The Descent of the Circle

[Cayce]

Weavebreaker acts quickly, her will spilling out with the alacrity and power that only comes with Mastery, and yet, it is testament to her own hubris that she expected her impromptu spell to best the nearly divine construction of the Circle's interior.

Moments later Alastor and Langdon opened their eyes to the lies of Space, and saw that Knot was still alive, safely on the ground once more, though the exact details of where they could not see.

Winter , meanwhile, abandoned the Acanthus, pitting his strength against the iron door that stood on the other side of the chamber. It opened with a shriek, revealing a short concrete passage that lead to what looked like an abandoned underground rail tunnel...

Banshee realizes after a moment, based off of her knowledge of Sacramento's history and present situation, there has never been a Fillard Goldman Museum in Sacramento. It has never existed. And yet, there is a pen here that claims to be from that Museum. True, anyone can pay to make a pen exactly as they wish, but what purpose would that serve, particularly when Weavebreaker was acting as though everyone knew about this non-existent museum.

I'll give Knot the result of his roll in the next post! It will take more time to complete, after all! Reminder: anyone who follows Knot my also roll wits+investigation , or anything else that you come up with

[Banshee]

Snaring the pen with talon'd finger, she tests the weight, as she flicks it against her palm.

An Impossible Pen that shouldn't exist but yet might belong to an Obrimos' memories....certainly something to think about.

The once rung yet, still sighs within her mind. More seemed to follow Knot and his sudden shout, but yet there was Winter alone, straining muscle against iron.

If it wasn't the Guardian against the iron door, she might offer aid. Or companionship down this decidedly unwanted path, but he was and is, and so Banshee follows like a duckling as the magi surrounded the door that had taken Knot. Who shouts again!

With an unnoticed smile and a bare whisper of a shrug the Living Dead Girl follows the Acanthus, heedless of the risks, and allows herself to fall.

It is freeing and thrilling and terrifying. Banshee wails not and shouts out a laugh instead. Even if Knot's voice was that of a construct, a trap to steal their lives away it was worth it for this bliss filled moment.

She lands, softly, gently. Just as she assumes Knot had. Looking to him, she joins him in his inspection.

  3 suxx investigation

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-07-18 21:04:24		Banshee rolls 5 to poking around (Wits 2 + Investigation 3) (10 Again)		7, 10, 2, 10, 3, 9, 2		3 successes

Active Spells: Ritual Grim Sight, Ritual 2E Death Armour, Speak with the Dead

[Weavebreaker]

Weavebreaker heard him call back. She shook her head softly and took the plunge.

It was a strange sensation, the feeling of her stomach slamming into her spine. She even had to close her eyes for a moment. When she landed, she stayed low for a moment, to gain orientation. After, her eyes scanned the area.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-07-18 21:28:41		Weavebreaker rolls 4 to Wits+Inves (10 Again)		4, 6, 9, 7		1 success

Health:
Mana
Willpower:
Armor 6
(5 or 11 versus Magic / 1 mana)
Defense 2

Spell Tolerance - 2 (@3(-1))
Active Spells - 3/6
Phantasmal Armor(6) | Mage Armor(3) |Supernal Vision(5)

[Winter]

A narrow path, what looked like an abandoned rail station, they'd have to explore. The elvish woman had done a piece on him, first by not helping and then by snatching the pen, his pen, away.
"Don't lose it, we still have to analyze it", he seethed, pearls of glistening sweat dancing across his forehead. But like Ulysses heeding to the siren's call, the ghost too was contemptuous of the danger.
Weavebreaker, clad in her angelic reinments, was a sight to behold, "Wait, it could be a tra...", but the Talon never heard his admonishment, for like the Mastigos and the Banshee before her, she fearlessly plunged into the darkness below. Was the Acanthus alright, or was it just a bait? "p"


The room echoed with his and Langdon's breaths. "If you want to go, let's establish a sympathetic link. That'll let us know if either of us is alive", he pointed at the iron gate, "I think I'll explore this side"

He hauled a bottle of water from his backpack and handled it to the Mystagogue.

1e Unseen shield[Pot3], G.Skill Occult[+2]
Health: 8
Mana: 4, Willpower: 5
Armor: 2, Defense: 3
Spell Tolerance: 3, Active Spells: 2

[Langdon]

"What the fuck" Is muttered quietly as Langdon watches Knot yell only to hear him through the door. "What the fuck?" The knife and hand holding it fall to the Stalkers side as Landon lets go of the Imago of a hole in space. As Banshee and Weavebreaker fall/enter the door Langdon just watches. This is weird.

The bottle of water is even weirder. "I uh, I'm not sure how this bottle of water is going to work for sympathy?" Confusion? Shock? Yep a bit of both.

"You're not going to go to wonderland with us?" It only takes a second but Langdon blanches as he realizes what he said.

[Cayce]

In the Garden

In this subterranean garden, this domed kingdom of thriving nature and monolithic stone, the Magi find themselves surrounded by mystery, and as any magi worth the name, they begin to investigate. Searching through the twisting cobblestone pathways of the garden the magi began to notice something strange amidst the oddly designed expanse of plant life...

Small, bleached patches, peeking through the tapestry of green, grey, and brown.

Peering closer through a gap in the leaves, Knot notices that it is, in fact, the gaping eye socket of a skull...

Alastor, too, find himself face to face with another death's head grin, a variety of orchid sprouting through the empty eye sockets...

The garden is full of skeletons. It is like an optical illusion. The more they look, the more their minds begin to detect the patterns, to recognize that all of those pale stones are the remains of bones, bones crushed between the bark of such vascular trees, teeth scattered like pebbles, vines twining through ribcages like a trellis...

It is Knot that first began to recognize the restraints. The stakes. The rotted ropes. The evidence that all of these skeletons were restrained here, feeding the garden as it grew...

The Doors

There are five Doors, spread like the points of a pentagram around the room, and each door has its own Atlantean Rune.

Int + Occult -2

The magi realize that this is, in some ways, part of a massive riddle, one intended to guide them on the Path to Enlightenment. For instance, now, they are standing in the Garden of Life and Death.

As for the doors, there is:

The Door of the Reflected Hourglass. Space and Time.

The Door of the Mountain Crowned with the Sun. Matter and Forces.

The Door of Woven Light. Fate and Prime.

The Door of Dancing Chains. Spirit and Mind.

and lastly...

The Door of the Clock. The Exit.

However, Weavebreaker notices something strange about the monolithic arches that shelter each door. The innermost plane of those masses of stone, the planes that would face whoever walked through the arch, are heavily stained a dark reddish brown...

The Ghosts

For Banshee, whose eyes are open to the veil of life and death, the garden is a cornucopia of horrors. Men and woman scream and writhe, impaled upon the twisting trees, throats choked by vines growing through their spines, cursing as their limbs strain against the bonds, or sob helplessly as they are enveloped by the shade...

[Weavebreaker]

This place, the bones, the plants...the restraints... it all tied her stomach in a knot. This was the reason that Banisher's existed.

As she looked around deeper, she noticed something peculiar. "Those monolithic archers..." Weavebreaker pointed. "The inner section of stone is stained a dark reddish brown." She figured it to be dried blood.

"Hmm..." Weavebreaker slowly spun in a circle, looking at each door, trying to make sense of it all.

  2 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-07-21 01:21:59		Weavebreaker rolls 4 to Int+Occult-2 (10 Again)		9, 7, 10, 1, 6		2 successes

[Winter]

"Hmm, if there's a ward against outgoing magic, we could risk being stranded down there", he pushed the bottle into the Mystagogue's hands.
He went silent for a few seconds, up and down he measured the pitch black darkness, "Drink", he compelled his companion, "we throw the bottle down, if you can retrieve it from the bottom, that's our insurance policy".

[Banshee]

The Runes draw her eye, but do not hold her attention past the initial revelation of their meaning, because Yet didn't need ring for long. Garden of Bones, their ghosts still tethered and writhing. Impaled by branches, suffocated by vines. Had they been here since the creation of the Garden? Meat for fertiliser, blood for water?

"We are not alone," Banshee murmurs, eyes flicking and dancing around the screaming, writhing ghosts. Drawing close to the dead, "Why are you here?" she asks, unknowing if her question will pierce through their torment.

  3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-07-22 15:42:49		Banshee rolls 4 to Door Runes (Int 2 + Occult3 + Spec1 -2) (10 Again)		9, 4, 1, 10, 9		3 successes

  failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-07-22 17:34:06		Banshee rolls 1 to Question (pres 1 + -1unskiled, chance die) (10 Again, Chance)		3		failure

Active Spells: Ritual Grim Sight, Ritual 2E Death Armour, Speak with the Dead