Something Wicked

[Belle]

Belle found a decently priced hotel room at the Motel 6 on the west side of town. Secrecy was one thing, but she'd be damned if she didn't have some level of comfort. After all, she'll be here for a while; might as well have a comfy bed. And what with Rails having slipped out of sight and mind (and cell phone access), she could afford to indulge in her own process.

She's got herself some essentials for what would be a full day of spell casting: a pack of water bottles, some protein bars, and a sleeping mask to make sure she got some eye rest. This is supplemented with the complimentary towels from the bathroom to keep herself clear of sweat.

She sets out all these items on the bed, then pulls out a few necessary items. First, the few strands of the interloper's hair removed from a Ziploc baggie onto a paper plate. Second, the coin purloined from the interloper. That interloper in question being the man who'd come across her, Corn, and Aurora during their recovery of Roxie's Choker. He hadn't done much; just talked big and gotten curb stomped by Corn and Belle without taking a single hit himself. Thank God for the less fireball-y options. But Corn was thinking this guy was serious Banisher material, and Belle wasn't about to let a threat like that slide.

"Alright, Mr. Wise Guy...let's see what you're hiding."

Belle sits criss-cross applesauce at the front end of the bed, back against a pillow. Her foci assembled before her like a weird middle-school collage. She concentrates, stretching out with her mind's eye and putting her will into the task at hand. She's had to push a bit harder in Scrying before, and she'd likely have to for a while until her knowledge grew. But for now, she gets that Warlock tunnel vision and focuses hard...

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-06-02 23:50:14	Belle rolls 4 to Scrying Improv Extended 1 (Space + Gnosis - Intimate: Physical Token + WP) (10 Again, WillPower)	10, 5, 3, 9, 6	2 successes

Aeolus

relevant stats

Occultation 2 (Sympathetic Defense); WP 2/3

[Aeolus]

Belle breached the flawed ideas of distance brought onto them by the Lie easily and opened a scrying window into a small room. It was sparsely decorated, plain white walls decorated with a simple wooden cross and a bed, a small closet and a desk being the only furniture. The man they've encountered in the tomb back then was kneeling in front of the bed, his head resting on his folded hands. The smell of incense hung in the air and it was comfortably cool in there.

A moment after she had established the connection the man looked up from his thoughtful pose. If Belle had to guess someone's Unseen Senses just went off.

This spell goes on for as long as Belle concentrates on it.

[Belle]

Belle can't help but grin as her efforts pay off; she peers into the space shown through the window in spacetime. ​Okay. So guy's clearly got something going on here. The religious iconography isn't lost on her. He's either an Obrimos or a really devout Mage of another color. But praying in front of a cross doesn't necessarily earn the man any brownie points. He still could be a threat to her friends. Careful...we're just looking now. Looking and learning.

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-06-08 13:02:27	Belle rolls 5 to Improv Casting: Spatial Awareness (Space + Gnosis) (10 Again)	9, 5, 9, 8, 6	3 successes

Belle begins refocusing her mind now that her scrying subject is revealed. There's a brief flash of azure light in her pupils as her sight adjusts to look at any Spatial marks within. Are we looking at a bug-out bunker? Or just a home base? This time she begins weaving some occultation magic into her spell to ensure it couldn't be easily detected. Let's keep the guy guessing. She's got an idea of what else she wants to confirm, but she'll take each point in turn for as long as the spell holds.

relevant stats

Occultation 2 (Sympathetic Defense); WP 2/3; Mana 10/11; Tolerance 1/3

[Aeolus]

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-06-09 15:09:33	Mage ST rolls 3 to detect cloaked spell (6 - Potency 3) (10 Again)	4, 4, 3	failure

A double win for the Mastigos - it seems like her target hasn't noticed her casting Mage Sight and her spell showed her that there was nothing abnormal going on over her scrying window. This was just a regular room she was observing.

Unfortunately she broke concentration to get her other spell up. Maybe she could have prepared a bit more before peeking, but maybe the few seconds she bought herself might be enough.
On the other end of the looking glas the man closed his eyes again and muttered in a weathered voice Belle recognized. "Finally, my reckoning?"

Your successes at scrying were enough for a 2 turn duration after you've broken concentration - so that means you have one turn of action left.

[Belle]

Belle grits her teeth as she feels her first spell slipping away from her. But that was okay. This was to make sure this guy COULD be found. And she's seen positive results there. And so far he doesn't seem too wary. But there's something in the man's voice as he goes back to his prayers. Something...old. Something she's heard before in some of the Magi from back home. She almost feels like she's stepping on something sacred, peering in on him at this moment. Good; means I haven't gotten all mad with power just yet.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-06-11 15:10:51	Belle rolls 4 to Improv Casting: Ephemeral Image (Prime + Gnosis) (10 Again)	8, 7, 4, 10, 5	2 successes

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-06-11 15:12:18	Belle rolls 7 to Write on the Bedsheets (Int + Expression + Spell Suxx 2) (10 Again)	8, 4, 4, 1, 8, 3, 1	2 successes

Belle knows she has to act fast. With her magic (and given that, even with a cursory glance, this guy doesn't have much in the way of material clues), she doesn't so much need to know exactly where he is as she needs his guard to stay down. So, she decides to speak in a language this guy will understand: a language of miracles.

She drops her Mage Sight and weaves Prime magic through the scrying window into the bedsheets, transforming the material to bring colored words into sight. A single word...

'Soon'

It's not exactly writing on the wall. But should get the point across. She hopes this message would be taken for something more divine than the petty scryings of a nosey mortal. But only time will tell if that works.

relevant stats

Occultation 2 (Sympathy defense); WP 2/3; Mana 9/11; Tolerance 2/3

[Aeolus]

Paradox check failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-06-13 16:06:04	Mage ST rolls 1 to Check for Paradox (10 Again)	7	failure

Belle went for a message threading the line between prank and ominous warning, but while she tried to channel enough Mana into the spell to achieve all the ambitious things she wanted, the scrying window closed and she was cut off from the 'Banisher'.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-06-13 15:58:05	Mage ST rolls 6 to detect spell (10 Again)	4, 7, 3, 10, 1, 4, 8	2 successes

The last thing she saw was the man looking around more agitatedly. While the message got lost somewhere in the illusion of distance, the attempt was noticed.
So yes - they knew that he was still alive and kicking, and that it was possible to locate him. But there was little in the way of actual information gained and the element of surprise might not be completely on their side anymore.

Since it's an improvised Spell (1 Mana), you want it cloaked (2 Mana) and it's Sympathetic (3 Mana) Belle needed two turns to spend enough Mana on the spell (and if you want to continue doing things this scene: you need to spend two more Mana).
Note that Sympathetic spells are also automatically considered Vulgar and therefore require a Paradox roll before casting.

Even if Mana wasn't the issue: I subtracted 4 dice from the spellcasting roll, since viewing an unknown location remotely is counted as 'Known' connection.

[Belle]

It's often been said that a Warlock's greatest fault was Pride: the belief that sheer magical talent could overcome anything. Unfortunately, Belle was proud to a 'T'. As her efforts bubble and boil around her, she hisses as the scrying window collapses.

Dammit!

But her ambitions aren't lost. Their target is nervous and now Belle knows that she can reach out to him though his talismans. The board is set...the pieces are moving...and now she collapses on the bed with sweat pouring down her face. It was time to let Corn and Phoenyx know that their hunt could commence.