MR: Investigations of the abyssal

[ReubanBrightwood]

deltadream Witch

For some time now Witch has housed the dangerous dagger she acquired at the wax work show in her THOW The dagger itself coming from the outfit of a infamous figure from the second world war, having been in her position long enough Witch knows the knife itself has likely committed atrocities based on a particular marking designating it to be part of the uniform of one of the most horrific units on the German side. All of that history and horror is not what makes the knife a threat in the here and now of the current day. The Acamoth housed, imprisoned, inside it does.

That is a very real threat to the awakened of Sacramento, a very real danger to the veil and now this Guardian gets ready to take on the brunt of the danger by herself.

As it is her Sanctum I have left the description to you!

Please have any relevant spells, equipment and stats in an ooc box or spoiler box with each post and finish any glimpse or sheer prep before psoting into the plot.

[Witch]

One of the advantages having house that was no bigger than a semi-truck was that if one was careful, it didn't take long to clean it.

The downside of this, because there was always a downside, was that one could rarely use the excuse of having to clean the house to put off stuff for any serious time.

Not that Witch hadn't tried. The length of time that she had possession of the dagger was not insignificant. But even she knew that she would have to step up at some point. And that point was today.

So, after a quick pick up of the few odds and ends, a wash of the morning's breakfast dishes, and a couple laps around the perimeter of her property she stood in the center of her house, took a breath and committed.

The dagger was a nasty piece of work. And not just because of its mundane history. Bound to it was an Acamoth. Whether it was bound before the history or after, she didn't know. She imagined there was a chance she would find out. But first ...

She had made the recognition at the Wax Show. Which meant that she had some sort of knowledge inside her. Did she have more?

Extended Research Task, 12 Successes

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-11 08:17:10	[01] Witch rolls 5 to Research (Intelligence + Academics) (10 Again)	9, 2, 1, 5, 8	2 successes

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-11 08:17:10	[02] Witch rolls 5 to Research (Intelligence + Academics) (10 Again)	9, 8, 7, 8, 3	3 successes

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-11 08:17:10	[03] Witch rolls 5 to Research (Intelligence + Academics) (10 Again)	8, 4, 2, 2, 10, 10, 5	3 successes

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-11 08:17:10	[04] Witch rolls 5 to Research (Intelligence + Academics) (10 Again)	10, 10, 8, 2, 6, 6, 4	3 successes

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-11 08:17:10	[05] Witch rolls 5 to Research (Intelligence + Academics) (10 Again)	8, 2, 4, 7, 6	1 success

Nearly 3 hours later and her home was a disaster. Not even again because it was worse than before. There were a surprisingly large number of places to tuck papers and notebooks if one put a mind to it. And she clearly had.

As she surveyed the damage, she made a note that she should probably tackle a better system rather than just stuffing dangerous papers under her mattress or behind her mugs. But in the meantime, she felt like the mess generation had been worth it.

Stacked on the counter were her findings; a few scribbles, a scrap of paper or two with notes printed carefully, a quote highlighted. Clues she might use to try and figure out her next steps.

Supplies

Supplies: THOW & everything in it, magical tool

Stats

Health:
Mana:
WP:
Armor 0
Defense 3

Vulgar 0
Active Spells: 0
Personal Spells: 0

[ReubanBrightwood]

The Moros' research can fall into three categories.

Firstly the history of the knife itself, this makes for some horrific reading to put it plainly. The relevant points of interest is a few pieces of publicly published works and more then a few conspiracy claimants on the internet make reference to this idea that there was division of the German military that was dedicated to finding and retrieving all manner of occult related items. How true this is, well that is very hard to verify but good perhaps go some way to explaining how an Acamoth bound into a dagger came to be a part of a uniform.

Then how did it get here. Well Witch herself overheard orders from the ring master to kill those who had taken the dagger suggesting he was more then aware of it was something of significance. The wax work show itself is also has soem traceabele information on the internet.

Baron Douglas' Waxen Recreations is unsurprisingly a traveling wax work exhibit, and reviews can be found on it dating back to the early two thousands dating it to a little over twenty years in operation. As a traveling show it has limited presence in its own right online but the reviews paint a picture of lack lustre wax works, generic carnival atmosphere and not overly exciting affair, although smattered in a comments about the authenticity and effort put into the outfits.


The show tours the USA mostly sticking to the west and southern states often alone but occasional as part of a larger or grander affair that it tags onto, attached are the expected claims of theft, assault and vandalism that be it true or not follow the stereotype wherever it crops up.


Dating back to 2020 the show went through something for a rebrand leaning into the horror theme alot more changing up the setup it improve ambiance and immersion from this point forward the reviews start to include titbits starting off quite generic feeling like the wax works are watching, dead eyes following that kind of thing, then it begins to escalate the statue apparently moving between the blink of an eye leading to accusation of actors in dress up, the voices people put down to hidden speakers but commend the effort what is harder to explain the reports of doppelgangers, wax works that mirror a visitor or even creepier a loved one.

Finally what does Witch know of Acamoths and binding spirits She is schooled sufficiently to have a solid awareness of what each arcana can do, including the one her soul has the most difficulty in calling down. The arcana of Spirit. Witch knows that adepts of that arcana can create what is known as a fetish, an item with a spirit bound inside of it. Precisely like what she has on her hands here. If that's the case there should be a spell she can study? none immediately stands out but mage sight should help with that. She is also aware destroying the fetish, the dagger, would release the spirit trapped within into twilight.

Finally what does she know of Acamoths? Not all that much really between the guardians policy of destroying knowledge of this kind, and the Mysteriums position of hoarding it away very little of this rare and dangerous topic is able to propagate. All mages know the horror stories of course, the warnings. The abyssal spirits that strike deals with mages for power, knowledge, immortality and all manner of other things if the stories are believed to be true, the stories usually end with the mage in questions suffering some terrible fate such as having their soul consumed, being dragged into the abyss, possessed by the Acamoth each story has something a little different but equally horrific.

[Witch]

She wondered if the ringmaster had found the knife or had brought it with him in 2020. From her research it seemed that that year with its shake up of the show’s atmosphere was when the knife came into play. She put a mental pin in the thought, should the need arise she could investigate more.

Right now she wanted to pursue the track that would led to elimination of the threat.

Acamoths were entities of the Abyss. Spirits in a sense. Which meant there were two sights that could be of use to her. But only one that she was able to use currently.

4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 05:21:14	Witch rolls 7 to Rote: Supernal Vision (Wits + Occult + Prime) (10 Again)	9, 3, 5, 4, 9, 8, 9	4 successes

Giving herself a moment to adjust, she shoved her research aside to clear a space on the table. And then retrieving the knife itself from where she had secured it she laid it down.

It was time for more research.

Extended Scrutiny 1, 14 Successes

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:02:22	[01] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	10, 3, 5, 6, 6, 10, 5, 1	2 successes

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:02:22	[02] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	7, 9, 8, 8, 7, 2	3 successes

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:02:22	[03] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	7, 5, 6, 5, 7, 6	failure

6 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:02:22	[04] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	10, 9, 3, 8, 8, 9, 10, 5	6 successes

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:02:22	[05] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	3, 7, 10, 6, 7, 8, 2	2 successes

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:02:22	[06] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	4, 4, 4, 7, 8, 3	1 success

Stretching and feeing pleased with what she had found so far she paused only long enough to grab a glass of water. And then it was back at it.

Extended Scrutiny 2, 10 Successes

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:10:41	[01] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny 2 (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	7, 1, 2, 5, 7, 1	failure

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:10:41	[02] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny 2 (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	1, 3, 6, 1, 6, 2	failure

4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:10:41	[03] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny 2 (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	9, 8, 9, 9, 2, 5	4 successes

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:10:41	[04] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny 2 (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	3, 3, 6, 2, 8, 2	1 success

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:10:41	[05] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny 2 (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	10, 2, 10, 6, 5, 3, 6, 1	2 successes

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:10:41	[06] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny 2 (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	8, 8, 4, 8, 3, 6	3 successes

This time her break was a bit longer. She needed food. And to pee. Thankfully her pantry was less than 10 feet away. And same for her bathroom.

But then it was back to work. She had planned on this being the activity of the day.

Extended Scrutiny 3, 9 Successes

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:15:38	[01] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny 3 (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	2, 1, 2, 5, 9, 7	1 success

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:15:38	[02] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny 3 (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	1, 7, 7, 1, 5, 10, 7	1 success

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:15:38	[03] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny 3 (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	6, 1, 3, 5, 9, 4	1 success

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:15:38	[04] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny 3 (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	10, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 2	1 success

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:15:38	[05] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny 3 (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	9, 3, 10, 2, 2, 3, 9	3 successes

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 06:15:38	[06] Witch rolls 6 to Scrutiny 3 (Int+Occ; Nature, Composition, Potency, Duration, Identification, Power, Mastery, Targets) (10 Again)	9, 5, 6, 10, 4, 7, 2	2 successes

Rubbing at eyes that felt strained, she was glad she had the career she did. If anything prepped you for a day staring at a knife it was spending a day dusting off bones with a paintbrush. Same focus. Same care. Same spine damaging hunched position.

It’s a good thing she felt the reward was worth it in both cases.

[ReubanBrightwood]

The familiar and comforting rote is invoked and the golden glyph blazes into Witch's pattern expanding her awareness of all things supernatural, all things supernal what would be to her familiar and comforting resonances of her Sanctum, her hallow her place of safety and power, private and cultivated. ... Tainted by the wisps of black miasma drifting up from the knife a empty void creating a blot in her senses.

I need Witch to make a wits+ occult +1 -12

Almost as if in response to her own magic, her sixth sense flares something supernatural just happened and her awareness gives a clue the blade of the knife turns darker then night for a brief moment a fraction of total void.

4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-14 08:37:50	something rolls 8 to establish connection (10 Again)	8, 9, 1, 5, 4, 9, 7, 10, 4	4 successes

Witch needs to roll Resolve+ composure+ gnosis she needs 4 or more suxx

As for her own scrutiny each bought of intensely focused effort takes the Moros less then a minute as she directs her attention fully at the knife trying to peel back the layers that surround it, to pierce the truth of the item and lay bare its secrets to her. A good thing such efforts require such little time as her first endeavour proved to be the most fruitful of her efforts.

The nature of the knife itself is mundane steel with some silver and ivory in the hilt and handle. It is not an artifact, it is not made of some magical material and it was not created by magic. But magic has been used on it.

It has been used as a vessel for a spirit of the abyss but she knows this already. But she is able to determine that the knife, the thing inside and the dark miasma all have different identifying resonances. Both the thing inside and the miasma have the sicking painful taint of the abyss that makes her ears itch, her eyes irritable, a clamminess inside her mouth and a roil in her gut it is a horrible thing. But they are different none the less. The miasma is not a creation or caused by the Acamoth.

The miasma is something made to occlude, to cast a veil, to stop the very thing she is currently trying. Witch remembers well the heaviness of it at the wax show and how it dulled her sixth sense leaving her in some ways blind to danger. As a well schooled mage Witch does know spells and effects from the practice of veiling (or similar) do not trigger the sixth sense by their nature of causing things to be hidden.

Additionally her scrutiny of the knife is powerful enough to pierce the cloak upon a spell hidden in its pattern. A Glyph of Crimson laced with Black veins. Tainted with abyssal workings the glyphs composition is Mind with spirit and Prime added conjunctionally its duration is indefinite, cast by someone of moderate power (Gnosis 3-4) with potency 5, and the work of a master. It shares identification with the source of the miasma, in fact as she studies it Witch realises this vulgar glyph is in fact the source of the veiling effect it is what generates the miasma around the knife.

[Witch]

Roll Results

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-18 09:02:37	Witch rolls 1 to (Wits+Occult+1-12) (10 Again, Chance)	5	failure

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-03-18 09:03:21	Witch rolls 10 to (Resolve+ Composure+ Gnosis) (10 Again)	9, 4, 3, 1, 2, 5, 4, 2, 1, 10, 5	2 successes

Supplies

Supplies: THOW & everything in it, magical tool

stats

Health:
Mana:
WP:
Armor 0
Defense 3


Vulgar 0
Active Spells: 0
Personal Spells: 0

[ReubanBrightwood]

While I remember could you please change witch's Consilium status to 2 on her Mini sheets as a result of the last round of status!

A sensation on creepy nausea worms into Witch's guts much as the voice that causes it squirms insidiously inside her head. A voice she recalls easily from the carnival forming words as if they were alien things, its pronunciation all over the place each syllable a wound against reality as the thing that should not be but is forces it's presence to be acknowledged. "Hello there, and who might be you be descendant of the silver city?" Had it forgotten her? was it unable to recognise to whom it was trying to communicate?

[Witch]

As her stomach roiled, Witch fought to keep her thoughts simple.

She had known that the entity inside the knife would likely reach out to her. A small part of her was actually surprised it hadn't when she first pulled it from where it had been stored.

"A researcher."

Mind. That made sense. Unfortunately for the same reason that she hadn't set any protection in place against hearing the voice, it meant she couldn't unravel the spell. And that was only for that part. There was that thread of Spirit to contend with as well. It could be remedied. But it would take time.

The question she had then first was why. Why was the caster trying to hide something? Was it to protect the entity? Or was it to try and seal it away. Well, if it was the second, they hadn't done a good enough job. If anything in trying to hide the knife and the bound Acamoth, they had just colored its appeal differently.

Drumming her fingers on the nearest surface she let out her breath and looked around her home. She would clean first, coming home to this disaster would be just annoying. But then ... she didn't have what was needed, but she knew folks who might.

Supplies

Supplies: THOW & everything in it, magical tool

Stats

Health:
Mana:
WP:
Armor 0
Defense 3

Vulgar 0
Active Spells: 0
Personal Spells: 0

[ReubanBrightwood]

The voice creepy and wrong continues to ooze trough Witch's head, its sheer wrongness almost like physical touch. "Then it is your good fortune daughter of Atlantis, I know many things, long forgotten things. What it is you wish to know?" It had not taken long to reach this dangerous cross roads, what would know better then the thing itself? But could Witch navigate such a treacherous exchange? Dare she even or did to border to close to the stories of striking deals with creatures such as this, stories that always ended in tragedy.

She of course still has plenty of magic at her disposal, options and alternatives.

[Witch]

Witch was quiet for a long moment as she considered the knife before her.

The sensation of the voice was abhorrent. What she wanted to do was to shove it back where it had been hidden and take a hot shower with at least 3 types of soap. But she didn't.

She instead made what was very likely a foolish decision. She answered.

"About you."

Supplies

Supplies: THOW & everything in it, magical tool

Stats

Health:
Mana:
WP:
Armor 0
Defense 3

Vulgar 0
Active Spells: 0
Personal Spells: 0