

Seanfall

2014-08-09, 02:01 PM

Morty strokes his chin as he listens to Barrier's Reply. "Necromancers?" Morty looked away from Barrier his eyes closed, that profound sense of loss replacing his irritation. "So...we have power over the dead." It wasn't a question it was so much as a statement, abigail... Her name flitted through his mind for a second. Finally after taking in a deep breath and pushing his emotions down he faced their host again.

"The Dungeon, You and the other guy mentioned that. So it's a dorm, and some kind of shop?" Morty looked around, quickly reminding himself he was INSIDE A PICTURE. "No...it would be a lot more wouldn't it?" Morty leaned back in his seat, re-evaluating a few things. He still didn't like being here, but something was forming in his mind. The Kernel of an idea he lacked the knowledge to give it form. But it was there.

Shadowy

2014-08-09, 03:13 PM

Rose is disappointed by the lack of knowledge about this strange spell, but appreciates the lesson as a consolation prize. "Oh, is that how it works? Thank you."

Then she hears about the other students, and the slight diss against the seers. "Well, that's distressing, but it should be anything to worry about? So long as we're not going around antagonizing people we'll be fine, right?"

SuperCracker

2014-08-09, 03:35 PM

smuchmuch

2014-08-12, 07:27 PM

Catherine is at first awed and overwhelmed. she's in a painting. A bit like in her awakening vision, the with the museum but different, less intense. Yet. It's till an incredible experience. She wished to know how this is even possible, however as the taller girrl already tried and failed it seems she wouldn't be able to piece it out.

Her mood lowers however when she hears Barrier explain that shool seems to pretty much 'pit' and the closest thing to a school chart is survival of the fittest. She fears she will not last long.

Aftar he's done talking an answering questions for others she raikses her hand. When, if, he notices than she asks "Pardon me but... I keep hearing throne or seers but little explanation was given as to what it meant. What or who exactly are the 'Seers' ?"

The Architect

2014-08-13, 09:16 AM

Shadow Realm : Prometheus University

Kame allows YoLo to lower her P99 only slightly, a token gesture but a positive token none the less. Yolo is pretty sure she could still shoot out Henry's knee caps before he could stop but at least it didn't look like she was about to "Great. So you're both Freshers, and one of you was nuts enough to piss off a teacher, and another is just nuts. *groan*"

What do you do?

***

Gallery of Places : Prometheus University

"Necromancers? So...we have power over the dead."

Barrier shrugged "some say we were called Necromancers first and it just drifted into the Sleeper vernacular. Either way, we can do more than simply affect the dead. It's just sort of a formal title for one of our Path. Most will just call us or Moros or Moroi. I mean Thyrsus are Shamans, Obrimos are Theurges, Acanthi are Enchanters and the Mastigoi are Warlocks."

"The Dungeon, You and the other guy mentioned that. So it's a dorm, and some kind of shop? No...it would be a lot more wouldn't it?"

"The Hotel, the Moros dorm, is accessed through the Dungeon but it's mostly a large mall. It's stocked by students who pay the Moros Senior Prefects for the use of one of the store fronts. You can buy temporary firearms, custom made clothing, narcotics, well most things there. Even imbued and enhanced items if you have the Mana. Most things are bought by barter except when they're valuable enough to have a cost in Mana."

"Well, that's distressing, but it should be anything to worry about? So long as we're not going around antagonizing people we'll be fine, right?"

Barrier shifts uncomfortably on his stool "well yeah, in most cases but ... well there are these things called Leeches. They'll grab you, drug or brainwash you and then, if you're lucky, just drain you of all your Mana. Those students tend to focus on White Stripes and Freshers... um... you guys I mean, or your kind of guys, newbies. Just try to make bigger friends than enemies."

"Pardon me but... I keep hearing throne or seers but little explanation was given as to what it meant. What or who exactly are the 'Seers' ?"

"No worries. The Seers ... Well see at the beginning of our kind's history there was a city of Mages, but it grew corrupt and terrible ... The Mages built a Ladder, a Silver Ladder, a machine to let them enter the Supernal Realms in the flesh and corporealize there as, effectively, Gods. They intended to make a paradise of the world, for them to rule, but a group of Rebel Mages tried to follow them up the Ladder and the Exarchs, those who built the Ladder, were forced to shatter it to prevent them reaching the Supernal Realms and joining them in Godhood. This left the Exarchs unable to return corporeally to the Fallen World, but other Mages took up their mantle and served them, the Seers of the Throne. It's the Seers purpose to protect and rule humanity on behalf of the Exarchs," Barrier's recounting of the story doesn't betray how he feels about it, or even if he believes it is true.

What do you do?

Green Bean

2014-08-13, 05:21 PM

"Well, I can't rule out that I'm not mentally ill, but I am pretty sure this is actually happening. And in retrospect it explains a great deal about the last few weeks." This was a rather disorienting paradigm shift, but fortunately parallel mental processing was helping him iron out the kinks. "My name is Henry. Though before I left that teacher said we shouldn't be using real names. So call me...Jamie, I guess?"

SuperCracker

2014-08-13, 05:30 PM

Yolo

By now he’s figured out what she meant by Fresher. Freshman. This is the most jacked-up school he’d ever been to, and he’s been to a few. Yolo shook his head and shrugged at her. “Teacher, no teacher. Someone snatches me up, ties me up, they got to get got.”

He looks at Henry, who tells him that he shouldn’t be using his real name. Yolo blinks. “Bro, you just told me your real name. Why shouldn’t we use our real names?” Not that Yolo ever would. He’s Yolo, not ERROR. The question is more directed at Kame, who seems to know what’s going on. “But alright, Jamie. Man… you couldn’t have gone for something like Señor Swag?”

Green Bean

2014-08-13, 05:55 PM

"He just said it'd make it easier for people to hurt you. It makes sense - a true name is an important thing in a lot of traditions." Henry gave Yolo's suggestion due consideration. I don't know. I don't really speak Spanish, so it seems like something I'd forget a lot."

"Anyway, is there any sign of a way out? The way that man talked, this wasn't intended to be a permanent thing. There's probably an exit somewhere around here."

SuperCracker

2014-08-13, 06:03 PM

Yolo

“Yeah, Blayze – that thing that was here – said there’s a bridge with a toll. He also wants us to come back here and burn some stuff for him. Right over there.” He gestures to the octagon. “Not sure if he could make the bridge or not. He wasn’t speakin’ in full sentences if ya know what I mean. But a deal’s a deal, yeah?”

Seanfall

2014-08-13, 11:09 PM

"Mana....I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that, that's the energy we use to make magic Happen." The Moros ran the Dungeon hmm? Sipping is coffee some more, Morty Steepled his fingers lost in thought for a few moments. Strong picking on the weak, same old same old. Except now he had power of his own, he only needed to learn how to use it.

As Barrier gave a little retelling of what Morty assumed was their Mythos, he sighed and gave a small roll of their eyes. Erring on the side of caution and keeping his mouth shut when it came to his opinion on that story. He was hearing it from the people who wanted it to be true after all. It all sounded too good to be true.

Shadowy

2014-08-14, 03:32 PM

Barrier shifts uncomfortably on his stool "well yeah, in most cases but ... well there are these things called Leeches. They'll grab you, drug or brainwash you and then, if you're lucky, just drain you of all your Mana. Those students tend to focus on White Stripes and Freshers... um... you guys I mean, or your kind of guys, newbies. Just try to make bigger friends than enemies."

Rose winces. "That's disgusting. Thanks for the warning."

"No worries. The Seers ... Well see at the beginning of our kind's history there was a city of Mages, but it grew corrupt and terrible ... The Mages built a Ladder, a Silver Ladder, a machine to let them enter the Supernal Realms in the flesh and corporealize there as, effectively, Gods. They intended to make a paradise of the world, for them to rule, but a group of Rebel Mages tried to follow them up the Ladder and the Exarchs, those who built the Ladder, were forced to shatter it to prevent them reaching the Supernal Realms and joining them in Godhood. This left the Exarchs unable to return corporeally to the Fallen World, but other Mages took up their mantle and served them, the Seers of the Throne. It's the Seers purpose to protect and rule humanity on behalf of the Exarchs," Barrier's recounting of the story doesn't betray how he feels about it, or even if he believes it is true.

Rose listens quietly, and chimes in afterwards, seemingly reciting something she was taught by rote, and has put a lot of thought into. "That's vaguely true. True enough for today, at least. The important thing to remember is that most of Atlantis, and whatever happened there, was plunged into the abyss or scoured by the Exarchs to protect us, and no assumptions can be made when the Abyss. Contradictory things could be true."

Green Bean

2014-08-14, 07:25 PM

Henry scratched his chin as he followed Yolo's pointing. "I suppose we could give it a try. Though I daresay when 'Blayze' mentioned a toll, it probably won't be in pounds."

SuperCracker

2014-08-14, 07:33 PM

Yolo

Yolo looks at Henry for a moment, an oddly quizzical look on his face. He shakes his head and says very matter of factly, “Nah. I bet we can weigh whatever it is.”

Green Bean

2014-08-15, 06:55 PM

Henry shared Yolo's blank look for a moment before his brain collated the appropriate explanation: oh, he's American. "I meant money. Like, dollars, Euros, that sort of thing. Though I don't have any on me anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter either way."

The Architect

2014-08-23, 01:22 AM

Shadow Realm : Prometheus University

Kame takes up the rear, checking her weapon "yeah, that teacher really got got... About that price Blayze wanted, you really should be so blase about Spirits ..."

The trio move through the Shadow Realm, the octogonic landmasses making the trek a difficult and slow process, but no other spirits make an approach. In fact a more experienced Shaman might realize the area is unusually barren of any form of life. Soon a shadow looms over the landmasses in the distance. A great tower silhouette over one of the distance regular bluffs. It rapidly becomes apparent that the silhouette is that of a nearly impossibly massive tree, one to the scale of a small skyscraper. In the clouds above a coil shadow seems to move in orbit of the tower.

"Oh . . . **** . . . That's Dy Cost. It's a . . . greater spirit, what certain Mages call a minor god. It serves the male Senior Prefect of the Thyrsus. My guess is the Verge we need to go through is in that tree, and I'm also guessing we don't have the fire power to it down... Whatever the hell their toll is I think we should pay it."

What do you do?

***

Gallery of Places : Prometheus University

Barrier confirms Morty's guess with a nod, finishing his coffee with a long slurp "I mean ... it's not all bad. Yeah. It's easier if you're not leaving much but easiest way to cope is try to focus on surviving then, when you're comfortable, focus on finding something you can live for. And I mean, if you had to learn Magic, there's not really a better place on Earth. At least that's the impression I get. I mean the Pentacle mages, even if they weren't kind of short sighted rebels for the sake of rebelling, don't really have the resources or numbers in anyone place to set up a school like this. I mean they had one, or so the story goes, but it got shut down by the Seers a few years ago. Even then it had only a tenth the students this place has, and only came about because it was in a city with an unusually high number of Awakenings.

Most other Mages are loners, nuts or a combination of the rest. At least, again, that's how the stories go. It's not untrue that there more than a few students who could take most all of the teachers. I mean I doubt any of the teachers bar the Headmaster could take on Vigil or Hel. Here we learn Magic faster than anywhere else in the Fallen World.

There are good things too... and some good people if you know where to look..."

With that he sighs and gets up from his chair, stretching "Anyway, I've been rambling along for too long already. This was just meant to be a quick drink to catch you guys up anyway. Now... oh... yeah, the Dorms! We can head to the Moros dorms first. You guys ready to go?"

What do you do?

SuperCracker

2014-08-23, 07:40 PM

Yolo
Active Effects
Organic Resilience, Potency 2, 1 scene: 3/1 Armor
Transform Self, Potency 4, 1 scene: Claws (Unarmed Attacks are +1 damage Lethal), Cat Eyes (No penalties from darkness), 8 Eyes (+2 bonus to perception), Spider Leaping (+2 to athletics)
Spirit Tongue, Potency 1, 1 scene

In response to Henry explaining the obvious (obvious to everyone but Yolo, that is), “Ah. Gotcha.”

Kame gets him with that one, prompting the young New Jerseyan to look back at her. He starts to open his mouth, as if he has a good retort. He doesn’t. His mouth closes and he raises a clawed finger before just being able to spout, “I’m workin’ on it! Gimme a break.”

They begin their travel, and the going is easier for Yolo. The spider-qualities coursing through his muscles allow him to cover more ground more easily, particularly when it came to jumping. He pauses, slightly ahead of the others as he catches sight of the massive tree. He stares at it in awe. The Knight was a moving experience, but to speak with this thing… with a god…

“Why would you want to kill it?” He asks, glancing back at Kame. Say what you will about Yolo and his proclivity for punching faces, but he doesn’t always think that way. “It's beautiful,” he says, his voice getting a little more quiet. Yolo forgets to inject some slang into his speech. “Nah, we’ll figure out what it wants.”

He gives the other two a nod and continues onward. What would it be like to sit beneath the branches of a god and hear what it has to say? How long has it been around? What strange things has it seen in this world and beyond? Yolo continued walking towards it.

Seanfall

2014-08-23, 08:33 PM

Morty finishes his coffee, "Ready when you are." He stands and straightens his outfit out. He looked out of place, being the only one in, funeral, yet formal attire.

Green Bean

2014-08-25, 10:20 AM

Henry is weedy and not in great shape, but years of all-nighters gave him the endurance to press on and keep up anyway. The tree before them and the landscape was awe-inspiring and called into question everything he though he knew about the universe, but honestly the day had been so bizarre that he was finding it increasingly easy to handle these fundamental shifts in worldview. "I don't think I'm much at negotiating with spirits, but if you're willing to try, I should be able to help you."

Shadowy

2014-08-26, 05:59 PM

Rose stands, smiles, and follows Barrier.

The Architect

2014-08-26, 08:53 PM

Shadow Realm : Prometheus University

The group approaches and with the slow grace of a drifting whale the shadow in the clouds dips and curves around the tower shape and begins a long descent in a coil downwards. The tower itself seems to be a mammoth tree of some kind with worn grey bark and, high above, pentacle leaves of a deep orange shade. A pathway of fallen leaves wide enough to be called a free way leads up to a flickering space of pale gold light veined with dark red lines, more like a strange globe of energy than a doorway of any kind.

The form of Dy Cost becomes visible as its shadow falls over the trio of teen Mages. Its head, if one could call it that, is formed of a massive sowing needle formed of a bright blue wax like material. Around the needle orbit eleven marble slabs etched with pictographs, of the sort of an ancient South American style; the slabs orbit the needle in an order of three-four-three, clockwise-anti-clockwise-clockwise, small-medium-large. Even the smallest of these slabs is at least ten feet high and three or so feet across, with the others being half again that size. Before the needles point an indigo flame burns such that from the front the flame seems the center of the slabs orbits. Tied to the other end of the needle, behind the slabs, looped through the hole is a crimson thread, dripping with scarlet ichor, with this thread trailing behind it and being tied around giant bones, rib cages, femurs, etcetera to form a body of floating marrow tied together by the thread with the whole form floating without reference to gravity.

As it slows six wings unfurl from its body, floating detached from the 'body' just below the 'head', formed of leaves in the colours of a gradually transitioning rainbow. The middle set of wings are the largest, nearly as long as the whole spirit when fully extended, while the top and bottom sets of wings are just below half this size.

Needless to say the creature is unlike anything the young Mages have of yet encountered.

When the creature speaks, not in the Spirit Tongue but English, it's tone is that of an older man with a vague but distinctly foreign accent constantly waxing and waning as if being affected by the Doppler effect, while the booming volume is appropriate for an entity of its size.

"Young Mages.
Come no closer here, nor tarry long,
For here I hath been set with an enmity,
Against all small and great who doth not offer supplication to House of the Shamans.

I am Dy Cost. Formed by Man though the bindings of old words.
I am the serpent in the tree, the watchman on the walls, the toll man on the bridge.

What say thee?"

What do you do?

***

The Dungeon : Prometheus University

With everyone ready to move on Barrier leads you all out of the Gallery of Places. He leads back into the central foyer before branching off into a corridor that looks as grim and archaic as would suited to a castle like this but he quickly turns down a branch in the hall to an old looking elevator, the sort with a grid like door one pulls open by hand. Once everyone is inside you see the button plate is blank and Barrier simply says "The Dungeon please."

The elevator is quick but seems to be a normal, if a little dark, downwards descent. Once the group steps out of the elevator though they are met by a truly strange sight. A brightly lit, state of the art, and quite large mall opens up before you all. Sadly it seems for the most part every store front is closed up at this time of the very early morning. The ceiling, which is quite high given two floors worth of store wind around the spaces' edge, appears to be wholly covered in a single screen of some kind, possibly for advertisements of some kind. No obvious labels or brands are apparent on the few products you can see but you can see store signs over the closed store fronts, such as 'The High Life ~ Narcotics Boutique' or 'Sympathetic Threads ~ Custom Tailoring' among dozens of others.

Barrier leads you past all of this though, including a food court, what appears to be a cinema, a public restroom, and a fountain, up an escalator to what appears to be the front of a New York Style hotel. A canopy hangs before two large red revolving doors emblazoned with the image of a coin with a skull on its face.

"Here we are!" He shows the group in and the reception area is empty, a little bare, and actually a little small and grubby given the scale and modernity of the Dungeon itself outside. Barrier rustles behind the desk, scribbles something on some loose paper to leave a note, and leads the group up a staircase through a door just off the reception area. He leads the group to Room 68, two floors up, and clicks the door open with the old looking brass key in his hand "Morty, this will be yours ..."

The door creaks open to reveal a dark space, such that Barrier takes out a phone to light, and the sight is not exactly encouraging. The room is only about four times as wide as the door and not much more deep. There's no lights, outlets, doors, or even a bucket. In fact the only thing apparently on the hard wood floor is a bare mattress, that takes up most of the floor, a bare pillowcase and a bare duvet.

Looking a little saddened in sympathy Barrier just half jokes "well at least you don't have to sleep in a tree . . ."

What do you do?

SuperCracker

2014-08-26, 10:06 PM

Yolo

As Yolo approaches the tree and beholds the great shadow wind its way down towards the trio of teenagers, his mouth hangs open. The sounds around him are almost nonexistent. His eyes are open wide (all eight of them). Yolo can feel a shudder run through his body as he sits in the presence of a god. Not the guy-on-the-cross kind. No, a god so primal and terrifying that Yolo could barely think straight. He swallowed a lump in his throat, suppressing this powerful surge of emotion.

He broke from the other two, approaching Dy Cost with his arms held open, palms showing in a gesture of respect and, honestly, near-worship.

Yolo finally finds the wherewithal to speak, and his mouth moves to form a “Yo.” He stops himself, and his street-kid brain desperately tries to think of a way to formulate these next words.

“Dy Cost,” he says, hesitating a moment before he continues, gradually building up steam as he goes, “My name is YOLO. You Only Live Once. I don’t know what the House of the Shamans is or whatever, but I get it. This is your turf. Your hood. You’re the boss here. We’re on your turf, so we’re gonna give you respect. What toll do you want from us to let us go through that – uh – verge thing?”

Of course, he can't stop himself from speaking in street vernacular, but the tone and the meaning behind it, if the god can decipher it, conveys nothing but the highest respect and awe.

Seanfall

2014-08-26, 11:13 PM

"Yeah I'm sure the rats here will make good roommates." Morty steps inside, "I'll need to fill it out myself." he says more as a statement then a question. Just to be safe he kicks the mattress to check for anything living in it. Then he nods at Barrier, "I'll take what I can get." If Barrier offers it he takes the key.

"Thanks for showing us around, and keeping us from getting 'picked over' I owe ya one." He waits for the others to leave, before taking off his overcoat, it was raining when he was taken, folds it up over the mattress and lays down overtop of it. He stares up at the ceiling, "Well Abigail, your big brother finally got out of that house." He takes in a slow breath twin tears drawing a line down his face as he turns to face the wall curls up and finds some rest. Find something to live for he says...good advice. I'll find a way to give her back the time that was stolen.

smuchmuch

2014-08-27, 06:38 PM

Catherine listen sheepeesl the conversation.
There is so much questions she could ask, so little she dares. The over thusistic girl is creeping her a little out, honnestly, are all the student going to be like her ? If so it occurs to her she's really going to have to be carefull about what she says. After a while she tears herself from the paiting (with a little regret, there was something soothing about that slightly sureal night scene) and follows Barrier...

... to the "dungeons". A name full of promesses. And yet, except for the 'lovely' room, it seems kind of .. trendy. There's a cinema and a mall. Geez this isn't a 'dorm', it's pretty much it's own mini city.

"Lovely" Carolyne lies half heatedly, she reall hope her won room is not so bare. Or damp. Or dark. "I'm sorry but while we're in the. ah.. dungeon, The headmaster said I'd be able to find some replacement for my effects here ?"

Even if she doesn't take anything she may want right now (it'll probaly wait the end of the 'tour') at least knowing where she can find things would be good. If anything if those are diponible she will grab a bagpack, some papers and oh joy pencils. that may seesma strange sense of priorities but she needs this.

Shadowy

2014-08-27, 07:08 PM

Rose is very stoic, yet appreciative. She nods politely at any interesting works of magic, trying to learn anything new or exciting with mage sight. Then she sees the room. She smiles and waves politely at Morty as he closes the door.

She makes it halfway down the corridor before bursting into laughter.

"Pffffthahahahaa. Oh dear lord. That was great. Do you pull that one on all the new kids? I'm impressed, like, words are failing to cover how monumentally this kid must misunderstand the Seers.

I mean, like, really. Kings of the lie? Secret masters of the world? Literally living in a magical copy of a New York hotel and you're telling the newbies they don't get a decent bed? Hilarious."

The Architect

2014-08-27, 09:13 PM

Shadow Realm : Prometheus University

Dy Cost responds to the young Mage with no malice and all the confidence of presumed sovereignty

"You Only Live Once,
You are of the House of the Shaman, the way of the forest, the Path of Thyrsus.

In the Shadow, or the Material, we share a master,
One at least.

He would have Mana as toll, but I am no ferry man.

You come this way but once, lest a toll too steep be taken.

Step through with your compatriots when you are ready.
The journey will not be comfortable.
You will emerge in the forest, in the domain of my maker Ozymandias,
In the grove of sleeping Shamans."

What do you do?

***

The Dungeon : Prometheus University

Barrier starts to lead the group back through the Dungeon;

"Lovely" Carolyne lies half heatedly, she reall hope her won room is not so bare. Or damp. Or dark. "I'm sorry but while we're in the. ah.. dungeon, The headmaster said I'd be able to find some replacement for my effects here ?"

Barrier points towards one of the closed stores, 'Arts & Tarts : Cafe, Crafts & Cooking Supply Store' "you should be able to get that sort of stuff in there. You'll have to wait until you get some sleep till it'll be late enough for them to be open. It shouldn't cost much, not even a Mana. I'd give them a Mana and open up a tab, if you think you'll need stuff from them later.

Also that wasn't the Head Master, that was Heracles ... he's ... a walking WMD, and the top tier of students here are the sort of things that can level a city given a particularly tiring afternoon. Stay away from Heracles. If half the stories about him are true he's nuts; if the other half are true then he has no right not being fictional. Hell the guy even used to be Pentacle."

"Pffffthahahahaa. Oh dear lord. That was great. Do you pull that one on all the new kids? I'm impressed, like, words are failing to cover how monumentally this kid must misunderstand the Seers.

I mean, like, really. Kings of the lie? Secret masters of the world? Literally living in a magical copy of a New York hotel and you're telling the newbies they don't get a decent bed? Hilarious."

"Well it's true. They don't. I mean the Shamans don't even get a bed. That's not how this place teaches people to be a Seer. There's no good guys or bad guys, there's just power and those too weak to try and get it. That means if you want a bigger bed you need to get the Mana to pay for it, or a favor, or someone who likes you or is scared enough of you to gift you one. I mean you've got some Mage Sight on I bet, look around at these rooms, they're buzzing with magic. Most have been expanded with space, hooked up to the grid, made lavish by matter, or had a million other renovations through the trade of Mana for Magic. You need to pay for lessons, pay to survive, all because as Seers we ARE meant to be Kings of the Lie, but we're not Pentacle. No hand outs. You earn it.

Now that might seem callous, or prone to some ridiculous dystopia but it isn't. It means the world is what we make it, that is what makes us the Secret Masters of the World. You need to accept that if you want to do good, it's not because it's the right thing to do, it's because you want to do it. If you dislike how people treat people here than get the power to make people treat people better.

That won't make you a rebel against the system. It will just be replacing the old system with your system.

It will make you Seer.

To be a Secret Master means enforcing your view of the world on others. It's easy to dismiss that as somehow 'evil', but that's because you equate mastery with governance, and control with tyranny. It's a coward's way out to say that enforcing your view on the world is wrong, even when 7 billion Sleepers each try to do it every day, because it allows you abscond from your responsibility for who you are, for what you are. If you do nothing to stop suffering when you are Awakened than you make the same choice as you do when casting a spell, same decision about the world.

Through power we gain mastery, through mastery we make the world as we want it to be, by fulfilling our wants we see what we are.

The Exarchs demand we follow their tenants and only one of those, of the core tenants at least, could be described as having any morality at all.

Protect humanity.

The Pentacle? Make more mages, bring back Atlantis, the most dangerous place that ever existed, and try to return magic to state where Sleepers were most beholden to it. The Pentacle wants magic for magic's sake, power without purpose.

Anyway ... Morty will come around. If you ask me we need more guys like Morty. I feel too many of the tyrants in this school would fit right in with the Pentacles."

With that, and looking slightly surly, Barrier marches away "Rose what path are you again? I think we should show you your dorm next."

What do you do?

Shadowy

2014-08-27, 09:43 PM

Rose listens intently, then answers after the speech. "I'm an Obrimos. And if you know who sells mattresses, I'll be quite thankful."

Mentally, she's written him off. You would have to be some kind of insane sociopath to think that kidnapping superpowered children, introducing them to the world of magic, and treating them like dirt is a good idea.

A moral, principled approach is good, but Seers are Seers. They're atop a social hierarchy of seven billion people. All the creature comforts of the world belong to those on the top of this world so they may serve in the next.

Mostly though, Rose is very annoyed that she's going to have to sleep on some sorry excuse for a mattress. That's annoying.

SuperCracker

2014-08-27, 10:37 PM

Yolo

So this thing, this minor god, isn’t the boss? It was created by someone named Ozymandias. What incredible power it must take to accomplish such a feat. Yolo steadies himself before his mind wanders off onto too far of a tangent. Deal with the here and now, worry about guys who can create gods next.

It says that Yolo is of the House of the Shaman, the way of the forest. He remembered the jungle, and if these things are gods and spirits, it makes sense that he might be called a Shaman. He can speak to them, after-all.

“I don’t know how I’m one of those guys, but hey, I’ll just believe you. Thanks for lettin’ us through.” It says that the journey will not be comfortable. Whatever. That’s nothing to someone as hard as Yolo – or so he thinks. He looks to Henry and Kame and gives them an emphatic gesture to come on. Now.

Green Bean

2014-08-28, 10:57 AM

Henry was relieved to find he was simply included as Yolo's companion and wouldn't have argue his own passage. He was a little leery about 'not comfortable', considering he had no idea what the spirit's frame of reference was. But, there was no way but forward now, and he was going to follow Yolo's lead.

As he walked forward, he wondered if this Ozymandias had ever read Shelley...

The Architect

2014-08-28, 08:59 PM

Shadow Realm : Prometheus University

As the trio passed through the Verge they felt themselves slip through reality with a sensation that could only be described as being stretched out over a great bridge, torn apart, and put together just a little too clumsily on the other side. They tumble between the worlds and catch a glimpse of a strange place filled with bulging violet eyes of myriad sizes before they collide with something hard with substantial force.

While the trio- Henry and Yolo look around and see they within a glade of incredibly wide and tall trees, maybe two meters at the base.

Yolo and Henry.

Kame is not with them they realize. The glance around themselves at the trees and see each is embedded with a large circular door of a different color for each door. They clutched their pained head and limbs bruised from an apparent fall from the sky. It's deep night they can tell but they can hear the sounds of muted music and loud conversation in the distance.

Someone approaches from the forest. The figure clarifies into a fair skinned boy, perhaps seventeen, of a lanky build with a long face marred in stubble with his black hair tucked into a large grey beenie. He wears a white top, a maroon hoodie, black jeans with holes and converse shoes. Over one shoulder is slung a courier bag and he seems to be smoking something.

When he finally notices the pair picking themselves up off the ground he stops as if spooked but after a moment collects himself.

"you guys ... okay?"

What do you do?

You each take 3 Bruise damage from the fall, each lose 3 Mana for the toll and each gain the following condition ...

'Inter-dimensional Motion Sickness' :
Having been pulled between realities from the Shadow Realm for the first time by a Verge you aren't feeling the best. In fact you feel like you've been hit by a particularly mean spirited truck, though that could have been the ground. The constant headache and general nausea is not exactly helping matters.
Effect: You take a -2 on Physical, Magical or Mental rolls.
Resolution: Resolve this Condition when you take sufficient time to sleep off the after effects of the jarring journey, likely by getting a good night's sleep. Take a Beat.

***

The Temple : Prometheus University

The rest of the journey back to the elevator is filled by a heavy silence and while he doesn't show any outwards signs of dislike towards Rose he clearly is keeping any further explanation of his opinions to himself. The group returns to the foyer and takes a spiral staircase from there upwards, emerging in a while marble chamber that looks like something from an immaculate roman temple or a particular elegant art gallery. He leads the group away from a sound large white domed room with several branching corridor down to a pair of white doors emblazoned with a golden key.

"I'm just showing some Newbies around," he nods to Rose "She's a Theurge."

Barrier's words are met by silence "Master Heracles sent me."

With that and a creak the apparently thick marble doors grind open revealing the dormitory within. This space is a large rectangle chamber lined with books and symbols not unlike religious devotions or idols. Several staircases lead off from the space and elegantly patterned carpets and red leather armchairs fill the floor space. The area itself is empty but Rose picks out the same over abundance of magical modifications. Barrier leads the trio up a small staircase up to another smaller square space, adorned with the same symbols. Each of the walls contain two open doorways, through which is a well lit but relatively bare white bedroom in the same faux roman style. The rooms seem a bit larger than their Moros counterparts, and have lights, but they still lack a private bathroom. There's a light and even a bed with elegant looking red sheets atop a slight raised dais, but aside from looking a little more high class they are equally bereft of adornments. Barrier motions to a small white column like cabinet to the side of the bed "you should find a few changes of your Path uniform in there. Stay safe."

With that, and in a polite silence, Barrier turned to leave with Carolyne. It was only then that Rose went to close the door. She saw none. She realized Barrier had never gone to get her a key like he had for Morty. She looked at the other rooms adjacent to the staircase she had come up. They were equally door-less.

"Sleep tight," she could Barrier shout back up to her from downstairs as he left the dormitory.

Left alone then with Carolyne Barrier led her towards the foyer again, but slowly "hey, can you tell me about your Awakening? Normally you'd be presented to your Path in front of other students at meal time but given you got lumped on me by Heracles we'll need to figure out where to put you on our own."

What do you do?

SuperCracker

2014-08-28, 09:13 PM

Yolo

Yolo steps through with a sense of wonder, but that wonder quickly turns into searing pain as the transition from one world to the next is less than smooth. Dy Cost definitely undersold the discomfort. The boy barely has time to register the sight of that ocean of eyes before his head is greeted by the floor. He crumples into a heap, the discomfort of his body making it impossible to simply roll with the landing. He groans on the ground for a moment before expressing his rage the only way he knows how, banging his fist on the ground repeatedly.

Yolo is not having a great day.

After his minor explosion, Yolo pushes himself up off the ground and onto his feet. He takes a look around at this strange, strange place. How in the hell did they go from boarding school to the forest? The lanky kid approaches and speaks up. Yolo shakes his head.

“Do we look okay, bro?” He winces, and speaks again. “Sorry, sorry. Ain’t your fault. Nah, we’ll be fine. Right uh… Jaimie, Kame—“ He looks back, expecting to see two people with him. He does not. His eyes narrow. “Yo, where is she? She was right behind us.” He’s getting agitated. All he can think of is that Dy Cost screwed him on the deal.

The Architect

2014-08-28, 09:22 PM

The Grove of Sleeping Shamans : Prometheus University

The young looked between the pair, took a long drag of what he was smoking, and approached. YoLo picked up a scent that was distinctly not tobacco "Wait- Kame," the boy says as he helps Jaimie to his feet "you guys were with Kamehameha? Oh. Geez. Are you guys Raiders? Did you get hired by them too? How did you guys get back from the Spirit World?"

The young man motioned to his bag "I've got stuff if you're hurt. The name's Big Red by the way. Moros. Independent. I work in the Dungeon, but I don't think I've seen you folks around. What happened?"

What do you do?

SuperCracker

2014-08-28, 09:38 PM

Yolo

By now the strange modifications he had made to his body were wearing off. His eight eyes began to morph away, returning to four, then to two. His talons rescinded into fingernails. Now he looks like a regular young man – if regular young men dressed and acted like they were Jersey hoodlums. He rubs the back of his head, focusing his will to try and take care of that throbbing lump on the back of his head. He’s able to take care of some of it, but he’s clearly still discombobulated.

He reaches over to Henry next, doing the same thing for him.. but the clarity is just not there.

“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, bro. All I know is that she kept callin’ us freshers, some ***hole tied me up, and I don’t know where the f*** I am. I told her I’d get her outta there, and she ain’t here. I don’t like breakin’ my word. So that’s a problem.”

He takes a moment, trying to peer beyond the veil. It’s not easy, but he can do it. He can see if she’s still over there. While he gazes over there, he introduces himself.

“The name’s Yolo, bro. That guy with the tats snatch you too?”

1 bashing healed for Yolo - http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4623058/

Unfortunately nothing healed for Henry. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4623063/

1 success on seeing across the gauntlet. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4623068/

Green Bean

2014-08-29, 10:05 AM

Henry gingerly got to his feet. Nothing seemed broken or permanently damaged, but no doubt there'd be bruises aplenty in the morning. If there ever was a morning. "I'm sorry, I believe I only understand about half the words you're using. If this is the 'real' world, then we were sent here by some kind of spirit. It called itself Dy Cost, I think?"

Do I pick up anything from my miscellaneous Sight spells? Or have they worn off at this point?

Shadowy

2014-08-29, 02:29 PM

Rose frowns. It's not her fault Barrier is so tragically.......misguided. Oh well.

Complicated schemes flash into her mind, peering back through time to create Prime copies of doors and keys, but then shrugs and decides to keep things simple.

She burns some mana, attempting to peer into the future to ask a question. "Will I regret not taking measures to block my door tonight?"

Time 2 augury one mana spent.
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4623860/
One success

Yes

She shivers. Was the room suddenly cold or....no. Either way, she should revisit those complicated schemes.

She looks across the hall, and at adjacent rooms. They're equally doorless.

She muses on this for a minute, thinking back to the strange and varied defenses that some of the other rooms had on her way here. How could she replicate those?

She can't. But with Prime magic, she can make it look like she has. She puts up an illusion of one of the most vicious things she saw, one that'd seriously inconvenience any intruders. She looks at it for a moment to consider how safe it'd make her.

She then goes into the hallway, and casts two more, even more vicious-looking illusions on the room across from her. She's read The Art of War, and feels this is somewhat fitting.

Then she goes into the center of her room, sits down in the lotus position, and relaxes for a moment, right before pulling out the magical knife she had hidden away. A simple chunk of plain iron with a single rune of High Speech on it, from the realm of Pandemonium. Her parent's last gift. She begins the ritual to link this location to the knife.

One wall-defacing ritual later, she walks out of her room. There's no sense sleeping when doing so could make it your last. She needs to find security, and the school has so much to teach her, with her awakened vision. There's no time for sleep, but there might be time for coffee later.

She leaves the Temple. Wisdom awaits.

The Architect

2014-08-29, 06:18 PM

The Grove of Sleeping Shamans : Prometheus University

Big Red seems confused by Yolo for a moment but then shakes it off "Um. You're in the Grove of Sleeping Shamans, the Thyrsus dormitory, in the Prometheus University, a school for teaching Mages how to use and control their magic, among other things ... Guy with the tats? Nah. Some students grabbed me when they were on a Lottery. I've been hear for a year or so. And Dy Cost? Geez. That's one of the heavy hitters Oz put together right?"

He looks around for a moment "Wow. You guys seem... REALLY new. Didn't they assign anybody to tell you stuff? I guess I can help you guys out but first I've got to know what you want to know. Any questions dudes?"

What do you do?

***

The Temple : Prometheus University

http://i61.tinypic.com/2d6w68j.pngWhen Rose begins to search the school she comes across several doors that are barred at this late hour, including a few large ones marked with strange names such as 'The Forge' or 'The Exchange'. The first that she comes upon that is actually opened is barred by two, apparently solid platinum, doors emblazoned with the High Speech rune for the Seers of the Throne. When she pushes them open she is greeted by what appears to be a cathedral, pews and all, with ten statues atop plinths lining the circular outer wall of the dome. An eleventh plinth is empty.

When Rose enters she believes she is alone but she sees a boy standing in a space before the altar, seeming alone and thinking in silence. He turns to look at her as her footsteps become the sole sound within the space. His features are refined and impressively handsome, with short blonde hair and grey eyes. His cloths are pale browns and whites save for a long bright blue scarf. He might be eighteen, give or take.

"Are you lost?" he tilts his head and while Rose's magical senses tell her he is totally without active magic she's already learned such senses can be fooled "you're new right? You don't need to be scared. I'm a Prefect, and Auger of the O.B.C., Adrian," he blushes as if he had just thought of something funny and outstretches his hand towards her for her to shake "Adrian Colt."

What do you do?

smuchmuch

2014-08-29, 07:07 PM

"hey, can you tell me about your Awakening? Normally you'd be presented to your Path in front of other students at meal time but given you got lumped on me by Heracles we'll need to figure out where to put you on our own."

"Oh and and I guess the Sorting Hat is a crown of thorns to teach us the meaning the responsibility of power? " She bites her lips slightly she hadn't meant to sound so flippant. Well she's still mad and terrified at the whole kidnapping things but barrier has been pretty decent so far.0
"Sorry. ...When you say 'Heracles' or 'Nyx', that's jsut name they took themselvs, it's not er" She looks slightly embarassed, it's probably a stupid question, he probaly think she's stupid but she has to ask. "...the genuine article, are they ?"

Then after he answered her question and amybe a slightly akward pause...

"My awakening ...er." "Do you have a pencil and some paper maybe ?" It probably sounds like a silly question right now but it would help tremendously. It's funny really,it probably sound silly but it' just like the words come so much more easily when her hand is doodling on the side "..Erm Well I hadn't slept in three days and I kind of fell asleep and" Catherine clears her throat a bit and takes a deep breath.

"...It was a bit like a museum but also a big garden at the same time. ..." Carolyne closes her eyes and as she tries to find the words to describe the images in her head, her hand mechanically draws on the paper. In a few lines she draws in a corner of the paper long wall with no visible end bordering a with many canvases of all shape and size hung along
"...There where great halls with painting on the walls and marble floors. But when you started moving from them..." Her hand start drawing the image of walls made of bushes and trees on dirt with many little twisting paths leading to little celaring patches with statuesque objets in the middle "... it was more like a great garden. The airs was misty. Therewere fountains and statues in the cleaing. There were silver arrows painted or put on the floor like guides but I still got lost a few time. It felt very big, but sometime I just got deeper and deeper and sometime I hit a new wall quickly"

"There were visitors too" Along the walls she quickly sketches drawing the silhouettes of many people of all shape and size but their traits are blurry "But I couldn't talk with them, it's like they I wasn't there. You couldn't really see their faces and they seemed to change as they moved on. They stopped to look at the pieces but they never stayed in place long. Except sometime... I couldn't see it but I swear some of them entered or left the paitings or became the statues when I was looking in the other direction. But mostly they just kept one marching forward along the guides until they kind of vanished but new one appeared in their places"

"The paintings where really vivid when I looked at them I almost felt like I was there, in the scenes, a bit like the cafe earlier. And it was subtle but I think the statues moved a bit in my back too" She stops drawing, she's already has a hard time finding the words to give a paltry description of the experience, there no real way to draw on static paper what she's talking about. (And yet, yet the attentive observer might notice that in places the drawing looks it's trying to shift ever so slightly.) "In the end I just remember the center of the garden there there was another hall but it started climbing and twisting like great tower. I feel like I climbed it forever but a the top there was his blank space with cans of paint near I don't really know why but I felt I had to cover it" She looks slightly sheepishly at Barrier, apparently somewhat embarrassed by that admission of a shamefull act of dream vandalism, as she finally finishes "...And when I was done, I signed. And that's all I can remember, sorry."

That was waaaay too wordy, but I don't think i ever mahe a description of her awakening before so here's one.

The Architect

2014-08-29, 10:08 PM

The Grand Foyer : Prometheus University

"Sorry. ...When you say 'Heracles' or 'Nyx', that's jsut name they took themselvs, it's not er" She looks slightly embarassed, it's probably a stupid question, he probaly think she's stupid but she has to ask. "...the genuine article, are they ?"

Barrier just smiles and shakes his head "no. They're not. I'd like to say don't worry but a lot of people here are more dangerous than their namesakes. People use 'Shadow Names' because people can hurt you easier if they know your real name. No matter what never use your real name when you think a Mage might be able to find it out."

"...And when I was done, I signed. And that's all I can remember, sorry.""...And when I was done, I signed. And that's all I can remember, sorry."[/QUOTE]

Barrier seems deep in thought for a moment before nodding and simply saying "to the casino then."

With that he marched off up the stairs to the left corner of the foyer, up a spiral staircase, across the glass chamber that looked over the great hall, up another staircase and finally he emerged in what appeared to be ... a carnival...

The place was dark and the rides were shut down so the whole place seemed especially eerie but the fact an outdoor carnival, sky and all, was indoors, closed or not, was unsettling all on its own. As Barrier leads Carolyne through the attractions, a few over large for the apparent size of the carnival but none assuredly magic at first glance, he whispers to her "don't touch anything. The security spirits around here are nasty."

Eventually Barrier leads Carolyne to a central building, shaped like a glass Tolkien-esque tower, above which a neon sign reads 'Welcome To The UniCarnival!' With the tower disappearing high into the presumably fake sky. Barrier ignores a massive passage way to a gambling hall to his left, and several other large doors to stranger locales to his right, and moves ahead to the reception desk. He takes a key as he had before and moves to the elevator with Carolyne.

"This place can be pretty hectic so try to be careful," once the elevator stopped Barrier exited with Carolyne and brought her to her room, which thankfully had a door, and made to leave.

Glancing inside the room seemed relatively furnished. There was a bed, some lamps, a light, some bedside cabinets. All in all it looked like a moderately clean hotel room.

"I'll be back in the morning to collect you guys. Try and stay safe till then," with that and a wave, though possibly waiting for some last goodbye, Barrier heads to go.

What do you do?

Green Bean

2014-08-30, 07:02 PM

"They did seem to have someone the explain things. But Yolo and I did not make the best first impression with the man who brought us here, so we got the 'crash course'" Henry's minds were working overtime to put this new information Big Red was giving them together. "I believe I understood more of that, and it makes sense based on what I heard before I was ejected. We're in a school for people who have awakened with talents for magic, but between myself, Kame, and Yolo, our abilities seemed very different. Yolo has a great deal more affinity with spirits than I did, so I'm guessing he's also what you'd call a shaman or Thrysus?And perhaps there's also a dormitory for people like myself?"

Henry seemed to realize he was talking more to himself than Big Red. "I'm sorry, I seem to have done some odd things to my brain and my manners are suffering for it. In rough chronological order, who is Kamehameha, what are Raiders, Independents, and the Dungeon? Also, is Oz related to Ozymandias? Dy Cost mentioned him to us."

Shadowy

2014-08-30, 07:52 PM

The Temple : Prometheus University

http://i61.tinypic.com/2d6w68j.pngWhen Rose begins to search the school she comes across several doors that are barred at this late hour, including a few large ones marked with strange names such as 'The Forge' or 'The Exchange'. The first that she comes upon that is actually opened is barred by two, apparently solid platinum, doors emblazoned with the High Speech rune for the Seers of the Throne. When she pushes them open she is greeted by what appears to be a cathedral, pews and all, with ten statues atop plinths lining the circular outer wall of the dome. An eleventh plinth is empty.

When Rose enters she believes she is alone but she sees a boy standing in a space before the altar, seeming alone and thinking in silence. He turns to look at her as her footsteps become the sole sound within the space. His features are refined and impressively handsome, with short blonde hair and grey eyes. His cloths are pale browns and whites save for a long bright blue scarf. He might be eighteen, give or take.

"Are you lost?" he tilts his head and while Rose's magical senses tell her he is totally without active magic she's already learned such senses can be fooled "you're new right? You don't need to be scared. I'm a Prefect, and Auger of the O.B.C., Adrian," he blushes as if he had just thought of something funny and outstretches his hand towards her for her to shake "Adrian Colt."

What do you do?

She shakes his hand. "Yes, right on all accounts. I'm Rose, new Theurge. I'm not lost, just exploring, though I appreciate your concern. I'm actually looking for a place that can do room security. Or a book that'll explain the organization here, since I'm not sure the amount of respect I should be giving you as a prefect."

She looks around the Cathedral. "Nice place though. I appreciate the effort that must've gone into a place like this, magical or not. Though I must ask.....why eleven plinths? Is it symbolic of every seer's potential to, if they serve well enough, ascend and join the masters in heaven?"

The Architect

2014-08-30, 11:52 PM

The Grove of Sleeping Shamans : Prometheus University

"Yolo has a great deal more affinity with spirits than I did, so I'm guessing he's also what you'd call a shaman or Thrysus?And perhaps there's also a dormitory for people like myself?"

Big Red listens with attentiveness that you get the impression is difficult for him at the moment, especially in the single digit hours of the morning, before responding "Well then he can grab one of the empty trees, the slightly bigger one with the yellow door is the common room. In your case ... I can help you to your dormitory if you tell me about your Awakening?"

"I'm sorry, I seem to have done some odd things to my brain and my manners are suffering for it. In rough chronological order, who is Kamehameha, what are Raiders, Independents, and the Dungeon? Also, is Oz related to Ozymandias? Dy Cost mentioned him to us."

Big Red nods and answers as if he was in an oral exam "Kamehameha is a Hawaiian historical figure, Kamehameha is also the Shadow Name of an Theurge friend of mine, Raiders are people who try and steal spirits or essence from spirits in the Shadow Realm which is currently strictly Shaman only territory on order of Ozymandias. People tend to get paid in Mana for it, as security and such. Independents are people without a Pylon... a group of a handful of Mages who agree to take care of each other and help each out. Oz is Ozymandias, the Male Shaman Senior Prefect. The female Senior Prefect enforces the no harm policy in the Forest. The Dungeon is a Moros run mall under the University. Any of that help?"

What do you do?

***

The Cathedral : Prometheus University

"Nice place though. I appreciate the effort that must've gone into a place like this, magical or not. Though I must ask.....why eleven plinths? Is it symbolic of every seer's potential to, if they serve well enough, ascend and join the masters in heaven?"

The Prefect smiles and shakes his head, beginning to walk a circular circuit of the room, he places a hand on the statue atop each plinth as he passes them in his walk "The Unity, Exarch of the Mind... The General, Exarch of Forces... The Father, Exarch of Prime... The Eye, Exarch of Space... The Chancellor, Exarch of Matter... The Nemesis, Exarch of Spirit... The Prophet, Exarch of Time... The Psychopomp, Exarch of Death... The Raptor, Exarch of Life, The Ruin, Exarch of Fate ..." he stops only a few scant inches from Rose and lowers his voice.

He reaches out and slowly lets his hand hover over the empty plinth "Ten Exarchs, four Argenitors and the six Lesser Seals. An Exarch for each of the ten Arcanum..." he rests his hand on the empty plinth with a light clap that is heard in the silent stillness of the Cathedral "... but there are eleven. The Gate, Exarch of the Abyss. The boogeyman of the Mages, the man at the crossroads, the Devil by the campfire. No one worships him, no one serves him, no one beseeches him, but we must always remember him. No idols are built for him, but the Seers rule because of him. He is the darkness corner of us all."

Adrian leans forward and with a dark almost jokingly tone whispers "he's not the kind of master you want to join..."

What do you do?

***

??? : Prometheus University

Morty awakes, or so it seems, in the rotten remains of his childhood home. An apparent echo of the single worst moment of his short existence... His 'victims' are not present but beyond the house is only a windy void, as if he sits atop an island of his sin in an ocean of black.

"You know a girl could get worried if you keep being so difficult Alex..."

Morty turned and his eyes locked on a girl, perhaps his age, pouting with skin that was impossibly pale and hair as dark as the void to the small of her back. She wore an elicitly thin gossamer dress of white, tied at her waist by a wide tight leather belt. Her lips again were sable, her nails were onyx, her feet were bare but her eyes were edged in jet shadow, which while it looked cosmetic likely wasn't.

It wasn't any of that that Morty was entranced by.

It was the eyes.

His baby sister's eyes.

They stared out from her macabre visage with an irrepressible amusement.

Beneath her right eye was a single sloe symbol in High Speech, one of the rare one's Morty understood.

It meant Death.

What do you do?

Seanfall

2014-08-30, 11:58 PM

Morty stood in the rotten remnants of what had been his home, his face impassive. Memories good and bad played out like phantoms around him. His crime laid bare before him, both his act and his failure to act. Slowly he locked eyes with the woman, but he couldn't keep her gaze and was forced to look away. "Are you here to kill me?" He wouldn't be surprised honestly. "Or just to mock me?"

The Architect

2014-08-31, 12:04 AM

??? : Prometheus University

"Are you here to kill me?" He wouldn't be surprised honestly. "Or just to mock me?"

The girl slinks forward through the rotten ruins from her perch atop some debris and brushes Morty's cheek with the back of her hand. She tilts her head to the side and smiles in a mask of sympathy over her constant amusement "no no little Morty. Never mock. I'm here to help you. Help give you purpose. Help you survive. I've always been there Morty. Helping."

She sits down beside him and leans against him, her head resting on his shoulder, her eyes, or his dead sister's eyes, tilted upwards towards him "you'd like that wouldn't you Alex? A little help, a little purpose, a little solace. Would you like that?"

What do you do?

Seanfall

2014-08-31, 12:14 AM

Morty's head rested in his hand, he couldn't look at her. Not with those eyes. That still sparkled that mix of green and blue. "Always been here? Couldn't keep my fathers hands from her could you? Or speed me home." No that wasn't right, wasn't her fault was it? That you were slowed that day. That you couldn't get home fast enough. "....My fault..." he whispered to himself head hung low.

He glanced to her, shivering and again looking away. "Solace? Purpose? how can you grant these things? What I want....what I seek isn't solace. It's..." It was what? Absolution? Absolvement? Redemption perhaps? Even he didn't know for certain. "And for these things, what in return?" He asked again not looking directly at her. Those eyes, always carrying him back to that dreadful moment.

The Architect

2014-08-31, 12:21 AM

??? : Prometheus University

"Solace? Purpose? how can you grant these things? What I want....what I seek isn't solace. It's..." It was what? Absolution? Absolvement? Redemption perhaps? Even he didn't know for certain. "And for these things, what in return?" He asked again not looking directly at her. Those eyes, always carrying him back to that dreadful moment.

"Devotion," she whispered in his ear "play their game, but not for them. For me. And only until I ask you otherwise."

She sits up and one hand holds his on the floor he is sitting on and her hand cups his face "with that I will give you what you desire in your heart but which your mind cannot give. It cannot give you because it does not know what you could do, by my side. It doesn't have faith. Give me your devotion and I can give you your heart's desire. The desire you do not even know you have, so horribly have the evils of the world beaten your heart."

What do you do?

Seanfall

2014-08-31, 01:46 PM

"What are you?" His gaze slide back to her, "You know my name, claim to know what is in my heart? How?" His tone was even by his brow was creased in a frown, this wasn't a dream. He'd figured that out shortly after the woman arrived. Or at least it wasn't an ordinary dream, he was in danger no doubt. But he needed more, her coloring and the eyes of a dead loved one. Was she a specter of death? Alex, Morty needed to know. He reached into that place inside of him, the awakened soul. In his minds eye he gave shape to the spell one which would show him the power of Death. He called the Grim Sight to his eyes.

Grim Sight, Improvised. Gnosis 2/Death 3.
[roll0]

I don't think there's a chance for Paradox, since this....isn't the mortal realm (I'm assuming) and it's a covert spell anyways.

The Architect

2014-08-31, 05:20 PM

??? : Prometheus University

"What are you?" His gaze slide back to her, "You know my name, claim to know what is in my heart? How?"

She smiles again, and her hand traces Alex's jawline with the intensity of a portrait artist "Come and See."

With that the Grim Sight revealed to Morty much more than he had bargained for.

Take a Beat. Take an Arcane Beat. Roll a Breaking Point at -5 dice (Willpower Dice Pool - 5 dice).

What do you do?

Green Bean

2014-08-31, 06:33 PM

Henry

Henry didn't know much about mages or magic at this point, but to give a detailed account of his Awakening somehow felt wrong, as if he was exposing a part of himself. So, he kept it vague. "It was...difficult. I was confronted with all manner of creatures, and it seemed to me at the time they represented parts of myself I hated or repressed. Eventually, I came to a tower surrounded by a wind that sliced away every superfluous part of me and signed my name. Then I woke up in a hospital because they thought I was having a psychotic break. And until an hour or so ago, I believed them."

"But your explanations are starting to make sense, at least. Though all of this seems quite disproportionate for a school. How do you all have time for classes?"

Shadowy

2014-08-31, 06:35 PM

She's taken aback for a moment, and compensates by stating the blindingly obvious. "Um. No, I suppose she's not the type of exarch who'd reward his disciples, if any are foolish enough to follow."

The Architect

2014-08-31, 07:14 PM

The Grove of Sleeping Shamans : Prometheus University

"It was...difficult. I was confronted with all manner of creatures, and it seemed to me at the time they represented parts of myself I hated or repressed. Eventually, I came to a tower surrounded by a wind that sliced away every superfluous part of me and signed my name. Then I woke up in a hospital because they thought I was having a psychotic break.

And until an hour or so ago, I believed them but your explanations are starting to make sense, at least. Though all of this seems quite disproportionate for a school. How do you all have time for classes?"

Big Red seems to pause at that "Sounds like... Mastigos. You're a Warlock it seems. I can show you your dorms once your friend gets a tree if you want. It's not that far a walk and I don't know many Mastigoi, couldn't hurt to help you out I guess."

He takes another long drag and puts out what he was smoking in the dirt "Well right now we're between terms so that isn't an issue, but usually new students only pay the minimum. 30 Mana for three classes. With only three classes they're easy to juggle with the time you need to get settle and secure, or secure as this place goes. It's not easy but at least you don't get marked down for poor attendance. I mean you get 'expelled'," he grimaces "if you don't pay but that's rarely an issue except for newbies. No offence. I mean though, with a weak left to pay tuition before term starts I'm guessing you've already paid yours?"

What do you do?

***

The Cathedral : Prometheus University

"Um. No, I suppose she's not the type of Exarch who'd reward his disciples, if any are foolish enough to follow."

Adrian nods at that "Not to pry..." he says a with a slight grin "...but you seem to know a lot for someone so new, I mean... for Theurge I don't recognize. What's up with that?"

What do you do?

Shadowy

2014-08-31, 07:21 PM

She has the good grace to look embarrassed, momentarily. "My parents were seers. Before I came here, I had the most intense studying session of my entire life. It's serving me very well so far. I take it not everyone else was so lucky."

Green Bean

2014-08-31, 07:34 PM

Henry looked confused. "I don't see how I could have - I've not even been here a day, and most of that was in some bizarre spiritual realm." He's already doing some rather unpleasant personal math.

"If there's a full week, I suppose I could do it. Probably wouldn't be able to leave my room, though."

The Architect

2014-08-31, 08:10 PM

The Cathedral : Prometheus University

"My parents were seers. Before I came here, I had the most intense studying session of my entire life. It's serving me very well so far. I take it not everyone else was so lucky."

Adrian seemed to glance over Rose again, reappraising her "Rare. Very rare, not many Mages have a lineage, but something tells me your parents never went here," Adrian looks around "I wouldn't bother searching for a Spellseller at this hour. Even if you found one able to help protect you don't have enough Mana on you to afford it. Even the cheapest permanent or long term spells or magical items go for north of 20 Mana on the Exchange, and with you risking expulsion if you can't afford tuition at the end of the week it would be foolhardy to spend what Mana you do have so frivolously. No. As someone who appreciates someone with appropriate respect for the Exarchs I'll do you a favor. You can owe me one," he reaches into his pocket and draws what appears to be an elegant golden key "my room, secured from intrusion and observation. My treat. I shan't be needing it tonight. That is if you will accept my gift, Rose?"

He holds out the key for her to take, it hangs on a necklace like silver chain.

What do you do?

***

The Grove of Sleeping Shamans : Prometheus University

"If there's a full week, I suppose I could do it. Probably wouldn't be able to leave my room, though."

Big Red looks concerned "you're thinking of white striping it aren't you? Geez. In an unsecured room, the week before tuition's due and you're a Fresher Independent. That's risky. I'm mean maybe only a little bit more risky than entering the Lottery."

What do you do?

Seanfall

2014-08-31, 08:26 PM

Morty's grim sight backfires on him, he looks away as quickly as he can shielding his eyes with his hands. What the hell did he see?

-5 huh...yeesh. Uhhh...that leaves me with 1 die.
[roll0]

Green Bean

2014-08-31, 08:27 PM

"Really? I didn't realize things were this dangerous around here. How on earth do new people usually pay for their classes? I mean, thank goodness I was kidnapped today instead of a week from now."

The Architect

2014-08-31, 09:14 PM

The Grove of Sleeping Shamans : Prometheus University

"Really? I didn't realize things were this dangerous around here. How on earth do new people usually pay for their classes? I mean, thank goodness I was kidnapped today instead of a week from now."

Big Red thinks a moment only speaking when he has a few ideas that might help "well some people work in the stores in the Dungeon, but that's slow money, and most sell their own goods, that they make I mean. I sell... um... well drugs. Then some Mages are payed to act as security for places like the Casino. Some people compete in Kill-Team but the season doesn't start for a little while yet. I can think of maybe a half dozen other things ... but 30 Mana in a week? Geez. That's... You've only really got two options. You scourge yourself and hope no body robs your mana once you cover your bedroom floor in your blood ... or you wait for a Lottery. The Seers select Mages who volunteer to partake missions on behalf of the Seers, anywhere in the world really. You get paid for your service to the Order in Mana. It's the only time students are allowed off the grounds. Sometimes everyone who volunteers is chosen, sometimes only a few are. Sometimes it's very dangerous, sometimes it turns out okay. It's a lottery," Big Red shrugs "A Lottery mission is the only thing that would pay tuition and leave a little bit extra besides, but it IS dangerous."

What do you do?

***

??? : Prometheus University

What he sees is a fragment, a tiny iota of her existence, and it is ... awesome.

Not some trivial impressiveness, not some mocking modern parlance of enjoyment, no she is the truth of it, an entity that inspires tremendous and terrible awe. She is weaved into the world, between the decaying flesh of the dead beast and the wilting leaves, a song in the flesh of the dying babe, with the old man at his time, and the martyr at his moment.

For a flicker he stared into the whole of her and felt in that instant every dying thing, at once, burning in his soul, screaming in his skull.

As he pulls away even the memory of it burns itself away in him, and some part of him knows it is a self defense mechanism, an immune response. He might hold on to it if he tried, like a fading dream, but Alex knows that is as much an invitation to madness as repeating the effort to look at her with eyes that see some fragment of her true form.

He realized he was shaking only as she tilted his face back to look into her eyes, his sisters eyes, and only then does he realize that the Grim Sight has left him again. She smiles once more and brushes the hair from his face "No no, little Morty. You're not ready for that. Not yet."

There is a moment's silence as she moves to rest in Alex' lap "I am the Psychopomp, Alex Grayson.

Serve me and I will give you the power your heart desires more than all the things in the Fallen World. I will give you the power to bring your family back to life. Whole. Happy. Alive. Would that be enough? Would your little sister given the life she deserves, protected by a brother strong enough to shield her from any harm be enough? Would I be enough for your ... redemption, Alex Grayson?"

The girl in Alex' lap smiles, almost lovingly.

What do you do?

Morty Succeeds on the Breaking Point and gains the following Condition;

Shaken:
Something has severely frightened your character. Any time your character is taking an action where that fear might hinder her, you may opt to fail the roll and resolve this Condition. This Condition can be imposed by undergoing a breaking point roll. Example Skills: Brawl, Firearms, Intimidation, Weaponry.
Resolution: The character gives into her fear and fails a roll as described above.

smuchmuch

2014-08-31, 09:17 PM

catherine vaguely derstands that each dorm is supposed to be representing some kind of philosophy tied to the 'path' they are made for.
She can vaguely venture guesses at what they are:
The dugeon. It's gloomy and isolated but also ut in the mind of isolation and meditation. Make sense, Introspection and morbidity for the 'necromancers'. The temple is easy to read in it's pseudo neo clacissim , elevation,rule and a relation to the divine. Exaltation and Power.

And now.... La foire du throne ?
Catherine is aghast for a little while as she look at the eerie spectacle of abandoned rides in the darkeness.
What does is that supposed to say about the people she is going to be clumped with ? Creativity ? Tackyness ... wai there's a casino as well.... Immaturity ? Insincerity ? Poor impilse control ? Close your Eyes and Enjoy Your Ride, We LiKe To Take Your Money ? What kind of mystical power does a casino puts you in the mind of ? she jsutdoesn't know.

"Excuse me but... You're sure that where I ... ?" Cathering ask him one last time before follobwing in silance though the eerie silent carnaval.

At least the room seems decent. Well it's got a bed. with a matress right from the start, if the other two 'dorms' are any indication that's kind of a luxury around there. No robes in sight, she notices, are they in the or is that that her 'path' don't get uniforms ?

Catherine lies on her bed, her eyes opened, lost in her confused thoughs as she tries to ake sense of well... everything.

Magic ! It's real, it exist, she has talent for it, apparently ? it doesnt matter if she knows it's reallity, it still feel like a very strange very extended dream. It's still hard to process the full implications of everytng she know being prooved suddenly a lie. She has just been postponning the full impact of the realisation. manipulating reality on a whim ? Magic...

Of course that would feel great if it wasn't for the part where she's still stuck in a place where 'survival of the fitest' was the man mentality; And she has no idea what she's supposed to do or how or why ? She makes no illusion on how easyt a target she must be All the bad way this could happen, she has to get out of here somewhow. but is that even an option ? Probably not. Adns he doesnt want to know how they peanlize you for tying to get out because she cn venture an all too scarry guess. The one thing scarrier that this being a long school year is that being a very short one indeed.

She could try exploring around but her feet feels like they are made of lead. She should try sleeping but the torrent of emotions and stressfull thoughts make it so her eyes refuse to shut. ...She might start to cry now that she's alone.
It's going to be a long night.

Green Bean

2014-08-31, 09:26 PM

"Oh dear. Do you know the sort of mission it'll be before you sign up?" This seemed quite unfair - did the other people he was kidnapped with have the same expenses to look forward to?

The Architect

2014-08-31, 09:42 PM

The Grove of Sleeping Shamans : Prometheus University

"Oh dear. Do you know the sort of mission it'll be before you sign up?"

Big Red shakes his head "No. You only get briefed after volunteering, and that's IF you get selected for a mission. Sucks, don't it?"

What do you do?

Seanfall

2014-08-31, 10:25 PM

Who...whatever this girl was, it...she was massive in scope. "How can you do such a thing? I'd only started to think..." Grayson was still shaking as he thought it over. At first he thought this was another student, if they can make a painting into a real place then an illusion like this would have been simple. But after having seen....whatever that was, he had doubts. He needed to know more, but how much longer was this entity willing to parley with him?

"I...I need time to think. Is this something I have to decide on now?" In truth, he was starting to fear what would happen if he said no.

The Architect

2014-08-31, 10:53 PM

??? : Prometheus University

"I...I need time to think. Is this something I have to decide on now?"

Her hand takes Morty's chin and locks their eyes "Now."

The single word reverberates like a hammer blow "You need to decide. You have seen an island of my infinity and know I can do what I claim. Know this is a power I can give you, but you circle a drain of fear masked as morality. Your heart asks you to fear the unknown and your mind does its best to mask that fear in the uniforms of sense. Your mind marks me as trickster, monster, or worse, betrayer. Yet you have seen me, you have looked into me as I have looked into you Alex Grayson. I know in your heart what it is to be good and evil. In the universe of your soul to protect is sacrosanct."

She turns away as if sad "You could be great you know? It's all here in your soul, and I could lead you on your way to greatness."

She looks to the sky that is a void "the power I offer is not a gimmick or a trick. In time you would learn to do incredible things. Some terrible, yes, if you chose, but great, and always your choice. The power to make the dead live again, not as corpses brightened with a spark of power, but true resurrection like the gods of old."

Suddenly a single light shines in the darkness, a star burning defiantly in the dark. She reaches out and though it seems a million miles away she plucks the tiny light from the sky without rising "even the stars die you know? They die like any other thing. Only time is their difference... and their loneliness. All things die."

She blows softly and extinguishes the tiny light. There is silence again for a moment.

When she speaks again there is a despairing warmness in her voice like a loved one to their dying kin "do not let your human self mask the sin of inaction in the skein of skepticism, or worse, wisdom. Could you life with yourself is she, your mother, even your father, all had to give up their chances at long, happy lives free of fear or want just so that you could ... what? Remain afraid? Die in a school you despise?"

She smiles again but the beginnings of tears form in those oh so familiar eyes "this school. It teaches one ideology above all else. It is your responsibility to enforce the world you desire on the world that is. You want a good world. You want a world where families are free to be ... happy... This school needs someone like you."

She stands suddenly, almost gleefully and throws a thousand times a thousand tiny light to fill the sky "think of it! Not just your family, but so many more you could help! So many! In so many places in so many ways. A protector for those unable to protect themselves."

She moves to Morty again and holds his face "together we can be... so much. You can be great. She can be happy."

She points to the stars "Now. Only ever now."

She turns back to Morty and pauses her face an inch from his "you need to know, in all the days to come, in all your most private moments, that you chose this. Not out of regret, or fear, or desperation, but hope. No one knows more of hope than the dying Alex Grayson. There is a girl out there, languishing in the dark. Bring her home, Alex. Bring her home to us. Choose. Now. Only now."

Her hands cup his face as her thumbs brush his cheeks. She seems on the verge of tears.

The Psychopomp waits.

What do you do?

Shadowy

2014-08-31, 11:12 PM

The Cathedral : Prometheus University

Adrian seemed to glance over Rose again, reappraising her "Rare. Very rare, not many Mages have a lineage, but something tells me your parents never went here," Adrian looks around "I wouldn't bother searching for a Spellseller at this hour. Even if you found one able to help protect you don't have enough Mana on you to afford it. Even the cheapest permanent or long term spells or magical items go for north of 20 Mana on the Exchange, and with you risking expulsion if you can't afford tuition at the end of the week it would be foolhardy to spend what Mana you do have so frivolously. No. As someone who appreciates someone with appropriate respect for the Exarchs I'll do you a favor. You can owe me one," he reaches into his pocket and draws what appears to be an elegant golden key "my room, secured from intrusion and observation. My treat. I shan't be needing it tonight. That is if you will accept my gift, Rose?"

He holds out the key for her to take, it hangs on a necklace like silver chain.

What do you do?

Rose has to take in a lot of information very quickly. "Wait, Tuition? By the end of the week? How much?"

She eyes the key longingly. "While I'd appreciate the favor, I've so much more to see around this school. So much to see, so much to learn, and the room would only be a temporary solution. I greatly appreciate your kindness, but I need a more permanent solution for defense. If you could offer any advice about that, I'd be much obliged."

Seanfall

2014-08-31, 11:22 PM

Like the gods of old. Where they legends? Or did people misinterpret ancient mages. It made a certain amount of sense. There was something he saw when he was a kid, The tarot card of Death didn't mean literal death, It was just another beginning. He lacked the strength back then to protect her, he could have another chance.

Alex took a few calming breaths before meeting her eyes. "What would have me do?" His answer had not been in words so much as action, he agreed.

The Architect

2014-08-31, 11:52 PM

The Cathedral : Prometheus University

"Wait, Tuition? By the end of the week? How much?"

Adrian nods "30 Mana," he grimaces "by the end of the week."

"While I'd appreciate the favor, I've so much more to see around this school. So much to see, so much to learn, and the room would only be a temporary solution. I greatly appreciate your kindness, but I need a more permanent solution for defense. If you could offer any advice about that, I'd be much obliged."

Adrian accepts the rejection of his offer with a polite bow of the head "the only advice is either find many friends or find powerful friends, and do so quickly. If you change your mind I'll be here."

What do you do?

***

??? : Prometheus University

"What would have me do?"

The Psychopomp smiles "wait. For now. I have much to teach and much I can give you, but first you must secure your safety in the school. Find the Obrimos who was brought with you, the Rose. Find her and tell her to join the Lottery with you so you can earn the Mana you need to survive. She likely might not decide to. She has a knife, an artifact, a knife she needs to survive. Tell her you will tell no one of it if she helps you in the Lottery, but that the whole school will know in a day if she refuses. Tell her you are there to protect her. Aid her. Feed her burgeoning ego. You will need her strength in the days to come, but most of all now if you are to survive."

She looks to the sky "there are great things coming. Terrible... but great."

She leans forward and presses her lips to Alex', cold.

She whispers and the world goes white "Come and See."

***

Morty awakes, dripping with sweat, in his tiny room which is illuminated by his briefly flaring Nimbus.

What do you do?

Seanfall

2014-09-01, 12:19 AM

Morty sits up slowly, swallowing slowly, still shaking. That was too real to be a dream, he touched his lips and shook in disgust. It her eyes, if not for that he might have almost found that enjoyable. He needed that Rose girl, but how to find her? Barrier was taking us to our dorms, I should start there. Wrapping his coat back around him he made his way back through the mall and back towards the Elevator.

Assuming it's there he steps inside and speaks, "I need to go where Barrier took Rose." he waited for a response, or for the vator to simply take him there.

The Architect

2014-09-01, 12:28 AM

An Elevator : Prometheus University

"I need to go where Barrier took Rose."

"Unknown destination," chirps an annoyed sounding voice back at him as the elevator shakes slightly.

What do you do?

SuperCracker

2014-09-01, 10:33 AM

Yolo

"Wait. So you're saying our best shot at getting all this mana is to work for the same jerk offs that put us here? Bullsh** man. This ain't like a school, it's like juvie. We're in a f***ing prison, and dudes like that Heracles are the guards. "

Yolo looks p*ssed off. By the way Big Red is saying expulsion, it probably means death. He's going to need the night to sleep on all of this. With guys like Oz who can create gods, Yolo isn't the toughest guy on the block anymore. He would have to pick his battles, get a clique going, and maybe even play their game long enough to learn those tricks Heracles was using.

He puts a hand on Big Red's shoulder in a familiar fashion, assuming friendship. "Look bro, you did us a solid. You found us laying in the dirt, and you decided to be straight with us and not jerk us around. In my book, that makes you my boy. You said you're independent. You ain't got no clique. If you ever want to change that and run with us, " Yolo has clearly already drafted Henry, "I'll have your back. Believe that."

As for Kame, "Also, I don't see Kame on the other side. I guess she got through and split. But next time you see her, tell her I said wassup."

Posting on my phone. Been harder to find wifi than I had hoped.

The Architect

2014-09-01, 03:03 PM

The Grove of Sleeping Shamans : Prometheus University

Big Red gives YoLo a friendly pat on the shoulder but shakes his head "I'm good dude, but I'll keep it in mind, and I'll tell her."

He glances around to the trees surrounding them baring doors "You should probably get some sleep. Grab a tree. Find an empty one and it should have a latch on the inside, as much good as it will do around here. Least you're protected here. Luckier than some."

He nods to Henry "You ready for me to show you to your dorm?"

What do you do?

Seanfall

2014-09-01, 03:23 PM

Morty sighed, Master of death....and I can't figure out how to work a frigging elevator. Lets see, Barrier mentioned the names of the different paths. But...that doesn't help. Morty thought for a few moments, trying to think of a way to track her down. If he had primesight up earlier perhaps he could follow a trail of sorts but without knowing what it was to start with. Morty sighed again in frustration, he attempted to put together everything he knew her about her to pick out her path while rolling the die on the Elevator. "Take me to the last floor you were on."

Intelligence + Investigation (Eidetic memory.)
[roll0]

SuperCracker

2014-09-01, 04:34 PM

Yolo

"Offer's open, bro. Jamie, " Yolo says, pointing at the scrawier kid," Find me tomorrow. We'll figure out what we're gonna do about getting that mana. " Or getting out of here.

With that, Yolo brings his fist to his heart twice, besting lightly before extending his hand out towards the other two, pointing at them. He then goes off to find an empty tree house.

He seriously needed some sleep.

The Architect

2014-09-01, 04:43 PM

The Elevator : Prometheus University

The Elevator begins to rumble upwards as the relevant memories bubble to the surface of Morty's consciousness. Barrier saying "...Most will just call us or Moros or Moroi. I mean Thyrsus are Shamans, Obrimos are Theurges, Acanthi are Enchanters and the Mastigoi are Warlocks," and "...the Dorms! We can head to the Moros dorms first." Then the Psychopomp's visage flickered past again "Find the Obrimos who was brought with you, the Rose."

It all meant after they had left him Barrier had likely brought Rose to the Obrimos dorms, if Morty was lucky she was still there but it was at least the best place to look, wherever it was.

When the elevator finally rattled to a halt it opened onto marble corridors of a neoclassical design. Down a short corridor the space opened to reveal a large domed chamber of largely marble, with a painted ceiling detailed an epic scene he could only half comprehend and several dozen other corridors branching off the central space.

What do you do?

Shadowy

2014-09-01, 04:47 PM

Rose does some quick calculation in her head. With her artifact, she could manage it, but she'd have to be frugal. There's a small buffer though, so no worries. "I'll remember your thoughtful consideration. And your offer. At the very least, I plan to spend more time here later. But for now, I've got more to see. Thanks for your time."

When all farewells are said, she sets out again.

Green Bean

2014-09-01, 06:29 PM

"I'd appreciate it, Big Red." Henry looked a little confused at Yolo's gesture, wondering for a second if he was having some kind of heart palpitation. But Henry picked up the meaning pretty quickly and awkwardly imitated the gesture. "First thing, I promise."

Then he followed Big Red, peppering him with additional questions as they left. "I suppose there's a library somewhere, right? Is it free? What's their checkout policy and..."

No need to play out the full conversation or whatever, just want to justify a rudimentary knowledge of the school's layout when we move on.

Seanfall

2014-09-01, 10:01 PM

Yeah this looks almost haughty enough for her. Morty took a single step out into the hall, turned towards the Elevator. "Thanks." He doubted whatever guided the convenience would care for niceties. But it made it less creepy to think he was talking to something. Morty glanced around, his own sense of caution guiding him to again draw into his awakened soul.

He gave form to the magic in his mind, a veil of death that slid around him shielding him from harm. This spell went faster than before he was getting used to using it. As the entropic guard settled around him, he began his search for the girl. Heading to the large dome, half looking at the images on the ceiling as he entered.

Entropic Guard - Rote
[roll0]

The Architect

2014-09-03, 10:38 PM

Obrimos Territory : Prometheus University

Adrian Colt offers a polite unreadable nod as Rose exits the Cathedral, but says nothing.

Once outside her search for someone, even in this wee hour of the morning, to help her persisted.

It was as she entered the central domed region of the floor that Morty emerged from another corridor leading to an elevator and their eyes locked with an instant, questioning recognition.

What do you do?

***

Main Courtyard : Prometheus University

Big Red explains a few of the major locales but his exhaustion and general vagueness means he's not exactly a tour guide. The Senior Prefects have largely cut up the school into different territories but the central core of the castle is reserved for largely neutral locations, lecture halls, class rooms, and various chambers utilized either during lessons or mostly during lotteries. The library, referred in a tongue in cheek way as the Forest of the Dead, is a mass chamber of disorganized tomes tended by mage crafted spirits that can generate their essence in relative symbiosis with the students who study there. The place is apparently made of books, from floor to ceiling, some theorized that the Spirits had used their influences to turn the original infrastructure into yet more books, but they do take offence at anyone trying to leave with tomes. The Dungeon has a book store if mobility outside the library is needed.

He mentions that the lake district near the castle entrance is effectively the club and party area, what you'd expected given the age range. The forest is obviously Thyrsus territory and a no go for inflicting harm on the order of the female Thyrsus Senior Prefect, her dragons intervene when she detects otherwise. He mentions the Acanthi Unicarnival, the Casino, the Stadium, and a few smaller locations but the explanation is rushed and stopped abruptly when the pair are walking through the courtyard back into the castle proper.

A small girl in elegant and apparently new red and black dress is sitting on the grass among bushes of flowers, a small kitten pokes its head out of her large handbag and looks up at her. She seems harrowed.

"Kayleigh...?" Big Red whispers before rushing to the girls side.

The image of the situation makes it clear to anyone with an ounce of social skills that whatever the pair discusses in whispers is not something Henry should feel welcome to step in on. As they finish Big Red holds the girl for a moment and then rises, returning across the courtyard to Henry.

He seems crest fallen for a moment and struggles for words "my friend... she's not-."

His face seemed to relax, as if he had been trying to think of a lie and realized there was no real point "she just killed somebody."

The words ring out in the near silence but nothing in the world seems to care.

He glances back "she's fifteen and she's been here for ... like three ****in' days. She went on a Lottery. I need to look after her. Going to put her to bed or something. Maybe try ... I don't know. Something."

"****." he spits.

His face tenses "head back towards the Gallery of Places. They'll be an archway made of iron shaped like ... demons or devils or whatever. Go through there. It will look like a cave. Take the second left, there will be another door, a white one that looks kind of like... coral? Bone? Go through that and pick a cell, grab a key from the desk. The Asylum will be on the white door."

He looks back to the girl "Sorry about this man, but I should go. I'll catch you some other time. I hope you and YoLo get the Mana you need."

What do you do?

Green Bean

2014-09-03, 10:42 PM

This situation was way out of Henry's depth, so as always, he responded by shutting up and paying attention. When Big Red explained the situation, he just nodded nervously. "I understand. Thank you for your help - I really appreciate it. Yolo and I owe you."

Then he followed Big Red's directions toward the Mastigos dorm.

The Architect

2014-09-04, 12:55 PM

Mastigos Territory : Prometheus University

Henry followed the direction and instead of heading through the main gate he turned off around the exterior of the central castle building and traced the edge of the wall until he came to the great iron gate. The metal was so dark a grey that it seemed black in the darkness of the early morning. The doors themselves were edged with patterns and words in an alphabet Henry could not read but which seemed to resonate within him, like it was a language he had forgotten. The setting of the doorway was formed of angelic figures bound in iron chains and horned demons cavorting or screaming. He pressed his hand to the handle-less doors, much taller than himself, and they slowly drifted open.

Within was a corridor of angular black stone. The walls were formed of hexagonal columns of the black stone, strangely regular for a supposedly natural formation, basalt most likely. The sliver of light from the doorway was the only illumination Henry was offered as he slowly made his way down the passage which was angled slightly downward such that he was soon sure he was underground.

There was a turn off to his left and he ignored it, and another to his right to which he did the same, by the time he reached the third turnover, the second to the left as Big Red had said, he was feeling his way forward in darkness. When he came upon the doorway, nearly twelve feet tall, it glowed a soft white such that he could make out only it in the darkness. The door was hewn of bone though no single bone of any creature Henry had ever seen could be large enough to be sufficient. Carved in an elegant script over a door knocker in the shape of a demon's face were the words 'The Asylum.'

Knocking the door drifted open to reveal a cavernous space within formed of the same black stone, but here the black the pillars extended much longer and some hung at odd angles to create an incredibly strange ascetic, as if Henry had stepped onto some alien landscape. White smoke rolled across the floor and in places pale white crystals of enormous size gave off a faint white glow such that the whole place was illuminated in a half-light. The floor, when he could see, bore the hexagonal patterning of the basalt pillars and stretched off into several other spaces and tunnels such that this central chamber was of an unknown size to Henry.

Henry suddenly stopped as he saw something in one of the walls, between several columns. Approaching it he sees what appears to be frosted over glass. He wipes his hand over it to see what lies within. A face with long black hair appears and Henry takes a reflexive step back. He sees another such alcove and rubs the condensation away, within is a boy of about his age with light blonde hair. At this point Henry notices a dozen other alcoves, all only large enough to hold one person a piece.

He also notices some unoccupied alcoves.

What do you do?

Seanfall

2014-09-04, 01:06 PM

Morty blinked a few times not believing his luck. Cracking his neck and taking in a breath to calm himself and see how he's going to play it he approaches her, waving his hand in recognition. "Long time no see." That was supposed to be a joke, but he delivered it in such a flat tone. "I've been looking for you, there's something we need to discuss. An opportunity for us both." He stops walking a few feet from her, so as not to look like he's attempting to intimidate her. His posture is relaxed, mostly his face and the way his eyes are roving around the room betray his anxiousness.

Shadowy

2014-09-04, 02:02 PM

Rose exits to Cathedral, only to run into a student from earlier. Morty? Probably, he seemed very depressing. And he appears to have some kind of armor on. Death Arcanum, something she's never seen before. Rose takes a moment to drink it in, memorizing it's potency and how it works, then realizes the potential implications of someone roaming the halls late at night, with some kind of protective spell on.

He's been looking for her, and he's incredibly nervous. Could someone be forcing him to do this? But there doesn't appear to be any mind magic on him.

For now, it can't hurt to be polite. She has an instant escape if she needs it.

"Good evening. What's this opportunity you're talking about? Is there something wrong?"

SuperCracker

2014-09-04, 02:08 PM

Yolo

After he parts with Henry and Big Red, Yolo wanders the forest until he finds an open, unlocked door within one of the trees. What he sees inside is not exactly a fancy hotel. It’s an exceedingly tiny round room with a blanket lying in the middle. Barely big enough to stand up in. Not even a bed. “Ain’t that some bullsh**,” Yolo comments to himself. He steps inside, closing the door and latch behind him. Yolo moves to the back of the room, pressing his back against the wall, and he slides down until he is seated on the ground, his knees up off the floor, brought in close to his body. He takes the blanket and drapes it around himself, then folds his arms over his knees and lets his head rest on them. He’s slept like this before in a holding cell before.

“Heracles,” he says to himself, committing his target to memory. “Heracles,” he says again, burning the man’s image into his mind. His fists clench up as he speaks the name. But over the next few minutes, he calms down. He’s been around the block. He can accept bad situations. Now he thinks about his next steps.

“Get a crew,” he says, “get the mana, get strong. Get a crew, get the mana, get strong.” He repeats this series of phrases a few times.

Green Bean

2014-09-04, 02:42 PM

"The Asylum". If this was an asylum, it seemed to Henry that it had not availed itself of any of the past couple centuries worth of progress in mental health treatment. Still, it seemed an appropriate enough place to house mages who shared his background and outlook. The bizarre alcoves took him off guard, but he put it together pretty quickly - these were dorm rooms, for some reason (who even designed this place?). He picked the empty alcove that most arbitrarily appealed to him and took a look inside.

Big Red had also mentioned keys, so on the way, Henry glanced around for a place where they could be found.

Seanfall

2014-09-04, 03:10 PM

He sighs, removing his glasses to rub his eyes. "Nothings wrong...I just...huh...couldn't sleep." He puts his glasses back on, pushing the bridge up with his middle finger till their back in place. "That and I'm in some other path's dorm. But anyways, there's a lottery coming up. I think we should enter it together, double our chances of winning. If we win it would go a long way to helping us survive in this place." He didn't mention what the prize was, he'd already assumed as much the one thing that seemed to be of any value in this place, Mana.

Shadowy

2014-09-04, 03:21 PM

Rose looks confused. She's had far less briefing on this then some others. "Lottery? What lottery? Who would enter a lottery around here? You'd have to be some kind of idiot, considering that fate mages exist."

The Architect

2014-09-04, 08:15 PM

Mastigos Territory : Prometheus University

Henry glanced around the tight alcove as he stepped into it and finally saw what he first thought was a tiny white hexagonal column jutting out from the wall, about an inch wide, but the he saw that the end that ran into the basalt ended in several separate needle like columns that had been placed into a hexagon hole in the wall. Henry gave the hexagonal white, and apparently bone, small column a slight press and it slid all but entirely into the wall and glowed faintly. It was at that moment that Henry realized it was a key.

The alcove glowed and before Henry could react there was a faint blue glow and the alcove activated.

Not that he could tell as he was instantaneously unconscious, sent to a dreamless sleep, but the alcove now seemed filled with frosted crystal with a boy sleeping within.

Seanfall

2014-09-04, 11:32 PM

Morty sighed, "From what I understand, you were somewhat prepared for this awakening I mean. I have to guess you either knew it was going to happen, or you have family who are seers as well. Don't you think the Exarchs might favor one with....shall we say a Lineage?" Morty looked away from her around the domed structure.

"Not saying us winning is a sure thing, but if someone did tip the scales in their favor don't you think others would notice? From what barrier said this school is cut up into factions, there's a whole slew of inter-group politics we know nothing about. But what we do know is that we're the new kids, and we need an edge. If we win the Lottery, we end up being much better off than before. If we lose, we're right we are now. Nothing to lose, everything to gain." He shrugged at her.

If she didn't agree this time, he still had a few options before playing his trump card, however he was getting a little anxious and he was tired. If she didn't agree this time Morty would be sorely tempted to play that card.

Shadowy

2014-09-05, 12:27 PM

Rose looks on him pityingly. He's been scammed. The poor fool. "Morty, who's been telling you these things? I've been prepared, subtly for most of my life, and very obviously for the last two weeks, but that doesn't mean I'm better then anyone else. Also, I'm an Obrimos, and you're a Moros. There's a type of mage called Acanthus, and they can control probability. If someone's trying to sell you into some kind of lottery, they're trying to take your money."

She harkens back to Colt's advice, and smiles. "I'm not adverse to a teamup, of course. We're both new to the school, and it's probably best for us to stick together. We could cover a lot of holes for each other, like spotting gambling scams."

Seanfall

2014-09-05, 12:44 PM

Morty sighs, looks like he had no choice. "I can assure you the one who told me about this lottery, wants anything other than money." He thought for a few moments, Yeah I doubt money or mana is something that one has in short supply. Morty's eyes bored into rose for a few moments before he finally spoke again.

"I'm sorry to do this especially since you said you're okay with a team up but...you have to enter that lottery with me I must insist." He takes another breath, and looks down to the ground closing his eyes as he finally speaks. "Or does the school need to know about your little trinket?" He hoped the insinuation would be enough.

Shadowy

2014-09-05, 12:56 PM

She changes instantly. Any pretense of being warm or inviting is changed into scanning him, and the room to check for anyone else. The thought of just stabbing him comes up, until she realizes that Colt and probably several other students could catch her. She recovers, and tries to play it off. "I haven't any idea what you're talking about. If you're smart though, you're going to tell me things. What's this lottery? Who told you? Why do you want me in this lottery?"

There's a consideration of threatening him, but there's no point, yet.

Seanfall

2014-09-05, 04:15 PM

"Sorry, but I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you. It wasn't a student though something....much much bigger." Her warm demeanor vanished rather quickly, guess that was to be expected. Morty scratches the back of his neck. He stares at her his eyes not showing any real emotion, his shoulders are relaxed. His entire demeanor is one of calm readiness.

"Wasn't my idea to be honest, just the way it is. So don't pretend to be ignorant, when I brought it up your whole body language shifted. If you agree, I'll see about telling you more. So what's your answer?"

Shadowy

2014-09-05, 04:28 PM

Rose gives him a look of disgust and practically spits out. "Fine. Fine. You still haven't told me what the hell this lottery is though. Some sort of gambling scheme?"

Rose considers. She can agree and say anything right now if he'll tell her. If she doesn't like the answer, she can just stab him.

Seanfall

2014-09-05, 09:37 PM

"...." Morty raises an eyebrow. "You? Uhh..." Morty again removes his glasses and rubs his face with the palm of his hands. "I thought...you'd have pieced that together." Morty sighs again, "Is that why you were so against it? Mana, what else could it be? Barrier said earlier how valuable the stuff was. If there's a lottery in a School like this the only prize that would be worth the effort would be Mana." Morty closes his eyes after a moment he opens them and looks back up at her.

"Okay....look, I'm sorry I had to threaten you. To try to make things even, we'll say I owe you a favor. Whatever you want, as long as it doesn't interfere with my own goals." He raises his hand towards her open for a handshake. He doesn't look pleased with what he's done, not that it stopped him from doing it.

Shadowy

2014-09-05, 11:36 PM

"It's not really like I have a choice now, is it? Let me know.....whatever the hell it is you want me to do. And when. I suppose a why is out of the question." She pointedly ignores the handshake, and is currently trying to not verbalize her desire for vengeance.

Seanfall

2014-09-06, 12:15 AM

"No....and that's my fault." Always my fault. He drops his hand and turns, "Hate me if you want. I don't blame you, when the lottery begins I'll come find you. Incase this wasn't clear...I do intend to split the winnings." Before he leaves he gives her one last look, his face scrunched up as if he wants to say more. He doesn't like using people, that's not who he is and it shows. But he shakes his head and walks away. The psychopomp picks the one guy in the school who doesn't like manipulating people...doesn't matter. Until Abigail comes back nothing does. His hands curl into fists a sense of determination settling over him.

Shadowy

2014-09-06, 12:43 AM

Rose stalks away from him.

"It's a shame you've taken this approach. We could've been friends. Instead, you're fighting with a loyal servant. The Exarchs will be displeased."

The Architect

2014-09-07, 02:37 PM

http://s15.postimg.org/x7dcnyxjv/Bannerpbpmage.png

Carolyne's Room : The Prometheus University

A girl clutches a pencil. 2H. It falls from a hand hanging over the edge of a bed in apparently slow motion.

It is snatched mid air by a girl with still closed eyes.

The girl sits up, a whisper in an ancient dead language upon her lips.

She rises and steps towards the walls. A lamp atop a cabinet blocks her path to the wall. A single hand pushes the cabinet to the side to fall to the floor.

She draws, lead wearing thin lines onto the paint of the wall. She draws and draws, drawing her drawings from some tiny corner of her soul connected to the infinite. All along she whispers, chanting a mantra she cannot know in a language that cannot be. She whispers of old places and old things with snippets of names and places one might recognize.

As long the pencil lasts she scrawls and scribbles with a blind zeal.

There is a knocking on the door, a clanging of fist on wood three times, and Carolyne awakes from her sleeping trance.

She kneels among scattered articles of her school uniform in a room where every item has been thrown, smashed or cast aside.

The walls though, the walls hold her eyes.

Every surface bar the floor is marked by some pattern in a mass illustration.

In one corner the boy Morty is seated on a throne crowned with a symbol she does not recognize. In another corner is a Rose and an Ankh bound together by a chain. Another wall bears a naked youth sleeping in a bed of human skulls, her cheek baring the same symbol as atop Morty's throne. Upon another wall is a girl with something exploding from her chest, a tower that seems to be formed of paper, books, knotted robe, scrolls and is topped by a clock face.

Finally as the knocking grows louder Carolyne's eyes drift upwards to see a creature (https://31.media.tumblr.com/650ba0f24ac02c9f8f93f3e6bcc6a316/tumblr_mxs7v1Z6BJ1qj014ko1_500.jpg) scrawled upon her roof. What stares back at her is a face carved of several segmented components with a body of some strange metal, patterned with circles and lines, a hide of geometric patterns. In one hand floats a ring, in another is a staff. Written beneath it is a strange angular language that for some reason she can understand.

The Lie Is Brain Dead

~ Chapter End ~

All Players take 1 Normal Beat & 1 Arcane Beat for completing a Chapter.
Resolve any active Conditions, take 1 Beat per condition.

Smuch. take an additional 1 Arcane Beat.

Please wait to post till I get my next post up.:smallsmile:

All abilities based on Chapter, Destiny Merit, Dream Merit, etc refresh.

The Architect

2014-09-07, 03:20 PM

http://s15.postimg.org/x7dcnyxjv/Bannerpbpmage.png

Chapter II : The Tower Tumbles

Carolyne's Room : The Prometheus University

A voice shouts from outside the door "Carolyne? It's safe. It's just me, Barry. Um. Barrier, remember?"

What do you do?

***

YoLo's Tree : The Prometheus University

YoLo's was curled up in a blanket using his free changes of uniform as a pillow when a fist began to bang on his door in a friendly but mocking tone "Dude! It's Big Red, Barrier asked me to come get you. You awake in there princess?"

What do you do?

***

Henry's Alcove : The Prometheus University

Henry is met by a chill feeling as the crystal like liquid of his alcove fades and recedes. He stumbles from his alcove as his key pops from its recess in the apparently basalt stone. He looks around and though the Asylum is just as dark as it was when he arrived the passage of time was evident in the number of students, a dozen or so, who were emerging from alcoves as he was.

A trio of students seem to be approaching him, all of them standout apparently intentionally from the crowd. To either side of the leader are a pair of boys, one in a long black coat with a strange staff over his back with neon blue highlights in black hair, to the other side is a lanky boy with black shades, that looks almost ridiculous in the already dark space, and unnaturally red hair. The center girl is wearing a maroon coat that covers all save her legs, with long white hair. Given the number of glances from other students towards the strange trio it was obvious to Henry without magic that they were somehow significant.

The girl smiled and spoke with an accent he couldn't place "Hello. I am Senior Prefect Alison of the Warlocks. These are Prefect Ignition and Prefect John Hancock. I think you can guess which one decided to call himself Ignition," the one with red hair smirked "Now my question becomes, who you might be?"

What do you do?

***

Obrimos Territory : The Prometheus University

Rose having been exhausted by remaining awake and failing to find someone to protect her room magically is already in a foul mood when Barrier comes to get her and is in a fouler mood by the time he drags her towards the Unicarnival Casino to get Carolyne before they can go get coffee.

Figured you wouldn't mind skipping another 'come with me' scene. You are now outside Carolyne's room, see above, knocking with Barrier and may act as you choose.

You also gain the following condition:

Up All Night Trying Not To Die (Persistent):
There is a price from an all night, no matter how necessary, and you've got to pay it in full.
Effect: -2 to all dice pools related to Physical or Mental Actions for the duration of this condition.
Beat: Take a Beat whenever you fail a check when suffering from the penalty from this condition.
Resolution: When you take a sufficient amount of time to rest or otherwise ease your tiredness. Take a Beat. (If Magic is used in some way to relieve this tiredness instead take an Arcane Beat)

***

Morty's Room : The Prometheus University

*Knock, Knock*

"Hey..." *knock, knock* "***hole! Big Red and Barrier sent me to come get some kid called Morty. If you are him or not you better answer this damn door before I turn it into sand you spend the next week with a room that looks like a particularly ugly part of Ibiza."

*knock, knock* "Irsafil by the way. WAKE UP MAN!"

What do you do?

Green Bean

2014-09-07, 03:36 PM

Henry blinked at the sudden onslaught of social interaction. Normally he'd blame his off-balanced state on grogginess, but oddly enough he felt completely refreshed and clear-headed. It was definitely more the whole 'it's the morning after you've discovered everything you previously knew was a lie' thing.

"I'm Jamie. I just got here yesterday. It's nice to meet you?" The latter sentence wasn't normally phrased as a question, but in this case it was appropriate. He really hoped the answer would be yes. In his nervousness, he found himself almost automatically reaching out magically with his mind...

Casting Aura Perception, Gnosis + Mind.

2 successes. (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4635429/)

SuperCracker

2014-09-07, 03:38 PM

Yolo
Had a bad night.

There isn’t much distance between Yolo’s ears and the door right now. The room is so damned tiny that he could barely even lay down in it if he wanted to. So when his new friend started to screw with him by pounding on the door, Barrier heard a loud slam and saw that wooden door nearby pop off of its hinges as Yolo kicked the door out of instinct.

Intended to have comedic timing, not actual violence.

There was a moment of silence after that before Big Red could hear: “Worst room service, man.” After a few moments (and some more casting to make sure he was healed up from the fall last night), the door opened and there was Yolo. Despite the door-kicking, he doesn’t look mad.

But he does look tired. Sleepy eyes and a currently unkempt fauxhawk.

“Wassup, bro? Who’s Barrier?”

Going to heal up, if I have any remaining damage from before.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4635437/

2 hits. Even if I healed nothing overnight, that's enough to put me to full.

The Architect

2014-09-07, 04:52 PM

YoLo's Tree : The Prometheus University

Big Red gave a slight nod and pulled a cellophane wrapped sandwich from his courier bag and a bottle of water, throwing both to YoLo "Barrier is the guy who was meant to show you guys around before you jumped ship, and he's also a friend of a friend. He's got some ideas on how you new guys can pay tuition. Now throw on one of those uniforms or something. We don't have time to get you showered but you've been wearing that stuff for what, two? Three days? Geez."

He looks around as if trying to keep lookout. A few of the nearby trees were opening and students were starting to crawl forth.

What do you do?

***

Henry's Alcove : The Prometheus University

Alison smiles and speaks, apparently, to the ceiling "Alexandria? Please open the file on mr. Jamie here."

A voice echo from the mists and pillars of the ceiling from no obvious source "As you command, Mistress Alison."

A small readout, like a hologram, appears a few feet above the ground. Alison smiles as she flicks through the information provided in the readout "ah. This was your first night staying here, as you said. Arrived quite late. Hmmm. Odd. Usually new students are presented to the whole school simultaneously," she flicks through a few more read outs "no immediately significant sicknesses or infirmities," there was a ping in the display and she smiled again "ah. Aura Perception. A good choice Jamie, but unnecessary."

She reads a few more readouts, which appear to be of a medical nature but include symbols and equations Henry does not recognize. She speaks again to the ceiling "Hades. If you detect anyone targeting Jamie in his alcove without his prior warning you, please awake and inform him in future."

"Understood, Mistress Alison."

She closes the hologram and turns back to Henry "Sorry about that Jamie. I just like to get to know my new Warlocks and it would be sad for us all if you had some undiagnosed ailment or similar. How has the University been treating you?"

What do you do?

Aura Reading:

Ignition: Violet Aura (Excited)
John Hancock: Light blue with small spots of dark blue (Calm with a small amount of suspicion)
Alison: None

Green Bean

2014-09-07, 05:07 PM

Henry was a little reassured by the readings he was getting from his spell, though the lack of reading from Alison gave him reservations about its reliability. It clearly wasn't infallible. "It's been fine...a bit of a shock."

He squinted inquiringly at the odd holographic readouts, trying to get a bead on them. "Speaking of the rooms, I don't suppose there's any way to go inside without also falling asleep? To change clothes, at the very least."

Int + Wits: What are those holograms saying about me? 3 successes. (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4635557/)

SuperCracker

2014-09-07, 05:10 PM

Yolo

He came walking two steps out of the door. Even though the other doors were opening, Yolo didn’t seem to care. Look all they want. Yolo takes the sandwich and the water and he immediately begins to scarf down the sandwich. He feels like he hasn’t eaten in days. Maybe he hasn’t. Once he’s finished stuffing the sandwich into his mouth (which doesn’t take long), Yolo nods to Big Red.

“If you vouch for him, I’ll listen to what he’s gotta say. Thanks for the grub, bro.” Yolo pulls off his shirt and tosses it into his room. He steps inside changing clothes real quick. He puts on a white undershirt, grabs the button-down part of the uniform and throws it on, leaving it unbuttoned and untucked. Pants come on, followed by the belt he brought with him. Same sneakers.

Yolo notices through the partially open door that Big Red keeps watching his surroundings. “What you lookin’ at?”

With one last detail, Yolo focuses to try and make himself smell not quite so ripe. Nothing happens. He makes a face and then does it again. That’s better. He steps out of his tree, his chest puffed out a bit. Yolo runs his hands through his hair to get it to stick up again. His brown eyes sweep the trees around him, looking at the opening doors.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

Simple life 2 or 3 effect to tone down his body odor. CLASSY.

Failed the first time. Succeeded the second.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4635553/

The Architect

2014-09-07, 05:53 PM

YoLo's Tree : The Prometheus University

"A friend of mine, Viv, she lives around here and she might be a little annoyed at me is all," he begins to lead YoLo out of the forest "plan is I grab you and Jamie, Irsafil grabs Morty, one of the guys you got brought in with, and then Barrier grabs Carolyne and Rose, the two girls you came in with. We all meet up from coffee at the Gallery of Places and figure something out."

With the now dressed, sort of, YoLo Big Red makes his way to the Courtyard and then towards the Mastigos territory. Big Red takes out a lighter and seems to feed it with additional fuel as it ignites a much larger brighter bluer flame than one might expect as they navigate down the tunnel, through the white door that students are already leaving through.

What do you do?

See below.

***

Henry's Alcove : The Prometheus University

Alison nods and motions to the Alcove "It's a little small though for that, and others can quite easily see in. If you enter the alcove with that Key not inserted then it won't 'freeze over'. If you wish you could have the space expanded, so you might have an actual room. I'm sure one of your fellow Warlocks wouldn't mind doing so for you, given your circumstances I'm sure they would allow you to pay back the debt over a long enough period to suit your needs."

She seems to pause for a moment then turns back to Henry "Sorry Jamie. I was somewhere else for a moment. Anyway, besides your arrival and debut being so unusual you're dangerously close to the end of the tuition payment period. Are you intending to enter the Lottery?"

At this a pair of figures enter through the white doorway of bone. One wears, barely, the school uniform and is YoLo, the other is Big Red who is tucking away a lighter in his courier bag. The pair see Jamie speaking to a trio of strange older students.

What do you do?

The readouts appear to detail medical scans, which as she said gave no immediate alarm bells, basic magical scans such as current spells etc, the minimal information they had on him, and the readings of his current emotional, physical and magical status. A large number of symbols from an unknown language and the general technical nature of the information makes it difficult to decipher but nothing about it seems particularly dangerous or revealing in regards Henry.

Shadowy

2014-09-07, 07:14 PM

Rose is in a terrible mood, and Carolyne is currently an obstacle between her and coffee. She follows Barrier to her room, but gently puts herself ahead of him to knock on the door, slightly louder then would be kind. "Morning! Rise and Shine!"

smuchmuch

2014-09-07, 07:54 PM

Catherine open her eyes, she's lying on her bed still wearing her cothes from yesterday.

"Aaah !"

Oh and also there's a huanoid monster with a fmaling head staring at her on the ceiling. There are better things to see while waking up

"Oh mon dieu"

What the hell happened to her room ?!
Not that she was all that happy to have to sleep in what looked like a cheap motel room but at least compared to the alternative like a dungeon cell or a slab of stone, it seemed pretty nice. And now it looks like someone decided to draw a black metal cover on the walls

Did someone sneak in while she was alseep ? The door looks intact and still closed but with magic..

No. She remember the dream. And she kow that's stroke style, it's hers.
...Besides this isn't the first time this happened, it already happened small scibbles in her hand when she woke up,it's just the first time it was so ... big. So... creepy. She never drew on the walls in her sleep before, even less not a whole room while tashing evething, let alone the ceiling !
Did her magic amplify her dreams, was it alway part of her, is she going crazy ? there is no answer she can imagine on the spurr of the moment that sounds good.

What is it even suposed to be ? She recognize one people in it , he was with her with Barrier the evening before The other peoples however she doesn't recognize but isn't it lovely ? A rose bound to an ankh (can't it the name the other girl gve herself ?) A falling tower emergin from a person. falling tower isn't this a taarrot symbol, ruin if she remember well. And a pile of skulls. And the centerpiece is a monster.
She has no idea and doesn't really feel i the mood for analysis

What does she do know ? she shuld probaly tell soeone but... Maybe it's normal and everyone does that around here. ... Or they might kill her or lock her up on the spot for it because they though it sudden demonic possession for all she knows.
God she wish she has someone she knew she could trust.

Composure+Resolve+1
[roll0][roll1][roll2][roll3][roll4][roll5][roll6]

There's knocking on the door

It's Barrier and Rose

Does she tell him ? He seems trustworthy enough. And she's in it.
except she remember her .. enthusiasm yesterday. If they burn people for sleepdrawing around here, she has no doubt she'd be the first to light the torch.
What does she do ? what does she do ?!

Okay she should probably at least answer the knocking.

As Catherine's door i unlocked and opens barely, just enough for her to peek outside.

"Hi"
Akward silence.
"excuse me ,can I have a minute please ?"

SuperCracker

2014-09-07, 08:08 PM

Yolo

“What’d you do?” Yolo asked Big Red with a grin on his face. “Big Red, you heart breaker, you.” Red rattled off some names that Yolo couldn’t quite match faces to yet, what with how fast everything happened the night before. Still, it was good that people were getting together to figure this tuition situation out.

They made their way through darkness and into strange crystal land when Yolo spotted four people, one of whom was, “Yo, Jamie. What up, playa?” Yolo walked up to the group of four as if they were just anyone on the street.

He lifted his chin in a reverse-nod.

“Yo.”

The Architect

2014-09-07, 08:17 PM

Carolyne's Room : The Prometheus University

Barrier seems a little taken aback by the constrained by sheepish appearance of Carolyne in the doorway "Um. Yeah, of course. Quick though, people will be waiting on us... you okay? You look a little ... tired?"

What do you do?

***

The Asylum : The Prometheus University

Big Red looked a little guilty at YoLo's flippant comment but doesn't comment. Once inside the Asylum YoLo pulls away and Big Red keeps a few steps behind, a hand atop his courier bag. As YoLo makes his entrance to the conversation the trio turn to him and Alison tilts her head to YoLo but barely gives him a sideways glance, keeping her eyes on Jamie "a friend of yours Jamie?"

What do you do?

Shadowy

2014-09-07, 08:20 PM

Rose taps her wrist, as if pointing at an invisible watch. "Tick-tock."

Seanfall

2014-09-07, 09:43 PM

Morty wakes with a start, sighing. He had a small hope that this was all just a long nightmare, but nope it was real all of it. He stood and opened the door, his hair was a mess his eyes wide and wild, after a moment he smoothed his hair and rubbed his eyes replacing his glasses on his nose. He coughed, to clear his throat. "Yes?" His clothes were rumpled and obviously slept in. As he waited, for the reply he straightened his clothes out as best he could.

Green Bean

2014-09-07, 09:58 PM

Henry duly considered her question about the Lottery, though a bit discomfited by the lack of privacy apparently available to him. "I don't know, I was going to think it over last night before bed - I didn't know the room would put me to sleep. I need to check a few things, and I definitely want to talk it over with...Yolo!" He noticed his friend walking in and gave him a happy wave.

"Hey, how was your night? The rooms here are a bit weird - I still need to get changed and..." A thought occurred and Henry glanced over at Alison. "Actually, where is the loo?"

The Architect

2014-09-07, 10:06 PM

Morty's Room : The Prometheus University

As Morty tried to clean himself up he saw a handful of changes of his uniform in a pile in the corner of the room.

Irsafil, Morty sees as soon as he opens the door, is an unmissably attractive figure in his mid to late teens who wears a worn black leather jacket over a black shirt and dark jeans. He's tall and broad in all the ways that denote an unfairly good day at the genetic lottery but the strangest thing about this unusually handsome teen is that Morty could swear he gets an oddly familiar feeling from him. When Irsafil speaks his accent betrays his origin not at all "Great, you're awake, and alive so I don't have to hide a body today. You ready to head to the Gallery of Places? Only I actually have a busy day of not acting as someone's alarm to catch up on," he leans on the doorway with one arm as he checks his phone in his other hand.

It takes a moment for the oddity of having a working phone in this place to click for Morty.

What do you do?http://s11.postimg.org/6zz5l9l8z/Irsafil.png

***

The Asylum : The Prometheus University

Alison smirked as she replied "they're scattered around. A few in the dungeon, a few in the Gallery of Places, in the clubs in the Lake District. There are some Moros that can have installed in your room if you desire."

Ignition finally speaks up glancing YoLo up and down "Who's your friend anyway? Another Fresher?"

What do you do?

SuperCracker

2014-09-07, 10:13 PM

Yolo

Yolo fished underneath his undershirt and pulled out his silver chain, complete with the big silver YOLO medallion on it. He let it hang out proudly. “Yolo, bro. Exactly what it says on the tin.” There’s a pause before he follows up with a simple, “How you doin’?”

But since he didn’t come this way looking for any of these three, he turns his attention over to Henry. “Get ready, bro. We’re gonna go meet some people, do our thing.”

Green Bean

2014-09-07, 10:27 PM

"We arrived at the same time, he really helped me out." Henry took a quick trip to his room and grabbed a change of school clothes before coming back. "I'd be happy to come along, but I'll need to stop and change on the way."

The Architect

2014-09-07, 10:29 PM

The Asylum : The Prometheus University

Alison's drifted upwards and danced in the air above YoLo's chain "curious. You all arrived in street clothes. Every other group of students, even those that arrived not long before you did, have always been debuted before the whole school in school uniforms. Yet... all of you arrived in your street clothes, in the middle of the night. Odd. Odd..."

Big Red speaks up "Guys? We should get going. Morty and the girls might be there already. Hate to leave them waiting..." he was clearly ill at ease here and it showed.

Alison closed her eyes for a moment and then took a step, when her foot again touched the ground she had left Henry and YoLo, and was halfway across the room standing beside Big Red "hmmm. Shadow Name Big Red, prior spell style ... manufacturing. Hmmm... Oh. Secondary spell style, production of rapid effect neuro-toxins. Path, Moros. Pylon... Independent. Known affiliations..."

She smiles back over at Henry and YoLo then turns back to Big Red as she slowly circles him "Well that would be telling. You weren't assigned to look after these Freshers were you Big Red?"

Big Red swallows as if afraid and looks straight forward, not even at Henry or YoLo ["I met them in the Grove of Sleeping Shamans, a friend asked me to get them for him, Barrier..."

"Another Moros. I am aware of Barrier. You seemed scared Red, do you know who I am...?" Alison asked almost jokingly as she rested her hand on Big Red's chest.

"Alison. Alison the Legion. Senior Prefect of the Mastigos," Big Red manages.

"Heh. Yes," she turns and begins to walk away, heading deeper into the tunnel system "It was nice meeting you Jamie, and you too YoLo. May the Eye watch over you both."

Big Red rushes over to the pair and grabs Henry by the arm whispering "Gods damn it, I can't leave either of you desperate ****s for five minutes without one of you getting into small talk with one eldritch abomination or another. Lets get out of here before she comes back."

With that Big Red tries to lead the pair out of the Asylum.

What do you do?

SuperCracker

2014-09-07, 10:40 PM

Yolo

Yolo shrugged at what Alison was saying about people arriving in uniforms. He didn’t know the typical protocol in this prison. Then she turns her attention towards Big Red and literally appears in front of him. As she’s talking it becomes clear that she’s screwing with him. He’s scared. Yolo doesn’t like it when people scare his friends.

Yolo doesn’t teleport over there, but he does walk right up, standing with Big Red, his posture indicating he’s willing to fight if he has to. Granted, this is a ton of bravado in a situation Yolo knows nothing about. But he follows one simple rule: you never leave your bros hanging.

“Assigned or not, he’s my boy. That’s all you got to know.”

Even when she turns to head back and Big Red rushes to grab Henry, Yolo stands where he was, facing her direction, right up until Red brings Henry in their direction and they pass him – almost like Yolo was being the barrier between the threat and his friends.

He’s the last one to turn and leave, which he finally does. “You okay, bro?”

Seanfall

2014-09-07, 10:45 PM

Morty changes quickly walking out of the room as he's pulling on a new shirt. "Well don't let me slow me." Morty glances at the phone, "So I'm going to go ahead and assume that, that phone is either magical or you have some kind of exemption from the no electronics thing here." After he speaks he considers something for a moment and looks up at Irsafil, "Call me Morty I suppose."

Green Bean

2014-09-07, 10:52 PM

Henry allowed himself to be pulled along by Big Red, though in terms of sheer size differential, there wasn't much of a choice for him regardless. "What an odd girl."

The Architect

2014-09-07, 10:55 PM

The Courtyard : The Prometheus University

Once out of the tunnel and back in daylight just off the courtyard Big Red grabs, the admittedly shorter but more muscled, YoLo by the collar with both hands, a wild look in his eyes "don't you EVER act big towards that girl again! EVER! Do you have ANY IDEA what could have happened if she had been even REMOTELY offended by you? DO YOU?! You just put ALL our lives..." he lets go of YoLo as if the fight had suddenly gone out of him "I'm sorry YoLo... You were just doing what you thought was right. I've got other stuff going on ... had me on edge. Just... be more careful in future. That girl, Alison she's... She's not like us. She's a Master, and even then she can do stuff other Master's can't do. Stuff that would... When I was new here I went on a Lottery with her, and this is one moment of one of the worst nights of my life, and I'm only telling you this so you don't mess with her again..." Big Red lies back against a stone wall of the castle's central building "there was this Mage... and I'm not going to say who she was with or why we were there but without saying anything Alison poured her power into that woman's mind and ... we just sort of watched when Alison told the woman to beat her own head in with a hammer. The woman did it. The woman laughed when she did it. YoLo. You don't **** with people like that. You avoid them. Like natural disasters. That's what Mages are when they get powerful enough, or when they go off the deep end, natural disasters. We die or we end up the WMDs of people."

Shaking Big Red starts to get out rolling skins and some roach paper, to roll something to calm his nerves "****. Sorry about that YoLo."

What do you do?

***

The Courtyard : The Prometheus University

Irsafil walks with Morty up to the Courtyard, through the Dungeon and the Grand Foyer "The Theurges, well a largely Theurge Pylon, have set up an in-campus phone network of sorts. It's more useful than you'd think to have an easy non magical way to communicate. It's only a couple mana a term."

When the pair emerge from the castle a few minutes later they see from a distance, across the courtyard, Big Red grab YoLo by the collar and then let go and lean against the wall.

"I wonder what managed to get Big Red worked up, that guy smokes more grass than a forest fire."

What do you do?

SuperCracker

2014-09-07, 11:04 PM

Yolo

He listens to what Big Red says. Even though the taller kid grabs him by the collar, Yolo doesn’t bow up at him. He doesn’t hit Big Red, he doesn’t do anything but stand tall and look into his eyes, quiet. And he gets it. He understands… that girl is horrible. She could kill all of them without even trying. She sounds like she’d even enjoy it. The story makes Yolo understand that compared to some people he’s small. A gnat that could be swatted away. Slugging someone doesn’t matter if they can make you slug yourself, right?

But even though he might be small.

He ain’t SAWFT.

Yolo steps up to Big Red and lays a hand on the other teen’s shoulder, looking him right in the eye. “I get it, bro… but look at me. If someone’s gonna hurt you. If someone’s gonna try and kill you, f*** with you, whatever… they’re gonna have to kill me too. That’s how we do it where I’m from. Don’t matter if it’s one dude with no powers or fifty of that chick. I got your f***in’ back, bro.”

“But I’ll step—“ he’s not going to say softly, “lightly.”

Seanfall

2014-09-07, 11:05 PM

"Thats fine, at my old school it was the Meth heads you had to watch for." again Morty delivered this in a deadpan tone, staring straight ahead at the would be fight with only mild interest. Based on what he'd seen last night that guy probably had it coming. "Can you clue me into what this is about or, liking waking up here, is it another surprise?"

The Architect

2014-09-07, 11:15 PM

The Courtyard : The Prometheus University

Big Red forces a weak smile and pats YoLo on the back "well... thanks. Let's just focus on getting you to see your first class of the term for now."

At that Irsafil approaches with Morty answering a question YoLo and Jamie hadn't heard "Big Red wants to help Barrier help you and yours get the Mana I need for tuition, and Big Red asked me a favor to help him by grabbing you out of bed."

Big Red and Irsafil exchanged a curt nod before Irsafil spoke again "We're there meant to be two girls with you guys?"

What do you do?

smuchmuch

2014-09-07, 11:28 PM

"... Yes."
Catherine looks a little blankly at Barrier.
A small part of her wants to answer something along the lines of 'yes I had a nightmare about being abducted and trapped in a scholl of psychopaths, how do I wake up ?' but that part belongs to anothr catherine from another universe with more courage and an attitude. Aother part wants to say 'Plese take a look in my room and tell me what is wrong with me, i trust you complelty', but that part belong to a Catherine who isn't complelty out of her depth and made parranoid and unsure of what is reallity by the aformentioned being trapped in a school ful of psychopaths.

Okay so what now ?
She's probaly not going to keep that hidden for lonng anyway, it's all over the walls of her room, kind of hard not to notice for anyone who gts a peek in and well... it's not like she murdered someone in her sleep, it's jsut a pencil drawing, right ?
...
Catherine scans her room for any trace of blood.
Oh good, none, that's a relief.

Catherine takes a deep breath. Deep breath again.
On a somewhat close matter, getting dressed up. she gether the clothes on the floor and puts them on the bed, that'll do untill she can tidy up the room a bit better.
No robes or clowinsh outfit, just a nice plain skirt, shirt and jacket. With a white unicorn on a green pentagram. Cute. Could do with a much better design tho. But really the whole thing is of much better taste than she feared.

After quickly fitting the top of an uniform and doing her best not to look the abominable morning hair woman (thouh she really wish she had time to take a shower) Catherine opens her door and slips outside and closes her eyes. Maybe they won't say anything or just not notice but somehow she doubt that.
"I kind of had a bad night."

Green Bean

2014-09-07, 11:30 PM

Right before they reached the courtyard, Henry noticed a loo and made his excuses. He'd duck in, take care of his business, and be at the meeting in a few minutes...

Seanfall

2014-09-07, 11:32 PM

"I doubt that sentiment is fueled by Altruism. What's the price for this help?" Morty spoke more in a matter of fact voice, not accusatory. Morty looked around a moment, "Yes we had two girls with us last night."

The Architect

2014-09-07, 11:46 PM

The Courtyard : The Prometheus University

Irsafil shrugs but Big Red cuts in to answer Morty "Barrier got paid in Mana by one of the Teachers to look after all of you. I'm Barrier's friend and I guess I'm YoLo's and Jamie's now too. So I'm here."

What do you do?

***

Carolyne's Room : The Prometheus University

As Carolyne moves to close the door again Barrier stops her, holding the door open. He points to something and then his eyes go wide as he stares through the gap in the doorway at something. He looks down to Carolyne "Anything inside you'd like to show us Carolyne?"

What do you do?

Barrier rolling Wits + Composure to see if he notices anything amiss in the brief space of the door he gets to see through while Carolyne steps out.

[roll0]

SuperCracker

2014-09-07, 11:57 PM

Yolo

He gives Big Red one last nod and then turns towards the other two approaching. He recognizes one of the boys from last night. The other one he doesn’t recognize at all. He folds his arms and leans against the wall beside Big Red. Whatever tension and conflict that could have been brewing earlier was entirely gone.

“He’s solid,” Yolo says about Big Red to Morty. “Like a rock, bro.”

Yolo looks at Morty for a second, eyeing him up. “Yolo, bro. What's your name?"

Seanfall

2014-09-08, 12:02 AM

Yolo....you gotta be ****ing kidding me. Morty's eyes shut and he winces in psychic pain at the name. He takes in a short breath before answering, he looks a little weary Tired. "I guess you can call me Morty. Because Mortis sounds kinda pompous."

smuchmuch

2014-09-08, 12:10 AM

"..."
Catherine is at a loss of words. What cans he say. he's got a peek, she was hopping she would know what to do from his reaction. But there is a raction so it's definitively not ordinary.

...

Composure+Resolve (-2 for shaken)
[roll0][roll1][roll2][roll3]

Taking a decision, Catherine atempts to push the door closed and lock it.

Barrier can stare all he want. She knows he's got a peek but if she want to show him the whole thing, she'll do so later when she's decided it's a good idea. Later

"No. It's just a mess, i'll tidy up later"

SuperCracker

2014-09-08, 12:50 AM

Yolo

“Got a headache or somethin’?” He asks, utterly and completely unaware that the glorious, culturally-important name that he has chosen would ever give someone the slightest bit of pain. He looks at the other two guys that seem to know more about what’s going on.

“So we’re all here lookin’ for mana, yeah? Red mentioned that you can do the Lottery to get it. What kinda stuff do they make ya do in the Lottery?”

Green Bean

2014-09-08, 01:05 AM

Henry walked into the bathroom, locked the door behind him, and looked at himself in the mirror. He did need to get changed and use the toilet, but he had something else in mind first. If he truly needed Mana to survive in this place, he needed to understand how to get it, and to see if it was something he was capable of doing.

He took a few deep breaths and looked around the bathroom. It looked as though it had seen better days. He noticed a loose piece of tiling on the floor, and it was the work of a few moments to break off a finger-sized piece of it. Then he used the hard edges of the sink plumbing to wear an edge into the fragment; ironically, he'd learned this trick from research materials designed to teach people exactly how to prevent exactly what he was doing. In time, it looked sharp enough, and he tested it on his fingertip. It was hardly a straight razor, but it would cut skin and more if wielded with determination. Oddly enough, he found that his hand was shaking.

He took his improvised cutter and pressed it to his forearm. He felt the sharpness, and tried to press further, but found himself hesitating. He tried again, but this time he found his hands were shaking too hard. If he kept trying like this, he might nick something more vital than he intended. He realized he'd been holding his breath and exhaled deeply. He glanced in the mirror again, and noticed his eyes were a little watery. Clearly this wasn't working. He sat himself down on the toilet lid and thought for a minute.

This was too unlike him. That was the problem. Even in this bizarre situation, with potentially his life at stake, he couldn't turn his back on fourteen years of harm avoidance. He sighed and tried to centre himself. As he closed his eyes and thought back, he noticed that his thoughts seemed more...malleable than they were before. He sent out a test pulse, and felt it arc across his conscious mind. The sensation was fascinating! As he searched his own thoughts and memories, he found them laid bare, so easy to tweak and redirect. And in that moment, he saw a solution both elegant and terrifying in its simplicity. He reached within himself, back across the years...

He was barely more than a toddler, and his older brother was having one of his bad days. He hadn't been worried; no matter how worked up his big brother got, he'd never been hurt before. But today's mania was stronger than usual, and Henry had gotten clipped in the eye, seemingly accidentally. The very next day Henry's parents made the arrangements to have his brother institutionalized full-time. They never said anything, but Henry had always felt responsible for it. When the guilt got too much, he waited for his parents to fall asleep, and stole Daddy's lighter. He held his hand over the flame until it blistered, and the pain overwhelmed the guilt.

He'd always been a weird kid at school, with his nose buried in books years too advanced for his class. The others might've dismissed him as just another nerd, except, to the bafflement of his teachers his grades were actually pretty terrible. He stood out, which was dangerous in school. One lunch recess, when he was sitting under a tree reading a simplified DSM-IV, someone had thrown a rock at him. It caught him right in the head, and opened up a wound that bled all over the place. They never caught who did it, but since no one stepped forward, the whole class was punished for it, isolating him even further. The wound was pretty shallow, but Henry found himself picking at it constantly. The sight of blood on his hands somehow eased his sense of isolation. The injury eventually healed, but it took far longer than it should have. He was almost disappointed when did.

Their arguments got worse over time. Henry's parents were harried, and exhausted, and there were no obvious solutions to be had, so they fought. They'd lock themselves in their bedroom to fight, but when they were caught up in the moment it was easy to overhear. It was always about him or his brother. Henry was unquestionably an odd child, and his parents were worried he was turning out like his sibling. They disagreed on what to do about it, whether to change schools, or send him away, or just keep hoping he'd outgrow it. After so many years of seemingly no progress, Henry and his brother were slowly but surely pulling their parents apart. Henry was old enough now that he could go to the chemist and buy razor blades without too much suspicion. With a little ingenuity, he could pop them loose from their frame and slide them underneath his skin. When the raised voices became difficult to ignore, he'd just flex a little bit, and the sensations would keep the world at bay, at least for a minute or two.

Henry opened his eyes and looked down at the improvised razor he was holding. His hands were no longer shaking. He dug into the skin on his right forearm (no sense harming his dominant hand). He broke the skin easily enough, but had to worry at it some more to create an appropriate level of blood flow. Then he leaned back against the toilet, closed his eyes, and relaxed as the life blood flowed out of him.

It took a little bit before he felt it, a sense of magical energy welling up inside him to replace what he'd lost. His eyes snapped open, and he moved quickly now to stop the bleeding. The cut was deep, but Henry knew enough to make it something straightforward to treat. He simply applied pressure, and turned his now bloodied shirt into a tight bandage. It'd take at least a couple days to heal, but he wouldn't bleed out any more, at least.

He used the sink to wash himself as best he could and changed into the school uniform. The shirt-bandage fit under his long sleeves - he took a close look at it, but it looked like it would hold and he wouldn't have to worry about it bleeding through. As he left the bathroom, he accidentally used his right arm to open the door, and it twinged unpleasantly. It wasn't that bad, though.

He stepped out into the Courtyard and saw that there were a number of other mages gathered there. He approached, and entered the conversation next to Yolo. "Hello."

Scouring 1L for 3 Mana.

SuperCracker

2014-09-08, 12:20 PM

Yolo

He lifted his chin as Jamie came back to join the group. “Jamie, this is Israfil and this is Morty. They’re lookin’ to pay that tuition like we are.” Yolo unfolded his right arm just enough to tap the side of his fist against Henry’s shoulder. “Fellas, this is Jamie. He keeps cool under pressure.”

While a little of that comment is just Yolo exaggerating his friends’ qualities like he is obviously prone to do, it does bear a kernel of truth. Henry handled being locked up in the spirit world without freaking out and getting himself hurt. Unlike Yolo, Henry had never seen a spirit before. It made Yolo trust that Henry would have his back if things go crazy. Probably not by punching things, cause he doesn’t look to good at that, but everyone’s got their talents.

Of course, this flies in the face of what Morty saw just before Henry got teleported, but Yolo didn't see that. And even if he did, he wouldn't acknowledge it anyway.

Shadowy

2014-09-08, 01:12 PM

Rose regards Carolyne. "How'd you even get enough stuff to make a mess?" She considers this for a moment, then gives up. "Oh, whatever. Let's just get a move on."

Green Bean

2014-09-08, 05:40 PM

Henry mostly just looked embarrassed at Yolo's praise, clearly not feeling that he'd earned it. He'd mostly been following Yolo's lead and praying he knew what he was doing. Obviously, he did.

The Architect

2014-09-08, 06:14 PM

The Courtyard : The Prometheus University

Irsafil shakes his head at YoLo's last comment "I'm all paid up, and so is Big Red I'm pretty sure," Big Red nods "so you'll be doing the heavy lifting without us."

At that the group sees Rose, Carolyne and Barrier finally approach from the castle's main entrance and with a nod the group heads towards the Gallery of Places as Big Red answers the question about the Lottery "the Lottery is the main way that most students get a lot of mana fast, when they need it. You put your name forward, typically in the courtyard they'll have a hat or a bowl or a list, something anyway. Some or sometimes all of the people who put themselves forward are divided into groups. These groups are then assigned missions on behalf of the Seers. These missions can be... anything really. To my knowledge they're mostly assigned by the Teachers."

Barrier takes the lead and glances around before leading the group into a new painting in the gallery of places, Café Terrace at Night by Vincent Van Gogh. Once inside Barrier speaks up "now obviously right now you have two options scour yourselves to within an inch of your life or take the Lottery," he clicks his fingers to try and attract the attention of one of the faux-waiters nearby "both have risks. A friend of ours has been trying to take the Leeches, the folks most likely to hurt you guys when your weak, down a peg but they haven't made great progress yet. A Lottery though ... If it's an easy mission it could be the easiest safest mana you ever made but if it's something tough..."http://s28.postimg.org/xnllx8vel/20091010_662388.jpg

Barrier looks down the street and Irsafil speaks up again "if I were you I'd go for the Lottery. If you can't succeed you probably shouldn't be here."

Big Red glares at Irsafil as he speaks up, grabbing a chair and starting to roll a rollie on the table "yeah. I'm calling bull**** on that Irsafil. They had Anemone put two .50 cal in a guy. She's fifteen. Some missions mess people up, bad, even if they don't get hurt, even if they succeed."

Irsafil rolls his eyes "Yeah, and some don't. It's almost like it's a gamble what you'll get, if you're accepted. Like a Lottery?"

"**** you and the horse you came in on man," Big Red snaps.

"Guys, maybe chill it with the hosti-" Barrier begins raising his hands placatingly before Irsafil cuts him off "speaking of ****ing and Anemone. Fifteen? And you're talking to me about looking after Freshers? Rich from a glorified drug peddler with a moral backbone of balsa wood."

Big Red shot to his feet and his palm flickered in the eyes of those with Mage Sight with beginnings of a Matter spell "I'm beginning to get why nobody can stand you you-"

Irsafil reached towards the inside of his leather jacket "try it and I put a bullet in your brain-pan six seconds ago. Promise."

*smacks*

"Ouch!" the pair said in unison rubbing their heads as Barrier pulled his hands back and brushed them off.

"If you two are finished with your **** measuring contest, there are some people who are going to DIE if we don't get them some mana, and who need our help."

"He-" Big Red began but Barrier cut him off "for the love of Gods know when to shut it Red."

There was a pause, a brief moment of silence, and Barrier let out a long sigh before saying "So do any of you have any questions?"

What do you do?

Just to be clear EVERYONE is now in the Cafe. Have fun. :smallsmile:

Edit: By the way, +1 Arcane Beat to Henry for going the extra mile with that scouring. :smallsmile:

Green Bean

2014-09-08, 07:03 PM

Henry
Active Effects:
Whatever the hell he just did in the bathroom, Potency 1, Scene

Henry played with his napkin uncomfortably as a fight nearly broke out between the three. The speed with which things almost escalated to violence concerned him, and he wondered if it was just those two, or a symptom of the larger school society. But in any case, he'd had time to pause and think about his circumstances, and his stop in the loo had clarified things for him immensely. "Does any of this feel strange to you? I know we were brought in at an odd time for new arrivals, and in unusual circumstances, and told we have to pay tuition in a week. And now there happens to be a lottery..."

smuchmuch

2014-09-08, 07:12 PM

Catherine listen in glum silence as the older students paint a fragemented and yet very clear of what "the lotery" is. There is no way Mana can be that worth it. She'll fine another way to make some, live with low needs.

"Scour ?"

That sounds ...painfull. And yet still better than anything involving a 50. caliber.

and told we have to pay tuition in a week

Carolyne face turn into a pale mask
"Tuition ? Tuition ?!"

That cannot mean what she think it means. They have got to be kidding her.

"Please tell me it's a joke. not a funny one"

The Architect

2014-09-08, 07:14 PM

The Courtyard : The Prometheus University

Big Red shakes his mournfully to Carolyne "No joke. 30 Mana by the end of the week or... *swallow*"

Barrier nods to Jamie "some others came in just before you, but they came in pretty traditionally. Got debuted and all that. I mean it makes a little sense to drop you in the deep end and see if you swim but... I can't help but feel there's more to it. Yeah."

Irsafil shrugs "Or it could be dumb luck and the fact Heracles doesn't give a flying **** about the rules around here. I think you might be looking for meaning where there's just laziness and bad luck. I mean, the Lotteries are pretty common, especially around tuition."

What do you do?

SuperCracker

2014-09-08, 07:24 PM

Yolo

Yolo listens to the conversation, but he quickly sours on the idea of the Lottery. For one single, specific reason. But we’ll get to that soon enough. He refolds his arms, watching Big Red argue about the dangers of the Lottery. However, Yolo’s train of thought it derailed by one guy started to reach for a gun. Yolo pushed himself off the wall towards Irsafil, coming at him with the clear intent of beating the dog sh** out of him. The fury is halted by Barrier who takes the edge out of the situation with a Three Stooges head-knock.

Yolo is still looking at Irsafil, his eyes wide and full of fury. This was everything Yolo just said to Big Red, being proved out once more. He calms himself down, no sense in fighting when the point’s been made.

“Look, I think ya’ll are all missing somethin', here. Why in the f*** would we wanna do anythin’ to help the guys that trapped us here? Don’t matter if it’s an easy job or a hard job, it’s a job for those f***s. What are the otha’ options?”

The Architect

2014-09-08, 07:34 PM

The Courtyard : The Prometheus University

Barrier shakes his head "to get 150 mana in six days? Scouring five people would BARELY pull that off YoLo."

Irsafil shrugs "You guys are too late for the Kill-Team Battle Royale, and the season doesn't start till term does. Any job that was going has been taken up by now and nobody but maybe the Senior Prefects has that much Mana just lying around this time of year anyway. Sure you could go to the Casino, gamble, try to use magic to win, get caught and have your *** beat on for a while."

Big Red sighs "which brings us back to Scouring or the Lottery."

Barrier grabs a coffee off a passing waitress as he continues "the lottery isn't always something reprehensible. One of the prime edicts of the Exarchs is protect humanity. There a lot of monsters in the big bad world and part of us SUPPOSEDLY being Kings of the Lie means protecting people who are still asleep."

Big Red groans "Can I bring us back girl. Fifteen year old. Business man. Bullet."

What do you do?

SuperCracker

2014-09-08, 07:55 PM

Yolo
Active Effects
Mage Sight (life) - potency 3

He doesn’t know what a prime edict is, but he senses enough context to be able to give this most eloquent retort, “Is onna their prime edicts to snatch kids up off the street? Is one of ‘em to go blastin’ random dudes, just cause they say so? Naw, I think that tells me enough about ‘em.”

At the same time, he's decided it might be worth seeing what's going on around him. Everyone and their mothers are using magic constantly.. so with a twinge of focus, he brings up his sixth sense.

Mage sight via Life: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4637165/
3 successes

The Architect

2014-09-08, 08:15 PM

The Courtyard : The Prometheus University

Irsafil points at YoLo as he speaks "the moment you make an assumption in this place is the moment before you end up dead. These guys grabbed us for their own benefit but trust me one of our kind out there unsupervised can be worse thing you can imagine."

Barrier shakes his head at Irsafil "yeah, before we get back to all the doom and gloom and you start sounding like Big Red with your WMD talk let's all remember we're bloody Wizards okay..." he pauses thinks and points to Carolyne "Carolyne? You're an Enchanter right? One of the Acanthi? You can perform an Augury right? With the Time Arcana? You can cast it on one of the others and see if they will pass the Lottery safely."

"WOAH!" Big Red cuts in "she's not an adept in Fate OR Time yet. Which means her future visions aren't very subtle. She's the hammer of precognition."

Barrier looks confused "Time isn't my thing can you..."

Irsafil cuts in in a bored tone "with Augury you see a positive or negative future based on a question. When you ask the question it collapses the superposition where both could happen, and leaves only future. Whatever future she senses is the one that will happen, no matter what she does."

Barrier looks quite confused at this point "isn't that what we want, to know the future?"

Irsafil shrugs "And if she asks 'will YoLo survive the Lottery tonight?' and it comes up no? Then he's going to be on that mission and he's going to die on it. Somehow. Even if Fate has to bend over backwards to make it happen."

"Trying to see the Future shows you the Future. What will happen, not what might. What might is the purview of Adepts," Big Red finishes.

What do you do?

Anyone with Arcanum dots in Fate or Time take an Arcane Beat.

Green Bean

2014-09-08, 08:36 PM

"That seems more mythological than practical." Henry concentrated, and cast his mind forward into the future. He posed his question out loud, though he was fairly sure it wasn't necessary to the process. "I am thinking of a number. Will Yolo guess that it is two?"?"

4d10.hitsopen(8,10) =0 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4637201/)

Spent 1 Mana for improvised casting, and if possible, I'd like to upgrade this to a dramatic failure.

Shadowy

2014-09-08, 08:48 PM

Rose
Active Effects
Mage Sight (Prime) - potency 1

Rose is tired and distracted. She mostly blocks out the fight, barely paying attention and trying to stay out of the way. She can afford her tuition, but her choice in attending the lottery has been taken away.

She perks up with the discussion on time magic though. This is right up her alley, and directly relevant to her. She quickly remembers that her Prime Sight has run out, and tries to refresh it. All new theories are springing to mind, all begging to be tested if only she had the mana.

Then she spots Henry, and the spells on his mind. Curious. Has someone been changing his memories? Could she be next?

Prime sight (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4637221/). One success.

The Architect

2014-09-08, 09:29 PM

The Courtyard : The Prometheus University

YoLo is predestined not to guess Two and gains the following condition:

Predestined:
Whether through Magic, bad luck or a whim of destiny some point in your future has become indelibly fixed in the tapestry of eternity. A fixed point in time and space.
Effect: Your character cannot take actions that prevent the event from occurring.
Resolution: The event occurs. Take a Beat.

Henry believes that his Fate magic is telling him YoLo will most definitely pick 2.

SuperCracker

2014-09-08, 10:16 PM

Yolo

“Yeah? So you’re sayin’ I should be thankin’ them for my kidnappin’. Get outta here.” He did a backhanded wave off towards Irsafil. The guy was already on Yolo’s bad side from trying to pull a gun on Big Red. His argument of “maybe it was a good thing we got kidnapped” wasn’t earning him any extra goodwill. The conversation veers into whether they’ll make it out or not.

It’s right about then that Henry begins his experiment. Now, if Yolo would have heard him, he would have said 2. Just because that’s absolutely what he would have done. But, Yolo was starting to get worked up over all this BS future prediction stuff, so he wasn’t exactly listening.

“Look bro, I don’t wanna end up jammed up in some situation because we wanted to play Ms. Cleo. I damn sure don’t want my choices to be taken away. So let’s pass on all that stuff.”

At this point, if you’ll let the player take some liberties, Henry gets Yolo’s attention and asks him to pick a number. Yolo doesn’t even have to think, he raises his index finger. “You only live once, bro.”

So much for beating predestination.

Seanfall

2014-09-08, 10:35 PM

Morty
Active Effects
Grim Sight (Death) - potency 2

"Every Time you look at the future, it changes, because you looked at it." Morty spoke suddenly having remained silent up till now. "That was from a movie I saw as a kid, but it holds true doesn't it? I don't think time and fate are that set in stone. Does this magic show you what WILL happen or does it make it happen? Altering causality by dint of the spell?" He thinks for a moment, "We're new, not that powerful either. You said Carolyne wasn't an adept, does that refer to her level of mastery? If so then what happens if we cast a spell wrong? Does that still affect fate? Furthermore what is Scouring? It sounds unpleasant."

Morty takes in a few breaths before speaking again. "Who or what is a Psychopomp?" As long as he was here he decided to look at those around him, once again through the veil of death.

Grim Sight Improvised,
[roll0]

Correct roll in OOC but two 10's as suxx.

smuchmuch

2014-09-08, 11:16 PM

"If it's not 'set in stone' then by definition of the very word its not Fate. Fatum" Catherine mumbles as she tries to find courage to chime in the discussion. After all if that's supposed to be her 'branch' of magic, that does concern her dirtly. Besides it is interesting and it does allow her to momentarily forget about being trapped on a hell that makes you pay for your own kidnapping. Although she can understand that they wouldn't call it 'probabilities' magic (ugh probaility, that's just great, she rather dislikes math). "I mean...Semantics aside, I'm not entirely sure I buy this "watching the future changes it", sorry. If you look into the future and see something different than what happnes after, it could be that your knowlege changed the events yes but is it not simply possible that you simply saw or interpreted your vision wrong in the first place ?"

"It's a god that guide souls of the dead" Catherine answers almost automaticaly as if she was poped quized (even if she was probaly not the one the question was asked to). Talk about a sudden change of subject but hey mythology is also a subject of interest to her, for once that they talking about things she knows about. "Like Charon or Thanatos in Greek mythology, Anubis in egyptian mytology, St Peter in christian lore and so on"

The Architect

2014-09-08, 11:25 PM

The Courtyard : The Prometheus University

Irsafil is the first to speak up in response to Morty, with a sideways glance at Jamie "Um. No. I get what you mean, but you have to remember that Causality isn't alone here. Time AND Fate are separate Arcanum. Think of it like this. Carolyne, and I'm guessing Jamie given what he just tried, are relatively new to Time and Fate. So they see one set of events, and to see that they need to get on the road that leads to that event. In a way their observation of the event makes the event happen. To abuse Schrodinger, the spell is them opening the box and seeing a dead cat inside, them living it is just putting the lid back on the box, waiting, and opening the box again to see the same still dead cat.

I'm not saying you can't ever change the future with Magic. You can. It's just your changing the Time and Fate Arcanum in that case, which is harder than observing the effects of those Arcanum. With a bit of learning Carolyne or Jamie could learn to view the box in a different way before they open it. The spell becomes then knowing, or at least having an idea, of a way to open the box to a dead cat, or another way to open it for a live cat. Okay that metaphor got away from me at the end, but you know what I mean.

So yeah. Them casting the spell affects their observable causality. Kind of. Geez, weren't we talking about how to safe all your lives not temporal metaphysics?"

Barrier answers the next few questions "Yeah it refers to her level of mastery of that Arcana. An Initiate is the lowest recognized tier, someone who has mastered the practices of Knowing, Compelling and Unveiling in that Arcana. Next is an Apprentice who has master those and the practices of Ruling, Veiling and Shielding. After that comes Disciple and three more practices, then Adept and two more, and then Master and the last two practices, for thirteen practices in all."

Irsafil shrugs "Cast a spell wrong, in most cases nothing happens, or the spell backfires or gives inaccurate information. Normally nothing though."

Big Red answers the next "Scouring is a process of ritual blood letting or other forms of harm to draw mana from your own life force. It's dangerous and a last resort. You can't heal it magically so people end up walking around with bandages up and down their arms when they do it too often. Hence the term for them around here, White Stripes."

Barrier chimes in again, happy the meeting had moved on "The... The Psychopomp? One of the Exarchs? Bars the way to heaven in some texts, lets only those devoted to the Exarchs pass. Bunch of legends about him I guess. Might be able to find some books on him in the Tomb of Dead Trees but that's more Irsafil's turf than mine. No offense but that last question seems a bit out of left field, why the interest?"

What do you do?

Henry gains the following condition;

Time Mage Victorious (Persistent):
You believe you have seen proof, or at least an indication, that predestination cannot exist. Whether for personal pride, a misplaced curiosity or out of a genuine desire to learn through experimentation you attempt to test the boundaries placed on you by the Fallen World. Can Fate really hold you, or are all destinies merely another part of the Lie?
Beat: Take an Arcane Beat when you actively 'refine' your own destiny by becoming predestined to be involved in a significant event, per GM approval, this may lead to you acquiring other conditions such as the 'Predestined' condition.
Resolution: Resolve this condition when you either accept that Predestination exists, at least in the Fallen World as you know it, or when you prevent a fixed point in time from occurring, even if this causes catastrophic or strange damage to the patterns of the Fallen World. Take a Normal Beat.

Seanfall

2014-09-09, 12:16 AM

Morty
Active Effects
Grim Sight (Death) - potency 2

"Him?" That one word made Morty's eye twitch. "Alright all that makes a certain kind of sense. I'm kinda relieved I don't have the ability to mess with such things. Anecdotal evidence suggests that fumbling with Time and Fate is often a bad idea." Morty actually chuckles for a moment, though it doesn't reach his face. "Though most of that's from people who can't do it as an act of will." Morty listens to Carolyne as well. "The idea behind that statement is that, if you see something you want to change you would of course act to change it."

He thinks a moment longer, "Could one change the past? Alter a single event?" Needless to say where his mind goes, his voice wavered as he spoke that last question. Anger and sorrow seeping into his voice, a sense of loss fills him he flinches slightly as well.

"The Psychopomp is an Exarch?" Their real? Not just allegory or myth? "How do you know it's male?" Barrier's question catches him a little off guard. Telling them is out of the question for now, but he needed to know more about what he's dealing with. Is it the Pyschopomp or is it something calling itself the Psychopomp. "I couldn't sleep last night, so I ended up walking around the school. I must have seen the word somewhere without Realizing it. Eidetic memory, like constantly walking around with a camera stuck on Record."

Lie lie lie lielielielielielielielielie.
So yeah I'm guessing Manipulation + Subterfuge for a lie Hmm...I'm spending a Willpower for 3 extra Die
[roll0]

The Architect

2014-09-09, 12:47 AM

The Courtyard : The Prometheus University

Irsafil looks at Henry as he asks about changing the past and there's a flicker of something behind his passive aggressive bad boy demeanor "the past, the years ago past, can't be changed. At least not by any of the Masters of Time here."

"There are stories, legends I mean, if people doing stuff like that but they're about great wizards summoning fairy tricksters and winning great powers from them, or of people visiting godlike beings at the edge of reality for might treasures and boons. The stuff of fairytales ... even with Mages sometimes stories are just stories. We're as liable to lie about our history as anyone else."

Barrier cuts in as Big Red finishes "well we don't... I mean the Exarchs... It depends who you ask but normally they're not considered to have genders, and they can take whatever form they choose. I mean some keep to one gender, or have a type of form they prefer, they don't have to be anything. They're gods."

"They're ***holes," Irsafil finishes.

What do you do?

See OoC thread for opposed rolls.

SuperCracker

2014-09-09, 10:43 AM

Yolo

He listens to the conversation, uncharacteristically quiet for a moment… because he’s actually trying to learn something here. Even when he senses a bit of BS coming from Morty, it’s not anything he cares about enough to tune out from all this magic talk. Exarchs, things akin to gods… but not what he saw in the spirit realm. He could gather that much from the sheer lack of knowledge they had about them – compared to Dy Cost that could be created.

An Exarch must be orders of magnitude more powerful. And they’re calling the shots here, apparently. Seems like that makes things a bit more difficult in the long run. So he might as well start learning how to wield his power right now.

“Hold on, bro. Explain these practices to me, man. I get shieldin’. That’s the one where I thicken the skin up, right? What about the other ones? I mean… I know I can do stuff. It just came natural to me, but what am I really doin’ when I do sh** like grow claws and eyes and stuff?”

Green Bean

2014-09-09, 12:25 PM

Henry looked over at Irsafil as Yolo answered and shrugged. "Doesn't seem all that predestined to me." But ultimately it didn't matter right now, since they had a rather more immediate issue to deal with.

"Either way, it doesn't change the nature of our decision. Lottery, or Scouring? I've thought about it, and Scouring is viable, but as you said it's probably dangerous given how much we need." Henry tugged back his sleeve a bit, revealing the improvised shirt bandage around his right forearm. "Is there a nurse's office or similar in this place? You said magical healing wouldn't work, but I know a thing or two about non-magical treatment as well."

Another thought occurred to him. "I also had the offer of a mana loan back at my dorm. I'd need to find out what the terms are, but that may also be a viable possibility."

Wits + Empathy: 6d10.hitsopen(8,10)=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4637696/)

No sale either.

Seanfall

2014-09-09, 01:57 PM

Morty glanced back at Rose for a moment. "I know I'm doing the lottery. I don't care what the job is." He really didn't, an obsessed man is a dangerous thing to himself and others. He gave Yolo a long look when he spoke of growing claws and ****, he'd be handy to have around. If he wasn't all talk that is, he also looked back at Carolyne. She was timid and afraid, a part of him throbbed in empathy a need to protect filling his chest. A knee jerk reaction perhaps, his eyes turned to Henry and he couldn't a sneer from forming on face though he quickly wiped it away. He'd seen people do that in high school, it girls most of the time. He understood the psychology behind it at least the basics, control, release. But there would always be a part of him, small and bitter that would think 'weak'. Contempt he couldn't explain nor rationalize away.

"Yeah I can see scouring if your backs against the wall. But I'm not turning my arms into sashimi just to pay tuition." Morty was also thinking about his own level of mastery. He felt the greatest control over, Death. He hadn't explored all that was possible, afraid of what he could do since that night.

Shadowy

2014-09-09, 03:37 PM

Rose frowns, and takes the slightest step forward off a know-it-all about to show that they did the homework that nobody else did.

"All of the Exarchs are above gender, and the traditional way of referring to them is alternating the pronoun. As such: The Psychopomp, he's the Exarch of Death, and she guides the souls of loyal seers once they die. The only exception to this rule is The Father, for obvious reasons. He is the highest of exarchs, and all others are just aspects of him, like light through a prism."

She then hears Morty, and frowns for a moment, before deciding to play it to her advantage. "I'll do the lottery. I'm not afraid, as all we have to do is not screw up to the point where people get killed. I like to think I've managed to get this far without butchering someone, so I won't start now."

The Architect

2014-09-10, 10:40 AM

The Gallery of Places : The Prometheus University

At YoLo's comment Barrier shakes his head "that isn't all of Shielding, shielding isn't just protecting against yourself against harm, it's about protecting yourself from aspects of the Arcana. It's... well I'm not here to give you a lecture on the nature of the 13 practices, that is what class and Teachers are for."

Big Red shakes his head at the appearance of Henry's bandage "nah, sorry man, there isn't a 'nurse' around here. Thing is you couldn't scour all that at once and hold it, or scour all that at once anyway and survive it. You're looking at a couple days of being really vulnerable if you go that route. It's a massive gamble ..."

"... like a Lottery?" Irsafil says with a fake absent minded tone.

"Exarchs all mighty will you quit it," Barrier cuts in with a groan.

At Morty's statement with conviction Barrier's eyes go a little wide "Oh. Well... You're not going to have to wait long, there should be a call for Volunteers any minute now."

At Rose's addendum Irsafil makes another snide remark "that is assuming it's not an assassination mission."

Big Red gives him another glare "you know, not all the missions are 'Team Evil' quality. I mean sometimes people do good, HELP people. SAVE lives. It varies. Don't scare them anymore than they already are Irsafil."

Irsafil rolls his eyes "yeah, they vary. It's almost like the missions are chosen by an eclectic bunch of Teachers who run the moral gambit from ***hole to still kind of a prick rather than the "divine" Exarchs."

What do you do?

Seanfall

2014-09-10, 12:21 PM

chosen by an eclectic bunch of Teachers who run the moral gambit from ***hole to still kind of a prick rather than the "divine" Exarchs. Irsafil's words echo in Morty's mind as he recalls his meeting, there are great things coming. Terrible... but great. That's what 'she' said wasn't it? Was that a clue, had the teachers here upset the Exarchs upset 'her' somehow? Morty felt a chill race down his spine, it was probably just nerves, probably. A little knowledge is dangerous, a little knowledge a lot of imagination and fear make for a nasty cocktail. Morty quieted his mind with a slow breath.

"I'm relieved to see not everyone here is a Zealot. When I was told about the Exarchs, and the religious overtones I was a little worried." Growing up around one person like that was bad enough.

SuperCracker

2014-09-10, 12:31 PM

Yolo

“Right, teachers who kidnap and basically kill ya if you can’t pay. I bet they’ll take us under their wing real nice. Some straight up after-school special sh**.” He shook his head, still intensely bitter about the situation he’s in. He hates this place but doesn’t have the power to do a whole hell of a lot about it. “But thanks… I think I get the whole shieldin’ thing a little bit.”

Henry showed the bandaged arm, blood soaked through it at least partway. Yolo looked at him and grabbed him by the shoulder. “Bro. What did you do, man? I know we need the mana, but ya can’t be killin’ yourself over it.” And then boom. It hits Yolo like a sack of bricks. If he’s not going to do the lottery, that’s the only alternative. Cut himself to ribbons and hope no one finishes the job. F***.

He looks bothered for a moment, his eyes lowered, shifting side to side before he slams the outer side of his fist against the wall. “Guess we gotta do the lottery, then.”

Boom! Learned something about magic and even thanked him for it. Yolo now knows “Oh, I can protect myself from life with life.”

The Architect

2014-09-10, 12:50 PM

The Gallery of Places : The Prometheus University

"I'm relieved to see not everyone here is a Zealot. When I was told about the Exarchs, and the religious overtones I was a little worried."

Barrier shrugs "some of believe in the Exarchs, for good or ill. Some think they're all the Father, in a sense, and that he's a God. Others, a lot of others, think they were Mages who struck down Atlantis and the Silver Ladder. Some think they did it for very good reasons, some think for selfish reasons."

"Because they're ***holes," Irsafil interjects.

"Some..." Barrier continues with a scowl "think a lot of Seers don't always follow the Exarchs, but what they want the Exarchs to be. Just like with Sleeper religions both sides claim the 'Lord' is on their side, the ones who work at homeless shelters and the ones that protest at funerals. Some say they're on the side of the people trying to protect humanity, others say the Exarchs are on the side of the people who believe Sleepers exist solely as tools of the Awakened. If there weren't so few of us we'd probably be at each others throats, not all buddy buddy, or as much as we are anyway."

Irsafil speaks up at that "he's not wrong. This "university" is probably by far the single largest collection of Wizards and Witches anywhere in the whole Fallen World. The more you learn about the magical world the more impossible this places seems."

Big Red finally chips in "and some of us don't give a tinker's damn what the Exarchs are or want. They just want to survive in this place. Anyway ..." Big Red begins fiddling with his lighter "Rose, Morty and YoLo are in for the Lottery. You sure you're going Scouring Jamie? Carolyne what do you plan to do?"

What do you do?

Green Bean

2014-09-10, 02:39 PM

Henry blinked in surprise at Big Red's characterization of his choice. "Oh no, this doesn't mean I'm planning to Scour my tuition. I did this because I wanted as much information as I could about both possibilities. I think...I will enter the Lottery as well." From the look Henry gave Yolo, it was clearly that Yolo's decision was the primary factor in his.

"Though I do think Scouring warrants further investigation, especially if you've not had medicine up to this point. I'll need to go shopping, I think. At the very least, some real bandages, disinfectant, sutures... Hmm, probably don't need painkillers, I can shut that off myself. Do you think I could find those here?"

The Architect

2014-09-10, 03:13 PM

The Gallery of Places : The Prometheus University

Big Red seems to think for a moment "It's not the sort of thing you'd pick up already on the market but you might get some on the Exchange... nah. Maybe not. You could probably get them special made I suppose, a custom order."

What do you do?

Shadowy

2014-09-10, 03:56 PM

Rose inwardly rolls her eyes, but otherwise restrains herself. "Scouring is only really viable as a plan if you've got some kind of way to stay safe after you do it. You could hire another student, but you'd need to find someone loyal, strong and cheap. I'd do what I could to help, but the lottery seems like the best way forwards."

smuchmuch

2014-09-10, 08:13 PM

Catherine does remember the silver links in the corner of her vision last evening, if she's a Fate mage what was it then that her vision showed ? Can she do it again ? If she tries concentrating maybe ?

Intendded to say more about the Fate/Time magic discussion but blargh I can't think of anything really good to add so Cathrne will lsten in silence as usual.

Casting Interconnections (Gnosis+Fate) as Henry is casting his spell
[roll0][roll1][roll2][roll3]

"Jame did mention the possibility of loans ?" She does notice the older students haven't answered that. "I'm aware that getting mixed with loan shark is not a good idea but seeing as not getting the mana in time will get you killed what could they do that would be wor..." Okay no she doesn't need fate magic to know that counts as tempting it.
... Besides "Oh we'd end up having to scour" she winces slightly jsut aying the word 'scour' sounds "or go the lottery to repay them"

Doesn't seem like there's much of a choice. makes her wonder if henry doesn't have a point here, evnts does seem to conspire to this. "It seems everyone is going for the Lottery" Catherine shrugs laconicaly

SuperCracker

2014-09-10, 08:38 PM

Yolo

He looks at the younger girl, Catherine. This is a lot for Yolo himself to deal with, much less this girl here. He speaks up to her, “Hey kid, whatever has gotta happen for us to get dat mana, I’ll do what I can to help you get yours too. Just hang in there, right?” She doesn’t know him from Adam, but he means what he says. Killed for not paying your own ransom. Sounds like just about the worst kind of injustice he can imagine.

"Look, we're all in the same boat, those three excluded. Maybe we oughtta watch each other's backs for a while, yeah? Whether we get picked in the lottery, have to deal with a loan shark, whatevah."

The Architect

2014-09-10, 08:48 PM

The Gallery of Places : The Prometheus University

As Catherine finishes and then seems to momentarily drift off into her own little world Big Red is about to speak when a voice booms through the cafeteria from no obvious source or direction;

"Seers of The Throne,
This is a school wide announcement.

To assist students in their payment of tuition and to better serve the Exarchs above the school will be holding a Lottery this afternoon. All students wishing to participate may write their name on the typewriter positioned on the desk in the courtyard. This call is for volunteers only.

Missions will be declared only after selection.

Successful students will receive 40 Mana as payment. Mana in excess of a student's survivable storage capacity will be provided in Tass.

Students have one hour to volunteer.

Seers of the Throne,
This has been a school wide announcement."

What appears before Catherine is not the vague knowings of the loose fate magics she has used before or the strange symbology she would have expected from the forces of magic but a clear and concise layout of the information the world was showing her, or perhaps she was simply seeing on her own for the first time. White lines like threads began to connect everyone seated at the table and from them dropped down little white rectangles, one for each thread, then a pair of threads bound each person, running in parallel between them. Most read 'ACQUAINTED' in bold black writing on the rectangular signs, while those between Barrier, Big Red and Irsafil read 'KNOWN'. The whole menagerie of information looked a bit like a new age computer display.

Slowly more faded into view. A square with a triangle beneath it began to bob up and down over Jamie's head, white again, with "World Altering" emblazoned over it in hovering black letters, like an icon over a video game character. Somehow Catherine knew, even without a stylistic prompt, that this referred to his destiny. The idea, that the boy across from her could determine the fates of 7 Billion people seemed impossible, quieted Catherine's mind for a moment.

Then a second such icon faded into view over another of the group's head. Irsafil. She read that icon in turn. "World Altering".

Slowly two more parallel threads connected Irsafil and Morty, separate to the white ones that marked them as 'ACQUAINTED'. Red rectangles hung with these, with bold black writing. Enemies.

What do you do?

Seanfall

2014-09-10, 10:46 PM

Morty raises an eyebrow at Yolo's words, He seems like a brute but...it appears there's more to him. Before he can speak, the School Wide announcement steals his attention. Morty listens with the others, waiting for the announcement to end. He looked over to rose and nodded, then over to Yolo and the others. If your going to jump into the unknown it's better to have a few at your side.

"I've already...aligned with another. If they don't mind teaming up with the others then I won't either. Speaking of which, I assume we put down our Shadow Names correct? If you're teamed with another I assume you specify that as well." Another thought occurred to him, "40 Mana, even 40 each isn't going to be enough not for a single one of us...." Morty's brow furrowed and his lips curled in his first true expression of anger in front of the others, "One Lottery isn't going to save us."

Green Bean

2014-09-10, 11:22 PM

Henry frowned at Big Red's answer, but accepts it. "I suppose that makes sense. I'll have to talk to someone at the Exchange about a special order - even if they don't know much about medicine, they're simple tools. I should be able to describe my needs in to them..."

He looked over at Morty in confusion. "I don't know about you, but I was told my tuition was 30 Mana. The Lottery would cover that and more. Are you being charged more?"

SuperCracker

2014-09-11, 12:27 AM

Yolo

Aligned with another? What the f*** does that mean? He shrugged in response to what Morty had to say at the end. “In the long run? No. We’re either gonna get outta here... or we're gonna have to find better ways to bring in the mana. But there ain’t a point in worryin’ about it right now. Just gotta get the magic number like Jamie said. Then we can figure out how to hustle without doin’ bullsh** jobs for these f***s.”

He heard the announcement. No sense in waiting around. It’s time to be decisive and make his mark. And if signing up for the Lottery in front of the whole world was the first step to it, it was what he was gonna do.

“Time to do it to it.”

Yolo then starts off with a purposeful stride towards the courtyard (and if he doesn’t know where that is, he just follows the stream of people going there).

Shadowy

2014-09-11, 02:34 PM

Now, while everyone's distracted by the brash one striding off, let's admire the freaky mind magic. No sense going on a mission with someone who's got puppet strings in their skull.

Intelligence+Occult-2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4640231/)

After that, she moves to follow Yolo.

The Architect

2014-09-11, 05:46 PM

Unknown : Unknown

The group evacuates the painting one by one and heads for the Courtyard where they find a beaten looking typewriter seated atop a large carved hard wood desk, looking oddly out of place in the center of a grass square in the Courtyard's center. Typing in their Shadow Names they find the names typed in before them strangely unreadable.

They wait, the cadre of five, for a call or a warning. The hour comes and goes, but the group waits still in the courtyard. Irsafil tells them to grit their teeth when it happens. It helps, he says. Before those five young Mages might ask what he meant they are pulled one by one out of the space they occupy and seem to be pulled into a single point.

- An Indeterminate Amount of Time Later -

Slowly the quintet awoke.

Their clothing had changed, the hum of fading rotary blades filled their ears, and their locale was unknown to them. They were buckled into their seats but it would take little to remove their straps and stand up. Their clothing was black primarily, with minor accents of their paths primary or secondary color. Beneath their jackets they wore Kevlar vests. No names or symbols marred their clothing but it seemed almost like stripped down swat or army clothing.

In front of each seat sat a large duffel bag and searching through it made it obvious that the similitude to police forces was not accidental.

There was a slight shudder throughout the craft, a large helicopter of some sort, as it finally set down.

A voice finally chimed in throughout the craft "You have arrived at your destination. Mission files and equipment will be found in your assigned equipment packages, the bags at your feet. Your assigned Ancilla will be supplied once a temporary Auger is selected for this mission. Once you have taken your assigned Ancilla the doors shall unseal and you will be able to exit the vehicle and begin your mission proper. May the Exarchs be with you."http://i60.tinypic.com/mcw56f.png

The cabin space begins to light up as the voice speaks and the sound of the rotary blades is almost gone by now.

What do you do?

Clothing includes;

Bluetooth headset connected to...
Burner cell
Reinforced Clothing (Armor 1/0 Torso, Arms, Legs)
Kevlar Vest (Armor 1/3 Torso)

Each Equipment Packages Includes;

€1,000 in 20 €50 notes
Falsified French or Other EU Nation (Based on French Fluency) Identification (Passport & Driving License; Age 18)
Car keys, Camaro
Stun gun
Flashlight
Gas Mask
Hand cuffs
Climbing Equipment
Glock 17 Gen4 Handgun with removable Suppressor and 2 reloads of ammunition (Hvy. Pistol with Suppressor)
Black long coat

Mission Files:
Your Arrival Zone is the rooftop helipad of a Parisian Shopping Center's car park building. Both the Car Park and the Shopping Center have been closed down for 3 months. On the ground floor of the parking complex is a vehicle supplied for your transport with the city.

The Franco-Germanic Tetrarchy was monitoring a Cabal of Pentacle Mages operating out of a renovated small, old warehouse on the edge of the Siene river in Paris, hoping to turn them due to their general isolation from other Pentacle Mages. Sadly, both for the Mages involved and Seer aims, the group began to disappear one by one beginning roughly 3 months ago. We believe the Cabal, 'Les Sorciers De La Seine', were investigating their fellows disappearances as they themselves fell off the map one by one. For this reason we have enclosed information on their Cabal members so that you might better investigate both their inevitable fate and what their own investigation discovered, if anything.

If a threat to Mages or Sleepers exist, eliminate it. If you can help to turn the Pentacle Mages to our side, do so.

Your primary goal to discover the ultimate fate of 'Les Sorciers De La Seine'.

Paul-Henri Bernard : Le Canon : Obrimos :

Believed to be the equivalent of Auger for the Cabal. As is typical of isolated Mages his spell style seems unspecialized, through in combat with Spirits, deployed to measure the Cabal's strength by the previously monitoring Pylon, he showed an impressively proclivity towards fire manipulation but no signs of Mastery of a Arcana.
Age: 25, Race: Caucasian, Hair: Blonde, Eyes: Blue, Height: 5' 10"
Second Cabal Member to disappear. June 25th.
Last known location: Girlfriend's (Sleeper, Marie Dubois) Apartment, July 25th, 2:35 PM.

Antoinette Bernard : Joie : Mastigos :

Paul-Henri's little sister. First to go missing. She is the youngest and latest addition to the Cabal. She also lacks a specialized spell style but she appears to use Mind and Life magic expressively for the purpose of self gratification.
Age: 20, Race: Caucasian, Hair: Blonde, Eyes: Brown, Height: 5' 5"
First Cabal Member to disappear. June 20th.
Last known location: Père Lachaise Cemetery, believed to be visiting her parents' graves, July 20th, time unknown.

Thérèse Boyer : La Vieille : Moros :

The Cabal's oldest member and likely the one who collected the others together. We believed she was Awakened late in her life due to the impact of interacting with her late husband's ghost. She has a certain skill with sympathetic death magic but has largely avoided combat on behalf of the Cabal. She owns the deed to the renovated warehouse but lives elsewhere.
Age: 57, Race: Black French, Hair: Black, Eyes: Brown, Height 5' 1"
Third Cabal Member to disappear. June 27th.
Last known location: Her home, given evidence of struggle, approx. 11:00 PM

Nadima Kamara : Abal : Thyrsus :

Second youngest of the Cabal she has been a Mage for roughly two years and is believed to have been an active member of the Cabal for most of that period. Her spell style seems to focus on influencing and enhancing animals to fight on her behalf.
Age: 22, Race: Caucasion, Hair: Black, Eyes: Green, Height 5' 3"
Fourth Cabal Member to disappear. June 30th.
Last known location: Grand Mosque of Paris, 7:00 PM

Léon Marchand : Mufasa : Thyrsus :

A former Hunter who Awoke at some point during his career and seemed to retire from actively hunting Supernatural creatures as a result. While he did not take the lead of the Cabal and despite being relatively young he was considered the old worrisome adviser of the Cabal. It is believed his Shadow Name originated as a joke. His spell style appears to include transforming into a part leonine monster and tearing apart the enemy by hand, or claw in this case.
Age: 37, Race: Caucasion, Hair: Brown, Eyes: Brown, Height 6' 0"
Final Cabal Member to disappear. July 5th.
Last known location: Entered the Parisian Catacombs, 00:13 AM

Address File:
A small book containing the following addresses;

Paul-Henri's apartment
Marie Debois' apartment
Antoinette's apartment
Thérèse Boyer's home
Nadima's parents' home
Léon's apartment
The Renovated Warehouse
The illegal Catacombs entrance used by Léon
The Grand Mosque of Paris
Père Lachaise Cemetery

Green Bean

2014-09-11, 06:33 PM

Henry was getting better with experience at dealing with suddenly losing time, which in and of itself was kind of depressing. Oddly enough, he was more off-put by the new clothes; not only that someone had changed his clothes in his sleep, but the blatantly militarized nature of his outfit told him they were expecting violence. That and the gun. Holy ****, a gun. Henry didn't even want to touch it.

He noticed dossiers in front of him, a chiming voice talking about drills, and of course, all that insane equipment, and realized he'd need to focus if he wanted to avoid sensory overload. He concentrated, and split off his consciousness once more, further refining it to read the magic around them. Clearly, there were spells afoot. He especially looked at himself and his fellow mages; he was learning to nurture his new paranoid streak.

Casting Multi-Tasking: 5d10.hitsopen(8,10)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4640406/)

Also Third Eye: 5d10.hitsopen(8,10)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4640407/)

The Architect

2014-09-11, 06:41 PM

Car Park Rooftop : Paris

Henry immediately notices the area has been scrubbed of ambient resonance, either that or the whole helicopter and all the equipment was brand new which seemed unlikely. A weak resonance was pooling in the cabin though around the quintet, a dust like pool of "Fear born of confusion", "dread born of fear", and a dozen other weaker dark resonances.

The helicopter and the equipment seemed non-magical but Henry remembered so had the Gallery of Places and several other fantastic locales in the University proper. Flicking through the dossiers he saw basic personality observations of the mages along with a brief explanation of the previous, seemingly non-University, Pylon's observations about the Cabal.

What do you do?

smuchmuch

2014-09-11, 06:59 PM

Catherine quietly stares a bit at evryone, then at Henry, Morty, and finaly Henry agin.

World altering ? if it's true, that's quite heavy. She doesn't know what feels the hardest to concieve: the heavy implications for those choosen few. (People like Hitler changed the fate of the world, few people would likely to the next one) Or the somewhat depressing implications of everyone who is not. Off course not everyone is going to leave their mark on the world, and she never though she'd be liekly to be among them but somehow seeing the proof of your insignificance in big floating letters (or rather the lack thereoff).. well she didn't though it would but it kind of stings inside.

That aside, this is a first taste of real magic, (at least the first time she catualy tried doing it, actively. And it worked ! In a way it feel like a relief like something trully unocked inside her. Maybe it won't be all so bad after all ? Hey maybe if he closes her eyes she can convince herself it's aaaall going to be alright yep. besides it's not like she has that much of a choice right now.

Catherinee walks behind the YOLO (it's a stupid name but right now the guy seems like a rock of stability in a sea of doubts) to the lottery.

----------------------------------------------
Later

Ugh.

Where are they ? what just happened ?
Oh yes the lottery. They signed, waited and then everyhing went black
Did they just drugged and abduct her again ? no it was slightly different but not better.

Wait.. that sound "Are we in ...a plane ?"

Green Bean

2014-09-11, 07:05 PM

Henry's search for some form of magical leash proved inconclusive, but for now he assumed it was far more likely that it was there, just beyond his ability to detect, not that they were safe. He was unsure what the next steps were, or even when they'd be let out of this vehicle. But the dossiers, they were in a format he could recognize; profiles and analyses of individuals; personalities, habits, relationships. He'd run across and even assembled similar dossiers covering high-profile cases of mental illness and occasionally even looked at public court records. At the very least, he'd be able to figure out what made them tick.

Henry blazed through the documents, speed-reading them three at a time. The power he had now, his mind had never felt more active, sketching in detailed, well-rounded conclusions bare moments after he'd taken in the information.

Casting Willful Process: 5d10.hitsopen(8,10)=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4640413/)

Gives me Rote (reroll failures) on my next Empathy action.

Intelligence + Empathy (+ Motives specialty) to get a picture of who these people are and what their aims are (or were).

11d10.hitsopen(8,10)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4640416/)
Reroll failures: 7d10.hitsopen(8,10)=0 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4640418/)
Total: 5 successes

Shadowy

2014-09-11, 07:22 PM

Rose wakes up. "I really need to figure out how they do that."

Rose goes through the documents. She reads quickly, but nowhere near as fast as those who have magic pumping through their brain. Then the announcement comes on.

She smirks, and stands up. "If nobody minds, I think I'll take augur on this one. Also, unless you know how to use it, leave the gun."

smuchmuch

2014-09-11, 07:40 PM

Wait is that Jamie again ? And on the floor are.... ding ding, it's Rose, Mortyand YOLO. What a surprise.. Maybe it's Fate in action ? Or more likely "Fate" with heavy parenthesis. Seems Jamie wasn't being paranoid here.
Speaking of him, she notices he seems deep in thoughts looking at some documet which she can only ssume are mission briefs of sorts. He seems busy.

She looks into her bag. Is that a gun ?! And black clothes. Great. False ID, age 18 (oh yes that's going to be beleivable, most people barely even believe she's fourteen). Now all they need is the helicopter to self destruct once the prerecored message has stopped playing.

"If nobody minds, I think I'll take augur on this one. Also, unless you know how to use it, leave the gun."

"I though Fate was my path?" Catherine looks slightly surprised before realising that Augur in this context is likely meant diffferently from it's intended sense of 'see the future by looking int he path of nearby pigeons'. pPobaly to be expected from people who are called 'Seers" "Oh it means leader, doesn't it ?"
(God, these people are pretentious.)

With that she start reading her lission briefs. Uh. so just looking for some disapeared people in Paris that doesn't dound so bad.
No wait... she just realised. They are out of the school. They are out of the SCHOOL ! And as luck would have it in her very country and city of origin.

SuperCracker

2014-09-11, 08:03 PM

Yolo

He slowly wakes up, just as the others do… and he’s already pissed off. Drugged and knocked out once again. He couldn’t wait to kick these guys’ asses. He couldn’t wait to – wait a minute. Where are they right now? Yolo shakes his head to get the cobwebs out, then looks disapprovingly at his new digs. “Not enough leopard,” he mutters to himself. Then the loudspeakers come on, more cryptic Seer bullsh**. What’s Ancilla? What’s an Augur? Yolo takes a look inside of his bag and sees some $$$ (I know it’s the wrong currency) that he’s quick to pocket. The fake ID gets pocketed, as well as the hand cuffs.

He leaves the other stuff in the bag, notably the gun. Yolo prefers his fists. When you miss a punch, you don’t kill a little kid three blocks over.

Next he reads. What’s a Pentacle Mage? But people disappearing, threats to Mages or Sleepers (what’s a sleeper?)… he can get behind that. What he doesn’t get behind is following someone.

“You can call yourself whatever ya wanna call yourself. Imma do me.” Maybe she can decipher that, maybe not! That’s half the fun! He does take her advice and places the gun on the ground. If anyone else wants it, they can have it.

“I think I should go after the two,” he hesitates just a bit to make sure he gets the name right, “Thyrsus. Abal and Mufasa. I know the kinda sh** they’ll be throwin’ at me. Jamie, you down to watch my back, bro?”

Seanfall

2014-09-11, 11:35 PM

Morty blinked a few times as he came around, he was still rubbing his eyes when that voiced chimed in. As he looked through the bag he couldn't help but start a little at the discovery of the gun. He'd never really used one before but he had seen his father cleaning his own a lot. "Well they're certainly not coddling us are they?" He listens to Rose and the others as they speak. Going through the Dossier's he didn't speed through them, he didn't need too. But every word was engraving itself in his mind his memory simply wouldn't let him forget it.

Imma do me? "How are we supposed to trust you when the first thing out of your mouth is only concern for yourself?" Morty shakes his head, "These people are missing, they might not be in a position to 'throw' anything at you." Morty looks around at the others, "We can't all just do as wish, we stop we think we plan. THEN we act, Rose was born into this seer business. Into being a Mage, as long as she's willing to talk a plan out then I'm behind her taking point." Morty turns his Attention to Carolyne.

"Do you know how to cast a shielding spell on yourself?" There was genuine concern in his voice.

SuperCracker

2014-09-12, 12:39 AM

Yolo

“I’ll hear what ya gotta say, but I’m gonna do what I think’s right.” Back to his simple ethics. He doesn’t lie about who he is and what he’s like. He’ll listen to proposed plans, but he’s not going to just fall in line with any of this Seer garbage. Morty touting Rose as someone being born into this Seer business only works against Yolo being a model, cooperative member of the group.

smuchmuch

2014-09-12, 04:25 PM

"Maybe I missed it but did that message mention how much time we have to complete our task ?" Obviously it's has to be less than one week but otherwise she doesn't eem to see any menton of a deadline. Or a way back once the mision is completed. Not that she mind that last point, at all.

Catherine finshes reading her papers. Les sorciers de la Seine ? Maybe it's because of the stress of the last days but really the only thing she can think of about this is how generic that name sounds, though there's probaly a few puns that could be made.
There is something slightly odd, she noties that the repports do give information about the targets disapearance, such as date and signs of struggle. Which means there were some people who had some connction to police (assuming those disparitions where reported) or did some legwork. So why not let these people who may have some kind of competence track these people and rather task a buch of teens ? Makes no sense.
There is mention of an 'Ancilia'. Ancillia uh if memory of two years of latin is right it means... wait " What is it about meetin an... A slave ?!" she knew these people where awfull (and enyoyed to abuse latin terms with little to no context or regard for thir original meaning, wors than a court of law) but even if it's jsut a fancifull term for employee it's still all kinds of mesed up.

Well on the plus side being tasked with finding people beats than being tasked with killing people. (even if the gun does give an ominious touch to the whole thig). Could be 'fun', like a mistery novel to solve. Not that she intend to really do that even but hey better to play along for now.Well before the opportunity strikes anyway.

“I think I should go after the two,” he hesitates just a bit to make sure he gets the name right, “Thyrsus. Abal and Mufasa. I know the kinda sh** they’ll be throwin’ at me. Jamie, you down to watch my back, bro"

"..." Catherine looks in YOLO dirrection. (What does 'Imma do me' means anyway ?). He seems oddly eager to do the mission, given his earlier atttude she'd though heis first sentence would be 'screw this i'm out of here'. (and oh boy wouldn't she be far behind) He also seems to be itching for a fight, but as far as she can tell that's a lot more in character. "I understand there's some kind of conflict beween these 'Pentacle' people so no love lost I guess but I was under the impression we were supposed to find out what happened to these people first and foremost, not fight against them ? Assuming there's even someone to fight still."

"Do you know how to cast a shielding spell on yourself?"

"Well, I've never tried before..." Did he ? She was under the impression only Rose is the ony ne who had previous magic experience but line of questioning seems to imply he was knowlegable in the mater. "but I could try, it seems to be mostly instinctive. Honnestly I'm really hoping we'll be able to do this without the need for shields." Or guns for that matter as she puts her own on the floor as Rose said. (She does keep the stun gun tho, you never know...)

Shadowy

2014-09-12, 05:23 PM

Rose turns to Yolo. "Listen, let's just get the job done carefully. We shouldn't get into a fight with anyone if we can avoid it."

She racks her brain for knowledge of Ancilla, but turns up nothing. She decides to ignore this.

"I'm going to be the Augur for this mission. Seer or not, we can use common sense here. We need to find out what happened. So let's lay down a few quick ground rules."

She starts ticking these off on her fingers. "One. No vulgar spells, unless it's life or death. We're not a demense, so the abyss is a serious problem. Two. No fighting against magic things, unless it's life or death. As Yolo helpfully demonstrated earlier, we're not good enough at that. Three.....when doing an investigation, and we have multiple options, the fate mage decides where we're going."

She looks expectantly at Catherine.

Intelligence + Occult -3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4641295/)

SuperCracker

2014-09-12, 06:22 PM

Yolo

“I ain’t lookin’ to fight these guys, but I figure if they jump us, animals and guys with claws are somethin' I can handle better than dudes who teleport ya.” He says in response to Catherine and Rose.

And then Rose starts saying a whole bunch of stuff he doesn’t understand. He’s tempted to give her the finger, but he sorta needs to know what some of this stuff means. “Yeah, that’s great… what’s a vulgar spell? And the Abyss?”

Seanfall

2014-09-12, 10:38 PM

Morty listened to the short exchange, though he didn't know for sure there is much one can figure out by adding up what already knows. "I think Vulgar spells...have a 'vulgar' effect...you know overt. The Abyss...well an Abyss is massive seemingly bottomless chasm. I assume this Abyss is something similar, but in exact terms I couldn't say." He looks to Catherine first.

"It's just an added precaution, I can try to cast mine on you if you want." Morty then looks to Rose. "I can agree to those terms." Recalling some of the Information they had just received and which he had committed to memory he mumbled out something he noticed.

"First one goes missing on the 20th, last on the 5th. That's a 15 day period." He waited for Catherine's response, though he wanted to visit the Cemetery that Antoinette Bernard aka: Joie had gone missing. With that in mind he also mumbled, "....I'm going to need some rum."

Intell+occult. so just Intell.
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4641831/ 1 suxx.

If you look up Character Morty, and Player Seanfall you'll see my rolls. I haven't used IC for a while so I did some practice rolls. They are marked as test rolls.

Shadowy

2014-09-12, 10:41 PM

Her eyes go wide at Yolo's question. "Oh Father above. Ok. Don't. Cast. Anything."

She clears her throat. "The abyss is the gulf between the fallen world and the Supernal realms. Whenever you cast a spell, if it has too much of an effect on the Fallen, or if a sleeper sees it, there's a chance to cause a paradox. What happens is that the abyss taints your spell, and it can do horrible, evil, terrible things. It could make your spell do something completely different, drive you mad, make you grow new limbs or summon abyssal monsters into the world. You can usually tell if you're going to use a vulgar spell, and you should be very careful not to do so. Otherwise you could suffer any number of fates, or inflict an undying unreality on the people around you."

"It's basically bad news, is what I'm saying."

Seanfall

2014-09-13, 12:50 PM

"Yeesh...I have more questions about that. But it can wait till we're done. It's enough to know the danger." Morty looks over to Rose, "I think it's time we got a move on...I'd like to go to the Cemetery first, where Antoinette Bernard disappeared. I'll need a few things we can collect on the way, but If that place has any Ghosts like I suspect it does I should be able to get a few answers."

SuperCracker

2014-09-13, 01:45 PM

Yolo

Weeding out the mage jargon, Yolo distills this into its essence: Flashy spells + non-Mages = really bad, unintended sh**. Yolo nods, and then immediately disregards the suggestion to not cast anything, and he casts something – just to test the point. He toughens his skin and bones. It was something he did last night, and it didn’t make him look different, so maybe that’s not vulgar.

And at first… nothing happens. He rolls his eyes at himself. He has got to get better at casting this stuff.

He tries again, closing his eyes and tensing his body, as if that might help. And oddly enough, it sorta does. He feels the change in his body, and he gives it some juice to last for a while. Yolo looks from left to right. Nothing happens.

"I think I got it." Not entirely, but close enough.

Failed the first roll. But a whopping 5 potency for the second roll. I’ll spend a mana to have it last for the day.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4642505/

smuchmuch

2014-09-13, 02:36 PM

"It's just an added precaution, I can try to cast mine on you if you want."

"Oh I see. Thank you" Catherine is at a bit of a loss at thatgenrous offer. Why is he being so nice ? Maybe he's just a nice guy but she notics her doesn't seem to have offered it to anyone else.

"Three.....when doing an investigation, and we have multiple options, the fate mage decides where we're going."

"Wouldn't the warehouse be the logical place to check first ? That's where they did meet up for their magic and the one common point between all of those people" Catherine points out, it seems pretty logical to her, but she guesses it's not her analysis Rose s interested into. "I'll try" it's a sbit of silly sentiment but she can't help but feel like if it works, it's a bit like cheating tho.

She lsiten wth a scowl as Rose explains about magic and Abyss. now see in a real school, this the kind of thing she would betold about before being send on a mission where she'd need to use her magic.

Catherine puts her brifing papers neatlly on the floor sits in a vague lotus position like and atemptig to call on the power she barely knew existed two days ago, concentrates on the names in front of her.

Not quite sure what to cast here exactly. The closest on the wii would be "Reveal Enigmas" but it's Fate 2, mind 2 (only have 1 point in mind).

So Imporvising something with Fate 3, asking the equestion: Which one of these places would give us clues abot these people disapearance quickly.

Gnosis+Fate
[roll0][roll1][roll2][roll3]

nd a scond quewtion: Will(/when) an oportunity to escape the hold of the school (alive preferably) will present itself ?
[roll4][roll5][roll6][roll7]

Do i need to spend mana for that second question ?

The Architect

2014-09-13, 08:16 PM

Car Park Rooftop : Paris

As Henry busied himself with the files and Carolyne busied herself with the future a voice rang out in the cabin again;

"Your temporary Augur selection has been recorded, standby."

A moment later A container on the wall sprang open to reveal what appeared to be a smart phone. There was a moment of silence as it hung there ominously in a small embedded rectangular space before the screen flickered to life to reveal what appeared to be a video call of a young girl, fifteen or sixteen, skyping from her plain bedroom in a long white t-shirt, jeggings and batman socks. Her hair fell in thick messy blonde ringlets, her eyes were a faded chestnut and she shipped happily at a large white cup of coffee. Once it was obvious at least most of the group was looking at the phone she waved happily and took a long sip.

"Hi everybody. I hope you're all okay so far! I'm Chromium, but you guys can call me Crow, and I shall be your Ancilla this evening. Well this evening and however many evenings this mission takes you guys," she spoke with the cheery tone of genuine friendliness and enthusiasm "Now Rose, as elected temporary Augur my care will be up to you so I'm counting on you to look after me in a pinch!" She winked and took another sip followed by a happy sigh "so pick me up from the slot and put me somewhere safe. I'm already keyed into all your bluetooth headsets and cellphones so don't worry about hearing me. So any questions? Any idea where you want to start guys?" she fumbles from through some dirty clothes on her bedsheet before pulling out a copy of the mission file "I've glanced through this a few times and I'm more than up to date. So don't let me keep you."

The girl stops talking and just sits sipping her coffee happily as she waits for the group to respond.

What do you do?

Henry gains the following Condition;

Informed ('Les Sorciers De La Seine'):
Your character has a breadth of research information based on the topic she investigated. When you make a roll relating to the topic, you may choose to resolve this Condition. If you resolve it and the roll failed, it is instead considered to have a single success. If it succeeded, the roll is considered an exceptional success. The roll that benefits from the Informed Condition can be any relevant Skill roll. For example, a character with Informed (Werewolves) might gain its benefits when using researched information to build a silver bear trap with the Crafts Skill. Combat rolls cannot benefit from this Condition.

Resolution: Your character uses her research to gain information; the Condition is resolved as described above. Take a Beat.

The second spell doesn't work due to a failed roll, and no you can't just keep casting and asking the same question. :smalltongue: Though it didn't cost you a Mana.

To the first question you only get a vague feeling of "ALL."

Shadowy

2014-09-13, 09:01 PM

Rose shrugs, and pockets the phone as directed. "The Fate mage picks where we go first, that's all I know."

Green Bean

2014-09-13, 09:08 PM

Henry put away his reading, much informed about these people and how they thought. Fortunately, he'd devoted an iteration of his consciousness to paying attention to everything else, so he didn't need to catch up. "What level of investigation's already been done into these places? We don't want to retrace their steps."

Seanfall

2014-09-13, 10:26 PM

Morty
Active Effects
Entropic Guard (Death) - potency 3

Morty blinks a few times as this 'Ancilla' appeared from a smartphone. Before he asks or says anything he lays a hand on Catherine's shoulder. He draws deep down into the magic within him, shaping it into a Shroud of entropic energy but instead of laying it upon his shoulders he lays over the girls. He strengthens it with a burst of mana. Ensuring the potent shield will stay upon her for as long as it can. Perhaps it's because he's acting to guard another, but the woven spell is incredibly potent.

After that spell is done he leans back breathing a sigh of relief. "That should help guard you, I know it feels odd but you'll get used to it. The Warehouse is a good idea." He turned to the Ancilla after Henry spoke his question, he nodded. "Assuming anyone else going through it hasn't taken all the evidence."

Now that he's shielded the one he was worried about he turned inward casting the same spell upon himself. His fingers move in an odd pattern thumb touching the tips of the others as he casts, using rote action to help familiarize himself with the flow of power. A similar entropic guard covers him, not as long lasting or as potent. But still useful.

"If you don't mind Chromium, could you explain quickly, what an Ancilla is? I'm guessing 'helper' or coordinator'. And where these mages, they only group of Pentacle Mages in the area? Any rivals or enemies not listed in the files?"

Entropic Shroud
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4643150/ 6 Suxx POTENCY 6 BABAH!
Catherine now has 3 Armor of Entropic guard cast on her for a full day.

Entropic Guard
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4643167/ 3 Suxx Potency 3.
Not spending a mana on that one.

SuperCracker

2014-09-14, 12:50 AM

Yolo

He watched the smart-phone as it appeared and a cute girl who digs Batman popped onto the screen. Yolo brought his hands up the side of his head, making sure his fauxhawk was styled correctly and then he leaned into view of the camera, a grin on his face. “Hey girl. How you doin’?” Yeah he’s got his eye on Kame, but an O G has to keep up appearances, you know?

As for finding these people, he has a few ideas. He’s been able to look far beyond where his eyes area before. If he can find something to concentrate on, he may be able to actually see these mages. Otherwise, there isn’t much he can do right now, save some attempt at looking through the file again.

Just realized I gave Yolo investigation. Rolling wits + investigation to just try and familiarize himself with it.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4643321/ 2 successes

smuchmuch

2014-09-14, 02:21 AM

Active Effects
Entropic Guard (Death) - potency 6 (courtesy of Mort)

Catherine looks at the girl on the smartphone. "Hi" And now they have some mission control person watching them from afar. She sounds friendly enough. There's something a little odd about what she just said though but she can't quite put her finger on....
"Are you ..." ... Nah she doesn't dare finish that question, the others would make fun of her and likely rightly so Catherine shake her head slightly, Well sure she was in a painting just this morning; in a wizard school no less, so everything's possbile but she's just being silly.

"The Fate mage picks where we go first, that's all I know."

Catherine gather her papers stands up and looks a little sheepish "Well I just tried to see if there were any places that'd give us a quicker lead to our targe but they kind of all gave the same result. We'll find a lead no matter were we go. It's either kind of ominious or more likely I must have failed my spell. Sorry."

"Merci" She looks at Morty slightly embrassed, she'll try to return the favor later. "Is there any reasons you wanted to try Père Lachaise first ? It's kind of a big place."

The Architect

2014-09-14, 09:25 AM

Car Park Rooftop : Paris

"What level of investigation's already been done into these places? We don't want to retrace their steps."

Over the bluetooth headsets Crow chimes back "the areas were closed off and bought by shell companies affiliated to Seers interests once it became obvious an active investigative Pylon was required. The original monitoring Pylon was made up entirely of Watchers and so they did not investigate further once monitoring the Cabal was no longer possible."

"If you don't mind Chromium, could you explain quickly, what an Ancilla is? I'm guessing 'helper' or coordinator'. And where these mages the only group of Pentacle Mages in the area? Any rivals or enemies not listed in the files?"

"Ancilla. Definition, a magically generated consciousness. I am assigned to monitor the emotional, physical, social and strategic well being of your group for the course of this mission, including answering any of your questions that I am able to," she responds happily in everyone's ears "to my knowledge the Cabal made a point of avoiding contact with other Pentacle Mages, though given the population of Paris other Pentacle Mages are likely but we have no information detailing contact between them and the targets."

“Hey girl. How you doin’?”

"Heh, cute YoLo," she giggles audibly "but try to stay on mission for the moment."

As this is all going on the door-ramp at the end of the cabin opens with a pneumatic hiss to reveal the car park rooftop and the Paris skyline.

What do you do?