Tipping the Hourglass

[Winter]

That demesne back in the crack-house, he studied its resonance. And although he didn't have time to study the Soulstone - wherever it may be right now - he thinks he can replicate its telltale signs.
Only High Speech escapes his lips while his memory fills the blanks of his magical understanding, bridging the gap between what is and what should be. Past the veil, above the tide, mana is woven into resonance and then into the compact form of a black stone.
A simulacrum of the past.
His nimbus subsides, until only a crackle of white light remains, and then gone.
"This is something we discovered a couple months ago. I have reason to believe it's from the same people who attacked the hotel 2 years ago", he plays with the piece of charcoal in his hand.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-10-09 13:12:22	Winter rolls 1 to Dox, Lvl 3 Spells - chance (10 Again, Chance)	6	failure

4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-10-09 13:15:35	Winter rolls 11 to Recreate the resonance he saw in the temple, in tass form. Gno + Prime + HS (10 Again, WillPower)	4, 9, 1, 9, 10, 4, 9, 1, 5, 2, 3, 3	4 successes

As spoken with Yumy. Creative thaum a prime 3 spell with combined Time 2. Winter has Eidetic memory and studied the false demesne resonance at the time.
Asked for permission to see whether we could resume that plot

[Kaze]

Kaze watches and listens as first Campanella and then Aurora ask Winter if something is going on that needs action. He already offered to help, and there's probably a much better chance of Winter sharing information if he keeps his mouth shut and just lets Winter basically tell the other, more advanced mages while he basically is a fly in the room. Which is a distracting thought, actually, could he actually pull that off now? Yeah, anyway Kaze focuses on just casually hanging out and taking in whatever Winter is going to do, not that he really expects Winter to give away any real details.

And then Winter kind of does. At least, Kaze knows that Winter never deploys magic lightly or for convenience.

'...attacked the hotel, two years ago...' That would have been right before Kaze got here. Alastor, his superior in the Arrows at the time was involved somehow, he thinks. Around the same time or right before that mission to hit the hunters' safehouse and recovery Epitaph's body. Kaze got the feeling it was related. And that reminds Kaze of that hard drive he got, and turned over to Winter as a kind of Christmas present.

Interesting. There was a prisoner too, a woman. He never heard anything more about either one. Yeah, he is kinda ok with not knowing all the details Winter doesn't share.

[Campanella]

Campanella raises an eyebrow as Winter so openly casts. Given the Guardian's nature, that alone was a statement of intent. He watched on as Winter created the Tass, sublimating a simulacrum of coal into his hands. The Moros shifted again, leaning forward and much more animated now.

He waited, eyes moving between the Kaze and Aurora

"Very well, then. I shall take a look at your cryptic trophy..."

Words faded out as Campanella cast the Sight with subtle gesture and the faint murmuring of lips. Then, moving very carefully, the Mystogogue slid to one knee so he could get a better view of the coal-black object held in the Guardian's hand. His face locked into a mask of focussed concentration as he stared at the object. Moment's lengthened into minutes.

Campenella slowly recoiled. His eyes widened and his mouth opened, lips peeling back in obvious distaste. But the Master did not stop till he had finished his Scrutiny.

"Well. That is something. Something concerning. And, yes, we should be looking into it. You don't need my permission to start an investigation. Simply put out the call. I take it you have an idea on tracing... that?"

The Moros was standing up, dry-washing his hands as if he had physically touched something disgusting.

"Its abyssal resonance," he added quickly for the other mages benefit.

Book keeping: -

4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-10-11 06:12:40	Campanella to cast Prime Sight rote rolls 9 to Wits + Occult + Order + Prime (10 Again)	8, 6, 9, 2, 4, 2, 1, 3, 10, 9	4 successes

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-10-11 06:13:33	[01] Campanella to do Scrutiny rolls 6 to Intelligence + Occult (10 Again)	6, 9, 9, 3, 3, 9	3 successes

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-10-11 06:13:33	[02] Campanella to do Scrutiny rolls 6 to Intelligence + Occult (10 Again)	7, 5, 9, 1, 10, 1, 7	2 successes

I'll leave it up to Vincent to elaborate on what Campanella sees - I just know the basics to give a general impression

[Aurora]

She remained quiet as she watched. Letting Winter do whatever it was he was doing.

Then thinks. Two years ago? Hotel? Oh! “The hotel with the people who appeared to be controlled somehow? You’ll have to forgive me, my memory isn’t the best anymore, and there have been some,” a pause, “mentally trying events since then. If it’s the one I’m thinking, that was a mess.” At best. “So you believe they’re connected? That whatever happened at the hotel, and what that is, could be related?”

Then she watches and listens to Campanella.

Wait, what?

“Abyssal resonance?” eyes going from Campanella to Winter, concern clear across her face.

[Winter]

"Scelesti. This is just a simulacrum of the real thing. A soulstone we found in the middle of their Demesne. An Abyssal manifestation was guarding it", he says, while focusing his gaze in the distance. "Star and Briar should have the original. I have a reason to believe it's tied to whatever occurred in the hotel. Last time we heard of those people, they were working with a Scelestus. Priam. So everything clicks", suddenly he assumes a business like posture
"The lay line configuration in the city is a mess. We've all witnessed it through the past year. It could be that all those Mysteries that have been popping up are the byproduct of what they were doing. If so, we should be able to track them. Though, we still don't know what they're after"

[Kaze]

Kaze looks sick suddenly, the name, 'Priam' brings back a memory of a night he has never forgotten.

"Priam Crane and Shrike." Kaze murmurs softly. "Acamoth."

Alastor and Sand and Langdon and him and Winter...were there that night, and when Winter explained who the people in the images on that flashdrive were. And just he and Winter are still around.

Kaze looks lost in memory.

[Campanella]

A flash of memory: a dive bar.

Campanella rubs his forehead with fingers and thumb.

"Then they will have had free rein while we struggled with the Seers. Now that that the Seers appear to be dealt with, we have to look into this. Can you track it?"

He looks at Kaze and Winter directly.

"I'd urge you to put out the call. There are a lot of Awakened looking for something to do."

There were a lot of individual agenda's in the River City Consilium - at least one for each Awakened, as Cabals did not dominate the social or political life of the community as they did in other cities. But two things could unify the Awakened: Seer plots and resisting the Abyss when it surfaced.

[Winter]

He nods. Might as well get the ball rolling. "Kaze and I can cover the tracking part. We'll need a Shaman", he looks at Aurora, "if we ever have to deal with guests from the other side or get too hurt. Your assistance and Briar's will likely be required as well", his mind flashes back to the motel, the Moros had ruthlessly disposed of the mind controlled zombies. "And a Warlock"
"The thing we found in the ruins of the house was hard to put down. We're likely going to face something similar. It could be that the events of the past few months have all been the result of alteration of the local layline layout"

[Aurora]

A hand was placed against her chin as she listened, finger against her lips.

“The hotel was a mess, and almost cost a few of us our lives.” Shit hit the fan quickly there. “Is the soulstone in question similar to the pyramid object we brought back from the Seer Sanctum?” that would be good to know. Not that she wanted to relive that fight, her eyes looking away, lost in the memory that was as fresh as it was painful. And she remains in that circle of images for a few moments.

Gently shaking her head, focusing on the here and now, following the conversation.

Looking at Winter, “I’m always happy to help, just let me know when and where.” But don’t ask her to murder. She wasn’t sure if her mind and soul could handle that again.

[Kaze]

Kaze looks startled and surprised when Winter talks about him and Winter working together! He guesses maybe all the other guardians really are gone, not just laying low. Or else Winter would rather work with the other guy who just got out of jail instead of the guy who got them both thrown in jail in the first place.

”Sure.” Kaze says nodding like Winter had actually asked him, which he hadn’t.

Kaze wonders what Campanella will say. Winter drafted Kaze without asking, then politely asked Aurora, but only vaguely hinted at needing “someone “ with Death, when Campanella is standing right there. Interesting.