(WI) Scout Out

[Xander]

The duel assault begins. First Winter reaches out to the Realms, connecting to the whispered truths within Pandemonium to link his mind to the poor guy long enough to send his message. Then came Witch's sense of urgency, and the already exhausted man lacked the ability to fend of one of them much less both.

"One minute." He opens the door, stepping to the side to allow the mages to enter. "I don't have a lot of time and I'm trying to work, so make it quick please."

The man sighs as he welcomes his guests to a space thoroughly unprepared for company. Like the kitchen/dining room area, his living room is also a mess. The coach is a cheap looking rush job from ikea and the coffee table is as well. The tv is on a folding table and trash litters the tables and spills over onto the floor. The odor from rotting food wrappers would have overwhelmed any other person if the man's rancid breathe didn't do the trick. Fortunately the Guardians of the Veil have stronger stomach's than most people.

@Deltadream No worries. Next time please roll the remaining dice rather than the full pool over again.

Everyone feel free to make perception (Wits+Comp-4) checks for a quick look around, or Int+Inv-2 (Trained Observer applies to both) to look for specific details.

  failure to resist both

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2023-09-24 21:00:08		[02] Guy rolls 3 to resist fast talk (10 Again)		7, 1, 5		failure
2023-09-24 21:00:08		[01] Guy rolls 3 to resist fast talk (10 Again)		4, 3, 3		failure
2023-09-24 20:59:38		Guy rolls 2 to Resist Inspire (10 Again)		9, 7		1 success

[Winter]

He's not looking for anything in particular, as a matter of fact, he's keeping his mind open to every possibility. He coughs briefly before offering his reply to the man "We'll be quick, don't worry"
The fact is, this place is a mess, and looking for anything in particular, even if he had any idea in mind, would be looking for a needle in a haystack.
A very dirty and smelly haystack.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2023-09-25 17:23:24	Winter rolls 5 to Perception (Wits + Comp - 1 Trained Observer) (10 Again)	1, 7, 10, 2, 3, 8	2 successes

[Witch]

Witch wasn't a stranger to awful smells.

But not every awful smell was the same. She wondered if this was a byproduct of the Abyss's interference or if this man was already ... actually no. She didn't want to wonder. She didn't want to think about a person who chose to live like this voluntarily.

So, she shut down the train of thought and stepped inside, nodding along with Winter's statement about being quick.

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2023-09-28 16:16:12	Witch rolls 4 to Quick Look (Int+Inv-2) (10 Again)	9, 8, 10, 1, 1	3 successes

[Xander]

The trained eyes of the Guardians quickly glance around the space. To their right is a hallway. It has a door at the end and two on the left side, all slightly ajar. The sharp ears of the mages catch the dull whirring sound of electronic fans coming from somewhere down that direction. Before the doors though is an opening on the left, and a quick peak will reveal the kitchen they had peaked through Witch's spell earlier. The living room stretches forward in front of them, and a wall separates the kitchen from the living area with an opening near the dining area.

Other than that the whole apartment is painted in light pastels with what would be abundant natural light if all the blinds weren't down with the curtains closed. It was hard too focus on that though with all the trash. Trash they both recognized as trash with the exception of the laptop and notebooks in the dining area they saw earlier. They might have snuck a peak if the man hadn't already closed them.

"So uh, where do you need to check?"

His right hand rises to message the back of his neck.

[Winter]

"We need to start checking from the outlets with the highest absorption. Any large appliance? A tv or a computer?", he says nodding toward the corridor.

[Witch]

Witch nods at Winter's response taking a step toward the area he indicated. "What he said. We'll start at the back and work forward."

They had made it inside, and unless there were other "cultists" in the back it was just this one. Right now, the odds were in her and Winter's favor should the retrieval go south.

But she knew better to think that the odds were static.

Time was ticking on their window of opportunity, and they didn't have an Acanthus in their pocket.

She wanted to get to the computer, grab it and go.

Before help came. Before her spells or his ended. Before this got worse than it already was.

So, taking another step toward the sound of machinery she navigated around a pile of, actually, never mind, she didn't want to know. Her path designed not just to carry her in deeper but give space between her and Winter. Hopefully an over precaution in making them harder to hit in one go, but one that she did anyways.

[Xander]

He points to the tv in the living room.

"Tv is here, laptop is in the kitchen."

He stops there as Witch mentions starting from the back. He just glares at Witch for a second. Then the second door on the left clicks shut and the sound of the whirring fans fades from the ears of the awakened.

"Sure."

Noticeably more relaxed he leads them to the door at the end of the hallway and swings the back door open. The master bedroom has a twin bed with a nightstand and dresser, both looking like more cheap Ikea furniture. The drawers of the dresser hang open with electronic tools and cables hanging out. The door to the closet was closed and no electronics were visible in the room. There were a pair of outlets, one by the bed against the back wall and one by the door they were walking through.

As they enter the man looks at Witch for a moment.

​"Shouldn't you have tools for this?"

[Winter]

The transition isn't lost on the Obrimos, who, for the sake of their cover decides to go along with it rather than turn on the man treating him as downright hostile.
"We need to check what's the problem first, then we'll go back and grab our tools", he shrugs, "I see you like to play as well", he says, jutting his chin at the electronic tools

[Witch]

Witch acted as though she didn't see the glare the man shot her way. She knew there was only so long the charade would hold anyways. Even now he was poking into it.

Her eyes narrow as the door swings shut though. As she steps past it she focuses, for a moment.

Was it another person? Or had this achieved another level of fuck?

She already felt the weight of her disguise and mage sight, but just a quick sense check...

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2023-10-12 08:56:10	Witch rolls 4 to Sense Life (w/Space) (Arcana + Gnosis) (10 Again)	10, 2, 9, 6, 4	2 successes

Sense Life
Is there another person in the room?

She felt the imago, felt the results, and let the spell go. She couldn't hold it without consequences that she didn't want to risk right now. Blinking to bring her focus back to what was going on around her, she simply nodded in agreement with Winter.

Unsurprisingly there was nothing (of interest for them) in this room. She stepped back out, testing to see if the man would stay with Winter and engage (ideal), chase her, or try to split between them both. With confident steps she moved toward the next room.

[Xander]

Winter's answer caused the man's eyebrows to furrow together in confusion.

"So how do you check an electrical socket without a screwdriver or a multimeter?"

Two plus two is starting to equal four. While they were persuasive enough to get into the space, the lie itself was falling apart. The man was obviously exhausted, but the lights were still bright enough to illuminate what was likely happening as his attention turned to Witch as she stepped out.

He wasn't quick enough to stop her, and as will connected to the supernal realms the full weight of this places filth settles briefly on Witch's senses. Every bacteria, every cell of mold growing in every corner of her sight is felt by her. On the door knobs, stuck on her shoes, covering the man who lived in this filth. She swiftly manages to filter her senses to just humans, and while Winter and the man behind her register nothing on the other side of the door did. Maybe it was an abyssal intruder, or an undead animation, or maybe the solid barrier was blocking her senses. Either way she drops the spell, knowing it worked but without the answers she sought.