(PRP TH) - Treasure Hunt!

[Belle]

Belle's brow wrinkles in the dark, she wasn't liking the readings that were 'pinging' on her psychic radar. Something cloaked? Cloaks didn't happen by accident: someone didn't want to be detected. Corn mentions Magi, and Belle's worries seem confirmed. She wonders briefly about the house above ground; they hadn't really checked for peeping Toms or Taras up there. Or what if someone was using the Choker as bait to lure Magi out? If it's Crypto, that jerk's got some questions to answer.

Aurora takes the lead, and Belle follows suit. Her own cellphone is pocketed in favor for drawing her knife. What she lacked in offensive magic she made up for in martial training. At least, that's what she hoped. "On your lead." She voices quietly, letting Corn and Aurora know that they weren't leaving their Warlock behind. She keeps her head down and her stance broad to avoid tripping over loose rubble, keeping an awareness up for any more 'pings' for her Mind awareness.

[Aeolus]

The Mages move deeper inside the room, with just enough light for Belle and Corn not to trip over anything. There was little to worry about, though: until they've reached the remains of some structure Aurora saw earlier there was nothing on the ground.
Aurora meanwhile got a clearer view of what lied deeper in the cave: the rubble really marked a mid-point of the room and with her feline eyes and the moved light-source she barely could make out the other end of it. At the back wall, roughly 7 to 8 yards up was a dark hole carved into the stone, like an alcove. Directly in front of it was a ledge and protruding from that ledge were the remains of the other end of that path. Checking the ground would confirm this suspicion: more rubble and broken stone laid along the track of this bridge. She was no architect or physicist, but she could see how only Magic could hold such a structure over time without it breaking down.
With the source of that Magic gone.. well. That left them with another problem, should they want to see what's inside that nook.

Following Aurora and Con, Belle could feel that cold vague energy more clearly now. There was a ghost in here - if she had to guess it was further in the dark, in the direction they've been moving in.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-10-30 17:36:13	TH ST rolls 4 to something (5 - 1) (10 Again)	2, 9, 8, 7	2 successes

Behind them they could hear the sound of something scraping against stone, some more shuffling scrapes and then a thud as someone or something hit the ground. With how they were using their cellphones to light the way the space behind them was covered in darkness.

[Aurora]

If they were indeed in the company of another Awakened, the walls would be the least of their concern. She’s thinking the area in general, why not pull the whole structure down on them? It was quicker and covered tracks.

There was a frown as she see’s the nook, and the way to it on the floor.

In pieces.

Whelp.

That limited their options. If one was proficient in Matter, maybe they could rebuild it.

Or…

She could become a bird and get up there. Might be nothing…might be something.

And the sound tells her they only had a limited amount of time to decide.

Motioning to the little nook, she makes a flying gesture with her arms. She could get up there. But was open to suggestions before she shifted.

[Corn]

Corn look at Aurora puzzed. She suggests flying? Where to? Considering they were holding light and they were standing targets, whomever is coming over the wall will both see them and be able to shoot them or cast spells on them. So, Corn did the best he could under the situation.

He took a few bold steps towards the sounds on the wall, raising his cellphone with his left hand to illuminate the wall, even weakly. With his right hand, he drew his pistol but held it behind his back.
"Who is there?" he called out loudly.

[Belle]

The chill Belle could feel in her mind was not doing her any favors. So a ghost ahead and a Mage behind? At the very least, the ghost was kind of expected. Cursed lover's treasures tended to have some form of lingering attachments, whether it was just general Sympathy or full-blown 'unfinished business' spirits.

Aurora...wants to be a bird? For a minute Belle wonders if she's telling them to 'fly you fools', but then she just barely notices the broken bridge in front of them. She smiles in the dark. Finally, something she could tackle.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-10-31 15:01:03	Belle rolls 8 to Rote Casting: Escape Hatch (Manip + Investigate + Space); Sensory Range (10 Again)	3, 7, 1, 10, 7, 6, 7, 7, 1	1 success

Belle holds a finger up to Aurora as if to say 'One sec'; then weaves her Rote into being. Corn's challenge to their would-be trespasser almost messes up Belle's concentration, but the Warlock powers through the surprise and conjures two circles of blue power; one under her feet for her to fall through and one directly above the ledge where she lands. She does her best to signal Aurora, to let her know that the Shaman can be ported up next.

Paradox mitigated by Gnosis 2 (Dox pool 1) and Rote casting (-1 Dox). Belle's next vulgar cast should have a Paradox pool of 1, unless I'm mistaken

[Aeolus]

Sorry, but even a dox pool of 0 rolls a chance die.
Also, with just the cellphones only Aurora and her enhanced eyes can see the ledge. Belle has no sensory connection to where she wants to teleport.

Belle is up still.

[Belle]

The chill Belle could feel in her mind was not doing her any favors. So a ghost ahead and a Mage behind? At the very least, the ghost was kind of expected. Cursed lover's treasures tended to have some form of lingering attachments, whether it was just general Sympathy or full-blown 'unfinished business' spirits.

Aurora...wants to be a bird? For a minute Belle wonders if she's telling them to 'fly you fools', but then she just barely notices the broken bridge in front of them. She smiles in the dark. Finally, something she could tackle.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-10-31 15:01:03	Belle rolls 8 to Rote Casting: Escape Hatch (Manip + Investigate + Space); Sensory Range (10 Again)	3, 7, 1, 10, 7, 6, 7, 7, 1	1 success

Belle holds a finger up to Aurora as if to say 'One sec'; then weaves her Rote into being. Corn's challenge to their would-be trespasser almost messes up Belle's concentration, but the Warlock powers through the surprise and conjures two circles of blue power; one under her feet for her to fall through and one directly above the ledge where she lands. She does her best to signal Aurora, to let her know that the Shaman can be ported up next.

Paradox mitigated by Gnosis 2 (Dox pool 1) and Rote casting (-1 Dox). Belle's next vulgar cast should have a Paradox pool of 1, unless I'm mistaken

The chill Belle could feel in her mind was not doing her any favors. So a ghost ahead and a Mage behind? At the very least, the ghost was kind of expected. Cursed lover's treasures tended to have some form of lingering attachments, whether it was just general Sympathy or full-blown 'unfinished business' spirits.

Aurora...wants to be a bird? For a minute Belle wonders if she's telling them to 'fly you fools. ​If only I could actually see where she wanted to go, I could just port us up. Corn's words bring her back to the task at hand. If she couldn't see, she could at least back her fellow Mystagogue up.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-10-31 22:06:17	Belle rolls 5 to Improvised Casting: Ward (Space + Gnosis) (10 Again)	5, 1, 9, 4, 9	2 successes

Belle warps Space for a five square yard area focused on their side of Corn's wall. She doesn't want anyone using Space magic to trick their way out of an obstacle. That was her job...

My apologies for the misunderstanding; here is the remediated post. Accidentally rolled Paradox before realizing I had no options for vulgar spells to replace portal, so I can 'reserve' it for her next vulgar cast if need be.

[Aurora]

Seriously Corn?!

Lets just draw attention to where we are.

Well, she supposed there was nothing to do about it now.

While she wasn’t sure what Belle was doing, she knew what she was going to do. It would be taxing on her, but they were here for a reason. She could rest and bitch about it later.

Her hand once again touches the copper bracelet while closing her eyes and hoping the universe doesn’t hit back too hard. She releases on of her current spells, not wanting to take on more than she could handle.

And while the universe was ok with it, her magic just was not taking.

What the actual fuck?!

Was she that out of practice? Was she that horrible of a mage?!

Frustration surged through her, but she knew pushing again was taking a huge risk. So she takes a moment to breathe, and see what happens.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-01 12:03:40	Aurora rolls 1 to Paradox(2 dice)-1 Dedicated Magic Tool (10 Again)	5	failure

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-01 12:04:27	Aurora rolls 8 to Greater Shapechanging(Gno+Life)-1 Size (10 Again)	6, 2, 3, 6, 5, 7, 7, 6	failure

Active Spells: 4/6
Pulse of the Living World[POT 6]
Organic Resilience[POT 6]
Shadow Sculpting
Transform Self (Cat Eyes)


Personal Spells: 2/3
Organic Resilience[POT 6]
Transform Self (Cat Eyes)


Vulgar: 2
Mana:1/13
WP:3
*Aurora drops Pulse of the Living World

[Aeolus]

She was apparently so proficient in shapechanging that Aurora forgot her colleagues could not see what she was able to see. Understandably her attempts at communicating a plan didn't quite hit the mark. Who knew that times of peace eroded ones ability to work together so much? But that's all right, they weren't in grave danger or anything. Yet.

Corn moves back towards to wall and draws his gun. Armed that way he went towards the newcomer, illuminating the way back. His cellphone light hit the silhouette of a man, broad shoulders and an all-in-all coarse presence sticking out from the simplicity of the place. He apparently had no problem climbing the wall and wiggling through - so he might be more agile than his looks suggested.
The first moment Corn shone his light in his direction, he actually flinched back and shielded his eyes, but after a beat he caught himself.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-02 00:43:54	TH ST rolls 5 to perception (6 -1) (10 Again)	9, 1, 4, 6, 9	2 successes

There was little concrete evidence for that thought, but Corn was pretty sure that he was being watched suspiciously. Could it be that he wasn't as slick with his weapon as he'd hoped?
"Ungh. I could ask you the same thing. I'm just here to resolve a little situation, bring some items that shouldn't be flying around to a safe haven." The voice sounded gruff, experienced. This one probably wasn't the youngest anymore. "What about you?"

The Mastigos of the group willed some more defensive measures into existence and provided less tangible, but all the more important moral support for Corn. Other than that she was faced with the sad reality of.. well, reality. Or at least the Sleeping version of it: with no point of reference teleporting in here would literally be a shot in the dark.

Corn if you want to keep your gun hidden, I'll need a (Dex + Stealth/Larceny) roll - your choice. This is reflexive and would not use up your action.
Belle as we said via PM: the rolled Paradox will not be kept and rolled over, it simply won't be used.

Aurora also via PM: since I wanted to limit things by one action per "round" (even though we're neither in combat nor in a fixed initiative order), I'll just take your last post as submitted for the next "round", i.e. both Corn and Belle get to post and then I'll jump in again.

[Corn]

"What a coincidence. We are here for the same reason and we consider ourselves a very safe haven. Who sent you?" Corn said to the newcomer, trying to keep his gun hidden.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-02 09:02:33	Corn rolls 3 to Dex + stealh (10 Again)	8, 7, 7	1 success

Corn keeps his eyes on that person, focusing as he tries to read his pattern, using Sybil Sight and Dark matter. The guy is probably a mage but better keep the talk clean just in case. For all he knew, the guy could be a sleeper controlled by a Seer or a spirit or ghost. Or a Sleeper carrying a magic gun...

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-02 09:04:01	Corn rolls 6 to Scrutiny: Intel + Occ (matter sight) (10 Again)	4, 10, 7, 6, 4, 4, 1	1 success