Harry Pugger and the Sorceror's Apprentice IC

[ChaosArchon]

The Cumberland Files: As You Sow

You stand in the alleyway, drinking in the scene as it surrounds and envelopes you silently entreating you to delve further and further in to its mystery. The air is polluted with the smell of cigarette smoke from the nearby bar and you can almost taste the stale beer entrenched in the nearby dumpster. It's noon and still the alleyway is darker than a smoker's lungs, and promises an even greater chance of death.

Yet you can't avert your eyes, you must know why it happened. How it happened. Your soul just won't let you forget about it, even if it wasn't dangerously close to lifting the Veil for the Sleepers. The body was only found a few hours ago and already half the town seems to know about it. A young woman found hung upside down with a pool of blood underneath her. The Sleeper police had already surveyed the scene, their yellow tape barricading the area from the public. They had quickly recorded the scene and then taken the body to the morgue to prevent outright panic, but still the tape remained and an officer had been assigned to the scene. Luckily the officer had just left to get a cup of joe, and with the lines at Starbucks he'd likely be gone for some time.

The pool of blood has remained, and the more you look upon it, the more you dream about the mysteries its crimson depths hide beneath its darkened surface. Still, the time for ruminating was past and you had a job to finish. After all it wasn't a normal woman who had died, but a Mage named Morea. She had been a Solitary but all the same, she was one of the Wise and someone would have to answer for this.

[josienoms]

Dali finishes off her cigarette, and crushes it under her heel. She can't be distracted right now, there's something new and exciting and dangerous to undertake. She sits down on the ground near the dried bloodstain on the concrete.

"Well, let's see what we can find, shall we?"

She draws her wand from inside her jacket. It's a simple wooden stick that was once a paintbrush, but has since been inlaid with silver runes. Drawing on her own Awakened understanding, she attempts to see through the veil of time. She mutters under her breath, using her wand and the High Speech as Yantras.

Alright, so I'm gonna cast Postcognition, which is an improvised spell. I've got a base pool of 4 for Time+Gnosis, and +2 for using my two Yantras. I have three free Reach, so I'll use one to be able to "scrub" the vision, one to remain aware of my surroundings and not lose defense. I'll use the third to bump it up to Advanced Duration, so I can watch up to an hour of vision.

[roll0]

[Tome]

Same stifles her disgust. Dreki is above this, she reminds herself, trying not to think about the lingering smell. She feels outrage, not revulsion. This is her territory, her land. It is under her protection. So finding whoever did this... is her responsibility.

Mind set, she gives a small growl of annoyance, casting a quick glance back to the entrance of the alley. Assured that the ongoing murmurs of high speech from her cabal mates weren't going to attract any undue attention, she begins her own chant. In her mind, she sees the eyes of a dragon - herself - narrowed in righteous rage. She is magic and truth, no deception will hide the culprit from her.

Casting Pierce Deception (Prime 1), using high speech and persona yantras. One reach on instant action casting, and the second to give it advanced duration.

Gnosis (1) + Prime (2) + Persona (3) + High Speech (2) = 8 dice
[roll0]

Dreki also reflexively activates Active Mage Sight with Prime and Forces.

[ChaosArchon]

The Supernal swirls around Dali, shapes begin to form images from time past and actions only shortly forgotten. But they fail to take shape and just as quickly as the Supernal arrived so too does it fade.

Meanwhile a small dragon speaks to Dreki, telling her about magics that it can see and yet also not see. The alleyway is a bonfire of Supernal magic it says, maybe at least, as it gives the impression of nothing. A true Lie indeed.


Clash of Wills for Dreki, I'll be rolling my results secretly because otherwise that would be a spoiler :smalltongue:

[Tome]

"There's something hidden here" Dreki remarks with a scowl, frustrated at her inability to pierce the deception. There's something there, she felt it pushing against her spell, but too strong for her to push past.

Alternative approaches then. She could try dispelling, if it's some sort of prime veil hiding a spell. Couldn't be a time or death veil, she couldn't see those in the first place. Same for spirit. Mind, maybe some sort of mental illusion? That'd be tricky, Drest couldn't really help with a dispel. It might not even be a mage's work, in which case she'd be out of luck.

Probably best to let the others take a crack at it first. "Ereshkigal, Dali, Drest. I'm going to include you in the spell" she announces, beckoning them closer.

The symbol language of supernal truth winks out as she drops the existing spell. She begins chantin anew,, fixing the imago in her mind again, only this time with inferences of her persona's aspects of leadership and guardianship. These people are mine, she insists, they share in my might, I will take the veils from their eyes.

Canceling Pierce Deception and recasting it on the four of us. Same as the previous casting, but this time she'll take the -4 penalty to increase the scale to four people.

[roll0]