PRP: DYLF: All Faith Cremation

[ReubanBrightwood]

Unless I've missed something life won't help with dead things, he would need death for that. Grim sight tells you if a body is dead or not for example. So if you could let me know which spell your trying to use I will have a look. Life 1 is not going to be enough to creative thaumaturgy a spell to quantify amounts of DNA I'm afraid

The gentlemen maintains a steady if surprisingly ground eating pace through closed corridors lit by lights mounted on the walls. Philip sees no more cameras. 'The service yes. Very public affair, so many mourners. Ah if only all of us could leave behind so many touched lives.' He shakes his head wistfully. 'But no her family was unable to make it. They are traveling from India I believe.' He turns slightly as he strides just to acknowledge Philip as he converses. 'So not collecting then. Will you be requiring a prayer room or did you have something more secular planned?'

If you want to see if this guy is in fact on the level you can wits empathy him

And that is all the time it takes for the man to bring Philip to a set of large wooden double doors with a plague reading. Visitation.
'If you wait here just a moment Mr. Reggie it won't take me long to make the preparations for you.'

[Philip Crosen]

Philip tried to get a better read on the person who was following him with remarkeable speed. After all, while the secretary seemed uninterested, he seemed interested in talking with him, which surprised him. It also surprised him when he claimed her parents couldn`t arrive from India, given Philip assumed from what he`d read she was likely loaded with cash as a model, which her parents then would have gotten. If they weren`t also rich to begin with. All this caused him to be increasingly suspicious of him, although he couldn`t find anything implicitly wrong with him, much to his frustration, a gut feeling remained. Although he had no reason to, he decided to play it cautiously. Obviously, his sudden arrival and grandiose entrance had surprised all people in that place. So he decided to not take any chances.
I can`t find anything wrong with him, but I still don`t trust him. And I will not have any of his `preparations`! he thought.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-02-13 15:56:10	Philip Crosen rolls 1 to read person(Wits 3 -1 (untrained in empathy)) (10 Again)	3	failure

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-02-13 15:46:32	Philip Crosen rolls 1 to read person(Wits 3 -1 (untrained in empathy)) (10 Again)	5	failure

Accidentally rolled one few dice on the 1st time, so I decided to even it out by rolling 1 die a second time as well, so both dice are rolled for 0 successes.

"I see." he answered, with his curious statement that her likely rich parents, at the very least from her inheritance couldn`t (or wouldn`t) make it to her funeral making Philip somewhat concerned. He then continued his cover story:
"I was hoping to see her ashes alone and then quietly celebrate her life for a number of minutes."
He then reassured him:
"Thank you for your time seeing me here, but you don`t need to trouble yourself on my account. I`m sure it`s fine, I`m used to quite a mess from my own place, I`ll be fine I assure you."
he said, once again attempting to assert his dominance over the room in an effort to sabotage any attempts at `preparation` the gentleman was hoping to make. Admittedly, Philip wasn`t the biggest fan of death, he was certain a renewed show of confidence and strength, and no show of weakness was needed here.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-02-13 16:18:49	Philip Crosen rolls 4 to be imposing(Pres.2, Subterf. 2) (10 Again)	8, 6, 1, 3	1 success

All this caused Philip to be intensely curious as to the gentleman`s reactions if he`d managed to back him into a corner.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-02-13 16:22:55	Philip Crosen rolls 6 to Perception (Wits 3+Comp. 3) (10 Again)	7, 4, 1, 10, 5, 1, 6	1 success

[ReubanBrightwood]

Resist coercion 1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-02-13 16:32:23	Crematorium Clerk rolls 4 to resist coercion (10 Again)	4, 7, 8, 4	1 success

(Ties go to the defender)

The man stops as Philip asserts himself. But he still seems calm. Understanding even. 'That won't be a problem Mr. Richie I just need to retrieve her ashes for you. Most visitors call ahead so we can have the remains ready on display for their last words.'

He nods in the affirmative. 'Of course sir. That is quite understandable. Privacy is a given, once the urn has been retrieved and placed out for you. I will wait in the hall to ensure it.' He offers a consoling smile. 'If you would give just a moment.' He will move to enter he room unless Philip stops him or barges in with him.

Philip failed the wits empathy so he doesn't get anything on reading this guys reactions. Perception would be to notice details of the area.

The corridor is reasonably long, carpeted to minimise the sound of footfall, no windows and has several sets of double doors that all seem to lead to viewing rooms. The doors are large, solid and do not have windows, they would ensure privacy once within.

[Philip Crosen]

His second attempt at dominance was much more feeble than with the secretary lady, frustrating him. Despite his gut feeling, he had no reason to doubt him, and yet... Philip wasn`t sure he`d heard right.`Mr. Richie?` Really, mispronouncing my `name`? Is that guy making fun of me? I guess my `signature` wasn`t that legible, but the secretary did manage to pronounce it correctly enough as `Reggie`. If the name wasn`t properly remembered, identifying me will be harder, I guess. But still.
So outwardly he didn`t let the mistake show and he also didn`t bother to correct him, but it did add to the apprehension Philip had about the gentleman he was with. His continued perception of his sorroundings showed him they were relatively alone at the moment and there were no cameras he could see. So Philip stopped him, desperately.
"Sir, I`m afraid I must insist. The way the room looks like unmodified is the way her remains were deposited after she was cremated, and the closest I can be to her spirit. I simply cannot go on."

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-02-14 15:38:42	Philip Crosen rolls 6 to be imposing(Pres. 2+ Subterf. 2 -1 second attempt) (10 Again, WillPower)	3, 3, 5, 4, 4, 5	failure

His second attempt at trying to force his way in with the guy he didn`t trust made him look desperate and almost made him look foolish, almost like a child who doesn`t get his wish, and almost, but not quite breaking character.
Darn, let`s just hope I dodge a bullet.
he thought, frustrated at his outburst, but too proud to apologise.

[ReubanBrightwood]

The man looks with kindly eyes upon Philip. 'Sir if you can't go on then, waiting in the hall is best wouldn't you agree. I'll just a moment. Take the time gather yourself.' And he enters the room. The heavy wooden door swing shut but are caught by a muffling mechanism before they can slam. Maintaining an air of quiet reverence.

Philip is left on his own for only a short span of just over two minutes. Before the man comes back. Now wearing white cloth gloves.

'The urn has been placed for viewing. When your ready.' His demeanour remains not quite parental but has softened from genially chatty to projecting something a little more calming. He stands just off the side of the doors not staring exactly but he is watching Philip.

[Philip Crosen]

After his almost blunderous second attempt, which the gentleman either didn`t notice or pretended not to notice, Philip didn`t have time to barge in or `go on`, being briefly stunned by this setback. When he recomposed himself he quickly and unceremoniously tried to catch a glimpse into the room the gentleman was in prepared the urn, trying desperately to see what the man was doing and moving as he quickly readied the urn.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-02-14 16:19:58	Philip Crosen rolls 6 to Perception (Wits 3+Comp. 3) (10 Again)	6, 5, 5, 1, 7, 5	failure

But the door slammed shut and Philip`s momentary shock from his failure meant his response was too slow.
During his brief moment alone, which felt like an eternity as Philip was rooted to his spot by his failure to see anything and his failure to impress the man he`d been with, he attempted to find out with the time arcanum if: `not entering the door with the gentleman had been damaging to Philip`s goal of uncovering information about Mothisa`s death`. So, pretending to be lost in grief, he tried casting his version of a `Momentary Flux` spell attempting to answer this question.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-02-14 16:35:05	Philip Crosen rolls 5 to (Gnosis 3 + Time 2) (10 Again)	6, 5, 5, 3, 10, 6	1 success

After these fast two minutes, once the gentleman came back out and spoke to him, Philip, recomposed, but having stood the same place the whole time, simply answered him:
"Thanks, yeah I think I`m ready now."

Forgot to add the description of this spell roll as `Momentary Flux`, so I hope I described it sufficiently in the narration. I also hope the question is an acceptable one to be answered by Momentary Flux. PS.Yeah, 2 dice rolling mistakes recently. Yeah. Not good.

[ReubanBrightwood]

Yeah I got it although please do remember to link your spells with BB code

With 1 suxx and the target action is allowing the man to enter alone/ not entering with him. --- This event is beneficial, it has not upset or raised the suspicions of the guide whose actions will not cause any harm to come to Philip, by allowing this man to enter and do his job Philip has maintained the status quo and not given cause for alarm. This has allowed for the guide to his job unhindered and brought Philip closer to his goal.

The guide nods reassuringly and will push the door ajar to help Philip on his way but is clearly remaining outside.

The room inside is plain and bare. No cupboards, nooks or crannies', one small window high on the far wall allows some natural light and another single heavy wooden door leads out and to the distant left. The walls are brick painted white and the carpeted floor is grey. The room maintains very neutral colours all in all. The only furnishings are a long table that has a gurney esc feel to it. and a more conventional table on which sits a Size 1 Golden urn. It really is amazing how little a cremated body leaves behind, that it can fit in such a small container but living in the modern world this is something Philip likely already knows.

All this he sees from the opened door.

[Philip Crosen]

Philip sensed the answer to the question he`d let time answer: Yes, fortunately it had in fact been in his interest to let the guy do as he pleases and not barge in with him. This gave Philip some peace of mind, and eased some of the paranoia he`d had about the gentleman he was with. After all, it turned out his attempts to maintain his cover had in fact been in his interest, even though he`d almost done a poor job of it iwith his second attempt at getting an early look. He was sure of that. So he walked into the room with the door closing silently behind him.
But with Witch nowhere in sight, I might try to take a tiny bit of the ash. Witch might be able to find out if there`s enough left to do a DNA trace, once I see her.
With that thought out of the way, he turned towards what he could do, look back in time to a specific point, if he was standing in the same place.
Perhaps temporal discrepancies could tell me if it was actually Mothisa who was cremated or someone else?
he thought, anxious to get busy with time spells to find out more about Mothisa.

Did Philip find out in his research or here at the crematorium the precise day and hour, and perhaps even minute or second when Mothisa was cremated, so Philip might be able to view Mothisa`s body right before the cremation with temporal sympathy and postcognition? How precise is his knowledge in that regard?
And, is Philip now, with the door shut, alone in the room with the urn, with no cameras and is the gentleman unable to watch or see him so he could do whatever he wishes for a few minutes, as far as Philip can see/know?

[ReubanBrightwood]

He would have got the day and hour the service started. Its safe to assume its not in this room so remote viewing would also need space 2 unless you an get to the furnace that is used for the actual cremations. --- As far as Philip currently knows that is correct.

Philip now alone in the plainly decorated room see the bulbs of the overhead light reflect in the golden surface of this small vessel. The opportunity presents itself he undoubtably has a few minutes unless unforeseen circumstances arise. Plenty of time to put his various supernatural skills to use.

[Philip Crosen]

Alone at last! I should take some ash and put it in a pouch in my backpack to show Witch later. Perhaps she might be able to analyse it with the death arcanum.
he thought, but he was certain he`d have to be careful to not leave too many obvious clues. If pressed, he`d tell them it was to be closer to her, and he`d used it in his religious rituals to honor her. And he`d apologise if they`d consider that inappropriate. He understood the gravity of taking her ashes, but investigating her death was of paramount importance, which was how he justified taking this risk.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-02-16 13:05:07	Philip Crosen rolls 5 to take some ashes(Dex 3 + Subterf. 2) (10 Again)	5, 3, 1, 5, 9	1 success

But above all, this wasn`t the cremation room, which also meant her lifeless body had never been in that room. In the room he was in, there was nothing to suggest it wasn`t an ordinary urn presentation room, to him at least. He couldn`t find any clues because he didn`t have any idea as to how to investigate a room, so to him the room just looked bland and unremarkable. After a few minutes, he left the room and went up to the gentleman again.
"Thank you, sir. I`d be delighted if you could take me to the cremation room as well. I want to be as close to the place where she spent her final moments in corporeal form as possible, so I can say a prayer for her there too, if you don`t mind."
He hoped fate would help him along, so the trail to him would be as short as possible and clues in the presentation room would be few and far between.