(Dark Wings) Midnight Showing

**Cayce** · Mar 25th, 2015 09:03 PM

Though the day time sky had been smothered by a sheet of dull iron clouds, the night finds itself released from the oppressive burden of grey and the moon shines amid a field of rich blackness speckled with stars like a scattering of gems across a length of jet velvet. Beneath this clear midnight sky the Temoins du Sud travel through south Sacramento towards the address they'd taken from the flyers which had been spread throughout town. The ride is not overly long, and after a little over ten minutes they pull up across from the Gutenberg Gallery.

The gallery's name is displayed upon the bones of what had once been a large brick warehouse in decades past by a large metal sign, lit from behind, transforming the letters into sinister silhouettes. Below the sign sits three large windows facing the sidewalk, windows occupying the space where three loading doors had once sat. Behind the giant panes of glass, the contents of the gallery are displayed, lit with a subdued yellow glow which allows a measure of shadow to bathe the space around the artworks. Fantastic metal sculpture sits next to artful paintings upon the walls and a variety of fascinating pottery. What looks like a stage occupies one wall, whereas it is clear that another wall (with one door) has been added to the building, splitting it in two, the gallery merely occupying one half.

As the Magi get closer to the gallery, they see a CLOSED sign hanging in the window of the door, and behind it an empty reception desk and register.

**Einstein** · Mar 25th, 2015 09:23 PM

Read Matrices 4suxx, Invisibility to Machines 3suxx

Einstein stared at the building from outside. The Closed sign slid into her vision for half a second, but then it was ignored. What was a closed sign to someone who could twist reality? If she wanted it open, it would damn well be open and like it. With that in mind, however, she would have to be careful. Her supernal will was pulled down, and two spells woven, one to allow her to Truly See, and one to prevent the Sleepers' little machines from seeing her. If she didn't show up on camera, she would be happy. There would be no documentation of her presence anywhere.

Thusly protected from the prying eyes of any Sleepers at their desks, Einstein continued to watch the building for a moment, before turning to the others. "So, are we breaking in or what? You guys got a plan?" Some people might say that being so blaze about breaking the law was strange for a schoolteacher with no criminal record. Others would say it was perfectly normal, given that Sleeper laws were wholly irrelevant to the Awakened.

**Truce** · Mar 26th, 2015 08:43 AM

Speak with Dead 1sux | Lighten Anchor 1sux 2-Attempts

Truce parks across the street and reforms the Mudras in order to see their unseen passenger, Chelsea. He then reaches into the backseat to search his backpack for her anchor, sliding out the hardcover yearbook. If he can see Chelsea he will smile encouragingly at her and tell her, "I'm just going to give you a little more freedom of movement. Nothing we haven't done before." He then attempts to form the Imago that would lighten the tether keeping her close to her anchor. The spell fizzles as he is unable to bend the Supernal to his will, but with a deep breath and second attempt the spell comes into more focus.

With that done, Truce sighs as he sees that they had come too late in the evening to enter the gallery, if it had been open at all during the daytime hours. Galleries likely didn't operate at consistent hours, he imagines. The humble design of the building does not surprise him. It almost seems more artistic in that way.

At Einstein's question he turns to look at her. "You seem rather keen on breaking in. But since it seems there isn't anyone here to perform reconnaissance on we may regrettably have to consider that option. But for now..."

Truce returns his gaze to Chelsea if she is indeed present. "Chelsea, do you think you are able to reach that building there with the three large windows and lit sign? That's the Gallery where the paintings are being held. If you can, could you please look around within the building to see if there is anyone there at the moment and if there are any other entrances?"

**Crowley** · Mar 28th, 2015 11:43 PM

Crowley sat in the back, humming to himself and drumming a beat on the seat with his hand. Truce and Einstein no doubt recognised the syllables of an ancient tongue in the sounds; they certainly would have felt the tingle as he drew down the Supernal, opened his eyes and clothed himself in protections.

"Are you sure this is wise? I mean... do we stand to gain anything from breaking in? If this Bachman lady is making paintings about us maybe we should be going direct to the source?" He busied himself with some bits of wire, purloined from the oddments that lay about the Sanctum. "You know Leeba Bachman was involved with a band once? Gar-Dena - Viking rock. They were more than musicians, though... these guys knew their texts and were well versed in the Lore. It was their authenticity and their sincerity that won the respect of audiences all over the state. They all vanished - lost in the deserts when their tour bus crashed. Or so the legend goes..."

He trailed off, staring at the crisp lines, golden light and dark shadow of the gallery.

"Don't you think it strange that an artist who can pick up on our stories should have been a groupie to a band of wandering storytellers who bought old subjects to life for present day audiences. A band of wandering storytellers who vanish from the record in the great modern american tropes of the touring band and the road trip?"

Another thought struck him.

"What happened out in the desert. Was it an accident? Or did they do what mystics always do in the wilderness - did they conjure something more powerful than they?"

Grinning again.

"So we're here then."

[mta]ST - Crowley has no lock picks but could he have fashioned a crude tool from a bit of wire laying about the Sanctum? Secondly: if he had bought some of the flyers with him - and now within LOS of the gallery - would they provide sufficient sympathy for him to scry the area, rather than the group wander around outside?[mta]

**Cayce** · Mar 29th, 2015 05:53 PM

"Freedom of Movement?" Chelsea echoed back, the sound of her voice issuing from her throat as though it were a stone bouncing down a well. "A longer chain does not mean freedom," the ghost admonished, an edge of petulance riding her words. She lapsed into silence again, however, and merely nodded at Truce's request, stepping through the door of the car as though it were merely a bank of sculpted mist. With a slow, drifting pace of movement, the ghost approached the building, each foot fall coming to a halt centimeters above the pavement. When she reached the windowed wall of the Gallery, however, she stopped, coming to a stand still. There she stood, unmoving.

Crowley can use improvised lock picks, but attempts will be made at a -1 modifier.

**Einstein** · Mar 30th, 2015 08:58 AM

Einstein shrugs at the other two. "If we're not going to try to get in, this just feels like a huge waste of time. We won't get anything from the outside, and I'm not sure what your friend will get us." A hand waves vaguely at the back of the car, where Einstein assumed Miss Ghostie still was. "We can always go talk to her afterwards."

"Oh, also, cameras. I won't be on them. Hooray magic." Hooray magic indeed. "And if the locks are electronic, I can probably get us through them. Anything keypad-controlled, or computers, or such."

**Truce** · Mar 30th, 2015 09:07 AM

Chelsea's words grate on Truce's heartstrings as she cuts to the root of her plight and he can only gaze sympathetically after her.

As he watches her form drift away he listens to Crowley's explanation of the band that Bachman had been involved in. It seems a strange story, a music and lifestyle he is wholly unfamiliar with.

Before he is able to formulate any questions to ask Crowley, and only just hearing Einstein's complaint, Truce exits the vehicle with the anchor in hand. "I don't think she can reach," he says, half to himself as he looks both ways before crossing the street to the Gallery's sidewalk. Seeing the Gallery for himself he is hesitant to believe that the place is meant to be a trap for them. But perhaps he is being naive.

"Is anything the matter?" he asks to the space that contains Chelsea's ephemeral form, checking to see if he had speculated correctly on the tether length.

**Crowley** · Mar 30th, 2015 06:41 PM

"Hmmm..."

Crowley responded with a vague grunt. He was giving the gallery building the stare if only to satisfy himself that there were no hidden spells hanging over the place. Eventually he said: "Well if we're going to do it, drop us off round the block. I'll want to case the joint first."

Crowley's scrutiny

For reference Crowley is scrutinising the building for the presence of spells or wards, not resonance

**Einstein** · Mar 30th, 2015 06:47 PM

Einstein pops open the car door and walks behind Truce. But, she doesn't stop where Truce does, near the wall. Rather, she keeps moving towards the door. She wasn't appearing on cameras, who cares if she was spotted? Once she reaches the front door, the Mighty takes a look at the lock, inspecting it to see if it was by any chance something she could actually deal with, or one of those pesky 'traditional' locks.

**Cayce** · Mar 31st, 2015 02:21 AM

At first, it seems as though Truce's guess is correct, and that the chain of her anchor was not long enough, for she drifted closer to the wall as soon as he neared her, but then she answered him.

"Yes. There is something wrong. Something with this building." Her form wavered, a ripple dancing over the ectoplasm forming her skin. Whatever it was, it made her shiver. "I cannot enter it. It exists like I do."

Such is what Crowley is soon able to confirm, his supernally blessed eyes revealing that there is indeed something odd about the building. Something decidedly unnatural, even more so due to the fact that the supernatural veil of energy suffusing the building is not supernal at all. Rather, it is still the stuff of the fallen world, but stuff that has been manipulated, like electricity through circuitry, or the flow of water through irrigated channels. Instead of either of those elements, however, the veil imbued into the gallery seems to be one of death, hence it's ability to repulse that which exists within the twilight.

Similarly, Einstein finds that the doors are, ironically, bound by mechanical locks rather than those newfangled digital things. Nevertheless, the spell she has worked over her eyes reveals that there is a current of energy which flows near the upper corner of the door. Likely the trigger for an alarm.

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2015-03-25 21:12:48	Einstein rolls 6 to Invisibility to Machines (Gnosis + Forces + HS) (10 Again)	3, 8, 4, 1, 10, 3, 10, 3	3 successes
2015-03-25 21:12:26	Einstein rolls 7 to Read Matrices (Science + Forces + HS) (10 Again)	2, 9, 10, 8, 1, 3, 10, 7, 1	4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2015-03-26 08:26:13	Truce rolls 3 to try again to cast Lighten Anchor improvised [Gno+Death-1] (10 Again)	5, 8, 1	1 success
2015-03-26 08:25:36	Truce rolls 4 to cast Lighten Anchor on Chelsea [Gno+Death] (10 Again)	3, 2, 5, 4	failure
2015-03-26 08:23:13	Truce rolls 7 to recast Speak with the Dead rote [WIT+Occ+Death] (10 Again)	9, 5, 6, 1, 6, 4, 2	1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2015-03-28 23:13:12	Crowley casts Untouchable rolls 6 to GNO + Space + HS (10 Again)	6, 9, 6, 7, 1, 7	1 success
2015-03-28 23:12:34	Crowley opens his Spatial Eye rolls 6 to GNO + Space + HS (10 Again)	9, 6, 5, 7, 8, 10, 9	4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2015-03-30 18:36:08	[04] Crow scrutinizes! rolls 4 to Intelligence + Occult (10 Again)	5, 10, 9, 4, 9	3 successes
2015-03-30 18:36:08	[03] Crow scrutinizes! rolls 4 to Intelligence + Occult (10 Again)	6, 2, 5, 6	failure
2015-03-30 18:36:08	[02] Crow scrutinizes! rolls 4 to Intelligence + Occult (10 Again)	2, 2, 1, 10, 7	1 success
2015-03-30 18:36:08	[01] Crow scrutinizes! rolls 4 to Intelligence + Occult (10 Again)	1, 6, 1, 9	1 success

(Dark Wings) Midnight Showing

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