(Cortez) Outside Conversations

[Campanella]

Campanella slips out of the diner looks for a convenient spot for a "quick smoke". Winter would no doubt be able to work out what the Moros was trying to achieve: privacy without raising any undue attention to himself or those he spoke with. It was just that the execution of the action was... laughably amateurish.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-04-14 18:02:40		Campanella to Not Look Suspicious rolls 4 to Dexterity + Stealth (10 Again)		5, 5, 2, 3		failure

"I take it you felt that there was something very out of place in the, eh, diner? Yes? You said you saw something? You must forgive me... You don't strike me as a person who is awake to such possibilities. Are you new to the area?"

@Vincent Winter

[Winter]

The specter of a man materialized quickly behind his host, a back-lit silhouette sinking in the dim neon lights at the edge of the billboard outside as the door shut down behind them.
Any widening of his eyes at the maladroit pursuit of cloak and dagger by his companion was hidden by distance, barring preternatural skills of observation. He surveys the man silently as the voices on the inside fade into background noise.
Winter slap taps a pack of cigarettes against his palm after it appears from his pocket, plucks one, and sticks one lazily between his lips. "Smoke?" the pack is offered; cigarette bobbing with his words.

"I work in energy." he says. "Reconnaissance, neutralization, or otherwise. Precautions beyond the mundane." His voice rolls out as the whisper of someone sharing a secret.

He openly gazes over the gentleman's shoulder, taking in the surroundings. "I have some talents not appreciated anymore by society at large up in Boston" as he draws in a deep reserve of air. "I suppose that's an advantage, from a certain perspective." A single shoulder-shrug almost reaches his half-closed eyes.
"I guess you felt the same, otherwise we wouldn't be here." Winter gestures to the diner again.


3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-04-14 18:19:23		Winter rolls 5 to Not Look Suspicious (Dexterity + Stealth) (10 Again)		8, 1, 8, 2, 9		3 successes

[Campanella]

"Eh. Yes. Please."

Campanella responded quietly. Not much of a smoker, nor fond of cigarettes, but they were still a useful tool for breaking the ice with strangers.

He tilted his head delicately as he listened.

"Energy, huh? I'm stuck dealing with grave matters. I can understand your sentiments - I came from Washington D.C. The firm was not doing so well at the time and I was glad to get away before I got ground up as collateral damage. I'm sure you know how it goes."

He really didn't know what to do with the cigarette.

"Found myself a gig in the archives, so to speak."

He shuffled on his feet.

"Colleagues call me Campanella. I'm fond of the old alchemy, so the name sort-of stuck. What shall I call you?"

He risked a glance back at the diner.

"You might say we have had an encounter with a couple of unknowns who have caused us some trouble at that establishment. We are trying to work out just how bad the fallout is going to be. I take it you will be joining us?"

[Winter]

"Beltway", Sacramento is full of surprises, "as a matter of fact, you didn't strike me as one of the regulars." A nod toward the diner while a hand fumbles in his pocket.

"Here." Winter deadpanned. His first attempt at lighting up derailed by the weather outside, the second did the trick. A familiar gesture he must have executed a million times. He retracted his arm immediately to his side and slid back into an assertive posture. Closing his eyes for a moment, he savoured another drag before going on.

"Mr. Campanella", Winter's attention trained in full upon the man, "delighted to make your acquaintance...", he paused as to remind himself of the fact that from time to time sincerity might be the most appropriate course of action, "Winter". He added solemnly.

Winter directed his gaze as precisely as he could toward the building, unfortunately there was little confident cheer to be drawn from the mundane facade of the building. The puzzle inside was going to be a tough nut to crack.

"They don't have much time", his left eyebrow drifted upward like a three-day old balloon, "but first", he stretched his neck as to lift the tension, "shouldn't we arrange some preparations?"

[Campanella]

"Mr. Winter," Campanella nodded his head.

He followed Winter's gaze, his mind quietly racing. Winter. Works in energy, thus Obrimos. Reconnaissance, neutralisation, or otherwise... An Arrow perhaps? His second choice would be a Guardian given Winter's ability to move about unnoticed.

"Not much time?" The Moros queried. "Yes, I felt that there is quite a lot of tension in there. The wrong move could certainly... Harden attitudes. This might be our only chance to get decent information on what happened. I arrived too late but I did get a look at the pair who caused the disturbance. I even pinned down the resonance of one of them."

He let his eyes flash, noting the importance of his words.

"We're still trying to gather some intelligence. I'm not sure what preparations we can do - other than get what we need from the diner and avoid it for a long time. Those Sleepers... They were spooked. I'd rather not push them any further or they might turn into something else."

He glanced at Winter.

"Our society is small, you see."

[Winter]

"Not much time...", he shadowed the other man's words, punctuating them for their sentiment, "before they forget or worse. We should learn what we can and perhaps find a way to shut this place down for a few days". He stood there watching over the diner, both arms rested at his sides.

He cared nothing for the two Campanella mentioned. In fact he believed they weren't his problem, let the local mall cops deal with it. Alas, Paradox and a diner of spooked Sleepers... he had learned painfully and thoroughly that the call of duty shouldn't be carelessly dismissed, even though Paradox could from time to time impart useful lessons on its hubristic invokers.

"Small societies are the most resilient" He acknowledged after a pause. He mistrusted all frank and open people, especially when their stories held together. But this time, maybe his instinct was at fault, for this Campanella person sounded honest and had convinced him to extend his assistance.

"Excuse me for a second", and with that he moved to the trashcan nearby, the cigarette butt was disposed with a flick of fingers, "we must strive to be environmentally friendly". He mused.


"A couple you say? Tell me more". He nodded back to the man, his previous train of thought scrubbed away. Winter's mind conjured images of the Supernal, simple glyphs for simple spells. The burden of the occult knowledge of the magicians of old came down on him, shame the realm of Aether wasn't being so cooperative.

2 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-04-18 09:40:01		Winter rolls 7 to Gain Skill Rote (Occult) to Wits + Science + Mind (10 Again)		6, 9, 7, 6, 7, 5, 8		2 successes

  failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-04-18 09:45:16		Winter rolls 4 to Supernal Vision(Improv) to Gnosis + Prime (10 Again)		3, 6, 7, 2		failure

[Campanella]

"Yes. Two women. One was lithe and tall; long dark hair; had her nails long like... talon's really. She affected an image of disciplined control but I saw her laugh and the manner of her actions. That one is more fragile than glass and no doubt twice as sharp. She taunted the Sleepers, causing fire to engulf her napkin before she dumped it in her coffee. Her resonance was all over the place so it was her spells that had caused the disturbance."

He paused a moment, carefully watching the street before he went on to describe the woman's Resonance in enough detail for Winter to recognise it himself*.

He continued: "Now this woman had a companion. Tall. Short dark hair. Very quiet. Quiet self possessed. I have no idea what the connection between the two is or why they were together. I can tell you that she understands the Arcanum of Forces - she had a bubble of silence around their table keeping their conversation private."

Closing his eyes he spoke of the pair's appearance - what he remembered of it at least.

"These two mages are unknown to me. Given the recent hostilities with our enemies the Seers of the Throne, I did not want to take my chances and risk confrontation without back up. So I left. They have not appeared to have followed me."

*Campanella scrutinised her for Nature and Identity, so he has a fairly good idea on her magical signature.

[Winter]

He listened to the man - nodding along as he spoke - silent except for the pebbling of his shoes on the concrete and the occasional interjection of thoughtful absorption.
"Hmm", his eyelids fluttered as his brain began racing over the sudden influx of occult knowledge, "Two women, both proficient in forces and one in life", he paused, "or matter... or prime, the talon could have been an illusion or elaborate make-up after all", he restated his thoughtful interlocutor's testimony.

"Couldn't be banishers...", he hesitated, "they would have at least tried to look the part". He said. "Seers?", he shot a surreptitious look at the diner, "it's possible but I don't think this is the fanciest place in town, isn't it?" He asked.

Winter gave a genuine shrug, "That one of the women exercised some form of restraint leaves us with only two possibilities", Winter knew he was going far out with his logic leaps, but regardless of any withheld circumstance, he could not help himself from formulating a wicked conjecture, "either they're like us or... they belong to the Accursed", he concluded gravely.

"You did the logical thing", he said, "forcing a confrontation, possibly involving sleepers, would have been unwise, your intelligence gathering and fast thinking... much more fruitful". He deduced, approvingly.


He knew they needed to move fast, the trail was getting cold. Winter waved his hands once more, the familiar syllabes of atlantean accompaning the glyphs as the hue of prime and mind descended upon his vision.
"Your friends, shall we join them?" He asked his sophisticated companion, eyeing the bolted aluminium doors of the grease joint.



1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-04-19 17:32:16		Winter rolls 4 to formulating a hypothesis (solving Enigmas) to Int + Investigation (10 Again)		5, 10, 3, 4, 7		1 success

1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-04-19 17:43:03		Winter rolls 6 to Supernal Vision(Improv) to Gnosis + Prime + HS2 (10 Again)		7, 6, 6, 7, 10, 4, 2		1 success

4 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-04-19 17:46:59		Winter rolls 10 to Incognito presence(Rote) to Wits + Subterfuge + Mind + HS2 + Order Spec (10 Again)		9, 2, 1, 8, 9, 5, 3, 6, 1, 10, 3		4 successes

I don't know how to add Aura perception to Supernal vision, if it's automatic let's assume Winter casted it, otherwise... he didn't!
Winter is at 4 Mana for the night

[Campanella]

"Yes. Lets see if they found anything else out."

Campanella made his way back to the diner.

Nice little scene. And now we go back to the Cortez scene proper

[Winter]

"Yeah, let's go" Winter took a deep breath and let it out, after casting one last look of scrutiny at the space outside, he shrugged and followed the man inside.

Pretty fun yeah! Ready for action!