Welcome to Fairville

[Lanaya]

It's a fine day to be outside, though the summer sun is too hot for some. But inside the caves it's dark and cool, with only a few slivers of daylight creeping in. A pleasant breeze blows through, sounding eerily like a man whispering - a consequence of how the wind moves through the odd rock formations around the cave mouth, according to the tour guides who operate in the area. Presently there aren't any tours going through, though, just a group of friends-and-acquaintances on a pleasant day out.

[The_Snark]

Liesl has never been afraid of the dark.

This isn't a testament to her bravery or anything of the sort, merely a simple statement of fact: she never had any reason to fear it. When she was little she didn't understand what the word dark really meant, didn't realize that for most people it blocked vision like thick fog or heavy rain. (Maybe worse, the way people talk about it; how would she know?) To her, the only difference was that light brought with it color, whereas darkness painted the world in shades of grey. It was not until she watched The Wizard of Oz at age six and asked why it was always nighttime in Kansas that her mother realized this needed explaining.

So technically, she doesn't need the flashlight she's carrying. Not only can she see fine in the dark, she knows James can conjure light from nothing, and she wouldn't be surprised to learn that the others have similar tricks up their sleeve. But spelunking in a cave you don’t know well is not something to take lightly, even when you're a werewolf or a witch or what-have-you. They're already breaking one of the cardinal rules by not bringing along someone who knows these caves already. So she has a flashlight (two, actually, for redundancy), and a hard hat with one of those hands-free lights wrapped around (for extra redundancy). She’s forgone her usual saris and loose skirts in favor of baggy pants and a sweatshirt, and she’s let her mother know where they’re going, so that if they get lost or trapped down there someone will come looking sooner rather than later. Her duffel holds a spare jacket alongside some more usual supplies (snacks, water bottle, beach towel, living wolf's pelt). Liesl works at a state forest, not here, but she knows some of the people who do tours down here. She knows the safety routines.

"You've got the first aid kit, right?" she asks James, checking her backpack to make sure she's not missing anything (snacks, water bottle, spare jacket, beach towel, living wolf's pelt).

[ChaosArchon]

Jake feels the breeze flow through the cave and closes his eyes for a second, the way the air flowed felt just like the joy of flight, even when he was encased in earth he could still feel the siren song of the wide open sky. The sensation of slicing through it was still new to him but holy hell was it one of his favorite parts of becoming a Beast.

However soon he feels the crunch of gravel and rocks, and like that the illusion is dispelled, and he is brought back down to earth. "So, any idea if we're looking for anything in particular here? Hidden magical treasure maybe?"

[TeaJay]

"I've got one, if he doesn't," Wonder says to Liesl, holding up a medium-sized red pack with band-aids, gauze, disinfectant, benadryl, and some general painkillers and period supplies. Wonder is used to being pretty close to the eldest present, and so is also carrying a blanket and some sandwiches. (Separated into plastic bags by type, to avoid cross-contamination if anyone is allergic to something in one of them.) "I also brought some snacks and water if anyone needs some later. I'm Wonder, by the way, and this is Robert," he adds, nodding toward TGlua2Vy.

Wonder has brought a flashlight, though does not expect it to be particularly relevant. His armor takes its job as shining armor very seriously, to an extent that sometimes results in it working more like glowing armor.

Anyone seeing Wonder who is not thinking about it too hard will consider it obvious that he should be referred to with he/him/his pronouns, though if asked would not refer to him as a man. He is Black and androgynous and solidly built; his hair is long and free and perfect as a nice side-effect of Princeps mode.

[Fortuna]

TGlua2Vy is dressed, today, in a fluorescent waterproof jacket over a punning t-shirt, in turn worn over the tanned white skin of a young man, not hugely muscled but not fat, either. It's recently abandoned its experiments with a beard, and carries a khaki pack with one strap slung over its shoulder. It's wearing sunglasses, just in case, although they're down its nose so its eyes are still visible, and its expression rests in a faintly amused smile that matches its relaxed stance. It nods around the group when Wonder indicates it, making a brief moment of eye contact with anyone who'll let it. "Pleasure."

It raises an eyebrow at Jake's comment. "Not that I heard. Just out for a wander."

[Phasm]

"To see what's down there! The exploration of the unknown!" Querida grins up at Jake, adjusting her dark green backpack. Today she's abandoned her usual skirts for a pair of khaki cargo shorts, hiking boots, a white T-shirt with a faded University of South Florida Tampa logo, and of course her polished wood pentacle-and-tree pendant. Wavy black hair is pulled back into a ponytail under the spelunking helmet (complete with built-in light) kindly provided by James. The pockets of her cargo shorts bulge with unknown items. "I brought my first aid kit too, so we should be covered." And if she can get to any wounds before the wounded has a chance to really take inventory of what's wrong with them, the worst anyone will suffer is superficial injury.

Evidently Wonder is comfortable enough with everyone here to be seen in Princeps mode, but Querida hasn't really met some of the guys. Robert she recognizes from talking with Kiana, but the other two are a mystery. She smiles and offers a hand to Robert, then the two unknowns. "Hi, I'm Querida. Nice to meet you!"

[aetherialDawn]

James fishes out his first aid kit from his slightly overstuffed backpack - it's a white box with a red cross and a lot of text providing basic instructions - and gives a thumbs-up to Liesl. "Got it! And the rest of the investigation kit." He puts that back, and starts walking around to each person - fishing out a flashlight, a simple helmet, and a glowstick with a loop for anyone who doesn't have one. "Okay, so I'm James, and my idea was that you'd attach the glowstick to a belt loop or something so that it's easier to find and count each other..."
He's college-aged and energetic, bouncing on his feet a bit. He's wearing a denim jacket over a T-shirt with a logo for Infinite Wonder, along with black slacks and shoes with good grip. An overstuffed backpack (snacks, water, basic crime scene investigation kit, the usual - fights with a navy blue electric guitar for his attention, and although he can handle both the guitar clearly gets more love. He's also got a helmet on over black hair, the attached light currently off.
"Anyway, Querida is right, we're mostly here to explore! Plenty of legends about this place and I don't think it's really been properly explored in ages, just tour groups.
"Maybe we'll find something cool or spooky or beautiful, or maybe we can just have our own impromptu tour where we don't have to worry about anyone seeing us. Nothing wrong with that."
He flicks on his flashlight and, after a few seconds, an orb of soft light separates out from the beam. It switches through a few colors, and then he then flicks off the flashlight and the orb with it - nothing felt wrong or unpleasant, so he just grins to cover the embarrassment of fizzling his invisible first attempt. "Yup, we're all magic here, so no worries. Nice to meet you all!" He spares an extra smile for Liesl, and walks over to stand by them before doing anything else.

He closes his eyes and plucks softly at his guitar for a gentle, echoing tune, humming along for a moment and attuning himself to the vibrations of the ground. He continues his impromptu tune for about ten seconds, blushing furiously by the end before finally nodding and looking around like the cave just lit up. He very deliberately doesn't look at Querida or Liesl at all.

[Phasm]

Noooo, he's doing visible magic in front of- "Oh! We are? Wonderful!" Well, that changes things. "In that case, you may call me Salvia. I am a mage, like James, and most of us use a separate name for our magical lives. It helps to keep some of the supernatural weirdness we attract out of our everyday lives, and a sufficiently skilled mage can use your true name against you." She closes her eyes and concentrates briefly. Nothing changes visibly, but to those sensitive to the supernatural, a scent of crisp green herbs fills the air as Salvia dons her Life Armor. Just in case. If nothing else, it might provide a measure of protection if she falls.

[Fortuna]

TGlua2Vy flashes a grin at Salvia's last remark. "Well, that would be awkward."

[The_Snark]

Fortunately for James, Liesl isn't paying close enough attention to notice the uncharacteristic delay. (Though she is paying some attention, because magic.) Nothing visible happens when he stops strumming the guitar, so she concludes he's probably through demonstrating, and turns back to Robert, the only one here she hasn't met before. New person!

She smiles politely at what she... assumes is a joke of some sort? Probably? (She doesn't get it.) Introducing herself right after Querida -- after Salvia mentioned that feels a little awkward, but on reflection she decides not introducing herself will probably be more so. "I'm Liesl. It's nice to meet you." She extends a hand to shake, trying to think of a polite way to ask 'what are you', and eventually settles on a more oblique, "So, how did you and Wonder meet?"

[Fortuna]

A creature more closely tied to its skin might have faltered or flinched. TGlua2Vy's smile does not waver for a heartbeat. "I was on business, and our paths happened to cross. We play chess now and then." Another quick grin, an easy shield, an amusing lie. "Between you and me, they let me win."

[The_Snark]

Liesl smiles back, a little uncertainly. She's not sure what he finds amusing. (A small fretful part of her wonders if the joke is at her expense. Probably not, right? He just... has a peculiar sense of humor, or something. That's all.) "Oh, what do you do?"

[Fortuna]

Now it grins wider, eyes twinkling. "IT."

[OracleofSilence]

Elias stands near the back of the group, fidgeting slightly and tightening has packs straps. "'S kinda weird that no-one's ever checked these out all the way. I mean, this isn't a new town, right? Are we not allowed in here or something" Far from appearing nervous at the possibility, a palpable sense of excitement was evident in Elias's tone. Then again, the caves might just be super boring. You never knew.

[aetherialDawn]

James speaks up, quiet with embarrassment, in response to Salvia's comment - "Just James for me - I don't have another name yet." - and then returns to listening to Liesl and TGlua2Vy, trying to pretend his earlier missteps didn't happen and silently thanking Salvia and Liesl for not mentioning. It takes a few moments for him to re-gather enough confidence to speak up properly.

"IT is pretty cool. I admit, I wasn't as interested in computers before, but they look a lot more interesting now. Iiiiii~f you're willing, though..." James draws out the 'If', a little playfully, "I'd love to know what kind of magic you've dealt with!
"Wonder vouched for you, and that's plenty for me, but I'd also love to trade secrets, if you're willing." James's curiosity, restrained somewhat by politeness, is plainly evident in how his face lights up and his body language opens. His book is hopeful, and easily-read.

[Fortuna]

It stands up a little straighter, pushing its glasses up its nose, sober in a moment. "That's classified, I'm afraid." It holds its stern pose for a second, then grins, chuckles, and relaxes again. "Or something like that. I was never too good with the lingo."

[TeaJay]

Wonder laughs. "Robert's relationship to the magic side of things is weird, and doesn't really bear talking about." He is perfectly good-natured in making this comment. It is also, very clearly, a serious one. "He is very good at IT, though, has done wonders for the computers in my office." Wonder pauses, glances about looking for viable connections, then decides on the obvious. "Have you ever done any sound mixing or anything, Robert? James is, as you might guess," gesturing to the guitar, "a bit of a musician."

[Phasm]

Salvia can't help but look disappointed at Robert's unwillingness to talk. She's just as curious as her fellow mage. Turning to the other two young men, she offers a smile. "What shall I call the two of you?" Should I ask them about how they are 'magic'? Not right now, we should get going soon and I don't like to be hurried when discussing interesting things.

[Fortuna]

"Oh, no, not seriously. I downloaded a free program and spent an afternoon with it a few years ago, but it's just never come up, you know. I used to sing a little, though. Badly out of practice these days, unless you count singing to the radio in the car." It offers James an apologetic quirk to its eternal smile, including Salvia as well with a glance.

[Lanaya]

With barely a moment's warning, the pleasant breeze turns into a cold wind whipping through the cave. The whispers grow louder, and resolve into one clear word:

Run.

As quickly as it came, the gust returns to a calm breeze.

The mages get a ping on their unseen senses as this happens.

[The_Snark]

Ohhhh, Liesl realizes with a rush of relief, he's just being coy. She's not doing something wrong, it's all fine. Robert doesn't want to talk about... whatever's going on that puts him in this company... but he seems to enjoy giving evasive answers, so that's all right.

She jumps as the wind turns suddenly cold. "... did you all hear that?" she asks, unslinging her backpack so she can get at the contents if she needs to.

[Phasm]

Salvia's hand goes to her right cargo pocket, but she doesn't reach for the weapon stored there yet. Instead she activates her Mage Sight. Run or fight? Let's find out. "I did." James has Prime and Forces covered, do Wonder or Liesl have equivalents of Mage Sight? Salvia can't quite remember if the topic has ever come up. I hope it's not a ghost. One of these days I need to get around to studying Death, unless a friendly Moros comes to town.


Active Mage Sight, just the ruling Arcana (Life and Spirit) for now. The wording of the post (http://theonyxpath.com/revelations/) is a little vague; I think what they mean is that your ruling Arcana are free and other Arcana you know are 1 Mana each.

[Fortuna]

Robert is utterly unflapped, though TGlua2Vy seriously considers obeying the voice for a moment. When it speaks, the levity is gone, though there's still a trace of amusement, a 'this is getting interesting' tone. "I heard."

[aetherialDawn]

"I am more than a bit of a-"
A wind whips through, and James can hear the pure tones of active magic, the music-that-is-not-sound that only he can hear. Or maybe not just him - he glances at Salvia.

Heck yes. "I heard it!" He's excited, not just the eagerness of 'maybe' but the energy of 'yes' for this trip, now.

He opens his eyes and ears... or more than that, his soul, to the music of the world. The Aether, Salvia told him. The wind sings of movement and chill in the icy plucking of a frozen harp, and every voice echoes just a little with the possibility of rolling thunder or passionate song.
Of course, he's also not a total idiot, and so he also invests one of the stars of power he can feel drifting through his Nimbus into protection, choosing Prime for something more likely to work against the unexpected. It feels like being reaffirmed - the little voice that says I AM in his soul speaks louder, ready to deny any contradiction.
Active Mage Sight on! I can see the symbolism of Forces (Light, sound, movement, force, heat, fire, electricity, gravity, magnetism, and more dimly the lack of all those things) and Prime (Magic, Truth, Revelation, the essences and archetypes of things. And more dimly, the lack of those things.) I also have -2 dice penalty on basically all rolls - anything involving an attribute or skill. Note, that explicitly does not include magic, so there is that.

Also, Prime Mage Armor. A flat "My Pattern is more Pattern", none of this in-between wrangling of 'telekinetic shields' or 'lucky dodges'. Because I don't trust this thing to care about a telekinetic shield, even if it'd offer more plusses with my Arcana ratings.

[Lanaya]

James
A dim glow of magical energy suffuses the cavern, accompanied by a discordant melody that shifts in key every few seconds, with new instruments joining or leaving almost as often.

[TeaJay]

There is exactly one proper response for a Champion that has been told to run, so Wonder tries to find the source of the sound. "I heard whispers, then the word 'run'. Does that match everyone else?" It could just as easily have been 'a phrase that would draw you into the caves'.

[aetherialDawn]

"Yup, that's what I heard! The only song I can't already place, here, is magical... it's constantly changing, and lacks... harmony. Ew. Well, at least we know there's something up..."

He flicks his flashlight back on and starts shining it around the cave, supplementing the powerful rock of the sunlight with its own less extravagant melodies. James turns to everyone and starts speaking earnestly, "So what are we waiting for? This seems like exactly what we came for! There's a proper Mystery in these caves, and I bet we can untangle it." He doesn't seem to really consider that anyone might get scared off by just a creepy voice, at least not here.

Inspiring everyone! The topic is 'Investigate The Mystery'.

Presence 3+Expression 5-1 for a small clique of listeners
7 dice [roll0] 2 Successes (You're Inspired!)

You can trigger the Condition when you take an action related to what you've been inspired to do, causing a few effects:
1) Condition ends, you can't use it again unless something Inspires you on that topic again.
2) Gain a beat. Free XP-fractions!
3) An Exceptional Success on that action requires only THREE successes, not five.
4) Gain a point of willpower.

[Fortuna]

TGlua2Vy shrugs. It's good at running, if it comes to that, and unlike a human it's simply not going to get lost. And James's enthusiasm is infectious. On the other hand... there is only curiosity in its tone, none of the trepidation it feels, but if its Cover is at risk it may need to take action sooner rather than later. "Songs? You can, what, hear magic?"

[Phasm]

Salvia hadn't really needed any encouragement to stay and investigate; she's always been curious as two cats, as her grandmother used to say. But it's good to know that James will have her back, and that he can detect something. All she sees is the soft background glow of bacteria and fungi, a little moss, the tiny sparks of insects and maybe a bat or two. The only spirits around are the ones she expected; the cavern-spirit itself, stone-spirits, the spirits of the life forms she sees. None of them look very active.

"I don't see anything unusual; just the life forms normal for a limestone cavern and slumbering spirits. So whatever this is, it's probably not a spirit." She grimaces. Spirits she can deal with. Other foes... well, it could be a great many things, not all of which will fall to Life magic or bullets. "Ah, I should clarify that. Spirits and ghosts are two very different things. If anyone's curious I'll explain the difference later, for now I'll just say that the only way I can see ghosts is if they choose to manifest or if they make enough of a 'hole' in the background life energies for me to figure out where they are. And well... people can die in caves."

To look at my friends and acquaintances or not to look? I should know what they look like in Mage Sight, that way if we get in a fight I won't be distracted by any surprises. Salvia turns to get a good look at the rest of the exploration party.


Now's your chance to say what you think your character would look like in terms of Life and Spirit! If you don't want to bother, say so in the OOC thread and I'll come up with something in my next post.

[Fortuna]

To Salvia's eyes, Robert is pale and flat, his breathing shallow and eerily even. There is none of the edge of the wild, no echo of the larger cycles that most people move in without realizing it. Life pulses through him, but it is both weary and tightly leashed, all the shine dulled out of it.

TGlua2Vy is unaware of the depth of this inspection. It draws up Aether from its heart, attuning itself to its presence in the world.

Activating Aetheric Resonance for the scene.

[TeaJay]

Wonder has decidedly not lost his muchness.

To Salvia's sight, Wonder is furred, finned, and feathered, fanged and clawed, caught and captured. Wonder is part of everything. He doesn't quite...fit...anywhere, but he looks cheerful enough to do so. He'll pick up characteristics of those around him, though not exactly--if there's a aquiline individual nearby, he may be a parrot, or a playful crow; a shark might call out the dolphin in him.

[aetherialDawn]

James is a riot of color and sound; iridescent feathers spill back from his head, shoulders, and arms, and faint music spills from the feathers, as if they were wind chimes.

James's head jerks towards Robert for a moment, responding to the visions and symbol-music he's attuned himself to, before reluctantly turning away out of politeness.

Magic that relies on secrecy... Argh. I'll have to figure out a way to cheat around that...

He clears his throat, distracting himself with present concerns instead, and says, "Hello? Whoever asked us to run, can you hear and respond to me?"
Worth a try!

[OracleofSilence]

Salvia's mage sight reveals relatively little about Elias, at least on the surface. Life surges and radiates from him, as it does in all humans (at least the healthy ones), but it also bleeds subtly into the air around him, hangs heavy on the words he speaks, and blurs his form in strange ways, almost as if another figure is somehow superimposed over him. On the Twilight side, things get more interesting. A pervasive hunger surrounds him, darkening his features and inciting worried evasiveness or even outright flight from any spirits that stray to close.

"Ooooh. I got this one." Elias smiles, breaths in deeply, and speaks again, his voice carrying almost alarmingly well in the air around him, echoing strangely of the nearby cave walls and pulling uncomfortably at any listeners. "Heee-ey. Come on out. We'd like to meeet you..." Elias grins slightly, slightly amused by the irony of his next words "No need to be afraid, we're really quire friendly and are oh-so looking forwards to seeing you."

Rolling for the Low Satiety effect of Siren's Treacherous Song. Any listeners take a -1 to resolve/composure via Fast Talking 1 (always be closing). The roll benefits from 9 again via Professional Training. If the target has a Vice, it is tempted.

Manipulation+Persuasion+Fast Talking+Playing the Crowd (via Jargon)+Lair: [roll0]

9/10 Again: [roll1]

4 5 successes (note, this roll is opposed by Resolve+Supernatural Tolerance-1 (This is including the Fast talking penalty)) Also, the roll is, at this point in time, an Exceptional Success, but obviously, its oppossed and that means something a little different

[Lanaya]

A spectral figure bursts out of one of the cave's walls - a middle-aged man, somewhat past his prime, with one hand clutching at his throat tightly enough to leave visible wounds and the other extended before him. His mouth hangs open as though he were trying to scream, but no sound escapes as he runs towards and then straight through Elias, and continues to run towards the opposite wall of the cave.

[TeaJay]

Wonder has a halberd! Specifically, in his right hand. It is about his height.

"That," Wonder says, after it goes through Elias, "looks like either an accidental drowning or a murder. Does anyone have a way to check how long this ghost has been here? I would hate to be caught off-guard by someone right after a ghost of their victim warned us." He looks around the group--they're a bit of a hodgepodge, aren't they? "And I'm going in the caves today, but if anyone wants a ride back home, we can do that first."

Wonder would want to check this out regardless, but that man was about the right age to be taking a child on a hike. And given that they don't have any evidence to call in mortal police, they are the police.

[The_Snark]

To Salvia's eyes, Liesl seems just a little bit more than human. Life coils in her breast and pulses through her veins, vital and vibrant; she is youthful, fit, energetic, the human animal in its prime.

Buried in her backpack (dead plant-tissue and sterile mineral, an insignificant barrier to Thyrsus eyes) lies another presence; little more than skin and fur, it lives and breathes nonetheless, its life-force entangled with Liesl’s own. Skeins of spiritual essence link them, carrying the breath of life across the gulf and joining the two bodies into one.

She yelps as the spectre appears. Her backpack is slung over one shoulder, and she has a death-grip on her second skin inside, ready to shift at a moment's notice. But... the ghost runs right past them. She teeters on the edge of changing; it would make her feel safer, certainly, but she's not sure if this situation really calls for a giant wolf...

"Um," she finds her voice after a few seconds, a little quavery, "I - think I'm staying."

[aetherialDawn]

That's got to be a ghost!

Thrills of excitement at the contact are muted by sympathy... This doesn't look like a happy ghost. that's just more reason to investigate, though, and here is a first-hand witness.

"Wait! Ghost-person! Please, talk to us! Maybe we can help, or just understand, but you have to talk to us!" James's voice is plaintive, bereft of both callousness and pity - he cares, and he want to listen, and something about seeing his first ever real ghost hits a note that reverberates between him and the spectral man.

Rolling for social influence to get the ghost to stay and try to communicate. I don't know what the impression level is, so I don't know how soon I can roll again, but it doesn't SEEM hostile...

Sympathetic busts down two Doors automatically, and I am rolling for (hopefully) a third.
Sympathetic gives James Swooning: 'ohmygosh it's a ghost!' with an extra dose of 'oh no, there's probably a sad story here...'
Presence 3 + Expression 5
[roll0]

10-again: [roll1]

Oh my gosh I got an exceptional success. Uh. What's that do?

[ChaosArchon]

Jake had kind of been phasing in and out of attentiveness. While he could still feel the wind at his back, it did feel slightly uncomfortable to be confined so and the foreboding command didn't help at all. "Please tell me you guys can see the ghost and it's a really friendly one who's bffs with Casper?"

[Phasm]

Salvia just stares for a moment, trying to process what she's seeing when she looks at Robert. Is he sick? Some sort of obscure spiritual malady? He looks... disconnected from the world, somehow. Wrong. A shiver runs down her spine, and she turns her gaze to the two Mystery Men. They're even worse. Instead of not enough Spirit, they have too much, and whatever is lurking under their skin is definitely not friendly. One of them gives her a sense of cold, a faint scent of saltwater; the other one bears huge, shadowy wings and piercing raptor's eyes. Hecate preserve us. On the plus side, maybe they'll scare away any malicious spirits down here. Wonder's shifting appearance is oddly fitting, and Salvia gets a whiff of comforting vanilla-cinnamon from them. Liesl is hardly surprising, given what James told her of the park ranger's powers, and of course she's seen James with Mage Sight before.

The appearance of the ghost drags her back to reality. "Ghosts. Why did it have to be ghosts?" She sighs, keeping a close eye on the spectre. "Of course I'm going to stay, Wonder. Maybe we can find some clues as to what killed this poor man farther into the caves." Salvia knows how to perform an abjuration, if it comes to that; even a Sleeper can suppress a ghost's powers if their will is strong enough. It's just a lot harder and less certain than proper magic.

[Fortuna]

TGlua2Vy moves to stand closer to Wonder, though it betrays no hint of whose benefit this might be for. "I will stay." It's not sure why - it hardly has anything to contribute - but, well, it's not really worried about the worst that could happen, and the rest seem to be in their element.

[OracleofSilence]

"He didn't exactly strike me that way Jake, no." Elias wasn't really shaken so much as faintly interested. After all, the ghost had flown right through him! And he had never seen a brain before, so that was new as well.

[Lanaya]

Seemingly oblivious to the words of the living, the ghost passes through the opposite wall of the cave. A small patch of frost appears in its wake, leaving the ground slightly slippery.

[TeaJay]

Wonder nods. "All right then." He moves further into the caves, halberd currently in hand, armor shining more brightly than one would think the light would actually call for. "Onward."

When he sees the frost, he leans down to get a better look, then looks over his shoulder. "Frost! Careful not to slip." Wonder stands, then walks in the direction the ghost went, somewhat hampered by his inability to move through solid objects.

(Wonder will not go more than a few tens of yards without at least one buddy, but assumes someone else will follow if one of them just moves first.)

[The_Snark]

Liesl sticks close to James as he (predictably) follows. This is a little unsettling, a ghost isn't the sort of thing you can run down or bite, and she's not very used to feeling... helpless? That's not quite it, but something close.

"Should I change, do you think?" she asks in a hushed voice. "I have no idea if I can smell ghosts and I don't think I'll be much use if it attacks us... but I might be able to pick up a scent if there are any corpses in here. Or other things."

[aetherialDawn]

James follows the ghost to the wall, and says, "No, come ba- Aw, darn it. We'll figure it out, then."

He sighs briefly. "Well! Vibration-sight doesn't show anything from the spectral unliving, no surprise there." He pokes a foot at the frost curiously, listening to its song for a moment. Hm.
He drops back into seeing the world-as-it-is, stripped of the musical undercurrents. It'll probably end up being easier, this way...

"Well... I can try to track it, if it's really thinking. It'd spot a murderer nearby, too, but not a pitfall. I'll need a few extra seconds, though, for a soundtrack... Hmm, and the bowl."
He shuffles over to Liesl, setting his backpack down and pulling out a few odds and ends; he sets a shiny steel bowl on the ground and pours some water into it out of a bottle, before standing and pausing to figure out what he should play... He launches into something slow and complicated, something just intrusive enough to hold attention without needing much sound.
Come on, work.

Casting a Mind - Unveiling spell to let me detect nearby conscious minds. I can get a general sense of what 'type' it is - mostly-human, ghost, spirit, astral projection, etc. - and it crosses into Twilight naturally, so this should be pretty good for tracking our ghostly friend. I don't believe I get more than a general direction (can we say 30-degree arc or so?) and distance ('close', 'far', etc.) - The spell apparently lets me track people but doesn't actually give me strict position, so I figure vague intuition is appropriate.

Anyway, spending two Reach - one to cast Instantly and one to have an extended Duration.
This will cost one mana.
Taking a -2 penalty to up Potency by one, and it's the primary factor (boosting it by 1, in this case, since the Arcana rating I have is the minimum for this Practice.)
Spending a willpower for dice, using a Bowl for perceptive magic, and using Music (through my dedicated Guitar) for revelatory and connective symbolism, as well as to reduce Paradox to a chance die.

Total dicepool is...
Gnosis 2 + Extemporaneous Affinity 2 + Mind 1 + Yantras 2 + Willpower 3 - Potency 2
For 8 dice.
[roll0] Rolled in OOC. Succeeded, not exceptional.
And 10-again dice... [/rollv]8d10[/rollv]

And my Paradox chance die (Which I am containing, if any successes come up)
[roll1]Dramatic failure, which in this case is just a normal failure.
And the oppose-Paradox-with-Wisdom pool, which is likely to matter not one bit.
[roll2]

Mana 6/10
Willpower 5/6
Spell Control 2/2 - I will need to release Tremorsense or Sense Consciousness to cast have another long-term spell, although I can still cast short-term spells.

[Lanaya]

James
There are only a few minds inside the cave besides James and his companions, mostly belonging to small animals. The ghost's mind, still nearby, is dim but sufficient to track it by.

As the group ventures deeper into the caves, the few sources of natural light grow dimmer and smaller until only torchlight remains to pierce the darkness. But sound grows as the light fades, every noise echoing through the caves slightly louder than it ought to. Thanks to James's spell following the ghost is not difficult, and although it passes through the cave walls freely it moves slowly enough for its material pursuers to keep up. After a few minutes the ghost stops, and once the group catches up they see it stands within the partly decomposed corpse of a man wearing the same clothes as the ghost, slumped on the ground with one hand around his neck. The smell of rot permeates the area, and in the torchlight drops of blood can be seen on the ground behind the man's body, as though he had left a trail of blood as he walked prior to collapsing.

[Phasm]

Salvia watches intently as James casts his spell, but refrains from commenting. For someone with practically no formal magical education, he's doing a bang-up job. She wouldn't want to play her spells on a musical instrument- aren't they supposed to be delicate?- but hey, he's a mage. Maybe he's using Forces to make a shield.

The smell tells her that there's a dead body long before they can actually see it. "Good thing you didn't shapeshift, Liesl. I don't want to think about how bad this would smell to a canid." Salvia sighs as they round a corner and see the gruesome corpse. "Poor fellow. I hope we can figure out how to put him to rest."

The mage steels herself for what needs to come next. She looks around at the motley magical crew. "I know enough medicine that I might be able to tell what killed him if I get a good look. If we get the authorities into this, there is a very good chance that one of the ghost's Anchors will end up in their evidence room, and the station will likely be haunted if that happens. For years if the case goes cold." Better to handle this themselves.

Putting her backpack down well away from the corpse and any blood, Salvia opens it up and pulls a pair of latex gloves out of her professional grade first aid kit. Disease holds little danger for her, she only keeps the gloves in there for show when she treats Sleepers, but corpse fluids under her fingernails? Ew. No. She glances over at the ghost. "I will try not to disturb your body too much, sir, but we need information." Putting on the gloves, she gingerly picks her way toward the body, doing her best not to mar the blood drops.


Alas, none of my Arcana will help me here. Time for a good old-fashioned Medicine roll to see what killed this guy. Salvia will not touch the corpse unless she absolutely has to. This looks to be important, so I'll burn a point of Willpower.

Int 3 + Medicine 3 + Willpower 3 = [roll0]

[Lanaya]

The ghost watches seemingly uncaringly as his corpse is examined.

Salvia
Between her quick wits and training, Salvia is able to determine much about the man's death despite the body's state of decomposition. His nostrils and mouth are filled with dust and dirt; the cause of death was almost certainly him suffocating on it. There are deep wounds on his neck which, judging by the state of his fingernails, he inflicted upon himself with the hand around his neck. There were some other minor wounds on his body, mostly scrapes and bruises which indicate he may have fallen or collided with the cave walls several times. Finally, he has likely been dead for almost a month now - thankfully the cold, dry environment slowed the process of decomposition enough for the corpse to still be mostly intact.

[Phasm]

As she works, Salvia relates her findings to the group. Finally she steps back, convinced that there's nothing more she can find out here, and strips the fouled gloves off. "This is very strange. How did he come to have so much dirt in his airways, and why wasn't he able to cough it out? Why did he scratch at his neck so much, instead of trying to get the dust and dirt out of his mouth? If he had been strangled with a garrote or similar object I would expect such wounds, but not with his airways being blocked from the inside." She frowns and puts the gloves into a ziploc bag, making sure it's sealed before putting the bag in her backpack.

[OracleofSilence]

"Could be for lots of reasons. He might have been more scared of something else, the dirt could have come from inside instead of out. Maybe he was just confused. The immanent prospect of death can do that to a person." Elias clears his throat slightly, well aware that his little explanation probably didn't do much for him in the eyes of the newcomers. "Or so I hear." It was a lame conclusion, but probably better then leaving it alone.

[aetherialDawn]

James flicks his flashlight over the drips of blood, beam of light following it away towards where, he assumes, this unfortunate man stumbled away from.

Standing around is boring.
"Well, I'm going to follow the trail. Mister ghost, thank you for your trust in us."
As James speaks, there's a brief moment of strange sensation. Something like the opposite of disorientation - a faint surge of music and flitting motes of light that gives conviction rather than confusion.
It's gone by the time he's striding off, following the drips of blood with purpose to see what other leads he can find.

Hasty Vice activated, revealing my Nimbus faintly to everyone.
You'd forget, but none of you are mortal.
Willpower 6/6

[The_Snark]

"Good thing you didn't shapeshift, Liesl. I don't want to think about how bad this would smell to a canid."

Liesl nods, holding her nose even though it's not inhumanly sensitive at the moment, and trying not to think about the tiny dead-person particles wafting around in the air even as they speak. She can't help but wonder if she should change, though, to see if she can catch any scents not obvious to human senses - like other people, for instance...

But the way he died sounds magical to her if anything does; she can't imagine how he'd suffocate on dirt otherwise. Maybe if he were buried alive, but that would show in other ways, wouldn't it? And the blood trail seems to be good enough for James to follow without a wolf's nose. Speaking of which...

"James - " She hurries after him, catching his arm and motioning the others to follow. "Be careful, we shouldn't split up..."

[TeaJay]

Wonder looks at the ghost. "Do you have any death rites that we could observe? I do not know if you had a faith, or what it was, but if it is something I cannot fulfill myself, I can likely find one who can." Wonder tries to see if they remember any relevant missing person reports. The person looks too old to be under their care, but it looks like a fairly recent case, and they might have heard something...

(Sometime when Wonder is looking at the ghost--and they couldn't tell you exactly when, either--their appearance shifts unnoticeably. Anyone who's not thinking about it too hard will reflexively use they/them/theirs when referring to Wonder, and anyone who knows the word would be able to peg Wonder as genderfluid if they thought for a moment.)

If the ghost doesn't respond after a few moments, Wonder will give the ghost a last sympathetic look and go with James.


For talking to the ghost: presence+empathy [roll0] in case of 10-again: [roll1] (4 successes)
For trying to remember the person: composure+socialize [roll2] in case of 10-again [roll3] (2 successes)

[ChaosArchon]

Jake finally walks up to the corpse, while muttering that if Casper ****s with him he will call Bill Murray on him, and checks the corpse for any valuables or something that can identify him... for science of course. He checks the corpse's pockets, clothes, and everything looking for a wallet or other valuables-carrying pouch of some form.

Investigation (2)+ Wits (2):[roll0]

[Lanaya]

The ghost remains still as Wonder addresses him, not showing any sign that he understands.

Wonder
Wonder remembers a man who went missing about a month ago, Alexis Calombaris. At this stage it's hard to tell whether the body matches the physical description, but he appears roughly the right age and size.

Jake
The man's pockets are empty, and no valuables are on his body.

James
Just as the edge of the range of James's spell, another human mind appears, moving towards him at a walking pace.

There is a dull thud from further inside the cave, and a sound like the rushing of wind rapidly approaching. Within moments a wall of dust and dirt floods forth from the direction of the blood trail, engulfing everyone present. The air is so thick with it that breathing is almost impossible, and it seems to fly into mouths and noses with uncanny precision, as though directed by some malevolent force.

[aetherialDawn]

A thrill races through James. Magic is afoot, right now - and in under a second, the advancing dust makes clear what that magic is.
It's probably the mind he can sense, just at the edge of his new perceptions, but right now, his attention is rapidly refocusing on more immediate matters, like the thick fog of dust and suffocation. James manages to shout out, "Guy ahead!" just before the cloud really hits.

James manages to cough out, "Jerk.", surely unheard by the source of this, as he readies his guitar. Once he secures his grip, he plays a power chord and following it with rapid, flowing notes, imbuing his will into the music to call down a fragment of the hurricane-gales of the Aether through their music. He can feel the sickening feeling of overreaching - Paradox, Salvia and the documents said - reaching out and punishing him, but that's fine -

Except that the wind doesn't come. He didn't reach far enough.

James doesn't swear out loud, too caught up with covering his mouth and trying to breathe as best he can, but internally he rattles off words that even his friends probably aren't aware he could think of.

[OracleofSilence]

Elias is pissed. Deeply, fundamentally, pissed. He had just met these people at least for the most part. They even seemed quite nice, although the quiet guy seemed a little off. His friends were here as well of course, but that just made him madder. The point was, he was out with new people and someone was trying to kill them. The growl starts low, well into the subsonics actually, and rises rapidly, clearly inhumanly, Dopplering wildly off cave walls, primal, ancient, and most importantly, angry. Almost immediately, another wind spring up, spiraling out from Elias, swirling the dust and dirt away from him, and, just as importantly, providing a safe spot for the rest, at least unless they could handle things themselves.

"Guy's, get in here. This should keep the dust out well enough." And it was true. Elias knew that the wall of wind was more then sufficient to stop fairly heavy hurled objects. It would certainly be enough to protect him and the rest from a little dirt.

Elias is using the Whirlwind application of his Storm-Lashed Atavism, creating a "wall" that will block anything short of bullets and hurled boulders. It can explicitly protect other people as well and has a radius of 5 yards. (This ends at the end of his next turn, so you can assume he's spending his instant action to keep it up).

[TeaJay]

Wonder covered their mouth and nose as soon as they put together what was happening--they can hold their breath pretty well; the important bit is to get out of this mess without anyone getting their airways blocked enough that it doesn't matter. They know CPR, but there's no guarantee that would work, with the airways as thoroughly clogged as the spell was going for. They don't all need to join Alexis, or whoever else this may be.

"I hear you!" Wonder shouts to James, though he quite likely can't hear them. They charge where they think James meant by "ahead", likely in the same direction they'd all been intending to go.

And then the dust--stops in an orb, which Elias appears to be making. But either that person James was pointing out is causing this, or else they're likely to be caught in it. Wonder keeps running.

My speed is 10, not yet using my action, only my movement.

[The_Snark]

Ohgodohgod this is just what happened to that guy run Liesl's thoughts. But while her first reaction may be normal for a mundane twentysomething menaced by assailants unknown, she isn't normal and never has been. She's been on the edge of going for her second skin ever since the ghost appeared, and now that danger has shown itself she reaches out. Her backpack is already unslung, the zipper lying half-open for easier access. Her questing hand finds fur inside.

Changing shape is like taking a breath of fresh air after a lifetime of holding your breath, like shedding a constrictive garment worn for so long you’d forgotten it wasn’t part of your skin. If her mother had panicked and hidden her skin away when she was born (God forbid), instead of keeping it, Liesl would never have realized what she was missing, but she would have missed it, spent her life quietly pining without even being quite aware of it.

From the outside it's quicker; a moment where the eye blurs and can't quite focus on Liesl, the sound of fabric tearing. (Of all the days for her to forego her usual styles in favor of clothing that won't survive a shift... Next time she's going spelunking in a sari, no matter how impractical it is.) She bounds forward, following Wonder towards the man James says is there.

Instant action: change shape! Liesl's Speed is 17 in this form, and her Stamina is 5, giving her even more breathing room. Metaphorically speaking.

[Phasm]

Salvia pulls the collar of her T-shirt up over her nose and mouth, preparing to cast a spell, when Elias does... something... and creates an eye in the storm while Wonder goes haring off into the duststorm. Along with Liesl in wolf form. Oh, for the sake of all the gods! She steps into Elias' wind-bubble. "Thanks, Elias." With a little preparation she can go after the Princeps and the werewolf, but it'll be so much easier to cast a spell if she can breathe.

One hand on the pentacle, activate mage sight so she (hopefully) can see the life energies of the dynamic duo through the dirt. Salvia concentrates on her breathing, increasing the efficiency with which her body uses oxygen.


Yay, Body Control! Life Ruling to give Salvia the ability to hold her breath twice as long. I suppose it could be Perfecting, but since she has Life 3, I've got enough Reach either way. Using one Reach to cast instantly. If this doesn't work, I'll try again next turn and take longer to use another Yantra.

Gnosis 1 + Life 3 + Yantras 1 (Dedicated Focus & High Speech) = [roll0]

[ChaosArchon]

Jake enters the protection of Elias and nods,"Thanks man, wish my wings could do this too. Anyway what's the plan now guys? Fairly certain we know how the guy died, but not why."

[Lanaya]

Liesl
Though her sight is impaired, the great wolf's other senses easily locate the attacker. Though it smells human, she can tell from the sound of its footsteps that it is far larger or heavier than any person could be.

It's only a short time before Liesl and Wonder come close enough to see their assailant. A young girl stands perfectly relaxed in the midst of the dust storm, probably still in her teens and wearing filthy clothes, she towers over the pair. She appears at least ten feet tall - though she's not hunched over at all, and the roof of the tunnel couldn't be more than six feet up. It creates a disconcerting effect, as the eyes of Liesl and Wonder disagree with their minds about her height. "It's pointless to fight. You'll never win," she says, with a smug grin.

[Fortuna]

TGlua2Vy makes gratefully for the sphere of safety, its face shutting down in panic. The dust on its glasses is thick enough that it can scarcely see even within, but it does not occur to it to clean them.

[Phasm]

"Well, I'm going after Wonder and Liesl now that I've improved my lungs. There's no telling who or what might be down there." Salvia takes a deep, deep breath and holds the fabric of her T-shirt firmly against her nose and mouth. She nods to the two Mysterious Magic Men, braces herself, and ventures forth into the storm. Hope James has the sense to duck into Elias' eye of the storm before he tries any more spellcasting. With his talent for spontaneous spellcasting and instinctive grasp of Forces, the younger mage should be able to form a Force shield of some sort now that he has a relatively safe place to work. He'll be fine. Wonder and Liesl, on the other hand, I'm not so sure about.

[TeaJay]

"I don't want to fight!" Wonder shouts. "I wanted to spend the day with my friends, and now I want this dust storm to stop. Why are you doing this?"

The air isn't breathable here--Wonder could take a deep breath, but it'd be too much dirt to make a difference. The sensation is memorable.

[Lanaya]

The girl's grin widens enough to show her teeth. "Because I'm hungry."

Liesl
Thanks to her keen wolf ears Liesl detects a faint quiver in the girl's otherwise smooth, almost arrogant voice; a slight twinge of sadness or regret.

[OracleofSilence]

"Easy there Salvia. We're coming with you." Elias angles his head to the rest, indicating his intention to move after the others. "Onwards we go." He focuses briefly, making sure his wind will follow, then heads deeper into the sandstorm, keeping pace with Salvia and attempting to spot the rest.

Wits+Composure: [roll0]
10 again: [roll1]

[aetherialDawn]

Before he can start to really panic about the spell that was supposed to save him failing, James is rescued by Elias; hearing the call to safety and whipping winds, he stumbles through the wall of wind. After pressing through with some difficulty, he coughs out a relieved "Thanks, Elias." After an awkward pause, he adds, "Today's... been a really terrible day for magic, apparently."
He spends several moments just breathing the fresher air, following with Elias and considering his options.

After a few seconds, he pulls out a steel knife and makes a swiping motion, cutting across the lines of motion for the dust's wind, imagining the Force that drives the wind being cut off from the Source.
WORK, darn you!

This time, it suffices and more; the dust stills in a circle around Elias's wall of wind, the stillness rapidly spreading until the dust begins to settle properly.

"... good magic."

[The_Snark]

There’s really only one way to retort to that.

Mostly, this is because Liesl is currently a wolf, and therefore not capable of talking per se. But there's also something terribly fitting about lunging at this girl-thing, whatever she is, and showing her what it feels like to be on the other side of this. Whatever strange magic lets her tower over them while simultaneously being human-sized, Liesl is actually massive, and now that the danger has a tangible source her fear is forgotten. Only the low ceiling keeps her from pouncing properly, letting Wonder get a word in...

There's something in the girl's voice that almost gives her pause. But however kindly she might normally be, Liesl has a wolf's instincts, and a wolf does not take pity on the prey mid-leap. She darts forward, snapping at the girl's arm and using that to try to pull her down and off-balance.

Biting time! Liesl's dice pool is 11 (Str 5 + Brawl 4 + specialty 2); subtract the rightmost dice as appropriate for Defense, I guess?

[roll0]

In case of 10-again: [roll1]

On a hit, she deals (successes + 2) lethal damage, establishes a grapple, and also I'll use her 1/scene power to inflict the Knocked Down tilt.

[Lanaya]

The girl is quick on her feet, and even the wolf in Liesl is hesitant to attack such a huge and intimidating foe, but it's not enough to stop her jaws from closing on her prey. She hits the ground hard, and is quickly pinned down by the huge wolf.

She has four defence and you take a -2 penalty to attack her because she's really big and scary, so 2 successes all up. The baddie loses her turn from being knocked down, so it's back to Wonder again.

[TeaJay]

Wonder shouts in frustration. "Then let us find you something else to eat!" Wonder charges and swings their halberd at the girl, though not to kill.

I have a charm that lets me choose bashing or lethal, and I'm choosing bashing. 3B, if I hit.

I'm applying an Invocation, which allows me to add my Terra (3) to my dice pool (str+weap), which, taking into account all the other things, brings me up to a simple str+weap, which is 8.

[roll0], in case of 10-again, [roll1]

[Lanaya]

A solid hit from Wonder's halberd knocks the breath out of the girl, leaving her gasping for air. As the clouds of dust and dirt gradually disperse, the rest of the group is able to see the melee ahead of them.

Jake and Elias
The two beasts know immediately that the young girl Liesl is struggling with is one of their kin. Her soul is an enormous armoured dirt-coloured worm.

After a short struggle, the girl manages to push Liesl off her body. She concentrates for a moment and her body warps, taking on the shape of the immense beast that is her soul, then begins to slither off deeper into the caves at a tremendous speed.

[Fortuna]

Tglua2Vy takes a deep breath as the wind dies, assessing the situation as fast as it is able. It is hurt, and scared, and more than a little angry, and it sees no reason not to assume that person, or creature, is the cause of its present discomfort. So it reaches for the only weapon it is carrying today - its voice - and speaks.

[Lanaya]

"I'll come back tomorrow, on my own. I can help you." The great worm hesitates for just a moment, before continuing to flee.

[Fortuna]

Its mouth snaps shut the moment the words are out, but they are said. Not a weapon, or at least not the weapon it wanted - and Wonder will doubtless make much of them if he guesses their value. It is dimly aware that, in all likelihood, Wonder would be correct, but it is not interested in empathy at this moment, so it turns away to stare blankly at the corpse, imagining the freedom to glare, and the humanity to take relief from the action.

[TeaJay]

Wonder sprints immediately after. "Liesel! We have to get her!" Wonder pauses in words, though not in movement. "I just assumed she/her/hers pronouns on the grounds that you're a shapeshifter and you appeared to be presenting female! I am sorry if I messed up your pronouns!"

Stamina+Athletics roll, assuming the worm doesn't immediately wriggle somewhere I cannot follow: [roll0] in case of 10-again [roll1]

[The_Snark]

Liesl emits a growl/bark of agreement as she climbs to her feet, and follows. As before, the low ceiling of the tunnel keeps her from moving as fast as she otherwise might, forcing her to move at a crouch. But hers is still the body of a hunter, built to run down fleeing prey and tear at its heels, and she makes a fair pace nonetheless.

Chasing time! Stamina+Athletics+specialty (Wolf!): [roll0]

In case of 10-again: [roll1]

[Phasm]

Salvia gives Robert a look composed of equal parts curiosity and 'you have got to be kidding me'. Um, hello, murderer here? Hopefully the caves don't go much farther in from this point, otherwise she'll have to stop and enhance her stamina after a while. The mage sprints after Wonder and Liesl.


Stamina 2 and Athletics 1, woo. :smalltongue: Saving the Inspired condition for a roll where an exceptional success might actually happen. Not sure if the Body Control she has active might add something or not.

[roll0]

[OracleofSilence]

"What the hell was that?" Elias swears quietly, first from frustration, then from panic when he see's Liesl, Wonder, and Salvia chasing after the Beast. "Goddamn it, stop running! The cave goes somewhere else that way, I swear I've explained this before Liesl, and we won't be able to get you back." Elias drops his wind shield, pitching his voice to carry as well as possible in the cave, and if that fails, readying himself to chase after them.

[TeaJay]

Wonder hesitates, then stops, skidding a little bit on the stone floor. (Their armor helpfully creates a few sparks, as if to make up for the fact that it hasn't had enough light to shine much in the cave.) They don't know what, "somewhere else" means, but one of the things it probably means is that chasing after the worm won't actually get any good done.

Wonder turns to Liesel to make sure she stops as well, and will nod back to the others and start walking back if she does.

[The_Snark]

'Stop running' passes over Liesl's head, they're probably shouting at the monster, but her name catches her attention. She checks herself, glancing back and noting that yes, Wonder is stopping too. Won't be able to get her back? She can see just fine in here, and track by smell, she's not about to get lost. But maybe she shouldn't keep going if she's going to end up facing down the worm alone... and maybe she's forgetting something? Elias said something about how they've talked about this.

And the thing is rapidly gaining distance, anyway. Liesl looks over at Wonder again, gives a mental shrug, and starts trotting back to the others.

[Fortuna]

At Elias's call, TGlua2Vy turns its attention back to the group, ordering its face from emptiness to neutrality. It waits for Liesl and Wonder to return, forming deflections and covers for its 'outburst'.

[Lanaya]

As the great monster rounds a corner it disappears, and the mages see the magic infusing the area fade away.

[TeaJay]

Wonder starts talking as soon as they're in reasonable conversational distance of Elias. "You know what that thing is, I take it. Can you share at this time?" Wonder would not consider themself to be particularly intimidating at this time. They are, however, still holding their halberd, and giving Elias the full focus of their attention--and, admittedly, anything that looks this much like a knight in shining armor has a tendency to inspire some amount of awe.

[Phasm]

Salvia skids to a halt shortly after she starts running. Once the girl turned into a giant worm of all things, the cavern positively lit up to her Spirit sight with patterns like nothing she's ever seen before. She stops and stares at the walls, frowning, as she tries to make sense of what she's seeing. "It's like... like the worm is the cave, and the cave is the worm," she mumbles to herself. Like many things in the Spirit world, it's difficult to decipher and even more difficult to describe. Spirits just don't think the way people, even mages, do, and that's reflected in Spirit mage sight.

She makes her way back to the rest of the group, obviously distracted. "This place just gets weirder and weirder. I've never seen or even heard of a spirit like that before, although come to think of it..." The mage's gaze snaps back into the Fallen World as she focuses on Elias and Jake. "She looked an awful lot like the two of you before she transformed. Not in the details, Elias has sort of a deep sea monster theme going on and Jake has something like dragon wings, while our sandstorm-controller's spirit looked like the giant worm she turned into. But you resemble her in the 'monster spirit inside a person' sense."

[OracleofSilence]

"That's cause we're Family." Elias smiles shortly. "I can explain in more detail later.. That means a lot of things. It means, she's hungry, it means she's willing to do a whole lot of things normal people wouldn't, and it means he just tried to pull us into somewhere else. More details later, like I said."

[TeaJay]

"When, precisely, is 'later'?" Wonder asks crisply. "There is currently a supernatural murderer in my town; that's rather my area."

[aetherialDawn]

"I'd like more details now, but... Okay.
"Right, everyone is still alive and healthy, yeah?"

James has put his knife away, still holding his guitar protectively. He also tried to smooth out his hair a bit where the wall of wind has messed it up.

Ghost. Weird murder spirit (which escaped.) apparently related to Elias and Jake...

He itches to write this down and start making theories. All sorts of magic and mystery, so tantalizingly close to making sense...

[OracleofSilence]

"A few minutes, no more. I just would rather talk about this somewhere a murderous earthworm isn't able to just pop out of the walls and try to suffocate us. I'm fine at least but I figure we should decide what to do about the body and then either head back or decide on what we will do."

[Phasm]

Salvia nods. "Fair enough." She toys with her necklace, thinking. "If this ghost is like most murder victim ghosts I've read about, he probably wants one or more of several things. The killer to be punished, a proper burial according to his religion if he has one, and perhaps his family notified. Now that we know for sure that there was a supernatural element to his death, I have serious doubts about getting the police involved... but getting him a proper burial is going to be tricky without an official death certificate. Ugh, I wish I could speak properly with him and find out for sure what he wants!" The mage heaves a sigh. "Well, I suppose I can contact the local Assembly and see if there's a friendly necromancer willing to consult on this case. It might take a while though."

[The_Snark]

Unable to contribute to the conversation, Liesl pads back a little ways to the spot where she shifted; her backpack is lying on the ground, along with a small (and dusty) pile of torn fabric. It figures. The one day she decides to wear something other than her usual loose clothing... Next time, she's wearing a sari into the caves, no matter what the Internet says about spelunking safety.

She picks up the pack in her mouth and returns to the others. They don't seem to have figured out what their next step is, and since she doesn't have any bright ideas to share she might as well put off the mess of changing back.

[Fortuna]

TGlua2Vy shakes its head, turning to leave the caves. "We should talk outside. We can come back for the body, whatever we decide to do with it."

[TeaJay]

Wonder has calmed down some by the time they get to the front of the cave, and has also dismissed their halberd. "Okay," they say, taking a breath. "First things first. Is everyone here getting enough food to eat without killing people?" They put both hands up, emphasizing the fact that they don't have a weapon, never mind that they could re-summon it whenever they want. "If you have been having trouble surviving without causing deaths, we have established methods of dealing with that. I will not just be handing you over to the mortal police"--for a variety of reasons--"nor try to get a Hunter or someone else on your case. I just want to make sure none of us are starving ourselves or hurting others unnecessarily."

Wonder just barely manages to not say, "I'm from the magic government and I'm here to help."

[OracleofSilence]

"Wonder, you've seen me eat. Last show we did in fact, remember? I took one of the songs off the rails. Freaked out a few audience memeners. Pissed James right off cause I threw off the harmony he had going." Elias smiles, perhaps a but thinly. "And after that we got sandwiches at the little shop off La Mirada. What, you think I need to suck ze blauds or something?" Alright, he was being a little flippant, but the question was more then a little ridiculous.

[TeaJay]

Wonder looks at Elias and says, dryly, "Yes. Because you are the only person present at this time. And it couldn't possibly be that I am trying to ask several people without calling any individuals out. That would be ridiculous."

[The_Snark]

Liesl sits up straighter at the question, her eyes widening noticeably. (A little exaggerated, maybe, but subtlety is not your friend when you're relying solely on body language to communicate.) She nods once, very firmly: all fine here, not hungry, not eating people.

[Phasm]

Salvia drops the lung-enhancing spell once they get to the surface; she won't need it here. "Look, Elias, we're trying to figure out what's going on here so we can lay that poor man's ghost to rest. You seem to have some idea, which is more than I can say." She sighs and reaches back to run a hand through her hair, only to encounter her spiffy light-up spelunking helmet. "Do you want to come back to my house to discuss this further? And by 'you' I mean everybody. It's fairly isolated, so we don't have to worry about prying eyes and ears, and it will be more comfortable for a discussion."

Wanting to protect one's secrets is perfectly understandable. If anyone knows the value of secrets, it's a mage. But not when doing so might doom the ghost of a murder victim to wander the earth reliving its grisly death. "Liesl, I might have something that fits your human self. Unless you have a change of clothes in your backpack, of course."

[Fortuna]

TGlua2Vy makes a sour expression, then a complicated gesture with its left hand, extending and returning its fingers rapidly. It pauses for a moment, then says "Privacy will not be a problem. I would rather resolve this as soon as we can."

[OracleofSilence]

"Well, alright. The general idea is that people like Jake, "psycho-teen", and myself are called 'Beasts'. The precise of what we are is kinda up in the air, but the general idea is that we have a connection to, or are a monster that is connected to a certain fear of humankind. In association with that, we have a Hunger. These range from the potentially benign, to the outright murderous. For example, I can stay full just by showing people how much bigger the world is then they are. Other Beasts might need to destroy precious objects, or punish crimes with absurd severity, or hunt and kill people. I suspect that girl there might fall into one of the later categories."

How much more to tell? Well the basics would come out anyway... Lets get this over with. "There are other complexities of course. For example, a whole bunch of behavior limiters get turned off when you get your Beastiness. I can do all kinds of weird things, of which you just saw a few. I can tell what you all are. Well, what most of you are anyway. Let's see... You, Wonder, have the light inside you. You got it by lying to yourself about the world. And you, Salvia, have an awakened will, just like James here. Jake's like me, more or less, and Liesl is almost something else entirely. No clue what Mystery Man over there has going on though."

Alright, enough showing off "But more to the point, I can go Home. That's what she did. We can make area's that particularly resemble parts of our soul take us to our Lair. That's, well, it's Somewhere Else. Part of the human unconscious I think. around near the Temnos if you like the magicy words for it.. And we can force other people along with us. Once you're in, it's really damn hard to get out. Either the owner lets you out, or you break the entire thing trying. And the second option is not an easy one. So uh, I recommend you don't try meeting up with her again tomorrow. At least not alone."

"Oh, right, and to clarify. Wonder, when I said you saw me eat, I wasn't talking about the sandwiches."

[TeaJay]

Wonder looks at Elias. "I am very sorry," they say, "that you have been lied to so thoroughly. There are a variety of false lights, and I think I know that better than even you or your kin." Wonder says this with a tone that might be wistful, though it's hard to tell what they would be wishing for. "But there are a great deal of truly good things. This is not the best we can do; this is not as good as it can get. Those are not lies, nor is striving toward a better world.

"And thank you for sharing that information."

They look at TGlua2Vy. "I agree that going alone could be dangerous. Did you have a reason for volunteering to do so?"

[Fortuna]

TGlua2Vy shrugs. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. I suspect she will be inclined to return, and we can make something of that."

[TeaJay]

"Hm." Wonder pursed their lips. "I have contacts in the right places that I can probably work out what this person's preferred burial rites would be. Elias, from your construction, it sounds like it's possible that the only way to stop the killer from killing more people would result in them dying. Do you know any way to check whether that is the case, or whether their hunger could be fed on something...relatively benign, like yours?"

[Phasm]

"Fascinating," Salvia breathes. New lore! Something supernatural that she knows absolutely nothing about! Some mages would be irritated or insecure by such a revelation. To Salvia, new knowledge is the best kind of drug. New questions immediately start spinning through her head. I wonder how spells for astral travel would work with a Beast's Lair? I wonder how Prime magic would interact with their powers? Do they regenerate like werewolves? How many kinds of 'Hunger' are there?

She blinks as Wonder asks their questions. Come on, self, pull it together. "Awakened will, hmm? An interesting choice of words, Awakening is how mages refer to the event that unlocks our magic. Would you be averse to my contacting other mages about this matter? I won't reveal anything about Beasts that you would rather remain secret, but the more I can tell my colleagues, the more likely we are to learn something useful. Perhaps I can get into the Los Angeles Lorehouse... I've never heard of Beasts before today, but all manner of information gets tucked away in Lorehouses."

[OracleofSilence]

"Outside of asking her, no. I haven't run into many more like me. Beasts, that is, so I wouldn't really know where to start. And uh, Wonder? I think you missed the part where my analysis of what you are swapped over to cynicism and snark." Elias pauses a bit as Salvia makes her offer, it was almost half tempting but... "I appreciate the interest, and would be happy to explain what I can, but I'm not sure I want you spreading that information around to your buddies."

[Fortuna]

"Well, asking her will be an option soon enough." Its core of bitterness has rapidly sublimated into a determination that its efforts, spiteful or no, will amount to something. "On which note, what preparations do you suggest I make against tomorrow? Will any of you be accompanying me, provided you can do it subtly?" It gives Wonder a definite look at that last, although what it might mean is not immediately clear.

[The_Snark]

"Liesl, I might have something that fits your human self. Unless you have a change of clothes in your backpack, of course."

Liesl shakes her head, crouching to pick up her backpack again. She trots off into the cave a little ways, just enough to get out of sight; anyone trying to follow gets a pointed look.

A minute later she emerges from the cave in human form, wearing what looks like a one-piece sarong improvised from three meters of colorful fabric. (Not that that last is unusual; Liesl wears muted colors for work and funerals and not a lot else.) "Um, I could go with you?" she volunteers, catching Robert's last comment. "She didn't see me like this, and I don't look very threatening. Or I could come as a wolf, I'm not bad at stalking."

[TeaJay]

"I don't know how many of us can be subtle," Wonder says, in part referring to themself. "It might be better to have a rapid way to contact us; the Beast doesn't seem interested in killing people quickly."

[aetherialDawn]

James sheepishly looks up from his notepad and pen, which he has been busily using to scribble down a mishmash of notes, reminders for questions to ask later, and theories, such as "Beasts" (circled and underlined,) "Temenos" (circled twice, underlined,) "Awakened Will" (circled and underlined with a few bullet points, theories crossed out lightly with, 'ask Salvia first' next to them,) "Wonder's Contacts" (an exclamation point,) and "Lorehouse" (circled twice, underlined, with an exclamation point.)
There's also some song lyrics and some sort of simplified musical notation reminder down all throughout the page - something about the light and dark, or ground and stars...

"...Uh." He glances to Liesl, and to Salvia, and... oh thank goodness, it's not just him who got distracted by the revelations. Even if Salvia seems to have handled it... better.
Liesl's better at the not-getting-sidetracked part, so maybe he'll ask if he missed anything later.
"I don't know about subtle. But, I could probably get a mic working down here with a really good wireless connection, if you wanted a way to call for backup... I could try to protect you from either bullets and teeth, or from the dust, too. If we've got 'till tomorrow, then I won't... mess it up." He flinches sheepishly, but then his expression shifts with a new idea - a smile lights up his face and he speaks with odd conviction, "And I can give you a song, of course."
James fidgets with his notebook, glancing at his song notes and itching to change a few things, humming a few bars of something experimentally.

[Fortuna]

TGlua2Vy nods to Liesl. "Up to you; whatever skin you're more comfortable in." Then it turns its attention to James. "All of that sounds great, except maybe the song. Is there anything I need to do to facilitate that, or can you handle it all yourself?"

[aetherialDawn]

James' eyes brighten noticeably.
"You don't need to do anything, but if you're willing to talk for a bit it could be better." He pauses, no longer quite so much humming with eagerness. "Ah... I suppose that might fall under the mystery stuff Wonder mentioned, though.
"It'll probably be easier to work without lyrics, if you want a song that is just useful and not yours like that? I can do that too." He works through this entire monologue at a speed which is fast enough to require effort to keep up with, mind clearly racing ahead of his own plans.

"For now, though... do we want to finish our cave adventure, or go have that picnic and ask contacts and discuss what to do about our not-exactly-a-mystery-anymore?" His tone makes it clear that he's interested in the latter, and not because of the picnic.

[TeaJay]

"I vote picnic. Cave with Beast person sounds like not a lot of fun, and I'll try and see if I can get an announcement of bees or something so no one ends up getting caught by this one in the meantime." Wonder smiles. "And it would be nice to actually get to know each other better. Shall we?" Unless actively stopped, Wonder will begin setting up blankets and sandwiches.

[Fortuna]

With a glance at the cave mouth, TGlua2Vy ventures "Perhaps we could repair to the park? I'd rather not seem like we were keeping watch, or setting an ambush." Or be caught in an ambush, for that matter, but that doesn't sound as good. "It might make diplomacy even more difficult than it's already likely to be."

[Lanaya]

There are always a lot of people in Appletree Park, but it's large enough that a private spot can still be found to discuss sensitive matters. Children stay in the shade of the apple trees plucking ripe fruit to eat, or throw at one another while the adults aren't looking, and dogs out on walks mingle and play, sometimes dipping into the river for a quick swim.

[aetherialDawn]

[Appletree Park]

James returns from a game of frisbee with Liesl and Wonder, ducking a playful attack with a thrown frisbee as he jogs up towards the picnic. "Okay, okay, I promise, I promise! I promise I'll stop cheating!" he laughs cheerfully, caught out in manipulating the wind in his favor. Thoughts of death and ghosts and Beasts and mystery still lurk, but it feels good to do something nice for a little bit and get away from that.

He pauses in front of TGlua2Vy. Speaking of mystery, 'Robert' is definitely the more enigmatic now... And he's been told not to look too closely.
"So, uh, Robert..." James shrugs in response to nothing, continuing on, "Is now a good time to handle that song and, uh, the other song? I mean, have you got the mic you want to use later?" To Robert's programmed, trained, and then honed and practiced skills at deception, James is as transparent as a guilty kitten in what he means - he's asking about whether Robert wants to handle the spells now. Evidently, they can be done in the middle of a busy park - information freely given, if not intentionally so.

[Fortuna]

TGlua2Vy finishes its mouthful of apple, regarding James levelly. Finally it shrugs and says "If you don't mind the audience."

[TeaJay]

Wonder likes the park. The air is crisp and the world is lovely and it becomes socially acceptable to meet people and make friends. The etiquette is--different, when she's in a suit of armor, but she already has to read who's actually all right with their kids playing with the Black lady with dreadlocks. This is different, but not inherently more complicated.

"I've seen you around the shop, yeah? How do you like it?"

[The_Snark]

"S- Querida's shop?" Liesl covers her verbal stumble by trying a forehand throw, which (she is assured by friends) is a valuable skill in Ultimate Frisbee. It hits the ground about halfway to Wonder, but rolls in the right direction and ends up not too far from her feet, so not a total failure. "It's nice. I spent a summer working there when I was in high school, back when I was looking for company. It seemed like a good place to meet people. I didn't know her very well then, though; she's a good boss but she's pretty closemouthed with strangers." Long experience has made her at ease referring obliquely to the supernatural.

[aetherialDawn]

James takes TGlua2Vy's cell phone and pockets it, takes up his guitar, and searches for an appropriate place to play - privacy is well and good, just not for this. "C'mon, Robert."

He dips into Mage Sight as he strolls towards a more public place, slipping deeper into it, letting the musics of the park wash over him as he stands up on a bench and, without introduction, launches immediately into playing - quickly rising from initial notes to an energetic, engrossing piece - or rather, just the guitar part of it. Throughout it, he listens to Robert and the crowd, straining to hear the rainbow-spectrum of emotions as he uses his music to draw things towards a unity.

Only at the very end does he actually cast the spell - 'pulling' the echoes of the music into Robert's cell phone to give it a divine connection, at least for a while. Prosaic, sure, but he is a college student and so this is a spell he's used many times.

He clears his throat and finishes with the only words he's actually said, "If you'd like to hear the other parts of the song, we'll be performing next Wednesday evening at The Tipsy Bear."

Firstly, rolling for Inspiring on all the NPCs who hear, plus Robert. They'll just be Inspired to "Enjoy the day at the park". I leave it up to Lanaya what effects that has (probably nothing noticeable, save that they'll be very slightly more likely to bother resisting their Vices later offscreen. I think Wonder would appreciate that.)
Presence 3 + Expression 5 - Crowd 3 (Might only be 2 or even just 1 if nobody's around, but James isn't being quiet.)
[roll0] No success. Tragic.
I have no idea how Robert will react to having music that makes it easier to enjoy the day at the park. He may not have the human context to figure out how to use it properly. Demons... :smalltongue:

A roll for the spell, and the next couple of retries since I'm not time-limited. With the retry penalty.
This is a Forces 2 (Ruling) spell, so I have two Reach. One for instant casting, one for advanced duration. Base duration for this would be a week in this case which I consider well and truly sufficient. So I'm not taking any penalties, it's not risking paradox, and all of that.

Assuming I succeed, for the next week (or until I dismiss the spell, if earlier) this phone will have a perfectly normal phone connection from anywhere, to anywhere, without connection problems on its end. Charging the battery not included.

Gnosis 2 + Forces 3 + Ex. Affinity 2 + Yantra 1 (Guitar - Magic that connects things)
[roll1] Success on the first try for once. Yay!
And the rerolls I seem to keep needing...
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Phasm]

Querida declines the game of frisbee, preferring to sit down under a tree and watch the people, animals and plants around her through Mage Sight. A peaceful scene like this is relaxing, the play of Life energies and spirits adding another dimension to the view. She's tempted to take her shoes and socks off to feel the grass and earth, but with dogs here, that's probably not a smart idea. Ahh... this is what I needed after the cave.

Once the frisbee players return, she starts handing out sandwiches and bottles of water. After all, they had planned on an all-afternoon excursion; Querida packed a cooler with lunch for everyone. "I've also got tortilla chips, salsa, a bunch of grapes and some cookies." Taking a swig of water, she smiles at Liesl's comment. "Thank you, Liesl. My... colleagues and I do tend to keep certain information to ourselves. The nature of our work is such that most people don't remember anything we say about it anyway. And those who do might be enemies." She shrugs. "I don't know why that is; there are many theories, but no way to really test them. It's refreshing to be able to talk about it and know that you will remember tomorrow. All you have the ability to do so."

[Fortuna]

TGlua2Vy watches James's performance without any outward display, accepting its phone back soberly and immediately starting to flick through menus. "Thanks. What's the upshot?"



The next day, TGlua2Vy goes to wait a little way into the caves at about the same time.

[TeaJay]

Kiana is...about. Somewhat-not-really deniably about. In shouting distance. His T-shirt hides the phylactery pendant. Could just have decided this was a nice place to set up outside today.

He's laid out a blanket and brought a waterproof deck of cards, and has settled into playing solitaire. The deck is Alice in Wonderland-themed, to the surprise of absolutely no one who knows Kiana.

Kiana has told with one of his law enforcement friends that he's intending to spend the day around the caves, and expects a call from said friend in a few hours if he doesn't text her in the interim.

[aetherialDawn]

James seems confused for a moment at Robert's words, then realizes what he means. "Oh, er." He lowers his voice conspiratorialy, "Your phone will work from anywhere, to anywhere. Not sure if you can call a phone that has no reception, but if the other phone is good, yours is good."

James thereafter enjoys the picnic, playing snippets of music off and on (and taking requests.)

---

The next day, James tags along with Liesl, his phone open on a call with Robert. James' end of the call is muted, just in case.
The bored Mage passes the time alternately chatting with Liesl, and diving into his Sight to listen to the sunlight for a while.