RE: Treasure Hunt - In the Hand

[Belle]

Belle nods, taking a moment to sip from a coffee cup. "Okay, so far I've got some general information: this thing's got Prime and Death magic powering it, though I was expecting Fate or Time given its reputation for 'preserving love beyond all hope'. Though maybe that's just flavor text. As far as targets: looks like it could affect any number of beings, so I guess it's a good thing our John Creep Doe wasn't polyamorous." Or just plain psycho.

She sits down, clearly giving her eyes and mind a break as she scribbles down some notes. "I've still got his phone and a coin that I was going to analyze after we'd gotten a hold of the Choker. I'll have to dip into Forces before I can magically scan the phone, but I imagine there's enough Sympathy on it to get a trace on this guy. Don't worry Corn, we're not letting this guy anywhere near you or your family." There's a brief, ferocious resolve in Belle's voice. She clearly means what she's saying here; she'd rather die than see her fellow Magi hurt.

After a few moments rest, Belle gets back up to face the Choker. "Let's do some more specific digging..."

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-01-24 01:02:59	Belle rolls 4 to Improv Casting: Analyze Enchanted Item (Prime + Gnosis) (10 Again)	10, 2, 2, 7, 4	1 success

This time she calls upon her knowledge of Prime to specifically pry into the Choker. Into the nooks and crannies of what it can and can't do. And hopefully to find its trigger.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-01-24 01:13:02	[03] Belle rolls 5 to Extended Scrutiny of Artifact (Int + Occult) (10 Again)	1, 7, 4, 3, 4	failure

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-01-24 01:13:02	[02] Belle rolls 5 to Extended Scrutiny of Artifact (Int + Occult) (10 Again)	6, 6, 8, 1, 6	1 success

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-01-24 01:13:02	[01] Belle rolls 5 to Extended Scrutiny of Artifact (Int + Occult) (10 Again)	2, 2, 6, 7, 10, 2	1 success

Per the Spell, Belle requires suxx equal to double the Artifact's merit cost to discern its properties. Spell's duration is one Scene, each roll represents 10 minutes of study.

Spell Tolerance 3/3, Vulgar 0, Armor 5, Analyze Suxx 2/?

[Corn]

" 'Preserving love beyond all hope.' Well, we saw what that means: chaining your loved one to this world, forever waiting for you even after you died. Please tell me that the love has to be real at least, instead of chaining a ghost and using death to give it something akin to what that necrophiliac would consider love. "

Then Belle mentioned polyamory and Corn frowned.

"Oh, crap. How can we be sure there are no other ghosts hovering over different graves instead of just Dina? I admit that the effort taken to make a tomb for her that big is not something one can do for more than one person but you never know. For all we know, Dina could be the last one in the line and the necrophiliac could have dumped his previous amorous ghosts waiting for him in abandoned graves - talk about bad break-ups... Or he could have 'tried' the necklace on some 'test drive' hapless person that was dying.
And I doubt this would be the first pervert to get hold of this necklace. There could be a Tlaxcalan ghost lady waiting for her lover 500 years after the Spanish killed him. This is one hot mess this choker is creating.

Unless you make sure that this choker can bind just one such love and not several simultaneously, we have no way to be sure there are no other ghosts forever waiting for people that have since turned to dust.
So... for the sake of my inner peace and so I could sleep at night, please proceed with care, and take the time you need. I will be here. "

Then Corn turned to Dina and addressed her.
"Dear lady, you don't happen to know if your lover has tested that choker on anyone else, do you? Please nod if you are aware of any 'experiments' with the choker your lover have made before he gifted this to you." and cursed you with eternal longing for a man that will never return, Corn thought but didn't voice his opinions to the ghost.

As time passes and Belle works to slowly immerse herself with the knowledge of the artifact's powers, Corn kept reading things and informing the ghost, Dina, about things he found interesting. Namely, superstitions and wards about ghosts in Pre-Columbian North America.

Active spells: 1/6
Spell tolerance: 1/3Vulgar spells: 1
Armor 5

[Aeolus]

Belle swapped out the tool for the job, switching to a more specialized spell. It was like taking a magnifying glass and holding it up to the Resonance: after a brief rush of vertigo, seeing the threads of Magic closer and not closer at the same time, she could appreciate it some more. The patterns had an oriental flair - Persian maybe? - and seemed to work in harmony for different sides of a shared goal. There, this petal: if she followed it long enough she could see it running back to some other part of the rune again, unbroken. Eternal. There were two different effects at work, this much she knew.

Yet while Corn seemed to have made up his mind about the 'how' and 'why' of other assumed Moros, the Mastigos didn't get a sense of malevolence at all from the Artifact. She focused on the Purple runes some more: whom or what was this Artifact bound to.. well, bind?

'Dina', meanwhile went back to silently watching into the distance for the most part. It could seem like she was listening to the discussion between Mystagogues (at least the part she could hear through Stygia's help), but that might just be coincidence. Mentions of throngs of other ghosts - new and old - left her unfazed.
Corn's question brought her back after a few beats. Confusion crept back into her features, her late mind turning over the question most Sleepers would have difficulty understanding at the best of times. As if per chance her gaze found the choker and it seemed like the shadow of a memory hushed over her face. Recollection? A deeper meaning, shared between two lovers? Sadness and longing returned, heavier than before. A soft humming could be heard, ever so faintly even for Belle.

Tallying up all gathered successes and adding them to the ones gathered earlier. I will tell you once there is enough (and will drop other learned details on the way), but you can call it quits for the day at any time. Also, just to keep track on how much time is passing let's say talking in between adds ~15 minutes for each 30 minutes. Not going to hit you over the head with it, just in case Maria is missing Corn at some point or something.

Corn you can roll (Wits + Empathy - 1) to read Dina's expression.

Success

She wasn't looking at the choker directly, was she? Was it possible for her to see something else? Maybe she wasn't a Sleeper after all - or at least not completely left in the dark.
One thing is clear, however: the sadness didn't appear to come from the fate her late lover had imposed onto her.

Failure

Maybe that was all the confirmation Corn needed for his theories. Why else would Dina react this way?

[Belle]

More details come to light, Belle's brow wrinkles from effort and a bit of frustration. She'd managed to spook herself with her own crackpot theory. But when magic was concerned, there really was a world of possibilist. Some worse than others.

"Working on that. And speaking of; you don't have anywhere special to be with Maria, right? I'll probably be here for a while, so don't let me stop you if you've got an engagement." She smiles. "Cherish the living love you have."

Pep talk out of the way, Belle pours herself back into observation. She begins focusing her efforts on the duality of the Choker's design; the ouroboros-like vibes leaning her towards some connection between the twin Arcanum she'd referenced earlier. Prime and Death. Pure Magic and Pure Entropy.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-01-25 00:12:54	[02] Belle rolls 5 to Extended Scrutiny of the Artifact Round 2 (Int + Occult) (10 Again)	2, 2, 1, 6, 10, 8	2 successes

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-01-25 00:12:54	[01] Belle rolls 5 to Extended Scrutiny of the Artifact Round 2 (Int + Occult) (10 Again)	4, 5, 8, 3, 6	1 success

Spell Tolerance 3/3, Vulgar Spells 0, Armor 5, Analyze Suxx 5/?

[Corn]

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-01-25 00:40:36	Corn rolls 3 to Wits + Emp -1 (10 Again)	5, 8, 7	1 success

Apparently, Dina didn't find it extraordinary that her lover bound her to this earth, nor the horrific fate imposed on her as something to concern herself with.
Ghosts are like that, Corn thought based on ... his inadequate experience with ghosts. I shouldn't be blinded by my own biases. He chided himself. He was already creating "the narrative" that others would try to conform to, because the moros that can see ghosts said so - even though Corn's knowledge about the situation was inadequate at best.
There was something else making Dina sad - Corn didn't excuse the use of the item if it brought that fate, but it was not what made her sad. And there was this humming.

Turning to his awesome-listener and new-found friend from beyond the grave, Corn looked at the ghost.
"Dear lady, what is wrong? What makes you sad? If you can't vocalize it, can you show me?" Corn raised his hand towards Dina, the ghost.
If I am honest, I will miss that ghost once she moves to the afterlife. Corn thought.

[1] Matter armor (shared)

Spell tolerance: 1/3Vulgar spells: 1
Armor 5

[Aeolus]

Belle was starting to see a pattern, gained a deeper understanding about the Artifacts purpose. Well no, that would be kind of an overstatement, but she at least zero'd in on whom the Magic was affecting: The Death spell was focused on the locket, but singular threads extended all the way around the necklace. The Warlock was pretty sure that this went with the wearer's Pattern.
The Prime spell also had one target, but it wasn't the wearer. Stylized petals curled outward, away from the locket - but not spread out enough to suggest some sort of area-effect. All of this was a bit useless without the 'what', but it was a marathon, not a sprint.

Corn, oblivious to Belle's question, focused on Dina. Maybe he wasn't aware of it, maybe it was a conscious decision but by extending his hand he mirrored the Ghost's movement back in the tomb. The humming stopped, and after a moment of consideration she slowly extended her hand towards the Necromancer's. They didn't really touch, but at the moment they would Both Mystagogue's Unseen Senses reacted and there was a cold sensation at Corn's spine and a faint taste of medicine.

If Corn wants to resist Dina's Numen roll (Resolve + Gnosis) and have him pull away. If not (or if the roll fails) we'll see how Dina communicates (if that's what she wants to do) and Corn can't break contact for a few seconds.

[Belle]

More pieces of the puzzle come together. Belle breaks again briefly​ to resume her notes, taking the time to speak out loud for Corn's benefit. "Looks like Death magic is supposed to affect the wearer directly via contact, at least as far as I know. No word on wether it can be remotely activated. The Prime magic affects someone outside of the wearer, and so far it looks like just one person."

Corn converses with Dina, but Belle's in a zone now. She trusts Corn to do his thing while she does his, and she pores over Roxie's Choker again in pursuit of its secrets.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-01-27 00:33:52	[03] Belle rolls 5 to Extended Scrutiny of the Artifact Round 3 (Int + Occult) (10 Again)	9, 10, 1, 2, 7, 6	2 successes

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-01-27 00:33:52	[02] Belle rolls 5 to Extended Scrutiny of the Artifact Round 3 (Int + Occult) (10 Again)	8, 6, 9, 6, 9	3 successes

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-01-27 00:33:52	[01] Belle rolls 5 to Extended Scrutiny of the Artifact Round 3 (Int + Occult) (10 Again)	6, 1, 4, 1, 10, 2	1 success

Spell Tolerance 3/3, Vulgar Spells 0, Armor 5, Analyze Suxx (per ST confirm) 13/?

[Aeolus]

The player has agreed not to resist.

Corn's leap of faith got him a series of images in quick succession: a first date, a proposal, a marriage. The details were faded and unclear, but they were easily recognizable - if only by how similar it felt to the things he experienced with Maria.
But it didn't stop there. Next was her lying on the ground, her in a hospital bed. And then? Them being on a date again, but the background was even darker, blurrier. She was happy, though.
The last image Corn experienced was her sitting alone in the dark, waiting. Longing.

It only took seconds, but it certainly felt a lot longer until Dina withdrew her hand again, a hopeful look on her face. Now that Corn understood, he clearly was able to help her.


Belle was getting the hang of this now. At first she just followed context clues, but that lead proved to be correct. What was the difference between her and Corn right now? Aside from many many obvious ones: he was able to see the Ghost and talk to her. And if not for Fate, what could enable someone to transcend love beyond death? With that idea she looked at the purple Resonance again, and quickly she found her theory to be correct. She wasn't 100% sure on the 'how', but this Artifact granted the wearer the ability to perceive and speak with the dead.
But what about the other spell? This one was far more complex, far more sophisticated than the other one. Something about sharing, about beauty. Funnily enough, apart from illusions Prime wasn't exactly the Arcanum you went for for love and beauty - but there has got to be something she wasn't seeing right now.

[Corn]

A hopeful look... didn't Dina realize that a ghost looking at someone with a hopeful look is actively making the other party guilty if it fails to help? Probably not.
Damsels in distress came in all shapes and colors and life/death sides. His armor was not shiny, but he honestly wanted to help Dina along. Now... how to make her release her hold on this world and move to the next?

"The life you had with your lover was full of joy. I have shared similar experiences with my own wife" Corn said and raised his hand to show Dina his wedding ring.
" and I honestly hope she came to treasure them as much as you do. Your feelings for your spouse were honest, sincere and strong. So strong that they are actually keeping you anchored here, away from the person your heart longs for, despite your death. The good moments you shared with this person don't have to end, nor you have to wait any longer to be reunited, your spouse is waiting for you beyond the veil, in a different world. "

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-01-28 10:40:22	[02] Corn rolls 4 to Pre+pers+1 (10 Again)	5, 4, 4, 3	failure
2022-01-28 10:40:22	[01] Corn rolls 4 to Pre+pers+1 (10 Again)	9, 8, 7, 10, 4	3 successes

I put an extended roll, but got the 3S in the first roll. I have a +1 bonus because of contact with the ghost.

[Belle]

Belle can almost hear the Artifact's answers whispering to her just out of reach. Or was it taunting her? Either way, she was seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. He jots down more notes for further study. Corn's voice is almost like background noise; like a weirdly sincere podcast about a ghost detective. Where were those moves when you had the damn teleprompter, Romeo? Maybe it's more about the sincerity.

But while the grand tragedy and romance unfolds in the background, Belle turns back to the Artifact. She resumes peeling away the layers of secrecy, this time trying to find the link between Prime Arcana and the concept of beauty. Yes, magic was beautiful; but it could also be cold and dangerous and unnatural.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-01-30 22:24:00	[01] Belle rolls 5 to Extended Scrutiny of the Artifact Round 4 (Int + Occult) (10 Again)	8, 1, 2, 7, 3	1 success

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-01-30 22:24:00	[02] Belle rolls 5 to Extended Scrutiny of the Artifact Round 4 (Int + Occult) (10 Again)	3, 10, 7, 5, 4, 8	2 successes

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-01-30 22:24:00	[03] Belle rolls 5 to Extended Scrutiny of the Artifact Round 4 (Int + Occult) (10 Again)	4, 7, 1, 4, 2	failure

[Spell Tolerance 3/3, Vulgar 0, Armor 5, Analyze Suxx (per ST confirm) 16/? [/mta]