The plot starts here, please remember to include your stats (including paradox count and vulgar spell cast), spells (With potency and duration), and gear in a spoiler or OOC box and link and spells you use or have on.
If you have any spends to do on your character sheet please do them before joining the plot thread, you will not have anything that has not been approved on your sheet once you join the plot.
Thank you!
It is safe to say contact with the mages from the golden consilium had not gone as smoothly as might be liked, the arrival of a self professed Seer of the throne and unknown space glyph quickly derailed the meeting from anything actively productive. Simon Cartwright met his end at the hand of the San Francisco mages but not without some serious problems as paradox tore spells out of their control and and magic happened in places the public could very well have seen it occur. Not to mention that Athena a particular zealous combatant tried to direct her knife into both Thirteen and Skye as they fled a cat sized tumor with tentacles, a spirit guardian run amok. Leo took wounds but ensured the escape of the both mages and a neutral party going by the shadow name of Duke, despite his clearly better nature Leo ultimately did not side with the Sacramento mages.
Many options now exist, The mages of Sacramento know where to find the mages of the golden consilium. They have been attacked and can justifiable declare the Great right of Nemesis and precept of war if they so wish, they can continue to spy and sabotage the golden mages helping them dig a deeper and more damming hole, there are loose ends that could be tied up such as trying to find out why they think they have a claim or if that mage Thirteen encountered in the flower nursery is in fact tied to them. As it so often the possibilities are endless.
To be clear there is a plot and it will be advancing but I am giving you a scene to plan, prepare and make moves of your own rather then be forced onto the reactionary back foot the entire time.
A silver pendant, shaped like a crescent moon and the number 13. It's typically worn around her neck on a silver chain.
Nimbus
Shards of a broken mirror, orbiting around her. Each shard reflects images of bad luck: Crows, black cats, upside down horseshoes, cracked tea cups, spilled salt, and, of course, the number 13 (in random colors and fonts).
When she casts Vulgar magic, the shards orbit faster, flashing dangerously like knives.
War wasn't an option. Thirteen knew this. Numbers-wise, they were a match for the cabal in the Zinfandel Estates, but those would-be Starbucks managers had the might of the Golden Consilium to call upon in a pinch. Starting a straight fight with San Francisco would result in the deaths of the Acanthus and everyone else at the Circle. Justified or not, it would be a suicidal decision.
Sabotage felt like a better idea. Give those idiots more rope to hang themselves with. Somehow.
There was the problem. She wasn't sure how. Dropping a hint about Chambers' Sanctum to use as bait for a Lex Magica entrapment no longer felt feasible. It would require interacting with the Zinfandel Cabal (for lack of a better name - and she was absolutely NOT referring to them as a Consilium). That would be dangerous. The Libertine had no desire to be stabbed, and that old crone never liked to her begin with. Skye had tried flipping Leo, but that failed.
So... now what?
The rogue Mage from the Flower Farm Inn. Thirteen hadn't thought about him for some time now. Was he working for San Francisco like she had suspected? Where had he gone? The fiasco with Eidolon had left a bad taste in her mouth, but it was an avenue of investigation. If he was working for the Goldies, that could be another black eye for them if she could find the bastard. Could she even find him? She had the ability to scry him, now. The sympathy would be weak, however. No name of any sort. Only met him once.
Unless....
"I could postcognition the bampot!" she snapped her fingers as the idea struck her! Maybe there were clue to view, ones she'd have missed the first time. She had the perfect sympathetic bond, too. Leonardo the Turtle!
"Eh?" Jinx looked up in confusion from his TV show as the redhead awoke from her reverie and grabbed the mutated turtle shell off a shelf. She'd held onto it as a sort of souvenir, but she could use it to postcog the cabin when the poor animal was there!
"Birdie, we're peerin' into the past! Set up the ritual!"
"Oh, no... not again! Can't you make it a quickie?"
"I suppose..." the Enchantress mentally debated over whether to fast-cast the techne.
"Who're you peeping on this time? A dead turtle?"
"Yes! Leonardo here was around the bastard that created him at some point. If I postcog the day he escaped that Unnamed Mage's custody, maybe I can overhear something useful!"
"What are the chances of that?" the familiar sounded less enthusiastic about the possibilities than the surprisingly eager Scot.
She shrugged in return, "Won't know till I try! I need a lead, anyway. Might as well give it a shot, right? I'll make it a quickie, as you suggest, so be happy. If there's nothing to learn, no point in wastin' the whole afternoon. And if I do learn somethin', we can go do some Scooby Doo investigatin'. Maybe bring someone along. Aurora or Skye or whoever."
"Well, that sounds more fun that watching you stare into space for hours on end."
"Shush. Just watch me stare into space for a few minutes," Thirteen sarcastically answered before getting started. The High Speech echoed through her radio station Sanctum before she dared to reach across the Abyss towards her Lunargent Watchtower.
Paradox pool 2 (Gnosis 3). -1 dedicated tool, -1 rote, -1 three dot spell or lower = Chance die!
Dramatic Failure!
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2026-07-12 14:34:55
Thirteen rolls 1 to Paradox (10 Again, Chance)
1
Dramatic Failure!
Paradox was avoided, thankfully. Holding the weird shell and touching her silver necklace, Thirteen concentrated on the past... on the day and time this once-flying turtle had escaped from the Mystery Mad Scientist Mage. A perfected glyph of Cyan and Grey formed before her.
Postcognition rote: Intelligence 2 + Investigation 2 + Time 3 + High Speech 2 - Sympathy (Intimate) 2 = 7 dice. Space 2 included.
failure
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2026-07-12 14:49:50
Thirteen rolls 7 to Postcognition rote (10 Again)
4, 1, 5, 7, 3, 7, 1
failure
"You're developing a worrying addiction to doing this, you voyeur," Jinx snickered, knowing the woman could not hear him for the moment.
"Excuse me, chicken?!" she glared at him, the spell having failed.
"Uhhh.... I was saying your head feathers look lovely today! Umm... no luck?"
The anger was obvious in her face as she looked at the shell in her hands. "Per usual," she growled.
I'll try casting again next post, so as not to make this one go on too long.
Equipment
Dedicated magical tool, light revolver (2L), knife (1L), motorcycle, motorcycle helmet, motorcycle jacket (1/0), smartphone, ID and some cash, keychain with keys, driving gloves, bottled water, ink pen and notepad, backpack, duct tape, flashlight baton, toolkits (electronics & automotive) in motorcycle saddlebags.
Just going to put this here as a reminder to myself as much as anything (With the house rules Thirteen can cast 4 vulgar spells before paradox starts to build!
Dramatic Failure: The mage does not invoke a Paradox
and the next Paradox roll made for him within the same
scene (for an instant casting) or within the same day (for an
extended casting) does not suffer the usual +1 dice modifier
It is a moment of oddly balanced luck for the enchantress as she holds the shell of the creature she had dubbed Leonardo all the pieces are there to create an intimate sympathetic connection, animals after all needed no names and she had been the mages for lack fop a better term workshop so with the shell in hand a item that had been present at the time she wished to see this should be about as straight forward as it gets. Providing the mutant still counted as an animal, okay maybe a few grey areas there. But it should still be possible however that situation shook out.
And even better not only the Abyss not take notice but the spell is called down from the tower of the Lunargent Thorn with a smooth ease her awakened soul bridging and fortifying its passage into fallen reality where it ... fails to manifest ... that is something of a sick joke the rare time where she has such control as to hold back the threat of abyssal corruption only for the spell itself to not play ball.
Nimbus:
A flowering of wildflowers accompanied by their scent and the sounds of a calm wind dancing over the sea. The more vulgar the spells, the meaner the magic the stronger the winds, the flowers blooming only to quickly decay and spread the scent of death with them.
Appearance
Standing 152.4cm tall, her hair color changing on a regular basis, usually braided but not always.
Her body seemingly quite petite and small but upon closer inspection so is it unexpectedly sturdy, her left arm well trained with more defining muscles than her right arm.
Rarely seen without an armguard and archer glove on her left hand.
Each and every movement always precise, rarely if ever wasting any more effort than needed to achieve her desired result.
Equipment
Spells
Rituals July:
[4/3$] Combo Organic Resilience and pulse of the living world (armor 5, cloaked)
[9$] Body Mastery +3 (Cloaked)
[9R$] Honing the form Dex (+5, cloaked)
Walking in, knowing she had likely made the others wait as her training pass had dragged out the time more than anticipated, wearing her usual black style along with a dark hat with a clip on fan attached to it.
Eyes instantly scanning around the room as she enters, not trying to be sneaky or hide but also not drawing attention to herself at first, instead taking up two of the grapes from her pouch, carefully cutting it in two and wiping off her blade before walking closer. ”Kindly excuse my delay.” Looking down towards the turtle shell in a bit of a surprise. ”Did not expect to see that, is it related to the clean up me and Knight did a while back?” Recalling the remains she and Asclepius had found on those terrariums after they were sent in to clean up the place of supernal links.
Turning her attention towards Jinx, and putting down the four grapes half, two red, two green along with two unsalted peanuts still in their shell.
”Sir Jinx, I hope you like grapes.” And looking back towards Thirteen. ”Did you manage to learn anything from viewing the events of our last visit?” The six weeks she had said until she would be able to scry on the killing of the self proclaimed seer, or the space spell long since having passed.
Gear
Light black gloves covering her hands and fingers (in pouch), knivesx2 (+1), kevlar vest thin under shirt, LED flashlight (small), city map, athletic running shoes, dark none descript clothes, wooden coin necklace (dedicated tool, around her neck under shirts). Dark leather medium pouch strapped to her leg, leather pouch at her side, leather pouch at chest with treats, protein/energy bar x7, water canteen (filled with water), hat+fan,.
A silver pendant, shaped like a crescent moon and the number 13. It's typically worn around her neck on a silver chain.
Nimbus
Shards of a broken mirror, orbiting around her. Each shard reflects images of bad luck: Crows, black cats, upside down horseshoes, cracked tea cups, spilled salt, and, of course, the number 13 (in random colors and fonts).
When she casts Vulgar magic, the shards orbit faster, flashing dangerously like knives.
Apologies, maybe I didn't make it clear enough, but Thirteen and Jinx are in her Sanctum and Skye isn't invited there. Sympathetic magic doesn't work in the Circle (due to the wards), so I was trying a quick postcog in her Sanctum before moving to meet up with Skye at the Circle. Sadly, I failed the role. Hopefully this retry will work.
It was strange, Thirteen thought. She didn't feel the usual looming presence of the Abyss when she cast a vulgar spell, like it was lurking about waiting for an excuse to pounce. Everything felt 'normal.' Maybe she had slipped the failed spell past the corruption more effectively than she had realized.
"Fuck it, gonna give it one more shot. If I blow it again, we'll just head to the Circle," the Acanthus said to her familiar, closing her eyes to concentrate.
"Weeeeeeee!" the bird replied drolly.
Once more, the High Speech. Once more, the touching of her silver necklace.
Paradox pool 2 (Gnosis 3). -1 dedicated tool, -1 rote, -1 three dot spell or lower = Chance die!
failure
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2026-07-21 09:27:35
Thirteen rolls 1 to Paradox check (10 Again, Chance)
5
failure
Once again, the Abyss did not interfere in the casting. But like before, would the interference not be necessary to ruin the spell?
Postcognition rote: Intelligence 2 + Investigation 2 + Time 3 + High Speech 2 - Sympathy (Intimate) 2 - Retry 1 = 6 dice. Space 2 included.
The perfected glyph of the rote, grey and cyan in an alternating pattern, formed before the young Libertine. And this time...
failure
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2026-07-21 09:34:04
Thirteen rolls 6 to Postcognition rote (10 Again)
3, 5, 3, 4, 1, 7
failure
...nothing.
The postcognition just... wasn't happening.
Thirteen glared at the warped turtle shell in her hands. Jinx watched her quietly, knowing when to let the temperamental Mage seethe.
Why? Why isn't it workin'?! It should have worked!!
After silently fuming for several minutes, mentally reviewing every step of the techne to be certain she hadn't screwed up something (she had not), the Enchantress could only chalk this up to her bad luck.
The universe was fucking with her life, as usual.
Leonardo's shell was replaced upon the shelf, next to Angus the Cactus. Thirteen wordlessly gathered her things and headed towards the exit. Jinx, realizing they were leaving, quickly turned off his TV and followed. Outside, the redhead mounted her motorcycle and sat there for a moment. The crow stood on the roofline of the sanctum building and waited for it.
She screamed. Just screamed towards the heavens, venting her frustrations. The radio station lot was remote and sheltered enough from the street than it was unlikely anyone would notice.
Now that it was out of her system, Thirteen donned her helmet, started up her bike, and drove off the property and headed for the Circle of Creation, a crow wheeling around in the sky behind her.
Equipment
Dedicated magical tool, light revolver (2L), knife (1L), motorcycle, motorcycle helmet, motorcycle jacket (1/0), smartphone, ID and some cash, keychain with keys, driving gloves, bottled water, ink pen and notepad, backpack, duct tape, flashlight baton, toolkits (electronics & automotive) in motorcycle saddlebags.
I think the issue here is mine apologies, I set the scene in the circle as it was neutral space for mages to meet and do prep work. Thirteen is indeed in her sanctum as has been written which is absolutely fine
Skye can either being the circle or in her own sanctum. I will edit and strike out the stuff about her talking to Thirteen because well it is not possible with the current set up, but there is no punishment or anything being issued as I do believe the fault was mine for not being clearer.
One final point of note the circles wards stop anything side it being targeted with sympathetic magic, but they do not stop sympathetic magic being cast out from to the circle to target other locations. people etc however the sympathetic connection would be established as normal with all the usual and possible risks if done so.
For all her power, all her experience and all her skill Thirteen just can't seem to get her techne to work today. The small silver lining is no kick back from the abyss, no seething corruption, no pain, no distortion. Yet in many ways that can burn all the more when the spells themselves refuse to cooperate, was this fat screwing with the enchantress? Was it a indication that she needed to be trying something else? A non to friendly form of guidance? If so it could do well to make its meaning a bit clearer.
Angry, frustrated and fresh of her hopefully cathartic venting Thirteen kicks of from her sanctum astride her precious motorbike towards the circle of creation where hopefully others would be or soon be who might have had more luck in their own endeavors. If not well maybe they could vent together and come up with some kind of plan.
Nimbus:
A flowering of wildflowers accompanied by their scent and the sounds of a calm wind dancing over the sea. The more vulgar the spells, the meaner the magic the stronger the winds, the flowers blooming only to quickly decay and spread the scent of death with them.
Appearance
Standing 152.4cm tall, her hair color changing on a regular basis, usually braided but not always.
Her body seemingly quite petite and small but upon closer inspection so is it unexpectedly sturdy, her left arm well trained with more defining muscles than her right arm.
Rarely seen without an armguard and archer glove on her left hand.
Each and every movement always precise, rarely if ever wasting any more effort than needed to achieve her desired result.
Equipment
Spells
Rituals July:
[4/3$] Combo Organic Resilience and pulse of the living world (armor 5, cloaked)
[9$] Body Mastery +3 (Cloaked)
[9R$] Honing the form Dex (+5, cloaked)
Having hurried here, believing herself to be late and no one was here? Sure worst come to worst she could act independently but knowing all to well she was the on...one of two people still around with no position or real manner to represent or speak for them at all would make that foolish. Nor would it be wise for anyone to act alone in this matter, softly touching her skin where the knife had penetrated her hardened body knowing all to well that had Leo not stepped in to help them so would they have likely been fighting a losing battle even if they could somehow limit matters to be discreet.
Sitting herself down on the floor, eyes locked on the entrance as she mentally begins to make up a plan of what she could do would circumstances indeed end up forcing her to work by herself. Her eternal ally, the only one she could really trust to always be there pulled forth into full view, contrasting and playing out each scene she could imagine as a possibility, every initial plan, every animal at her disposal played out to the best of her knowledge, analyzing the potential dangers and risks, reactions, and whom she could even risk interacting with rather than needing to stay clear from at all cost. Really only able to see the chance to even get close to two plus one of them without it being an instant game over, they had already proved their willingness to go lethal, and any retaliation well who knew how damn much backing they had access to? It was surprising though, little as they sought such direct conflict so had they also not seen any made up retaliation or act from them to the best of her knowledge. Lack of backing, a grander plan, or were they waiting to establish something? Frick, we could really have used that damn cop now.
Gear
Light black gloves covering her hands and fingers (in pouch), knivesx2 (+1), kevlar vest thin under shirt, LED flashlight (small), city map, athletic running shoes, dark none descript clothes, wooden coin necklace (dedicated tool, around her neck under shirts). Dark leather medium pouch strapped to her leg, leather pouch at her side, leather pouch at chest with treats, protein/energy bar x7, water canteen (filled with water), hat+fan,.
Out of path cast x2, 
Harden Mask, 
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Striking Looks
Presence
Familiar
