(PrP) Bismark Revelations

[Yumyumcrow]

It was the witching hour. Silence filled Downtown as if the city itself paused for breath. No traffic disturbed that silence and it was as if even the Sleepers had somehow sensed the urgent need to be elsewhere: to clear out of the streets; to lock their doors; to be elsewhere, urgently. There was only the tall buildings, the harsh and merciless lights, and the black vault of the sky above.

But that was not where the witches were going.

Their contact had been brief in his descriptions. There was a manhole in an alley formed by the gap between buildings. There was a tunnel, more service access than storm drain and less than a sewer. There was an door that happened to always be overlooked; a door that led into the labyrinthine maze of chambers under the Bismark hotel. There was a gap in the Bismark's patrol schedule - some 3-4 hours - where they could get in, do their investigation, and get out. All they had to do was get to the manhole, take the tunnel, and open the door.

Campanella is away, dining late with some business associates. It doesn't mean he has neglected his Cabal. Before he left he had assembled materials for their excursion: a set of overalls, one each for the group (had he been watching Ghostbusters? The parallels are too much to ignore); an aged Kirlian Camera; an improvised Crime Scene Kit; extra flashlights; bags; a few useless but impressive looking props for 'ghost hunting'; cheaply forged ID that could support their reason for being down in the basement, at least for a while.

One way or another, the witches are going to uncover the truth of the Bismark this night.

Over to you Saber Sloth Tuesday Sand deltadream Aurora Orianna

[Tuesday]

When Tuesday sees the overhauls the first thing out if her mouth is, "Who you gonna cal?" followed by a loud rendition of the theme music when she Changed from her jeans and Tinkerbell tee to their Campy Approved Ghost Hunting Apparel.

Then comes then shifting of stuff Since Campy = Awesome. Their gear. Waaaaay better then what Tuesday had in mind. Which was good since they wanted this to, you know. Work.

Which it totally was. Probably.

....lets change that shall we?

Fingers out and starting to wiggle, a thumb finds her silver dragon pendant and rubs its head. Fate-blue lines of sparking glyph work expand. The lines perfect and legible, for one who knows how to read them.

A swarm of stained glass butterflies explode around the Acanthus as they take those fate-blue threads to her fellow witches, weaving good luck into their patterns.

"Lucked." said with a grin. She could cover her butt latter if needed.

Tuesday dosen't move forward, towards the alley with the manhole, preferring to wait and see if there was any last minute stuff the other two needed to do slag say.

Sight and Shield Rit Glimpse
Equpment: all the Campy given goodies (Thank you Campy~) Magical Tool, Brass Knuckles
Noting first dox roll and mana spend, so -1mana,

  Bestow E-Luck on Sand and Aurora

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-11-10 19:28:29		Tuesday rolls 7 to Bestow E-Luck on Sand and Aurora (Manip 3 + Persuasion 2 + Fate 3 -1 (+1target)) (10 Again)		7, 10, 5, 8, 10, 7, 4, 7, 5		3 successes
2017-11-10 19:25:27		Tuesday rolls 1 to Dox (2 -1(first vulgar) -1rote -1MT) (10 Again, Chance)		6		failure

[Aurora]

Aurora couldn’t help but laugh as Tuesday began to sing, her head bobbing along. You couldn’t help but bob or dance along, it was a damn catchy tune!

The Shaman follows suit, changing out of her own jeans and t-shirt into the overalls. Not that overalls were flattering, but she thought they looked ok. The small pebbles she had gathered were shifted to pockets on the overalls or into a bag if there were no pockets. She had a spell in mind for those.

Eyes then move to the equipment, “We’re totally going to have to take Campy out for getting all this stuff. Or at least cook him an awesome meal or something.” Nod, it was happening.

She picks up the camera and looks it over, wondering where he managed to get all the stuff.

Blue eyes catch the butterflies and she grins, “Sweet. Always good to have.” And it was. You had no idea how much you missed being able to add that little bit of luck until you couldn’t. It was damn useful.

“Can’t say I’m too excited about going down into the sewers, but, we have to do it I guess.” Though couldn’t they find a window to pretzel her through? She’d much prefer that.

“Wonder if we’ll run into that Spirit I was talking to? Though it did mention it didn’t go into the basement, so prob not.” Which was kinda sad, she rather enjoyed that spirit. But at least now she could see what it had been talking about.

Monthly spells on character sheet(sight/shield), dedicated magical tool, cell phone on silent, pocket full of small pebbles

[Sand]

Overalls yield a chuckle. But they are pulled on over her shirt.

Stepping out, thumbs are tucked into the straps, hip cocked, and heel kicked out in the classic farmhand pose. Catching Tuesday's hum, the chuckle returns even as she moves to help with rearranging/organized the provided equipment. Not as efficient as Tuesday because curiosity and investigating seems to be required for each piece. "I agree," said absently as latest piece is spun in hands.

The butterflies were enough to break the spell of toys, and a nod of gratitude is offered, "Much appreciated."

A sympathetic smile for Aurora, "Don't worry- I don't think there will be any actual sewage for us to deal with. Think more... access tunnel. And maybe you'll meet some new friends?"

Cell phone on silent, backpack of usualness, pocket knife

[Yumyumcrow]

And so attired and equipped, the group heads out...

The man hole does indeed lead to a service tunnel, cramped and ill lit, with snagging cables on the ceiling and large steaming pipes hugging the walls. They find the service door on an oddly acute angle, with an out of place "Exit" sign buzzing in the gloom.

Someone has ensured that the door is unlocked and unobstructed.

Beyond the door is a corridor that makes the service tunnel seem light and airy by comparison. This tunnel is claustrophobic: not only is there no light and the walls are thick with sweating pipes and snaking cabling, but the walls themselves seem to poorly fit the ceiling, as though at some point the corridor has been deliberately narrowed.

Dust feels to hang perceptibly in the air.

[Tuesday]

Crampt and stale was not the first things that came to mind when they were peeping. Neither were odd angles.

Clickjng in her flashlight Tuesday edges forward, towsrd the narrowed section Hazels sharp. Darting around trying to find a reason why this was done.

  perception

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-11-12 21:10:55		Tuesday rolls 3 to Perception (Resolve 3 + Composure 2 -2 bad lighting) (10 Again)		10, 10, 5, 6, 2		2 successes

  ignore this, misread then rolled, silly sloth

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-11-12 21:09:46		Tuesday rolls 4 to Quiet door! (dex 3 + stealth 1) (10 Again)		4, 2, 4, 7		failure

[Aurora]

There was a nod as Sand spoke, “Yeah,” she says, “but I still don’t have to like it.”

Cause…sewer….yuck! “But I wouldn’t want to do into a sewer with any other finer people than yourselves.” Wink. Well, maybe Campy, she’d be curious about what he’d have to say. That’s it, really, that’s it.

“Maybe. But it didn’t make the basement area sound too welcoming, so I’m not sure what to expect.” A friendly Spirit would be great, she could maybe get some useful info from it. But she defiantly didn’t want a nasty one.

As they go down, it wasn’t as bad as she was thinking. She was totally expecting nasty smelly water and other smells they didn’t want to know the source of.

Now the new corridor? That was just creepy.

Whispering, cause she didn’t know why she was, “You guys see the walls? Do they seem, wrong? Like they were added?” and she pauses, head tilted as she glances at the wall.

“Should I, you know,” fingers were held up and wiggled at the wall, “take a peek?” or were they just going to press forward.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-11-13 14:55:32		Aurora rolls 3 to Perception(Resolve+Comp)-2 (10 Again)		3, 1, 9		1 success

[Sand]

A chuckle, "Fair enough."

Double checking the unlocked status of the door before letting it swing closed again behind them, a quick jog to catch up to the other two. In time to catch Aurora's comment again.

"Yeah- but I had assumed it was just my lack of experience with basements." Narrow hallways means stepping closer to investigate isn't necessary but sweating pipes and snaking cabling does mean caution needs to be exercised. Taps lightly on the walls, like dad did when hanging pictures. Listens for the sounds.

"You can see that there is a bad join at the corner of wall and ceiling. I don't think they were built at the same time."

A nod of her own approval of the idea "Better to have info up front than to try and discover it mid experiment,"

3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-11-17 06:32:15		Sand rolls 6 to Perception (Resolve + Composure) (10 Again)		10, 7, 1, 5, 9, 6, 9		3 successes

[Yumyumcrow]

The group stare. At the walls (where they can see the walls behind all that snaking piping) and the ceiling (where the cables do not crawl. Concrete floor is concrete floor. At least someone was down here... recently... as evidenced by the cigarette butts and a crushed packet. A lonely spot for a cigarette indeed.

The ceiling is the key. Sand had the right of it. A bad join where the remnants of previous walls met and crashed through one another. Similar signs were evident elsewhere in the ceiling and along the walls now they knew what to look for.

The spirits were not wrong. The sub-basement of the Bismark was a warren. A labyrinth punched out of the remains of previous buildings, basements, and sub-levels built on and under the site.

Question was, how on earth were they to find what they saught in such a place? One end of the passage looked very much like the other.

[Tuesday]

Tuesday nods at Sand's explanation.

Then again when Aurora asks her question, "Yeah, it might help. And maybe with whatever you see you might be able to make sense if what the other Spirit said."

Warren. Labyrinth. The words mean something. But Tursday dosen't think on them now. She never knew just who or what could be listening.

Instead, Tuesday pulls out a nickel. A spiral of golden glyph work forms, sparkling with its own inner light as it flips in the air.

Heads or tails?

Left or right?

  Augury 1Suxx

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-11-22 11:26:47		Tuesday rolls 6 to Augury (Time 3 + Gnosis 3) (10 Again)		6, 3, 1, 6, 6, 9		1 success