Spirituality with a Price Tag

[Nemo]

Sunlight of the Soul, Books and Gifts

The smell of lavender and myrrh, vanilla and sandalwood floated throughout the small store, seemingly carried on their own currents past the books on spirit guides and chakra healing, eddying around the decks of tarot cards, and seeming to dissipate over the carefully arranged crystals and stones. It was a fascinating trick, and Nemo smiled gently as he (...yes, he) flipped idly through the pages of a book on runes.

Hmm. No Ac. No Ear. No Ior.

With a sniff, Nemo put the book back and strolled deeper into the shop, pausing by the display of candles. There were the traditional array of scented candles, the arch-typical Saints' candles, but also an array of candles for Santeria, and others that Nemo had never seen before. Interesting. Just what else was this store hiding?

A pale hand retreated into her his pocket, feeling for the Derringer that lay hidden there.

Just in case.

Because...dead is dead, and Nemo didn't know any Necromancers.

  3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-08-11 00:25:39		Nemo rolls 11 to Two Faces (wits3+subter5+life3) (10 Again)		8, 9, 5, 9, 2, 7, 2, 3, 3, 5, 4		3 successes

  Rote reduces dox to chance die, fail

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-08-11 01:41:20		Nemo rolls 1 to dox (10 Again)		9		1 success

OOC*

Two faces! Changing jaw, hair, and eyes. Using Cillian Murphy to represent!

Experimenting with the faceshifting, so feel free to leave comments or critique in PM or OOC thread.

[Knot]

Knot liked scented candles. They made his living space smell good, and they were good for rituals, but mostly they made his living space smell good.

He was past the point of needing to justify to himself getting things he liked beyond 'he liked them'.

But when he entered the store, he wasn't alone. Or, well, he wasn't Alone. As the staff greets him (naming him 'Gordan') and he exchanges basic pleasantries with them, he clears his throat when the person with the glowing green spell glyph looks his way, silently acknowledging their presence and giving them time to, well not be surprised when the stranger approaches him.

"Nice to see a new face." Knot says sociably. "Local business can always use more support. First time here?"

[Banshee]

Like the morning mist, Banshee appears. Unnoticed at first, but as she stands. Corpse pale fingers, topped with silver finger cuffs and blackened talons hovering slightly above a collection of stones. Their energies drawing her hand over each and every one. Though none of those that her cursory inspection has sang under her attentions.

Knot's voice interrupts her actions, she had not thought to see the Mystagogue here of all places. Attention now drawn she looks up to whom the Acanthus spoke to, spying Life's verdant glyphs.

Stepping out from the alcove where the table and the stones were displayed and towards the pair.

"Greetings."

[Nemo]

Nemo's mouth twitched when [she heard the distinctively male larynx clearing itself. Looking sidelong past a lock of dark hair, Nemo took a moment to study the handsome man that was approaching, though the Thyrsus' eyes fell for a moment onto the pendant framed so enticingly between the deep cut V of the stranger's shirt.

Well, an occult bookstore wasn't the worst place to meet someone, though a moment later, a vision of sylvan extinction appeared, all pale flesh and sharp, pointed ears.

That gave Nemo pause. Well, not the ears, actually. That was entirely expected in a store like this. No, it was what she'd said. Which, well, again, wasn't that strange in this store, but why approach Nemo? Why so directly? Why not speak to the staff, or the tattooed woman bent over the rosaries and prayer beads?

A shiver passed down Nemo's spine, and the phantom voice of his Mentor dredged itself from his memory ('Rits, yo. Remember your rits').

Fuck.

He'd been caught out like a novice still trapped within the Grey...

"Ahem," Nemo, murmured, remembering to pitch his voice down. "Yes. You got me." He smiled, attempting to disarm the two strangers that had approached, though his hand never stayed from the pocket where the Derringer lay.

"Afraid I'm still a little out of sorts. You won't mind if I put my glasses on, will you?"

[Knot]

"Not at all." Knot steps back, one hand scratching at his chest. "I didn't intend to ambush. I came in for candles."

He picks up something that was a shade between blue and purple, raising it to his nose to get the scent while the stranger prepares to cast. It was nice that he asked, and he could understand why. There were a handful of magi in the city who he was confident would have gotten all riled up at a stranger casting, but even were he of a mind to do so, he didn't have any reason to try and stop him. And it meant that he was Awakened, and not someone with a spell cast on them.

He glances towards Banshee, without ignoring the stranger. "I hope you're doing well?"

[Banshee]

Banshee, unknowingly shares a mind with Knot. Pleased to be asked, instead of baring the consequence of hasty castings from unknown magi.

As Knot verbalises, Banshee bows her head in a silent agreement.

As the man prepares his working, Banshee replies to Knot, "I am well." her intonation like a dirge, "And yourself?" she asks, quickly giving the man a once over. Her mind upon the interplay of Fate and Death.

"While permission is being sought..." pausing long enough for the causal listener to disconnect her first statement with what comes next, as if she had lost her train of thought. "Within the spy genre, there is a cone of silence." she pauses, arching her brow, "I'm well read upon those methods of science fiction."

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-08-11 16:41:04		Someone rolls 1 to do something insignificant (10 Again)		9		1 success

[Nemo]

Interesting. Apparently, Sacramento wasn't as ruthless as Nemo had been lead to believe. The stories he'd heard growing up. Clearly, though, his instincts had been right. These were Magi that had approached him, and not just a pair of overly forward pajama people.

Well, either things had changed, or he was in for a world of hurt. A look at their auras would tell him more, but if he was concentrating too hard on that, he might well miss something more important, and so he called up his Third Eye...only to find that it was blind. A storm of curses rained in his mind, the voice of the Magister as fierce as falling arrows, though the memory almost made him smile. Instead, he reached out and opened his senses to the Living energies of the word, and with it, saw the Purple glyphs shrouding the Unseelie Beauty, and the Gold shrouding the man.

"Well," Nemo said after a moment, "it seems I've forgotten my glasses. But I'd love to hear more about this science fiction. In fact, you can call me Nemo."

The smile was crooked, almost a smirk.

"You know, they have recovery meetings in the back of the shop. Fifty bucks will probably let us borrow it for a time. I've been having such a stressful day, after all, I'm sure they won't mind me conferring with my sponsors."

With a wink, Nemo strolled to the front of the store, and after a quick whispered conversation and an exchange of cash, he came back carrying a key dangling from a hunk of wood carved into the shape of some animistic goddess. Gesturing for the others to follow, Nemo lead them to the back meeting room, a simple space with folding chairs stacked in the corner.

  4 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-08-11 21:12:07		Nemo rolls 8 to Pulse of the Living World (gnos2+life3+EA3) (10 Again)		6, 2, 5, 8, 5, 9, 8, 10, 5		4 successes

  failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-08-11 21:10:06		Nemo rolls 7 to Third Eye (gnos2+mind2+EA3) (10 Again)		2, 6, 6, 2, 6, 5, 4		failure

[Campanella]

The calm of the shop is disturbed by a gust of heat from the street outside. Following it comes a man in light slacks and a pale shirt. He sighs audibly and reaches for a handkerchief which he dabs at his perspiring face.

"Good day. Its hot out there. I believe my order has come in...?"

The Mystogogue Campanella, Moros Councillor, paused as he reached the counter; his stare was drawn by the movement of Awakened aura's through the shop. His mouth opened and he had to shake himself back to his business at hand. Distracted, he paid in cash and let the shop keep the loose change from his purchases.

Now with a brown paper bag under his arm, the Moros moved to the back of the store.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-08-12 00:26:29		Campanella to cast Unseen Aegis rote rolls 9 to Intelligence + Occult + Order Spec + Matter - 1 Spell Tolerance (10 Again)		9, 8, 8, 9, 1, 9, 1, 6, 2		5 successes
2018-08-12 00:23:48		Campanella to cast Dark Matter Rote rolls 10 to Intelligence + Occult + Order Spec + Matter (10 Again)		9, 4, 3, 1, 7, 4, 9, 7, 6, 2		2 successes

[Knot]

"Well enough, I suppose." He wanted to say that the lack of excitement was a nice change of pace, but thought better of it before bringing that subject up, considering Banshee's relationship to the aftermath.

Knot awkwardly put back his candle, sealing it's lid so it doesn't get all dusty and gross.

He will admit to some mild startlement when he sees Campanella's arrival. This sort of store seems too... lowbrow for what Knot assumed his tastes ran towards. Still, it was an interesting sliver of insight into his nature.

Nonetheless, Knot follows the new arrival into the back room, along with the others. Once the door is closed behind them, he flips a chair around to rest his folded arms on the back after he sits. "So! Introductions. I am called Knot, this is Banshee, and our serendipitous third is Campanella. Mystagogue, Libertine, Mystagogue. How have you found our little garbage fire of a city so far?"

[Banshee]

Banshee nods, humming. "That's good." her tone of course might make her seem like the opposite would have been a truer thing for the Omen.

Spell cast, and an idea more mundane then many or most would allow, like ducklings they fall in line, lead by the newest of arrivals, and joined by one of their eldest. Two Mystagogue, both held a grievance towards her erstwhile cabalmate. One with Duel lost and apology upon lip, the other left unsated, anger rotting his insides.

Eyes lay upon Campanella. Should she hold anger in her heart for Epitaph for leaving, or shall she rejoice, for now she might see how this rot would take hold and transmute the Alchemist?

Door closed, and Knot is already speaking, but Banshee had already sought permission.

Imprecise golden glyphs weave around the room. "Voilà," with the joy of one risen from the grave.

"Garbage fire Knot? I thought it was more like septic unrest." was there a humorous twist to her lips? Perhaps just a trick of the light.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-08-12 19:59:08		Banshee rolls 7 to Influence Sound (Forces 2 + Gnosis 2 + 3EA) (10 Again)		9, 1, 1, 1, 4, 6, 4		1 success