Something Borrowed

[Xander]

West Sacramento was home to many interesting things. There was a ten story office building built to resemble the architecture of ancient Mesopotamia, the home of the river cats, but perhaps most notably to the Awakened of Sacramento it was the residence of the Veiled Threats.

The theater Sanctum of the Threats appeared as it always had, with the large swaths of grey and orange visible from a distance. It stood tall and proud, an inviolate home for the Threats to return to after a long day of work or patrols. As the hours of the day dragged on to the afternoon and eventually evening, the Threats finally did just that and returned to their home.

Unfortunately, something of note had reached it's conclusion while they were away.

Please post Perception checks as you make your way back to the Sanctum. No modifiers. Also please specify in a spoiler any equipment you would have from your character sheets on you or in your vehicle on a normal day at work.

[Star]

More and more, he'd been thinking about a car. The problem was, every time he'd gotten to the point where he'd made up hhis mind? Bike weather. That just right temperature, where it's cool enough to keep from sweating, and that California sun. He kept waiting for it to rain. Florida did that to a person. You expected it, even on a sunny day.

Truth? He liked the rain -- missed it, even.

He didn't miss having a car. It just seemed like something he ought to do. Because. But who was he kidding? Not having a car was his rejection of the Starbucks and Pottery Barn Lie. Like 4W wasn't? Sure, the garish orange and white shoebox with purple piping wasn't going to be on MTV Cribs any time soon, but it was settling down.

That's what motorcycle weather really was. Wind, whipping away the prickly thoughts as it tore at hair and clothing.

When did things get... complicated? Wasn't he a No Complications specialist?

The bike coughed and shuddered to stillness, and he swung off. A little half jump and roll of his shoulders resettled his backpack, and he unsnapped the saddle bags.

He loved 4W. Complicated, yo.

  1 Suxx to PER

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-09-06 22:15:55		Star rolls 5 to Perception! (10 Again)		3, 4, 8, 5, 5		1 success

Requested Equipment Info

Per chat convo, it's easier to list what Star *doesn't* carry with him:

multiple trick magic wands (elongating, sprout flowers, etc)
bags of marbles
roll of saran wrap
several bonsai trees
a can of spray paint
a large bag of... stuff.

[Zodiac]

Tired.

That was the way one typically described their feelings after a long day of work, right? Luckily for Zodiac, that was far from the case. She'd had a wonderfully engaging day at work today - a new set of recovered items from a dig in, of all places, Peru had come in today, and she'd been much like a kid on Christmas with them all. Sarah had given her some of the strangest looks she'd ever received, but by the end of the day both Zoey and Sarah had been giggling to themselves over a few pieces.

Today was a good day, as Zoey was concerned. She'd had a little time where she really did feel like a child again, like there were mysteries available in the world to uncover, and like it was okay to just giggle at some images of archaic porn. She was totally an adult. Totally.

The brunette stretched, collecting up a pair of files into her messenger bag - files containing a few images from work that she was looking into - before slinging it over her shoulder and getting out of the car. As she moved to the back, pulling out a couple of bags with groceries, she hummed lightly to herself before straightening and hip-checking the door closed. A little beep sounded as the vehicle locked and she turned to walk towards 4W.

A broad smile was offered to her cabalmates as she approached as well as a light wave. "Good evening," she greeted cheerily. While it wasn't exactly bizarre how cheery she was, there was a distinct lilt to her tone and bounce to her step that gave away that the usually sour Herald was in a rather elated mood.

"Anyone up for a pot roast and potatoes tonight?" She wasn't a fantastic cook, but darnit she was a meticulous worker, and she was hardly going to object to the assistance of those whose cooking skills were superior to her own.

What did they expect? She spent a lot of time eating food from cans while she'd been on digs. And mac and cheese. There was nothing wrong with mac and cheese.

  1sux

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-09-08 14:53:21		Zodiac rolls 5 to Perception Check! (10 Again)		4, 1, 4, 10, 5, 7		1 success

Equipment

Apparently I have a laptop now, hooray! Otherwise, Zodiac carries a couple different outfits in the back of her car, and her messenger bag is always with her. The contents of her messenger bag are listed in the second minisheet for STs.

[Xander]

Star and Zodiac

As the Threats pull into their sanctum they notice a big black van exiting their parking lot. The thing seems a bit loud for some reason. Tinted windows obscure the driver, but each member of the cabal is able to note a few letters on the license plate before the van exits their view. It's 6M-something-something-something-something-something-6.

Asp

As Asp pulls into the sanctum she notes a big black van "rushing" out of the parking lot. It seems a bit slow to brake and accelerate, and the engine is rather loud as the driver pushes the engine to do so as swiftly as the vehicle will move. Tinted windows obscure the driver, but Asp is able to lift a few letters from the license plate before the van exits her view. It's 6M-something-something-006.

Avis

As Avis pulls into the sanctum she notices a big black van pulling out. Someone probably thought the theater was still open.

[Avis]

Saving the environment, cutting down on carbon emissions and the stranglehold Big Oil had on the throat of the world's economy, that was absolutely not why Avis rode the bus. Her reasons were simple: it was transportation and less expensive than a car. She'd thought about getting a bike, not an insane contraption like Star had, but a more conventional pedal-powered vehicle, but that just didn't seem like the safest form of transportation when she was sharing the road with multi-tonne, metal vehicles moving much faster than she would be. Then again, cops used bikes, so there was obviously some merit to the idea of them as viable transport, even if people might want to kill you. Thing was, Avis didn't like cops, so petty as it was, she'd rather avoid any comparison to them that she could. Eventually, she'd have to rethink that, but for today, she rode the bus.

She'd gotten off at the stop a few blocks over and simple strolled the rest of the way home, dressed in a drab, grey track suit and her sparkling new blue-white tennis shoes. A box of paper clips rode in her pocket; the bounty of having just cleaned an office building. She had an ipod and phone in her other pocket, but she wasn't using either one. Those were for avoiding the monotony of cleaning floors, not obscuring her awareness while she walked home. Ironically, she still didn't notice much about the van that had just pulled away from 4W. Open eyes and ears weren't very helpful when the mind was off in other places.

So, Asp's request came a surprise. Or at least a confusing request. An askance look was sent in response to the other Talon. It seemed just a bit paranoid, but then again, paranoia was healthy for people like them.

"You want me to scry inside Four-double-yew, too?" she asked, deciding that it was, in this case, a good thing they hadn't put wards up yet. For now, though, she turned her attention to the van, reaching out with her Will to fold her perspective until it sat closer to the back of the van.

  1 success (assuming the van is in sensory range) to scry the van

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-09-11 16:26:27		Avis rolls 6 to Scrying on da van (intel2+invest2+space2) (10 Again)		4, 9, 1, 6, 5, 3		1 success

Sorry for delaying the thread! I should have no problems posting now, so yay.

[Xander]

Asp

There are indeed living organisms all in the VT Sanctum. And outside. Germs on the door handle, on Aspen's clothes, on her companions. Most people don't realize it, but everyone spits when they talk, and whenever they open their mouths they release germs and bacteria left and right. It's in the air. It's on the doors, on the sidewalk, in the vestibule in the front where one would normally buy tickets, and into the main lobby of the VT Sanctum where the edge of Aspen's sight fades to the darkness.

The shear quantity of life the spell can sense unfiltered is overwhelming.

Avis

The Van is barely within Sensory Range thanks to those pesky octagonal red signs. Though the plate is too far to read normally, regular view isn't a problem with Space. Avis opens the scrying window, which lasts just long enough to grab the full license plate (6MBV006) from the vehicle.

[Star]

A hand tossed out a cheery wave to the others.

Pot. Roast. Seriously? When did Zoey turn into Betty Crocker? Or Boston Market. Betty was a baker, wasn't she? He wasn't even sure he'd ever had pot roast. He assumed it was something roasted, in a pot. Presumably meat. Didn't you grill meat? Because Florida.

"Potatoes!"

He flashed a grin at Avis . Potatoes, yo. Whatever a pot roast was, that was still funny.

His eyes tracked the van, and eyebrows lifted in curiosity at Asp's words. Him? He wasn't super concerned. The theater had been abandoned for who knows how long. It had probably seen it's share of smokers, derelicts, and 'dates'. It was kind of surprising they hadn't run into anyone before who was visiting the Old Reliable Abandoned Hangout.

No bigs, yo.

Still, he kept his eyes on it and ears open, in case he'd missed something. He could always stop it, if it was A Thing.

He resisted the urge to Google 'pot roast'.