(PRP Fire Heart) Kindling

[Puck]

Lots of information to process. Councilor Pixel. Sacramento Lorehouse. Summoning rituals. Venois.

Puck's mind is racing, contemplating connections and possible actions. Also the fact that he was right. He's pretty proud of that one.

"You found the sole Libertine of Sacramento. I go by Puck, Acanthus. I'd love to see this PC box of yours if you can direct me, and we can take you to the Circle to rest."

He follows the glances to Corbin but doesn't linger. The smell was enough for him, as was the fact two out of three mages Puck assumed could heal people were leaving a scorched ruin of a man to suffer. F for effort. Would not ask for heals again.

"So are you guys planning on finishing the cleanup or...?" He looks at Kaze and Guru, his eyes staying fixed on them as they go wide and his head tilts toward Corbin. He's doing his best to smile and seem positive, but the irritation was obvious in his wide eyes.

[Phoenyx]

Phoenyx held the position until everyone was out. The creature lurked in the room. And what happened to Icarus? Thanks to us, you get to be Daedalus. It was a bitter thought but Phoenyx was not in the best of moods.

"I'll get it," she replied, referring to the PC box. Looking down at the floor, she didn't fancy testing the weight - or getting too close to the Aetherial being. Fortunately she had other tools.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-23 08:07:54	Phoenyx rolls 1 to Paradox: Base 2-1 (level 3 spell) -1 (Magical tool) +1 (2nd vulgar) (10 Again)	8	1 success

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-23 08:08:41	Phoenyx rolls 10 to Telekinesis: Force4+Gno4+2(HS) (10 Again)	1, 3, 1, 9, 4, 5, 3, 9, 8, 3	3 successes

She lifted the pc box out of the ritual circle and drew it towards herself, holdering her gun and knife before plucking it out of the air.

"Pixel is gone," Phoenyx replied, not averting her gaze from the room. "Hasn't been here in months." However, it was enough to confirm they were Libertines. Puck's neck would snap under the weight of his head and that entire Order needed lessons in making Atlantean Runes not look like slapdash scrawls, but it meant she could relax a little. "Still - now the Concillium has found you. We can get you somewhere safe." She looks between her new charges. "What about this Venois? Are they dangerous?"

[Yumyumcrow]

Gloria was struggling with her emotions - even more when Puck revealed his affiliations: exhaustion and relief washed over the mage. She was unable to speak.

Icarus seemed to be collecting himself.

"The PC Box is upstairs on the mezzanine... Um. Best we could do when we downloaded what files we could from the server. Thanks."

Subdued, he let Phoenyx return to the upper floor and retrieve the box*. With some effort he managed to focus on the Acanthus Libertine.

"Somewhere safe sounds good. I guess we - ah - burned our bridges with the Golden Concillium. Corbin... We... Were not willing to sacrifice the lorehouse in a political game with Venois. She is the Hierarch in San Francisco. Guardian. Backed by the Ladder. The Free Council makes a common cause with the Mysterium there... but the mystogogues are too chicken to face down Venois. Most mages are after what she did to the Arrows. All in the name of that damned ritual."

Anger seeped into his voice.

"So. Ah. Yeah. We tracked down the back up server. Downloaded what we could. Corbin had organised a large group of us... The rest ran interference when Venois moved against us. Um. I'm guessing Corbin didn't tell us everything. He was always... um... impulsive. I got no idea if Venois knows where we are. We might be beyond her reach now. I guess."

*The PC box is pretty ordinary. Its power source is not - it is some sort of artefact or magical device. To expedite things I'm going to say Phoenyx gathers that up as well.

The device looks like a wooden board with crystals set into it. Under the Sight, it would show as drawing ambient mana from the area (the exact how would require Scrutiny).

[Guru]

Guru looked to Icarus and gave him a half smile, knowing he could say the same of himself as he took a few steadying breaths to calm his nerves and get the shaking in his hands to slow for a second. The others seemed to be in rough but stable condition, the man who would be Corbin was beyond Guru's reach of skill. Then Puck started in and it was like nails digging into his skull, he tightened his jaw. "Now that they've been stabilized and we're not worried about the floor collapsing beneath us. Yea man."


He looked over his shoulder at Kaze, "You're gonna have to try and get him in better shape, I'll try and do my best to help the other two." He sighed and shook his head at Icarus, "Sorry about all that." He didn't know who any of the people they were talking about are, who was Venois had they reached out to the Mysterium, was it because of the transition? his mind almost lost for a moment before he came back to attention. Rescue mission made sense, they needed to preserve what they could. He started to get the two of them as close as possible so he could touch both of them at the same time.


He looked around still to make sure the coast was clear slowly reaching out to Icarus and Gloria together so he could heal them both. Chanting the words of High Speech softly for the spell he'd practiced many times over knowing it would be the difference of life or death for someone. His fingers moving in a practiced rhythm, to an unknown beat as he altered the Imago to include Gloria as well. And the Glyph began shaking, the abyss threatening to come through he grit his teeth feeling a blood vessel pop as he felt the abyss brush against his pattern and the shock of pain that came with it.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-26 18:40:08	Guru rolls 1 to Paradox (Level 3 Spell +1, +1 Third Vulgar in Scene,-1 Rote, -1 Magical Tool) (10 Again, Chance)	10, 9	1 success

Guru Will take the Backlash damage to eliminate the success.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-26 18:43:14	Guru rolls 9 to Healing Heart (Comp+Med+Life+HS -2 Targets) (10 Again)	2, 8, 6, 7, 4, 6, 4, 1, 8	2 successes

The spell managed to stabilize and begin repairing the damage of the other two, a soft grunt of pain as a hand came up to his ribs a soft shake to it as he took another couple of deep breaths. He swallowed hard, "Feeling better? Who exactly is Venoit? I've never heard that name before". He needed another second to collect himself, there was always real fear when it came that close.

Active spells:
Pulse of the Living World / Sense Life (Pot:2/2)
Organic Resilience Pot: 5
Invisibility to Machines Pot: 2
Spell Limit: 4/6
Spell Tolerance: 3/3

[Kaze]

Kaze listens to the mage's interactions. Pixel. Hadn't really thought of him in a while. Anyway, Free Council stuff. Phoenyx has the server now, and unlike Winter will probably give it back without copying everything on it first. Puck is handling the politics.

He nods at Puck's asking him in his own style, to heal the burnt guy, Corbin after Guru did the emergency first pass.

Kaze visually examines the damage now that there's a minute to really look. Pretty bad alright.

He drops into an almost trance like state, going deep into a near meditative calm and gently touches Corbin with both hands to try to heal the severe burns.

The Abyss is held at bay for now.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-27 09:09:07	Kaze rolls 1 to Paradox (Gnosis 2 for 1 die + Arcana 3 dots for -1 die + Rote - 1 die + 3rd Vulgar Spell in scene +1) (10 Again, Chance)	5	failure

And he feels Life flow into him and through him to repair deep nerve and tissue damage in Corbin's burn sites!

5 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-27 09:11:24	Kaze rolls 15 to cast Healing Heart on 'Corbin' (Life 4 + Composure 3 + Medicine 2 + Spec 1 + High Speech 2) (10 Again, WillPower)	4, 4, 7, 10, 1, 9, 10, 7, 9, 3, 5, 7, 7, 9, 6, 3, 7	5 successes

Using touch at Four Dots to heal Aggravated damage.

[Phoenyx]

The Arrow keeps an eye on the spirit as she retrieves the box. It looks fascinating, but for now the priority is the people.

Once the spirit disapates, she would head back down stairs.

"Ready to move?"

Urgh - forgot to say Phoenyx absorbs the backlash as bashing.

Also assuming it will disapate too, based on what the mages said. She'll watch until it does.

[Yumyumcrow]

le BUMP Xander Puck

Not sure if you missed this or if you are still in the process of moving

[Puck]

Puck listens. Honestly? it didn't seem like there was that much else to do. People were rescued, the seraphim was going to wait and fade away on it's own, and Phoenyx had the pc box for the lorehouse...

...wait...

"Yep." How much did Puck trust Phoenyx? More then most mages in Sacramento. "I'll carry the lore house stuff, you help transport the wounded."

Just not as much as other Libertines. Besides, he really wanted to see what was on this server. You know how he's going to find out with Phoenyx holding onto the thing? Neither did Puck.

[Yumyumcrow]

Phoenyx moved off to retrieve the PC box, returning a short while later carrying the box and the Libertine's strange battery board.

In the interval, Guru and Kaze continue to work on the mages from San Francisco. The Shaman's work is subtle, barely noticeable.

Kaze's work is a lot more spectacular: Corbin at last gasps, coughing up phlegm and clotted blood as whole slabs of melted skin bubbles off and away; he still looks burned but that is due to whole new layers of fresh skin emerging from under his scabberous wounds. He manages a grunt but is shushed by Gloria.

Icarus fills the quiet space:

"Venois is the Hierarch of the Golden Concilium. An oppressive Guardian with myopic vision. All she's focussed on is the damn ritual connected to the Golden Gate Bridge. The Ladders are all swept up in her mania and its so bad now that two thirds of the Consilum fall into line with her. The Arrow were the only ones who disagreed and she made an example of them... Sorry to say but our leadership studiously stayed out of that one. And then Venois came for the lorehouse... Go figure."

"There are a few truth seekers left. Not all Libertine. Corbin was trying to bring everyone together and... well... now... We are effectively run out of town. We had to rescue something from the lorehouse. Pains me to say it but we have a duty to the Order first..."

Phoenyx returned with the box and the board. Puck offers to assist - a good thing given that while Phoenyx is strong, the box is old and chunky; and the board is cumbersome in its own peculiar way. Corbin still needs assistance and they have to figure out how to slip away without alerting the Sleepers.

The out-of-town mages do have a car. They slip away first, driving quietly away with Puck in tow, providing instructions on where to go next.

After that, all the group have to do is disperse slowly into the lingering summer evening...

This seems a good spot to bring this long scene to a close. Thank you for sticking with it. I'll open a new scene for you to continue the story / debrief (if you wish).

FYI - Venois and the Golden Consilium were player added content from years past. This information seems to have dropped off the wiki.