Marking up the map

**Animus** · Jun 3rd, 2009 04:15 PM

Theo had left a note at the sanctum explaining he was going to ley line mapping (again). All the Cabal had expressed ability to come on a mapping expedition and the encounter with "Wallflower" had convinced him that the help might be needed. The note had where and when to meet, as well as his number if they couldn't make it and wanted to come later. He'd also contacted Vegas with the information.
Now he was waiting in the Museum parking lot, waiting for at least Vegas to show up so they could get started.

Animus arrives at the parking lot and heads straight towards Theo. "Hey, Theo. Anything interesting happen yet."

"Hey, Animus. Nothing yet, your the first to arrive.
"Ran into a man who might be a Seer while I was mapping last time, though. It's why I thought I might need company this time around."
Theo explained again in detail and with slight embarresment what had happened last time.
�I was mapping the ley lines of the city. Ruby seemed distracted and not up to mapping, so I set out on my own. During my cartography efforts I noticed what looked like warped Atlantean runes graffiti following along the lines. There seemed to be a correlation between the runes� size and the waxing and waning of line strength. I had noticed several times a red motorcycle and was beginning to think I might be being followed by some party or other.
Under this suspicion I armed myself with my spear during one of my examinations of a line that went into an alleyway. The alley also had graffiti similar to what I describe before. I was about to examine it closer when I thought I saw something from the corner of my eye. Upon scrutiny I noticed an Aura and supernatural shimmer.
Having seen my interest the man who was under an invisibility spell dismissed it and commented on my observation. He was Asian, average build and looks, wore casual jeans and a red leather jacket. Not recognizing him, I thanked him and asked him his name. He claimed the pseudonym Wallflower. I am fairly sure that was his attempt at humor or cleverness.
He asked me what I was doing and I told him exploration. Suspecting he had other reasons for being there given his spell, I asked his purpose. He said he wanted to know whether I was following the runes or the lines. I told him both and asked if he had made the runes. He gave some suggestions for deciphering them but said he hadn�t made them. He said he was trying to discover if they held some harmful curse, as he didn�t want to go through the trouble of driving out the Pentacle for a cursed city.
I told him I hadn�t done more than a cursory examination and expressed surprise at his antagonism. He pointed out my weapon but I said it felt justified given the situation. I ask about his group and their motivations but he ignored my query, instead asking about the Awakened community and specifically Calligan Wellmer. I told him I didn�t know the name and asked for a description. He expressed uncertainty regarding my statement and made a threat to force the truth. He'd also deduced by then that I was working for Dr. Primoria.
It was then that I ran. He didn�t seem to pursue but given his proficiency with the arcane of Force I was unsure. It was then that I made my call that you picked up.
Afterwards I called Joshua requesting to talk to him. Then I went to the Museum to give a report to Starling, which took some time.
At the Museum, another mage, Vegas, got drafted into helping. We rode his motorcycle back to the spot where I encountered Wallflower and found the car without any wheels, its battery drained and flowers in the front seat. I checked for trap spells on the car and flowers but didn't find any.
I called Joshua again to ask him for a tow truck number. He said he'd get tires as well. Not that that did a lot of good since we were missing lug nuts as well.
Anyway, Joshua arrived about twenty minutes later, and I gave him an update. He said he'd met the guy before, that he was probably a former Arrow, sounded like a Seer, and was after Wellmer for some reason. Wellmer turns out to have been killed anyway by someone else.
So Joshua called a tow truck, waited for to come and then went off for some Arrow bussiness. Well, we all kinda left for home at that point.
And now we're having to finish up the job. Might take another day after this one actually."
He left out the part at the end where he "talked" to Wallflower. That part might seem a little strange.

Vegas pulls up parks his bike. Dismounting he makes his way over to Theo and Animus. "Hay Theo how ya been? You ready to get started today?" He looks over at Animus and smiles. "Hi I'm Vegas."

Animus takes in Theo's story. So he's been doing more than attacking Calligan. We have to deal with Seers now, too.
He nods to Vegas. "I'm Animus."

"Animus and I are in the same cabal. He's going to be coming along today."
Theo checked his watch and feeling a little impatient went on. "The sooner we get started the better. There's still a lot of ground to cover and if any other cabalmates show up they know how to get a hold of me for directions."
Theo granted himself the ability to sense the lines and started over to the rental. He'd gotten up early to get it from the shop it had been sent to. There had been amused questions on how it lost all its wheels and gotten the battery drained. Theo thought the mechanics had enjoyed the joke a little too much.
"Did you want to ride in the car or follow?" he asked Vegas.

Vegas looks at the rental appraisingly. Glad to see that it was up and running again. "I'll ride along with you guys if that's ok."

"Ok, mind the spear in the back." He went over and got in the driver's seat.

Animus climbs in the passenger seat. "I'm ready if the two of you are."

Vegas jumps in the back, making a point to sit as far away from the stabby end of the spear as possible.
"Lets do it to it!" Sounding every bit like the college frat boy he appears to be as he says it.

Narration

The trio pick up on a strong line, following it and marking it while going slowly and watching for Wallflower. Soon enough, they find more of the oddly-familiar glyphs, some seeming to center around around the Bismark hotel. The Resonance surrounding the hotel reminds Theo that this was the home of the late Peter Cartright.
It's also getting close to lunchtime.

Theo wasn't sure if the other two had brought lunches with them so he offered to stop at a passing Buger King. "If you guys are hungry, we can stop and get something to eat. I'm going to be stopping anyway to get a closer look around here. It looks like the hotel might be important somehow in the leyout of the city."

Rummaging through his messenger bag, to make sure he has everything, Vegas barely registers the offer of food. Lets see. Camera, check. Note pad, check. Gun, my god I hate this thing, check.
Looking up from his bag he finally answers. "If you guys are hungry I can just get a soda or something."

Animus cringes at Theo's bad pun. "Yes, I'd like to eat something. Then we can have a closer look at the hotel."

Apotheosis pulls into the drive through and orders Animus' and Vegas' meal and drink. After getting the food at the pick up window he parks and gets out and goes around to the trunk.
He opens it and gets out his spear (peace bonded) and a plastic shopping bag. The bag apparently has his lunch because he rummages through it and pulls out a cheap purple tuperware container and spoon. The contents look like an off white sludge with lumps in it. Opening it you can see and smell that it is sprinkled with cinnamon.
"We can eat while we walk. You both set?"

Animus concentrates for a moment and mutters a few brief words in High Speech. As the spell takes hold, he gives Theo a nod, satisfied that the he'll know if this "Wallflower" comes near.

Vegas secures his bag over his shoulder. "Ready when ever you are."

Theo starts off, tupperware and spear in one hand, eating with the spoon in the other and bag on his elbow. He goes to some of the "runes" that encircle the hotel. His pace slows as he studies them.

Animus studies the runes as well, choosing a section and staring at it for nearly ten seconds.

Then he turns to Theo. "Have you been able to make any sense of these yet?"

"Not as yet , no. I have a difficult time enough reading things written in German in the style of graffiti. That they're in another language doesn't help."
He used his sheathed spear point as a pointer.
"If you contract this elongation and look at it more as an abstract form using right angles instead of flow strokes this character could be recognizable as a rune." He lowers his spear. "Or maybe an S," he sighed. "I don't like graffiti."

Narration

Animus notices the rune seems to be made up of much smaller runes, as well as numbers, and greek symbols. Almost like a stipple drawing.
The do have faint Resonance, but all he can tell is that it feel very... old.
As he looks at Theo, it almost seems as if one of the glyphs moved, in the corner of his eye.

Vegas studies the runes and takes several pictures of them while he is at it.

He looks over at the other two. "You guys said you're in the same cabal. Does your haven have a library in it?"

Theo doesn't answer as he traces the runes with spear point and muttering in German.

"We have a library, although I don't think this is the type of thing that we have books on."

Vegas nodded understandingly. Geomancy was not really a hot topic for most libraries but he thought they might have had something on Atlantiean runes. It had been worth a shot.

Narration

The others are unable to discern much more, other than Theo gets the impression that it's definitely a formula of some sort.
Has Theo discovered the secret of Coca-Cola?

Theo stopped speaking for a couple seconds, licked off his spoon, relidded his meal and exchanged his utensil for a pen and some crumpled loose leaf paper. The paper had a circular damp mark on them. You hear him mutter something about "Aepfel".
Using the plastic container as a "desk" he started writing down numbers and symbols in order to start trying to solve whatever problem this might be. He wished he knew Greek. Of course, Greek symbols could represent many things within a math problem but knowing Greek couldn't hurt. He glances back up, pretending to reference the design again, even though he could picture it perfectly. He blinks twice. Had the symbols moved?

Narration

Comparing it to his mental image, the tail of one glyph seems slightly longer than before.

"Mensch." That made things more complicated. With a check on what had changed in the tail, he crouched on his haunches, examining the ley line that the graffiti followed. He waited for its flow to change, even slightly, and then looked back at the runes to see if they had shifted in some way. If they had, he made mental note of the changes. He did this several times, just to be sure and get a couple references if they were indeed connected.
Once satisfied, he went back to trying to figure the formula as he had seen it with the slightly elongated tail, as that was the first one where he had mental notes of both the ley line and the runes at the same time.
"Any of this looking familiar to either of you?" He asked, indicating the formula he was writing on the paper. He doesn't stop writing while they look over his shoulder. His handwriting is a little small and cramped.

Narration

The ley lines are unchanged, and no more runes seem to be changing.

Theo keeps working, glancing up occasionally to make sure the runes haven't shifted again and if they have to check the ley lines.

Vegas looks at the formula shaking his head. "Me and math. We have a very special understanding. I leave it alone. It does not give me migraines."

Animus shakes his head. "Sorry, I can't make any sense of it."

Narration

Theo can tell that it is a formula of some sort, not just random symbols, but more than that, he lacks the knowledge for. Staring at it for so long, though, makes him feel uneasy.

Giving up that pursuit for the time being, Theo replaces paper, pen and tupperware in his bag and pulls out an red apple to eat. He starts following the runes along the building. He examines each one closely, though quickly. The look was long enough for an accurate picture but not to enough time to start examining it for formula. Along the way he makes note of the line as well.
He stopped at the corner where the road turned and looked down the street with runes running the length of that piece of pavement as well. He sighed. The segment of wall he had just "recorded" would likely take him many hours and pieces of scratch paper just to transcribe and there was no way to be sure it wouldn't change.
"We might need Armstrong for this." he admitted.
Theo called on his handy. "Armstrong? Hi, it's Apotheosis. Listen there's something we found that I'd like you to take a look at. I think it's a math problem and given your in depth knowledge of the higher realms of mathmatics I thought you might be able to help. I can't make heads or tails of it beyond just seeing the variables and intergers but it makes no sense to me. I think Animus is texting you about it now, too. Interested?"
"Animus is here if wanted to track him. We're at the intersection of 5th and Capital Mall. There's a relatively hidden spot about 20 meters west of Animus, if that helps."
Animus feels his unseen senses trigger, it's not a spell.
"Alright, see you soon." Theo hung up and turned to Animus.
"Animus, back around 20 yards is a good place for you to go so Armstrong can come. Could you?" He motions to indicate he wants him to go hide so no Sleepers see the math teacher unfold herself into existance at their location.

Animus ducks into the place Theo indicated.

Animus' Unseen Senses keep fizzing, and once he makes it to the location indicated...
>BAMF<
Then the two of them leave the secluded spot. She's wearing a pair of jeans and a maroon blouse. She's also adjusting her eye patch as she walks over to Apotheosis. "So, what's this problem that you need help with?"

"This." He indicates the patterned runes.
"I got this from further along this street." he says getting out the crumpled pices of paper and hands them to her. He starts walking back in the direction they came from to show her the actual thing.
"I can tell it's a formula but like nothing I've read in any math book. It seemed just up your alley. It's also possible it's changing but I'm not sure what varible it's tied to in that regard. There is an association between the formula's spatial location and the ley lines though, so that would be my first guess." He did his best to phrase it in language she would understand but not being as versed in her area of expertise he was sure he was not doing too go a job.

Joshua approaches from one of the parking lots, nodding to everyone but hanging back a bit. Waiting his turn. His car is visible; two silhouettes are inside.

Armstrong scrutinizes the runes before trying to decipher them. She pulls out a notepad and sketches out the information, carefully checking and double checking her work.

Narration

Armstrong get the definite impression that it's an equation. Rather, part of an equation. All of the Runes seem to be involved in it, and it makes her slightly queasy to stare at for so long.

After she does some figuring, Armstrong speaks up. "I'm getting the definite impression that it's an equation. Or rather, part of an equation. All of the Runes seem to be involved in it though. Does that match anything you've been able to put together?"

"Sounds about right. Does that mean we need records of all graffiti to make this out? They're all over the city and it's possible they are changing."
When he gestured to indicate how big the city he noticed Joshua.
"Hey, Joshua."

"Hey, guys." He stands back, waiting for a good time to jump in--then figures, what the hell. "I've got some people waiting on me," he says, cocking a thumb back in the direction of his car. "I just wanted to drop something off for Armstrong--I'm hoping with her Space she can find the shooter from the funerals."
He pulls an envelope from his jacket pocket. "Um. I can see you're all pretty busy," he says, looking at the glyphs. "Can I just leave this with one of you guys? I've got to head to Granite Park, the Arrows are all doing some investigating there."

Animus takes the envelope. "Just be careful. We don't need any more deaths."

Joshua claps Animus on the shoulder. "Don't worry about me," he says, and with a small wave to everyone he heads back to the car.
A physical display? That seems a bit uncharacteristic for Joshua.
He couldn't be scared, could he?

Armstrong nods at Joshua's matter of fact manner. "Of course Joshua, I'm willing to try looking whenever you are ready. I would prefer to be under a ward first though, possibly with some other magical protections active."
Once Joshua is gone she turns back to Theo. "Possibly, however I might be able to try something."
Armstrong spends a moment adding things up in her head, then she builds the imago where all the pieces fall into place so that she intuits the Enigma. She improvises the weave of both Fate and Mind into her spell, backed by her formidable will.

Narration

Armstrong begins to see the pattern of the formula, following what seems to be the main series several feet. After several seconds, she realizes that the sigils she is studying and assembling in her mind are nothing more than a red herring, designed to mask the nature of the underlying equation.
"Stop!" comes a hoarse yell. The owner of the voice is a wild haired man, who wears the clothing of a destitute quite at home in alleys. Hands drop the armload of books he's carrying, and their shiny library cellophane covers catch the reflection of the white bar of Celestial Fire flashing from his hands.
Everyone moves in time, or is not in the path, except for Vegas. The bolt hits him squarely in the chest, staggering him.
"Plowmen dig my earth," the man hisses, spittle flecking his beard. He squints, then turns and runs.

Theo sees the books fall, hitting the ground one after the other, sees the bolt coming towards the group, feels his back hit the wall as he dodges, and watches as Vegas gets hit with the white fire. In the back of Theo's mind a song starts that played as background music for some tv show someone had been watching before he left school. He had never actively listened to it though, so the lyrics didn't surface.
Then man starts to sprint away and time seems to speed up again.
"Halt!" he shouts after the man in German. Of course the man didn't stop.
He is about to instinctively give chase but stops himself. Instead, Theo hurries back to Vegas to check how seriously the celestial fire had damaged his pattern.
"Vegas, how badly are you hurt?"

Narration

Vegas mumbles something about cracked ribs, while touching them tenderly.

Satisfied that Theo can take care of Vegas, Animus turns and runs after the man. No one messes with us and leaves unchallenged.

Narration

He's not very fast, and the baggy thrift store clothing isn't exactly aerodynamic. He is, however, approaching the other end of the alleyway, and will exit it before Animus reaches him.

No, we deal with him here. Animus crafts an Imago, imagining the man's hormones triggering in a fear response directed at the open space beyond the alley.

Narration

The spell seems to have no effect, and the man exits the alley, turning left. Screeching tires can be heard, leading Animus to believe he is crossing the street as well.

Great, now Animus was going after the guy without help.
"Ok, it doesn't look too bad." Theo wished he had an ice pack, but he didn't and he didn't want to start using mana just yet. The injury seemed minor enough. "It's not serious."
From down the alley, he heard tires screeching.
"Animus?" Theo was up and sprinting towards the sound, jumping over the books.

Armstrong grunts as she tumbles out of the way and into, of all things, a garbage bag full of something extremely... foul. It seems to explode on impact, covering her in filth.
As she fights down the urge to vomit, she runs/stumbles out of the alley after Obrimos McFireball. Hopefully she can get a Suspension on him before he makes it out into the public.

As he reaches the street, Animus looks across, trying to spot the man he's chasing.

Narration

The man is actually running down the middle of the street, causing havoc with the traffic.

Animus runs along the sidewalk, watching for an opening to reach the man.

Theo turned down the alley and didn't see Animus. "Bitte Gott."
He ran down the small street, looking right, then left. Much to his relief, he sees Animus running along the sidewalk and the other mage running through traffic. The old man was going to get himself killed. Theo kept after them.

Armstrong moves down the street with Animus, keeping her eye on both the Ploughman and all the traffic that he's running through. With one eye it's far harder than it should be, but she doesn't dare take the time to cast a spell to negate the difficulty. The moment she tries to, she's sure a minivan is going to hit him.

Narration

The man darts the rest of the way across, and begins his shuffling run down the opposite sidewalk.
Between the traffic, and running, people are starting to get curious and watch the procession.

It's a lot more attention than Animus would prefer, but he refuses to just let the man go. He watches for a chance to cross the street.

Running had let Theo think a little. He was trying to puzzle what the guy had meant by "Plowmen dig my earth". It couldn't be a code phrase with the expectation of reply, could it? The man had fired first and run off instantly. It had to be a message, maybe a warning.
Theo skirted a group of pedestrians who had stopped to watch.
He focused a little more on the task at hand. He didn't want to ran into someone or lose track of Animus because he was lost in thought and he needed to keep his pace up or risk losing.

Armstrong follows close behind Animus. She does not want to loose track of him or Apotheosis, but Animus was more likely to run into a trap.

Narration

It's apparent that Mr. Down & Out is no athlete; his tired gait turns to stumbling, and then to a fall on the sidewalk. Pedestrians look on in confusion and give curious looks towards Animus and Armstrong.

The attention they were getting was starting to become more and more of a problem. Something had to be done or it might get hairy.
Theo looked out across the traffic. They needed a distraction. He chose a spot in the confused traffic with a running car engine currently occupying it. The the car was being driven by someone honking their horn, so much the better. And with his soul he called to the heavens to trumpet the sound of that spot.

He hoped the sudden increase in volume would be enough of a suprise for people to look for its source.

Narration

It does indeed provide quite the distraction, during which the man regains his feet and darts into another alleyway.

Animus follows the man, putting on a burst of speed. Hopefully he can catch him before he hits the next street. He tackles the man, bearing him to the ground.

"There must be some way out of here," the man chokes out, as he begins to beat at Animus ineffectually.

Animus ignores the man's blows. "The way out is through answering our questions. Why did you attack us?"

Theo follows more carefully across the street and into the alley after Animus, where it looks like the old man has finally been caught.
He approaches a little more relaxed than he's been but still wary of the stranger. He readies himself to dispel any attempts at casting from the vagrant.
"You ok?" he asks.

"No reason to get excited," the man answered, rubbing at the contusions from the fall. He looks past Animus towards the alley exit, but doesn't seem to be trying to rise. His eyes also seem a bit unfocused, and his gaze wanders to the alley wall, resting on more sigla.

Animus seemed fine and the crazy guy was calmer by all appearances. Theo relaxed a little. He followed the gaze to the mystic spraypaint. Theo was pretty sure their investigation of the runes was why they had been attacked. From what the old man had said Theo suspected he considered it to be an interference on their part. The possesive "my", the use of "earth" and "dig" instead of "field" or "till", all pointed in that direction. He wasn't sure he understood the symbolism behind naming them plowmen, though.
"Did you attack us because we were working on those? We weren't trying to destroy the markings, just study them." he explained.

"Fornication," the man sighs. "I don't want to be like this, you know." His gaze remains fixated on the sigils.
"This is not our fate," he mumbles.

Armstrong picks a fishbone out of her hair and flicks it aside. "It doesn't mater. The symbols are a diversion." She keeps watch over the alley entrance.
God she reeked. She was going to have to get to a shower before she did anything else.

**Animus** · Jun 3rd, 2009 04:16 PM

Fornication seemed an overly derogatory way of describe it. The rest of his words were more or less just as out of place. The man was still speaking in riddles. Which meant more analysis and translation to figure out what he actually meant.
Fornication likely how he viewed the investigation of the runes. Used to describe immoral sex out of marriage. So, he considered thier actions as such with conviction bordering on religeous. It was possible he considered the runes "married" to him somehow, especially considering his previous possesive statement. There was the possiblity he was using the word as reference to the Latin base of archway. Theo couldn't see a reason that could tie in though.
The next statement was harder to make sense. "This" could be anything. It could be pointing back to fornification, in which case it seemed the old man considered his actions sinful. It could be he felt compeled to action through the "marriage". Theo right now considered that the best answer, given the man's state. Theo had started suspecting the runes had some maddening power or curse since getting a headache looking at them.
And finally "This is not our fate." Given the continued stare at the sigils, Theo thought that the man was describing their powers or purpose either over the city or maybe himself.
"What is the fate they bring?" he asked the pinned man.

He doesn't believe in giving a straight answer, does he? When Armstrong speaks, Animus turns to look at her, mildly surprised. "A diversion from what?"

Armstrong smiles sweetly, still watching the alleyway. "I don't know, I was distracted by a fireball. All I can be sure of is that they don't have anything to do with the equation. I'm assuming that this fellow would know more though."

Narration

The man seems content to remain on the ground, although one finger seems to be tracing symbols as his eyes flicker over the wall.

He has such fascination with the runes. Are they an active diversion, drawing the unwary into their thrall? And have they penetrated into any other Realms? Animus forms an Imago that could hopefully answer his own question.

"Hey," Theo said stepping between the old man and the runes. "What fate is not our's?" He wanted more confirmation before moving on, even if it was couched in riddle. He was unsure how long the man's calm attitude would last, either.

Narration

Everything looks normal... almost. Animus can see the ley lines that the runes overlay, but their surfaces flicker and waver, and it almost seems as if there are shadows on them.

The man ignores Theo and watches Animus, finger paused in mid-twitch.

Interesting. Am I closing in on his secret? Animus takes a good long look at the ley lines.

Narration

They're... ley lines. Animus is able to discern a slight trickle of power being skimmed off of them where the shadows are.

Theo notices the man's new fascination. "Animus, what are you doing?"

Animus carefully watches the man for any sign of reaction as he speaks. "I looked into the Shadow Realm for anything unusual. It looks like shadows are moving over the lines, but energy is being skimmed off at the shadows."

Narration

The man nods in agreement. "Businessmen, they drink my wine," he says solemnly. He reaches out a hand and begins petting Armstrong's leg.

"Who are these 'businessmen'? Do you know? We may be able to help you."

Narration

The man continues what he's doing, ignoring Animus' question.

Armstrong daintily removes her leg from the man's attention, and then she very carefully steps on his hand. She leans down, and there is a faint creaking of shoe leather as she moves. She smiles and says ever so sweetly, "My mother forced me to take ballet lessons practically at knife point, sir. I hated every second of it, but I can manage a fantastic sur la pointe. So unless you want me to practice it by putting just slightly more than one hundred and forty pounds of weight on about three square inches of your hand, you will stop pawing me and tell my friends what they want to know."

"I'm not sure if he can answer any more coherently than he has Armstrong. If I had to guess, I'd say was under some sort of mental curse. Everything he says seems to be some use of riddle or symbol. Who knows how much he can understand of what we say."
Theo had thought Animus had said he was unable to see ley lines, maybe it had something to do with the shadows he talked about. "Animus is there anyway you can track where the energy is being siphoned to?"

Narration

"No reason to get excited," the man squeals, giving Armstrong puppy dog eyes and pulling at his hand. He then turns his eyes back to her leg and licks his lips. Everyone gets the distinct impression that he may bite the leg, if his hand isn't freed soon.

Armstrong's voice stops being plesant. "If you even try, I will castrate you."

Animus shakes his head. "That is not within my ability, but I can show you what I see, and maybe you can track the siphoning." No longer worrying about the man trying to interfere, Animus briefly chants in the high speech to offset the distraction from his other active spells.

Narration

Theo sees the ley lines without all the jumble of the material world, and sees the same shadows of the glyphs faintly overlaying them.
Studying the pulsing streams of energy, and their 'bleeding', he's reminding of spells that require Mana to maintain them.

Before scrutinizing, Theo veils his stare from the far off senses of other. The first attpemts fragmented but he got the spell on the second try. Prepared, he examined more in depth what he saw before him.

Narration

Theo can't even tell if he's looking at a spell.

Mensch. Looking at it, you would think it was a natural phenomenon. The mentioning of bussinessmen contradicted that with the suggestion of entities. Of course, he couldn't trust to the man's babbeling to provide a good picture of what was going on. It was hard enough trying to figure out how the lines were being tapped at places other than intersections. Theo's best guess, this was caused indirectly by other effects, possibly the runes, without use of magic per se. Ley lines could be affected even by mundane environmental changes. Maybe this was a very, very skillful example of what could be achieved. Or the workings of the spell was very well veiled.
The old man had said the wine was being drunk, though. From what Theo could see, it was just being bled. Maybe the bleeding effect was directing the line somewhere to be tapped, rather than get the energy from the drain the shadows were having. The fact that the lines and the runes tended to follow each other supported this, if the sigils were in fact the cause. The Bismark Hotel? It had a surrounding of lines.
He would have liked to examine the runes more to be sure but was afraid that the man might become violent. There was also the chance they caused insanity as well.
"Where do bussinessmen drink wine?" he asked hoping the man would answer.

Narration

The man looks at Theo in response to his question, but his mouthful of denim jeans keeps him from replying.

The man lunges at her leg, and once he gets a good grip on them Armstrong whips her leg back and smashes her heel into his chest. "You attacked me and my friends without provocation. This means that you will answer our questions. So answer them."

Narration

The man rolls over, moaning pathetically and grasping at his chest.
He curls up into a ball and lets out a loud fart.

"Armstrong!" Theo sounded exasperated "The guy is not metally well. What he does has provacation, it's just not understandable. We dug earth, that was his provaction. You need to calm down. It might be better if you back off for a bit." God, it felt like he was acting like Tyria. He would have liked to tell her that he thought the guy had attacked them to stop her from finishing her spell before it drove her mad, but he didn't want her thinking about the formula, it could make things worse. The increased violence didn't do anything to lessen his fears.
He went over the human ball and chided it a little "She did say she'd hurt you."
He sighed "I don't want it to be like this. No reason to get excited." The phrase good cop, bad cop came to mind when he gently shooks his shoulder, the mana running in his touch "Where do bussinessmen drink wine?"
Theo wasn't sure how the man would react. Answer in code or lick his fingers seemed the top choices in his mind.

"All along the Watchtowers," came a muffled reply. "The hour is getting late," came a resigned sigh.
He looked up, suddenly, and gave Armstrong an accusing look. "The difference," he spat out, "the difference between a Master and a Grandmaster is protection."

Interesting phrase. You didn't go along watchtowers but the conotation of linear travel seemed to confirm his suspicions that the lines were traveling there. The plural form was what concerned him more. It meant decentralization, which could be a problem if this was something they needed to solve. It also meant more mapping to find out where they were.
Of course looking at it more from an Awakened prospective, it had greater implications with the Supernal realms. He was reminded of how the stones had had Supernal symbolism in their design. They had also been on a time table and "the hour is getting late".
He wasn't sure what to make of his last statement at first. He sounded like he was talking about levels of Arcana understanding. Was he refering to Armstrong in comparison to himself? Trying to tell her with what he knew he had been trying to protect her?

Armstrong gets an ugly little sneer on her face, but she suppresses the urge to kick the man again.

Narration

The man appears to have fallen asleep.

Armstrong throws up her hands in disgust. "So what do you want to do with him now, Apotheosis? I assume that we aren't going to leave him here." Her tone of voice makes it obvious that she doesn't like the idea of taking care the man that attacked her, but if her cabal-mate wants to, she's willing to support him.

The sigh he gave had undertones of a groan. "No, we're not going to leave him." Theo rubbed his eyes. "I think the best thing to do would be to get him to the Museum and try to set him up with treatment for whatever he's suffering from mentally." That would make Starlings day for sure.
He checked the guy's breathing and and pulse. Make sure the late hour wasn't a reference to a death curse.
Theo ran his fingers through his hair thinking. "I want to try to get this mapping done as fast as possible, though. Some of what he said has me worried." He sighed again. "Would you and Animus mind taking him to see Starling while I keep going with Vegas?" He glances back the way they had come. "We should probably go check on Vegas."
"Here," he said handing his spear to Animus. With some effort, Theo managed to pick up the old man. He was going to need a shower after this.

Narration

Theo manages to pick the man up, and ignores his snoring and drooling. It's about this time that he realizes that they're about five blocks away from where they started.

"Armstrong, can you check the location you ported to earlier? See if it's safe to portal there?"

Armstrong chants in the high speech, weaving space so that she can see into the alley that she appeared in earlier. It is extraordinarily difficult, and the spell crumbles after just a moment. She tries again, and the second time's a charm, as they say.

Narration

The alley appears to be empty, just as Armstrong arrived.

"It looks safe. However a portal will take at least an hour to make. Did you have a car or something nearby? You could go and get it while I watch him."

"It would be faster for you to teleport. The car's not far from that location."
He fishes the keys out of his pocket and gives her directions to where it's parked.

Armstrong takes the keys, and chants in the high speech, and forces the laws of space to ignore her through sheer talent and grit.
Only to have them suddenly snap back on her.
She yells as she shakes her fingers, which feel like she's stuck them in a electric socket. "SON OF A BITCH"

"What happened? A ward?" There was a slight sense of urgency and fear to his voice.

Armstrong snarls at Apotheosis. "I don't know what the fuck happened. Wards feel different. My spell just fucking broke."

Narration

Theo's passenger snuggles into his chest, trying to get comfortable and smearing drool on Theo's clothing.

"Mensch," he wasn't sure what was going on but it might not bode well for Vegas of someone had been able to unravel Armstrong's spell.
"We'll go by foot then. Vegas could be in trouble."
Theo shifts his load around so he has one hand free. He performs a couple of gestures, while in his mind he perfects his body in regards to speed and ease of movement. It wasn't ideal but increasing his strength would cause Disbelief more readily.
Roiling storm clouds appear and engulf Theo like wings, bright flashes of light breaking through the mystic vapor. When it disperses he doesn't appear much differently and seems disatisfied.
He tries again, hoping for better results, speaking in high speech.
This time there is an almost inhumane way to his movements and posture. There is also a bruises along his arms from taking the paradox.
"Ok, let's go."

Narration

The man rouses himself as they begin walking, but continues to be a dead weight. "You and I, we've been through that," he mumbles, eying Armstrong.
After about a block of walking, he seems to realize what's going on, and begins to struggle, pushing at Theo.

Theo probably couldn't have held onto the man, not while carrying him anyway.
"No reason to get excited." He didn't release the old man but he did set him down.
"I want protection for you and plowmen. You don't want to be like this. I don't want this fate for a plowmen." He gives a small indication with his eyes over to Armstrong.
"I want to stop this fate, to get protection." He did his best to keep with words the man had already spoken, he seemed to respond better that way. It was hard to express the ideas he wanted to convey through the limited vocabulary, though.
"Can't dig earth here to stop this. Or do you know a way to stop this fate?" For the first time, Theo started to wonder if he wasn't the one going mad.
"I want protection through my," he hesitated not only to find the right word but afterwards because he wasn't sure he wanted to use it to describe the higher members of the Order and because of that hesitation it came out more as a question than an actual statement of intent "grandmaster?"

Narration

The man looked at Theo as if he had lost his mind. "The thief," he pronounced, "he kindly spoke." Shaking himself free of Theo, he began walking away.

Armstrong mumbles to herself angrily while all this happens.

Theo stood dumb for a few seconds. Cartography shouldn't have this sort of bagage attached with it.
"Come on." He sound distinctly frustrated and there was a creep of anger in his voice. "We need to go see if Vegas is still alright."

Narration

Continued here.

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