(Dry Hallow) Empty Shop

[Yumyumcrow]

Anima extends his Sight to the Supernal. Like Winter before him, the Shaman can now see how the local Resonance is muted because the local reserves of ambient mana appear to have been sharply drained or depleted. It is not just the Hallow that is gone, but much of the local mana and local resonance seems to be gone as well.


Winter and Pixel let the silence grow between them as the focus on their Scrutiny.

The Guardian's dedication pays off and, at last, the meagre Resonance reveals itself. Rest or Exhaustion - that is what the local Resonance would be if it were stronger.

The Libertine dumps one Sight for another and scours the broken urban environment (in more way than one!) He also picks up the Resonance of Exhaustion. His Matter aspected Sight is more able to penetrate the abandoned buildings and he notes a tantalising hint of something else as well, buried deep in the stones but there nonetheless - a vague pang of Hunger.


Abacus has set off, following the thread he has found. It is not close by. After a short interval, the Enchanter will have to decide if he should pursue his lead on foot, or perhaps go back for his car. The car would be quicker considering the distances that appear to be involved.

[Winter]

Siphoned for all it is worth, he concludes. But to which end? The Guardian plucks a cigarette from the pack, it's a ritual, something to ease his mind.
"Hmm", he says, "let me test something. Fire in the hole"

The cig trembles in his mouth, as white and cyan glyphs spring to life dancing at the tune of The OLD language. Resonance must have shifted at some point, once he's found the exact moment, he'll be able to pinpoint the exact coordinates to postcognite.
Everything is in its right place on the wheel of time.
A torrent of energy washes him in a torrent of information. He overdid it.

  7 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2020-01-12 02:35:42		Winter rolls 8 to Chronicle Resonance Imp + HS (10 Again)		1, 10, 7, 8, 8, 10, 6, 9, 8, 8		7 successes

[Pixel]

Pixel studied the local matter, turning slightly nervous as he did. His lips pursed and he audibly gulped before deciding he should say something.

"So um, do dead zones get... hungry?" His eyes turn to Winter. "I looked again at the stuff with the goggles for stuff and all I got is hunger. So creeped out now."

It was a big something, and also an uncomfortable something. If it was a thing and not a phenomenon, then Pixel was going to have his first encounter with Bad Things other then Seers. It also meant he had no idea what to do when the time came.

Finally he noticed Abacus wandering and his anxiety became much more apparent. "Dude, hold up a sec so we can go together. Whatever's eating the thing could be waiting to eat you."

[Abacus]

"You're probably right. I'll avoid its mouth."

He was already walking to the car...wait, he didn't have a car. He stopped.

"Guardian, take the wheel, would you?"

He had to know. Sure, he didn't have the entire picture. This called for a certain distance due to lack of complete certainty. Peek through the "window"; browse; assess; contextualize myriad paths.

[Anima]

Anima stops and whispers to the air. An imago flares and his senses move into the Shadow. Unfocused he wanders around speaking in tongues.

"Hullo! Anyone home? Perhaps the spirit of a window? Just curious as to what's been going on here, I can help."

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2020-01-13 17:38:31		Anima rolls 6 to Spirit Tongue (10 Again)		7, 7, 6, 10, 3, 6, 2		1 success
2020-01-13 17:37:48		Anima rolls 6 to peer across the gauntlet (10 Again)		2, 7, 8, 4, 3, 1		1 success

[Yumyumcrow]

Winter can only stand rigid as his senses expand and...

Total Awareness comes flooding in: a torrent of impressions, energy, understanding, time, space - a gorgeous rush that nearly washes him away completely. If he hadn't been sweating from concentration and effort before, the Guardian definitely was now!

For the Might knows.

He knows that the Hallow was once aspected towards Peaceful Rest and always had been, manifesting as it did in a shop attic where workers used to take their time-out and breaks. He knew the exact time the Hallow had been drained - a week and a half before, over the course of one night night, in stages - eaten away by a ravenous and desperate Hunger that had even absorbed much of the local mana flows. A Hunger that nonetheless left an impression in the gutted and blasted mana landscape: a signature he could recognise again (with some difficulty).

The Hunger is... cold... aching...

[mta Winter Vincent - for clarity, the Obrimos has the exact date and times the mana was drained (it happened over one night) and he has the Signature of the person who did it. Good roll [/mta]
Abacus returns and waits with Pixel . For long moments, the Guardian is simply standing, staring, shivering, as power and knowledge pour into him.

While that goes on, Abacus focusses on the spirit realms. As expected, the Gauntlet is hard and cold in this barren urban wasteland: a slick, thick, barrier that takes all of his considerable effort to penetrate. Beyond he finds that the old shop has a reflection in the Shadow - a strong one, a building that looks well maintained despite the urban waste in which it sits.

A curious figure - a mix of hobo and angel - is standing by the open door, watching him.

"Come inside and rest," the figure says, breaking into a friendly smile. "There are many who do, and I watch over them all. Be at peace."

[Yumyumcrow]

Winter can only stand rigid as his senses expand and...

Total Awareness comes flooding in: a torrent of impressions, energy, understanding, time, space - a gorgeous rush that nearly washes him away completely. If he hadn't been sweating from concentration and effort before, the Guardian definitely was now!

For the Might knows.

He knows that the Hallow was once aspected towards Peaceful Rest and always had been, manifesting as it did in a shop attic where workers used to take their time-out and breaks. He knew the exact time the Hallow had been drained - a week and a half before, over the course of one night night, in stages - eaten away by a ravenous and desperate Hunger that had even absorbed much of the local mana flows. A Hunger that nonetheless left an impression in the gutted and blasted mana landscape: a signature he could recognise again (with some difficulty).

The Hunger is... cold... aching...

Winter Vincent - for clarity, the Obrimos has the exact date and times the mana was drained (it happened over one night) and he has the Signature of the person who did it. Good roll

Abacus returns and waits with Pixel . For long moments, the Guardian is simply standing, staring, shivering, as power and knowledge pour into him.

While that goes on, Abacus focusses on the spirit realms. As expected, the Gauntlet is hard and cold in this barren urban wasteland: a slick, thick, barrier that takes all of his considerable effort to penetrate. Beyond he finds that the old shop has a reflection in the Shadow - a strong one, a building that looks well maintained despite the urban waste in which it sits.

A curious figure - a mix of hobo and angel - is standing by the open door, watching him.

"Come inside and rest," the figure says, breaking into a friendly smile. "There are many who do, and I watch over them all. Be at peace."

[Winter]

The sudden burst of resonance sends him staggering his feet. His body sways back and forth as his senses are overwhelmed with a spike of Awareness of how things were and how things came to be
"Ugh", he growls. It takes him a few seconds to recollect his bearings, but once he's done, the trickle of blood running down his nose is the only sign left of his exertion.
"Overdone", he exhales before he turns around, just to make sure they're alone, "Midnight, ten days ago", and thus he begins chanting anew. Soon strands of liquefied truth latch unto his consciousness, shifting his worldview into a pattern that is no more.
The past and the present, coalescing into a singularity. And he's at the center.

  4 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2020-01-14 04:34:42		Winter rolls 9 to Postcognition Imp + HS (10 Again, WillPower)		2, 5, 2, 9, 9, 2, 3, 10, 9, 5		4 successes

Rolled the full pool, leaving the penalty for time sympathy up to you. Yumyumcrow

[Pixel]

Pixel just watches as the doctor speaks his gibberish. Without the Spirit proficiency to follow it, it's really all Pixel can do on that front. As Winter begins to wobble and bleed, a look of genuine concern washes over the Warlock's expression.

"Need anything?" He watched the Guardian, beady eyes focused and waiting to hear what information the second glyph might yield.

"So a thing drank the stuff ten nights ago? Now the whole place lost it's onion-y layers while we try and figure out what's up using what's left." His attention breaks from Winter to return to Anima and Abacus. "What have you two got?"

[Abacus]

"It's not worth the walk. We need the car."


It was simple enough. He needed to see this close up. He needed to see the web for what it was, to understand this variable as part of a larger equation complete with Supernal models. Anima entertained a facet of enlightened Wisdom Abacus had no training in; eyes to pierce the shade of the Gauntlet. The attempt at communicating made him wonder if there was something Other waiting for them.


He knew Winter's countenance well. He liked to think of it as a groundswell; when your will works a little too well and the great karmic rubber band of the Universe snaps against your mind.


Truth can be smoothly sublimated into Knowing, but it can just as easily overwhelm.