Between the Museum and Westfield

[Joshua Morris]

About twenty minutes after Ollie hangs up his phone, a worn Plymouth sedan pulls into the Museum's parking lot. The horn honks, once, as it passes, and the driver pulls into a space about twenty feet away. The driver looks at Ollie in recognition. Ollie's never seen him before.

"That must be him. Let's go Ryan."

Ryan turned to Ollie. "Is that him Ol?"

Ollie trots over to the car. "Morris, right?"

Ryan nods and follows Ollie.

The Sentinel nods. "That's right. Get in, gents."

"Right on." Ollie runs around and hops in the passenger seat.

Ryan opens a door and slides into the backseat.

"Belts, gentlemen," Joshua says idly, as he backs up and turns to leave the parking lot. "So, what can I do you for?"

Ryan Quickly buckles himself in.

Ollie clips his seatbelt. "Well, my buddy Ryan back there Awakened to Stygia a few nights ago. He needs guidance. I explained a lot of the important stuff to him, but he needs someone from his Path, I think."

Joshua makes a noise in the back of his throat. "Hrm. Well. I'm not really... known... for guidance. But I guess we can see what I can do. Do you, um... have any questions, Ryan?"

"Well...First thing is, what can I do? I know Ollie gave me the quick verson of everything. But I'm sure theres a bit more to it."

Joshua guides the car south. "Well, each Path has its basic competencies. As someone who awoke to Stygia, you're going to find your greatest strengths lie in two things: Death and Matter."

Ryan nods. "I remember being told that. Wasn't exactly spesific about the details. Plus he didn't mention the how."

Joshua chuckles a bit at that. "The how. Well, that is the thing, isn't it. Well, the quick version (again) is: You make a vision in your head, of what you want, what we call an Imago. And you force your will to make that Imago real."

"Thats it? I just have to think about what I want to do and it just happens? Man, thats kinda scary when you put some thought into it."

Joshua nods. "There's a bit more to it, but that's the basics. And you're absolutely right. It can be very scary." He looks to Ollie as he says this. "Have you told him about the park yet?"

"Yeah, he heard about it. I figured he was going to anyway."

Joshua pulls the car over, into a parking lot near the Westfield mall. "Good." He parks, and turns to look at Ryan. "Zombies. Zombies at the park, that killed three people. You can do that, with practice. I'm not saying you should, but you can. That's Death, or part of it."

"Whoa...Thats..." Ryan really couldn't really think wat he should say.

"It's gross is what it is, but magic's magic."

"Amen," Joshua says in response to Ollie. To Ryan he asks, "You ever hear of alchemists? Mystics in the Renaissance, trying to turn lead into gold?"

[Joshua Morris]

"Yeah, I remember reading about them a few times when I was younger… wait, your saying we can do that?"

"I can do that," Joshua says. "You learn to harness Matter, you can, too. The other day I almost killed a guy by turning the air into poison. You will learn to be very powerful, and you must learn to temper it with a conscience."

"Dude, that was sweet when you did that."

"With what I've been told, I really should keep things under control...Wait, air to poison?"

"Air to poison. It's quite simple when you know how."

"Shit..."

"I did tell Ryan a little bit about Paradox, the Abyss, and the dangers of blatant magic."

"Good. Don't go around thinking you can do anything and not pay a price for it. There's Paradox, and there's the Guardians."

"Guardians?"

"They're an Order of magi who keep an eye out to make sure we don't do anything blatant in front of Sleepers."

"So, they stop the world from knowing magic still exists?"

"Well... they contribute. Magic has a way of protecting itself, as well, but the Guardians definitely do their part to make sure Sleepers don't find out."

"How do they do that?"

"Well, as I understand it, they have cults they use to draw in those who want the power of magic, but don't deserve it. If you're going to spark that up," he says to Ollie, "You'll have to do it outside. Anyway," he says, continuing to Ryan as Ollie gets out, "they also... well, frankly, they do kill those who get too close to the truth. But that's only for extreme cases, I think."

"...Kill?" Ryan looked kinda shaken when he mentoned that part.

"Yeah. Like I said, extreme cases. I think. But here, for example, I've only seen them working hard to remove evidence before Sleepers show up."

Ryan thought about this for a second. "How? I mean, I was nearly killed a few days ago, and everything about that day was screwy as hell."

Joshua looks at him for a bit. "Really?" he asks slowly. "Well, I don't know anything about that. You'd have to talk to one of the Guardians."

"Ok...Is there anything else I should know?"

"Right now?" Joshua drums his fingers on the steering wheel. "Is there anything you know you can do, yet?"

Ryan shakes his head. "I've never had much chance to practice this whole thing. I mean, I only just found out How to do casting, I barely know what I can do other than what was just said."

"Okay. Well, tell you what. I came here to meet with members of my cabal--other mages, whom I work with. After that I'm going to Granite Park, where a team of us are going to investigate the zombie incident. I think Ollie's going to want to come. You're free to come with us. I promise I'll keep you safe from anything that happens."

Ryan nods. "I'll come. They did kill Ghoster from what I heard and he was a good guy from what I could tell."

"Yeah. They did," Joshua says, and is quiet for a bit, remembering the scene as he saw it. "Can you fight at all? Shoot a gun?"

"I'm a College student, not a marine. Though i can puch someone if I have to...Never practiced though."

"That's no excuse. Didn't you ever go to public school?" This may be Joshua's idea of a joke, but its hard to tell. "Tell you what. I'm going to talk to my cabal, and while I'm gone I want you to try a spell. Most beginning magic revolves around sensory enhancements. With your connection to Death and Matter, you can learn to sense those specific things. While I'm gone, I want you to focus and when I come back I want you to tell me how many guns I have hidden in this car."

"Wait...Guns in your car?"

Joshua gives Ryan a look. "Everything I've said, and this surprises you?"

"Everything is surprising me. I just didn't expect a guy who can turn air into poison would have Guns in his car. Besides, I've had days to freak out about some of the things Ollie said."

"Adaptability is Strength," Joshua says, and it sounds as if he's quoting something. He pulls a pistol from his person--"This one doesn't count--" and unloads a bullet. He hands it to Ryan. "There are more in the car. Find the gunpowder, and tell me how many firearms you can find."

"Ok then..." He said as he looked at the bullet in his hand.

"I'll be right back. No peeking." Joshua gets out of the car, explains things to Ollie really quick, and leaves.

[Trench]

Ryan sat quietly in the car, hearing very little from beyond the doors. He looked at the bullet in his hands and focused. Bullets contain gunpowder...Locate the powder, locate the guns. Sounds simple enough. But then again, nothing really is that simple.
With that in mind, he tried to focus. You had it explained to you, now try it. With that in mind, Ryan tried to construct his first Imago and cast it.

Spoiler

2009-06-09 06:43:52 Ryan rolls 4 to Activate Detect Substance (10 Again) 8, 5, 9, 3 2 successes

[Jmiland1]

Incredibly, what sounds like silly New Age bullcrap--focus on the bullet, and you can find the guns--actually works. After some concentration Ryan gets the very strong sense that there is more gunpowder in the car: some of it in the glove box, and some in the little compartment in the driver's side door.

[Trench]

"Hm?" Ryan mentally locked down on all the places the gunpowder was and stopped concentrating. He quickly moved over to the front seat and opened the glove box and then the door compartment.

[Jmiland1]

And there they are--a pistol in each area, loaded and ready to go. Just like that tingly sense in the back of Ryan's head told him.

[Trench]

It really works....Shit he's really armed and ready. Ryan thought as he shut everything back up. He wasn't sure when Joshua would get back. He located the guns, which was alot easier than he though. As long as there isn't a test on this, I think I'll be fine...

[Joshua Morris]

After asking Ollie how much longer he's going to take--[color=white:vlzl8wfo]"Easy, man, it takes time to burn one out just right"--Joshua gets back in his car, settles into his seat, and buckles up. He glances at Ryan in the mirror. "So. Where are they?"[/color:vlzl8wfo]

[Trench]

Ryan started paying attention again once Joshua was back inside. "The guns you kept stashed, I found out where they were. He said as he buckled himself back in. You have two of them. One in the Glove box, the other in a door comparment."

[Ollie]

Just then Ollie jumps back into the passenger seat, the heavy herbal aroma following him inside the car. He grins turning to look at Ryan even as he addresses Joshua. "So what's the score? Did Ryan pass the gun test?"