(IT) Price of Knowledge

[Truce]

With no way to secure the hidden library at Sacramento University for the moment, the members of Temoin du Sud return to their Sanctum with fresh wounds and the corpse of Rabbit in the trunk of Truce's car. There had been no way to save the poor woman from such a deep cut. None of their members had that much skill in mending her body. But the rest of them at least had returned alive and with the knowledge that the Banisher threat is very real, and their presence at Sac Uni is more than rumor.

In addition they return with the fabled Deathless Manuscript, a supposed Grimoire with knowledge of immortality or life extension. A hard-won trophy to be sure.

Truce cleans himself up in the bathroom, washing the wound inflicted from the Banisher's knife. Once he's removed the blood he concentrates, transferring the Mana infused in his pattern into his physical body to close the breach in his skin tissues. An idea strikes him as he returns to the living room, addressing Einstein and Crowley if they are there. "I think that woman may have gotten a sample of my blood. Crowley, if you can, I think we need to keep wards up over the Sanctum from now on, as often as possible."

His voice comes out in detached melancholy. Witnessing the death of their colleague, despite their brief association, had been difficult to cope with. They had failed her, used her as a sacrifice, and such a result does not sit well with him.

-3 Mana for Pattern Restoration

[Einstein]

Einstein, unlike Truce, has only taken a few small injuries. However, her Pattern has taken the same impact, and so she takes the time to fix a little bit of it. While Truce cleans himself up, Einstein goes up a few flights of stairs to the attic, and spends a moment basking in the presence of the Hallow, using its power to help in fixing herself up.

Once that's done, she returns downstairs and plops into a seat in the living room. Before Truce gets back, she picks up the Deathless and begins trying to flip through it and get a snapshot of its contents. They'd worked hard to get the damn thing, and she was sure as hell not letting the time and effort and...lives, go to waste.

She doesn't respond to Truce's question, or even acknowledge it. It had been aimed at Crowley - she wasn't relevant to it.

-2 Pattern Restoration (Cost 3 - 1 for Hallow Ambient Mana)

[Crowley]

Crowley staggers ambles into the living room, ashen of face and drawn of aspect. In one hand he carries a bottle of cheap bourbon and in the other a clean T. He crumples - slowly - into a comfy chair and grumbles as he battles to escape the wretched confines of the wrecked T.

"I'd say the got all of us." The Acanthus sounds wan, crushed. He might be looking at his shredded shirt but really, his sight is beyond it, fumbling for some mental calculations that simply do not come. "Yeah. Yeah. I'll look into it. Warding..." He trails off.

Moving once more, he unscrews the bottle and takes a long gulp. Coughs. "Well. I think we stirred 'em up anyhow." He sagged back into the comfy seat. He stared at the ceiling, resting the bottle on his knee.

Not enough Mana for Pattern Restoration :P
Now might be a good time to bring Flidais linkrulesx10 into the story

[Einstein]

  Against all odds, success!

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-10-15 00:39:50		Einstein rolls 1 to Wits + Crafts (10 Again, Chance)		10, 2		1 success

[Crowley]

Eventually, the Acanthus will rouse himself sufficiently to take a look at their prize...

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-10-15 03:43:56		Crowley examines the grimoire rolls 4 to Wits + Crafts (10 Again)		9, 10, 1, 4, 3		2 successes

[Truce]

While Truce is no stranger to the written word, he's not so familiar with the techniques of book-binding or printmaking, let alone able to spot signature details that may be of use to anyone. And so he simply looks it over absently, uncertain of its construction.

  failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-10-15 09:28:40		Truce rolls 1 to to examine grimoire [WIT+Crafts] (10 Again, Chance)		7		failure

[Crowley]

"Oh shit. This really is one of those bad books..." The Enchanter bursts out laughing. Its a mirthless, exhausted laugh. He retreats back to his seat and his bottle, leaving the Mighty alone with the foul text.

"Uh. Its written on human skin, guys. It really is a mother lode... God knows how or why those Banisher's had it... Yeah, first blood to us..." He does not sound convinced. More hopefully: "Hey! You think we could trace the history of this book... You know, work out the chain of ownership. It might tell us something about our Banisher buddy's reach and connections?"

His face darkened again. How long would it be before they came looking for their precious book?

[Einstein]

Einstein lets out a strangled yelp, letting the book fall from her hands into her lap, and making fists and closing her eyes, trying to burn the idea out of her mind. "Yeah. Yeah, I noticed. And, I'd bet it's probably not written in fun, happy-go-lucky ink, either. Might be the tears of orphans or the blood of a thousand virgins." Her eyes open again, and she grits her teeth. "That's your department, Crowley, yeah. But. First. I want to get a good look at it before you start throwing spells."

After all, you never know, magic might mess with it. Better to check it up first. Einstein picks up the book again, holding it with just her fingertips to avoid brushing the cover as much as possible, and really trying to forget the fact it was made of skin. Then, she started turning pages again, hoping that the contents, at least, wouldn't make her puke.