Can you feel it? Spider senses, tingling. Teeth aching suddenly and voraciously. A swirling sensation in the gut, as if a heavy meal has suddenly - and quite painfully - yanked sideways.
It happens once. Then quickly subsides. Nothing. Could be anything.
Days pass.
Then it hits again. Only stronger this time. Spider senses. Chattering teeth. A pit opening in the gut. Plus migraine.
And this time there is...
The flare!
The flare rises several stories high for a single moment. A column of Supernal fire against the sky: limned in purple, green, and crimson. The flare hangs in the sky for a few more heartbeats, lingering and glorious. The seems to collapse upon a single point east and south of Rosemont Mather.
KelrethLangdonShodanWoland
also expressed interest - however I note that at this time, you are almost (or at) maximum scene slots. Fear not! Your characters can be recruited later and there will always be other stories.
NOTE FOR CLARITY: The flare is only visible to Active Sight. The Sleepers carry on, blissfully unaware of what has just happened.
Dark shadows scatter in ordered symmetrical patterns traversed by a crackling pallid silver light that wraps Winter in a pleasantly numbing and icy coldness.
When vulgar magic is cast, the frequency of the oscillation of the dark fluid surges until the shadows arrange themselves in a solid black halo around Winter's head, the white light darkens into a fiery black sunlight and his eyes are set ablaze with vivid incandescence.
As soon as his unseen senses had alerted him of something big going off, the Guardian had pulled out whatever protections he could summon from his arsenal, enveloping himself in a vortex of supernal energies and drums of high speech.
It was a quake, like the one days earlier, but this time several times stronger, an Aurora Borealis of a wholly supernal nature rising to the sky in a glorious pillar of multicolored flames, he could smell the ashes, the tug of the supernal pulling at his heartstrings.
He parks his Mustang a few blocks away. A hand runs over his brown coat, but he hesitates. The FBI might be lurking, alerted by their devilish gadgets, so he stops and opts for safer approach. The enchantment dies in his throat, stopped by a cough. It's getting worse, he thinks.
The second attempt does the trick, as his aura is woven to be indistinguishable from that of a Sleeper. Good, he thinks as he makes his way toward the place.
Rolls
1 success
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-03-30 17:16:07
Winter rolls 6 to Supernal Vision Imp (10 Again)
2, 5, 8, 4, 6, 6
1 success
4 successes
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-03-30 17:16:37
Winter rolls 7 to Unseen Shield Imp HS (10 Again)
5, 8, 9, 7, 8, 2, 8
4 successes
3 successes
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-03-30 17:16:59
Winter rolls 10 to Incognito Presence Rote, Wit + Sub + O.Spec + HS+ Mind (10 Again)
8, 5, 3, 9, 2, 7, 4, 4, 10, 6, 6
3 successes
failure
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-03-30 17:24:29
Winter rolls 6 to Trasform Aura with Mind 2 Imp, Gnosis + Prime + HS (10 Again)
2, 1, 1, 4, 1, 3
failure
4 successes
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-03-30 17:24:43
Winter rolls 5 to Trasform Aura with Mind 2 Imp, Gnosis + Prime + HS (10 Again)
Juris groaned. The feeling was...unusual. Painful. He didn't like it. Not one bit. But what scared him was the flare. His eyes shift inconspiciously and no Sleepers reacted to it. That worried him, and yet intrigued him at the same time.
As the words fell from his lips and he connected with the Supernal he summoned the ability to see and speak to Spirits, then he did his best to conceal his presence. Once that was done he made his way towards where the light seemed to point and took a look around. While there he again reached into the Supernal and sought to sense the consciousness of anyone at the site of the flare.
Rolls
1 success after -1 contagion
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-04-02 23:12:12
Juris rolls 2 to Spirit Tongue Hs forgotten dice (10 Again)
3, 2
failure
2019-04-02 23:11:19
Juris rolls 5 to Spirit Tongue Gnos + Spirit (10 Again)
1, 3, 5, 6, 9
1 success
2 successes
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-04-02 23:13:52
Juris rolls 5 to Wits+Comp (10 Again)
5, 2, 9, 5, 10, 6
2 successes
2 successes after -2 contagion
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-04-02 23:15:55
Juris rolls 8 to Incognito Presence (Gnos+Mind+HS) (10 Again)
3, 8, 4, 9, 7, 1, 2, 9
3 successes
3 successes
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-04-02 23:24:11
Juris rolls 8 to Sense Consciousness (Gnos+Mind+HS) (10 Again)
10, 1, 6, 9, 8, 1, 2, 3, 5
3 successes
I got too excited to be joining plot and forgot contagion. Not sure if I'm in the same area as Winter.
Mana flares popping up like it's the 4th of July would be bad enough, but mana flares with so much unpleasant side effects are of the "this town is too small for both of us" variety. Shodan is no occultist, but he's been learning, and there's no better way to learn than through practice. Besides, Winter, being a Guardian, is probably skulking around somewhere. And the Libertine is so not going to let him have it all to himself.
Step 1: gather equipment and enchantments. The sheer volume of magic is a bit breath-taking, resulting in one botched spell, but whatever - it all works out in the end.
Step 2: actually get to the place. The flare didn't exactly leave an address, but the area isn't that big. Something will surely come up.
Step 3: Look for clues. Shodan's sharpened senses look for signs of ley lines and other weird flowings of magic, but at the same time the eyes and ears are open for more mundane things that'd stand out in a peaceful community like this one.
He walks around, in hoodie and jeans, looking for his lucky break. As far as he can tell, none of his Awakened peers have made it here yet.
The furthest limit of the city is marked by a line of light industrial lots: shops, warehouses, industrial parks tied to Rancho Cordova. Beyond is scrubland, burned out by fire and drought or else scoured away in preparation for an expanding city. There still is pockets of green: parks, fields, old farming properties. It is one of these small agricultural holdings that draw the agitated Awakened like moths to a flame.
Even without the benefit of sat-nav's or sympathetic eyes locking onto the tiny property, the mages find their way there. The flare may have lasted only moments, but it has burned into the Supernal Pattern of the area to such degree that their rarified Sight's and senses can find it.
The Mastigos can sense (in fact with Spirit Speech he can see) the spirits fleeing the area's reflection in the Shadow World. It is like watching the tail end of a migrating herd as straggling spirits float or amble past. Most of these spirits are fertility, cultivation, growth, and farming. There are a few malingering entities that might represent greed or lust, hope and determination. Not that Juris is actively following the progress of spiritual entities as he closes on the little farm. His head is starting to spin again with the psychic echo of a monumental sentience; the echo left behind by something that has passed. The raw power of this sentience has eclipsed anything else. Juris senses joy, exultation, and confusion.
The Obrimos arives to the certain knowledge that a great work of magic has just happened. The spell - or ritual most likely for the power of it - is still in effect. The dust is still settling as the great work takes effect. Right away he can tell that this is not Atlantean magic, for while there is plenty of Primal white flowing and settling on the earth, there are no Glyphs visible to his eye. What is certain is that whatever occurred here has stained the very earth with its presence. And more: a most unique and fiery Hallow is forming; so strongly touched by the Supernal, a Demesne is being created.
Shodan
arrives last. His body is still aching, still numb for his dance with death. Beyond pain now. His hands shake and his ragged breath gives him much discomfort. Not enough to impede his spell craft - this time - but enough to dampen his Glyph's edge. Which might, upon reflection, be a good thing. He sees the same thing at Winter has seen. And more: the Libertine can tell that this event has bent the nearby Ley Line out of shape. This spot will be a nexus or node some time in the future... when the raw magical power has settled down.
Most disturbingly of all - without the benefit of the Sight, the area looks remarkably calm and placid: a little farming property in a brown land.
I note that Shodan is quite injured. As the other scene has not yet closed both scenes are assumed to happen at roughly the same time. So I'm ruling he still has some damage. It shouldn't pose too much of a problem and I'm not visualising much conflict here.
Dark shadows scatter in ordered symmetrical patterns traversed by a crackling pallid silver light that wraps Winter in a pleasantly numbing and icy coldness.
When vulgar magic is cast, the frequency of the oscillation of the dark fluid surges until the shadows arrange themselves in a solid black halo around Winter's head, the white light darkens into a fiery black sunlight and his eyes are set ablaze with vivid incandescence.
It was rare, the Guardian thinks, for a Demesne to form naturally. From time to time, two or more ley lines would flow and accumulate resonance to form a Node.
Even rarer, the tapestry could be ruptured and give birth to a hallow. A Demesne, however, was something more. A piece of material world so attuned to Truth that the laws of the Jail were warped. A hole through the cage so perfectly ordered by the Exarchs though which you could glimpse the Truth.
It was something fragile, something so exalted that his order had sworn to protect no matter what. It was something powerful, for it not only allowed magic to flow freely, but granted easy foray into the Astral. In his hometown of Boston, a whole district had been turned into something similar. Theories abounded, a Cataclysm Aeons ago? The work of some spiritual entity? Atlantean magic long lost?
Here the Guardian was staring at something similar but quite not identical. The area is calm and the swelling of primal energy suggests the genesis of a hallow. Through the area spreads a placid sense of calmness, could it be a node overflowing with positive resonance?
One thing was certain, this piece of real estate was gonna get heated soon enough. Yes, the Guardian thinks about sweeping in before someone else did, someone hostile.
A natural demesne and a hallow atop each other. Judging from the white pillars of cackling energy, an Aetheric one at it. It was enough to put a smile on the Guardian's face.
The Guardian moves closer. Even more puzzling, he can't notice any glyphwork. It was Awakened Magic - the touch of the World above was strong - it just wasn't Atlantean in nature. No matter how good his memory was, he can't remember any non Atlantean practice capable of such a heightened ritual.
That didn't mean he was forever barred from that knowledge. Somewhere along the creases of the collective brain, inside the consciousness of the world, he was sure he could find an answer. He opened his soul to Pandemonium, singing to its screaming winds. And for a moment, his mind climbed to the Astral.
He starts to attack the mystical puzzle
Rolls
1 success
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-04-07 17:57:49
Winter rolls 8 to Gain Skill Rote - 1 Contagion + HS (10 Again)
3, 10, 3, 7, 7, 1, 2, 2, 6
1 success
3 successes
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-04-07 18:01:51
[01] Winter rolls 6 to Scrutiny Nature - Identification, Int + Occult + Sup vision (10 Again)
2, 9, 5, 10, 10, 5, 4, 7
3 successes
1 success
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-04-07 18:01:51
[02] Winter rolls 6 to Scrutiny Nature - Identification, Int + Occult + Sup vision (10 Again)
6, 7, 9, 7, 4, 5
1 success
5 successes
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-04-07 18:01:51
[03] Winter rolls 6 to Scrutiny Nature - Identification, Int + Occult + Sup vision (10 Again)
1, 10, 4, 4, 8, 8, 10, 8
5 successes
1 success
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-04-07 18:01:51
[04] Winter rolls 6 to Scrutiny Nature - Identification, Int + Occult + Sup vision (10 Again)
2, 1, 3, 10, 1, 2, 6
1 success
4 successes
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-04-07 18:01:51
[05] Winter rolls 6 to Scrutiny Nature - Identification, Int + Occult + Sup vision (10 Again)
2, 5, 9, 10, 10, 4, 5, 9
4 successes
2 successes
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-04-07 18:01:51
[06] Winter rolls 6 to Scrutiny Nature - Identification, Int + Occult + Sup vision (10 Again)
6, 8, 9, 4, 4, 5
2 successes
Rolled his extended scrutiny pool just once rather than Gnosis times. Figured it would be pointless since had scored enough successes. Nature first, then Identification. Gain Skill - Occult, -1 mana
Juris stood and watched as spirits fled the location. It unnerved him greatly. But as he felt the presence of the monumental sentience he only got more worried. What could it be, or could have been? He cancelled his Incognito Presence for now, figuring he could always bring it back as needed later. Then he began whispering the words of power and channeled the Supernal to improve his knowledge of the Occult before taking some time to decipher what he was seeing.
2 successes
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-04-09 15:51:10
Juris rolls 5 to Perception (Wit+Comp) (10 Again)
2, 5, 7, 10, 9, 6
2 successes
2 successes
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-04-09 16:08:15
Juris rolls 6 to Gain Skill (mind+Gnosis+HS-2 contag) (10 Again)
7, 5, 7, 1, 10, 8, 5
2 successes
8 total successes
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-04-09 16:11:08
[04] Juris rolls 7 to Int 3+Occult 2+Gain Skill 2 (10 Again)
10, 5, 8, 1, 8, 1, 7, 7
3 successes
2019-04-09 16:11:08
[03] Juris rolls 7 to Int 3+Occult 2+Gain Skill 2 (10 Again)
6, 2, 10, 2, 1, 10, 8, 7, 5
3 successes
2019-04-09 16:11:08
[02] Juris rolls 7 to Int 3+Occult 2+Gain Skill 2 (10 Again)
3, 1, 7, 1, 8, 5, 6
1 success
2019-04-09 16:11:08
[01] Juris rolls 7 to Int 3+Occult 2+Gain Skill 2 (10 Again)
9, 4, 3, 7, 3, 7, 3
1 success
Juris wants to seek out that entity that he feels. -1 Mana from Spirit Tongue. Gain Skill was for 2 dots of Occult
Current Spells
Spell Tolerance: = 4/2 Gain Skill (pot 2), Mind Sight (Pot 2), Mind Shield 2E (Pot 2), Spirit Tongue (pot 1)
Spell Control: 4/6
Also fact: Energy cannot be created/destroyed, only transformed or moved.
Conclusion: The mana fireworks he's just seen were taken from somewhere. And judging by the amount of energy released it was a planned effort. Planned effort implies a rational mind behind it.
Additional consideration: Lack of glyphs. Meaning whatever did this, likely wasn't human. This has just taken a turn for the interesting.
Blissfully unaware of the other mages' presence, Shodan continues his investigation.
33 suxx for Scrutiny in total, rolled times Gnosis
Date
Action
Roll
Result
2019-04-09 16:32:55
[15] Shodan rolls 6 to Scrutinize area (Int 4 + Occ 1 + Supernal Vision 1) (10 Again)
10, 10, 3, 9, 6, 1, 6, 8
4 successes
2019-04-09 16:32:55
[14] Shodan rolls 6 to Scrutinize area (Int 4 + Occ 1 + Supernal Vision 1) (10 Again)
3, 3, 6, 1, 4, 5
failure
2019-04-09 16:32:55
[13] Shodan rolls 6 to Scrutinize area (Int 4 + Occ 1 + Supernal Vision 1) (10 Again)
9, 1, 8, 5, 4, 9
3 successes
2019-04-09 16:32:55
[12] Shodan rolls 6 to Scrutinize area (Int 4 + Occ 1 + Supernal Vision 1) (10 Again)
4, 9, 3, 3, 4, 10, 8
3 successes
2019-04-09 16:32:55
[11] Shodan rolls 6 to Scrutinize area (Int 4 + Occ 1 + Supernal Vision 1) (10 Again)
1, 9, 7, 7, 7, 9
2 successes
2019-04-09 16:32:55
[10] Shodan rolls 6 to Scrutinize area (Int 4 + Occ 1 + Supernal Vision 1) (10 Again)
3, 5, 1, 7, 2, 1
failure
2019-04-09 16:32:55
[09] Shodan rolls 6 to Scrutinize area (Int 4 + Occ 1 + Supernal Vision 1) (10 Again)
8, 4, 7, 8, 7, 10, 5
3 successes
2019-04-09 16:32:55
[08] Shodan rolls 6 to Scrutinize area (Int 4 + Occ 1 + Supernal Vision 1) (10 Again)
8, 10, 4, 8, 4, 3, 2
3 successes
2019-04-09 16:32:55
[07] Shodan rolls 6 to Scrutinize area (Int 4 + Occ 1 + Supernal Vision 1) (10 Again)
3, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8
2 successes
2019-04-09 16:32:55
[06] Shodan rolls 6 to Scrutinize area (Int 4 + Occ 1 + Supernal Vision 1) (10 Again)
7, 8, 3, 6, 5, 9
2 successes
2019-04-09 16:32:55
[05] Shodan rolls 6 to Scrutinize area (Int 4 + Occ 1 + Supernal Vision 1) (10 Again)
9, 7, 8, 7, 7, 6
2 successes
2019-04-09 16:32:55
[04] Shodan rolls 6 to Scrutinize area (Int 4 + Occ 1 + Supernal Vision 1) (10 Again)
2, 9, 7, 9, 8, 10, 9
5 successes
2019-04-09 16:32:55
[03] Shodan rolls 6 to Scrutinize area (Int 4 + Occ 1 + Supernal Vision 1) (10 Again)
9, 1, 6, 7, 2, 9
2 successes
2019-04-09 16:32:55
[02] Shodan rolls 6 to Scrutinize area (Int 4 + Occ 1 + Supernal Vision 1) (10 Again)
5, 2, 2, 10, 6, 4, 1
1 success
2019-04-09 16:32:55
[01] Shodan rolls 6 to Scrutinize area (Int 4 + Occ 1 + Supernal Vision 1) (10 Again)
6, 5, 2, 5, 6, 9
1 success
Successes go to Nature and Identity first, the remainder is for Resonance qualities, if any
Three mages move, largely independent of one another.
Juris
and
Winter
can spot each other easily. Some way off
Shodan
limps into view but he is facing another direction and is not immediately aware of the other's presence (as per player note). Juris
spends his time running through various mental and breathing exercises as he struggles to centre himself and expand his Sight in search of the source, the sentience behind what has transpired.
The Mastigos does not find it. He does, however, come to the conclusion that he is experiencing the resonant echo of the Sentience's passing. That meant that this... entity... must have been uncommonly powerful. It must have only been active in the Fallen World for a few moments - but what its presence wrought then continues even now. Such power is limited to the most powerful of spirits, astral beings, or incredibly rare Supernal visitations. And with his Supernally enhanced skill, he knows he is pushing his knowledge to the limit.
Juris has the signature of the Sentience. To know more he would have to research the more obscure tests and occluded secrets. Winter
and
Shodan
work independently of each other but come to roughly the same conclusion: that some kind of Angelic being graced the Fallen World near this spot (the actual place it 'stood' would have been in the nearby barn). They are both Mighty, attuned to the Aether and while the resonance left over does not quite 'fit' what one would expect of the Aetheric Realm, it is very close.
The effects are the consequence of no spell. They are the consequence of something's presence. This entity was... summoned.
In addition, Winter notes that there is a strong resonance of Sacrifice rising - or perhaps becoming more evident - now that the unleashed Supernal energies are starting to calm and subside. This resonance is focussed on the barn, which is becoming the epicentre of the event. There is also a resonance of Shock.
Shodan can't quite penetrate the welter of conflicting resonance signatures.
Dark shadows scatter in ordered symmetrical patterns traversed by a crackling pallid silver light that wraps Winter in a pleasantly numbing and icy coldness.
When vulgar magic is cast, the frequency of the oscillation of the dark fluid surges until the shadows arrange themselves in a solid black halo around Winter's head, the white light darkens into a fiery black sunlight and his eyes are set ablaze with vivid incandescence.
In large strides, the Obrimos covers the ground separating himself from the barn. Cautiously as he moves, he scans for hideouts. It's then that he recognizes Juris. Before reaching his destination however, he opts to erect another layer of protection around himself. Letting go of the blanket over his aura, he kneels to the ground and after having grabbed a small stick, he starts tracing a protective circle around himself.
Slowly, one after another, small links of primal energy are chained together, dancing at the rhythm of his high speech until they form a sturdy barrier around his pattern. He's ready.
Draft this Post
Presence
Occultation
1 success
