(Invisible Hands) Jars of Curious Distinction

[Yumyumcrow]

Four jars sit on the table. Four jars; two pairs. They would not look out of place at an auction, or maybe sealed away in a display cabinet at the museum or an art gallery. Two are made of glass: high fluted with an austere simplicity, accentuated by the delicate cross hatching along the circumference of the ovoid body; inside, a white substance clings thickly at the bottom. The other two are made of a slaty green pottery, stretched ovoid in shape with curious coppery rims and chunky lid. Unknown symbols are etched, or scratched, into the coppery rims; within there is nothing but dust and ashes.

The Ordo Dracul knows differently, however. They have seen mists pour from the glass jars and spirits writhe from the pottery ones. They have seen veils part and cthonic talons rake bloody wounds on undead flesh.

And they don't know what these jars of curious distinction portend.

[Michael Redfill]

Not being much good at torture and being too battered to do anything confrontational anyway, Mike finds himself near David. The jars are... curious. So someone　level-headed　and　tired　is　needed　to　make　sure　Dragons'　n atural　inquisitiveness　doesn't kill them all：

”Ideas, Supplicant Regan? The non-transparent jars, I believe, were the source of the spectres that attacked us inside the house. I suggest, no matter what you do, don't open them".

[Aileen McFarlane]

Along with her two newfound coterie-mates, Aïleen looked at the jars with a curious gleam in the eyes. There was obviously more than met the eye with those jars, and it was another puzzle to test her intellectual mettle against. Could she have them fit in the system she had learned of, or would it be something else entirely ? That was clearly her first thought, and her first line of inquiry.

  3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-10 17:37:03		Aileen rolls 8 to Int 5 + Occult 3 (10 Again)		1, 5, 5, 10, 3, 3, 8, 5, 8		3 successes

[Yumyumcrow]

The slaty jars offer nothing particularly dangerous this time round: no ghostly whisp or alien spectre is conjured from their depths when the lid is removed. They are simply large jars with slaty glaze and copper rims. David finds that taking rubbings of the strange characters and glyphs is a little tricky, as they run around the rim and around the lip of the jar: they are pretty obscure-looking and crude; their origin is not readily apparent to the inquisitive Shadow. Obtaining ash fragments for study is relatively simple for the trained academic - now David just needs to find someone to test the sample for him...

Aileen consults her copious notes from the grimoire study. They are enough to indicate that the jars represent something else and are most likely not tied to that unique system of magic. In fact, the meaning of the curious scratchings remains tantalisingly elusive.

The following refers to the pottery jars only, as they seem to be the focus of attention.
To study the jars: [Intelligence + Academics] Extended action; target number 15*
To attempt to match and / or examine the markings with ancient writing / occult systems [Intelligence + Occult + 1 Equipment Bonus]^ Extended action; target 20

Teamwork is acceptable and encouraged.

*This assumes Aileen is assisting with the research. If David is attempting the feat unassisted, target rises by 5 to 20 to reflect the time, and difficulty, of tracking down the extensive academic work done on ancient pottery. Aileen has better computer skills and they'll be needed to crunch the data.

^This assumes Aileen is assisting with the research. Her extensive notes will be advantageous as they cut out several potential lines of enquiry from the start.

[Michael Redfill]

As Michael moves in to examine the jars, he winces visibly. Even though the slashes ghosts gave him aren't bleeding, it's still unpleasant. Still, the doctor focuses on the research ahead of him. Well-aware of how annoying the Gangrel Curse can be when time is pressing, he doesn't take point, allowing Aileen or David take point on the research themselves.

  Extended academics teamwork, 0, 0, 4, 3, 2, 0, 3, 4

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-12 07:49:48		[08] Michael Redfill rolls 9 to help examine the Jars (Int4 + Academics4 + Geo Nexus) (1s Subtract)		3, 9, 5, 2, 8, 3, 6, 8, 9		4 successes
2014-06-12 07:49:48		[07] Michael Redfill rolls 9 to help examine the Jars (Int4 + Academics4 + Geo Nexus) (1s Subtract)		4, 7, 9, 4, 8, 7, 4, 8, 3		3 successes
2014-06-12 07:49:48		[06] Michael Redfill rolls 9 to help examine the Jars (Int4 + Academics4 + Geo Nexus) (1s Subtract)		1, 2, 5, 1, 3, 6, 8, 1, 9		failure
2014-06-12 07:49:48		[05] Michael Redfill rolls 9 to help examine the Jars (Int4 + Academics4 + Geo Nexus) (1s Subtract)		3, 6, 1, 8, 8, 4, 8, 3, 6		2 successes
2014-06-12 07:49:48		[04] Michael Redfill rolls 9 to help examine the Jars (Int4 + Academics4 + Geo Nexus) (1s Subtract)		6, 2, 8, 2, 10, 2, 10, 6, 5		3 successes
2014-06-12 07:49:48		[03] Michael Redfill rolls 9 to help examine the Jars (Int4 + Academics4 + Geo Nexus) (1s Subtract)		2, 9, 8, 9, 9, 2, 5, 3, 3		4 successes
2014-06-12 07:49:48		[02] Michael Redfill rolls 9 to help examine the Jars (Int4 + Academics4 + Geo Nexus) (1s Subtract)		2, 5, 7, 1, 1, 3, 6, 1, 6		failure
2014-06-12 07:49:48		[01] Michael Redfill rolls 9 to help examine the Jars (Int4 + Academics4 + Geo Nexus) (1s Subtract)		8, 3, 4, 1, 6, 6, 7, 7, 1		failure

Michael is assisting with the Int + Academics. I assume the Geomantic Nexus applies? Otherwise Michael will suggest they carry the jars into the library and conduct the research there.

[Aileen McFarlane]

OOC

I must say I am confused about Extended Teamwork actions. Are Michael and David's rolls added to Aïleen's own ? Or should I roll some increased Dice Pool based on their successes ?

In case it's the first option, here goes:

  Academical approach

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-14 09:00:46		[09] Aileen rolls 8 to Int 5 + Aca 2 + Geo Nex 1 about the jars (10 Again)		5, 5, 1, 2, 10, 8, 4, 7, 5		2 successes
2014-06-14 09:00:46		[08] Aileen rolls 8 to Int 5 + Aca 2 + Geo Nex 1 about the jars (10 Again)		2, 5, 1, 6, 5, 4, 9, 7		1 success
2014-06-14 09:00:46		[07] Aileen rolls 8 to Int 5 + Aca 2 + Geo Nex 1 about the jars (10 Again)		9, 4, 9, 9, 3, 5, 6, 6		3 successes
2014-06-14 09:00:46		[06] Aileen rolls 8 to Int 5 + Aca 2 + Geo Nex 1 about the jars (10 Again)		8, 2, 9, 5, 7, 6, 9, 5		3 successes
2014-06-14 09:00:46		[05] Aileen rolls 8 to Int 5 + Aca 2 + Geo Nex 1 about the jars (10 Again)		1, 2, 2, 4, 9, 7, 9, 7		2 successes
2014-06-14 09:00:46		[04] Aileen rolls 8 to Int 5 + Aca 2 + Geo Nex 1 about the jars (10 Again)		10, 2, 7, 3, 1, 2, 2, 9, 5		2 successes
2014-06-14 09:00:46		[03] Aileen rolls 8 to Int 5 + Aca 2 + Geo Nex 1 about the jars (10 Again)		1, 7, 2, 10, 2, 6, 8, 3, 2		2 successes
2014-06-14 09:00:46		[02] Aileen rolls 8 to Int 5 + Aca 2 + Geo Nex 1 about the jars (10 Again)		7, 6, 5, 3, 3, 4, 1, 3		failure
2014-06-14 09:00:46		[01] Aileen rolls 8 to Int 5 + Aca 2 + Geo Nex 1 about the jars (10 Again)		3, 1, 2, 8, 7, 6, 1, 4		1 success

==> 15 successes reached at the 4th team-roll

  Occult approach

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-14 09:02:36		[06] Aileen rolls 10 to Int 5 + Occ 3 + Equip 1 + Geo Nex 1 about jars (10 Again)		7, 5, 5, 8, 3, 4, 1, 6, 6, 7		1 success
2014-06-14 09:02:36		[05] Aileen rolls 10 to Int 5 + Occ 3 + Equip 1 + Geo Nex 1 about jars (10 Again)		9, 8, 8, 7, 5, 5, 1, 2, 4, 4		3 successes
2014-06-14 09:02:36		[04] Aileen rolls 10 to Int 5 + Occ 3 + Equip 1 + Geo Nex 1 about jars (10 Again)		7, 9, 6, 9, 10, 9, 7, 7, 4, 9, 2		5 successes
2014-06-14 09:02:36		[03] Aileen rolls 10 to Int 5 + Occ 3 + Equip 1 + Geo Nex 1 about jars (10 Again)		5, 1, 10, 8, 4, 6, 5, 3, 4, 8, 4		3 successes
2014-06-14 09:02:36		[02] Aileen rolls 10 to Int 5 + Occ 3 + Equip 1 + Geo Nex 1 about jars (10 Again)		9, 2, 5, 9, 6, 8, 7, 5, 1, 9		4 successes
2014-06-14 09:02:36		[01] Aileen rolls 10 to Int 5 + Occ 3 + Equip 1 + Geo Nex 1 about jars (10 Again)		1, 10, 8, 5, 1, 10, 2, 6, 5, 6, 1, 10, 6		4 successes

==> 20 successes reached at 3rd team-roll

Even though what she saw about the jars didn't fit with what she had dug about the Grimoire, her former research was still an asset in this current investigation. Directing the research from her fellow Scholars, Aïleen managed to make them reach interesting conclusions without losing too much time or energy, and turned toward her Coterie-mates with a pleased smile.

[Yumyumcrow]

For future reference, in Extended Teamwork actions, those assisting add their successes to the dice pool of the prime actor, who then makes their rolls on behalf of the team
I'm going to invoke some hand wavium to expedite this, on this occasion. I'd rather keep things flowing

There is something horrifying about Dragons when they are roused: they are unstoppable. The Dragons set to tracking down the elusive markings, hunting the tiniest fragments of information. It should have been a difficult task, if not impossible: the markings were of a virtually unknown script, obstinately enigmatic. They were undeterred. They could not break the code. They went on, and on, scouring the literature, digging up half forgotten archives left adrift online. What little there was, they amassed - quite possibly the first to ever do so.

The work tracing the provenance of the jars went along a similar trajectory. The data collected by archaeologists was huge and the trio had to sift through it all. It should have been a tiresome, unrewarding, work. Instead it only served to urge the Dragons onward. The jars themselves were unknown but there were other fragments, originating deep in the past and in some very strange places, that held teasing clues... of something; with David and Michael working in the background, they traced it all!

The jars were truly ancient objects and unknown to archaeology. Fragments using a similar glaze had been found before, and discounted as anomalies because they clashed with the established narratives of the Amratian and Naqada I cultures in the Nile Valley. The fragments though, had been found further afield - not just in Africa and the Near East, but in central asia and the western mediterranean. No one had thought to connect the fragments before, it seemed. Or perhaps the knowledge had been buried, as a cache of victorian documents that had been left to rot in the vaults of the British Museum, appeared to attest. Other forgotten caches, buried in museums or lost to the black market, tantalisingly hinted as much.

The script is the same. Virtually unknown. Where fragments are known they are assumed to have been anomalous scratchings because they appear across time and across cultures: mysterious pillars in the desert; cut into caves; inscribed on bark in the taiga; cut into bowls of medieval chalices; scratched onto jade pendants from looted tombs in asia. The Dragons indomitable legwork uncovers strange rumours: ghost tales of secret markets (the most well documented of recent times being the one that appeared briefly in San Francisco, in the years prior to the 1906 earthquake), strange tales of bizarre sects and corporate folly, of fringe historians who suffer suspicious misfortune or madness. Unverified reports put one such object - a capital of pillar, crudely retouched to appear as an eagle - as having surfaced in Sacramento.

It was a lot to get through. And even more to assimilate.

But Dragons, when roused, are unstoppable.