[IC] [Mage: the Awakening 2E] The Supernal Suburbia

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

LYNX

Active Sight: None
Active Spells: Heightened Senses (Life 2; Potency 1, 1 week duration: +1 to Perception rolls); Body Control (Life 2; Potency 2, 1 week duration);
Willpower: 2/5. Mana: 7/10
Conditions/Tilts: Poor Light (Visual-based Perception rolls at -2); Inspired

1 dice → 1 success.

Chance dice → Dramatic failure

My first beat?

[crapcarp]

Phoenix
Peripheral Sight | Armor: Forces | Active Spell(s): None
Health: BBBOOOO | WP: 4/5 | Mana: 3/10 | Wisdom: 7 (Understanding)
Conditions: Grieving [Guilty] | Tilts: None

It's smiling at me. This...thing, this abomination is smiling at me. It's not a smile I can see, but I can somehow sense it, as if the creature wants me to know about it. My disgust distracts me enough to leave an opening that it seizes. It lashes out with what I can best describe as a tentacle and constricts me. Fortunately, my instincts respond in time to raise a shield of sorts (more like armor, really) that minimizes the pressure. However, the tentacle still manages to crush, the pain jolting through my entire body.

I manage to break off the tentacle's grip with the help of my magic armor and good ol' grit. My arms now free, I swipe the broom square into its "head".

Strength 3 + Weaponry 3 + 3 WP - 6 Defense = 3 dice → 1 success

[Beans]

Dr. Asphodel
Conditions: Poor Light

Chance die --> NOPE
I get a beat, I guess!

[Caladriu]

Moonstone
Active Sight: None | Active Spells: None
Conditions: Divergent (Active), Abyssal Imago (3 Reach), Abyssal Backlash (+6 Paradox), Shaken
Health: X/OOOO | Willpower: 1/8 | Mana: 2/10 | Beats: 4/5 | Arcane Beats: 3/5

An idea forms through the fog of terror and confusion. Hide. Moonstone reaches under his jacket and pulls the hood of the Cloak of Night over his head...

I will indeed wait until next scene to scour the Condition, I think you're right. I'm going to spend my action this turn activating my Artifact's Shadow Flesh effect. 7 dice to activate Potency 1 Shadow Flesh with Duration 5 turns. 2 successes
"The mage transforms the subject’s body and all her personal
possessions into a mass of moving and animated shadows. The
mage may choose to make the subject a three-dimensional or
a two-dimensional shadow. Three-dimensional shadows still
have no apparent mass or substance, and cannot interact with
physical objects. Two-dimensional shadows may move through
cracks and crevices, though are still bound by the laws of gravity
and must remain touching the floor, even if moving on walls.
The subject retains all of her Attributes and Skills, but may not
take physical actions other than to move, though she can still cast
spells. She is immune to attacks or damage, but not Supernal magic,
while in her shadowy form. She is effectively invisible in natural or
supernatural darkness, though she can see in them herself."

Moonstone turns into a two-dimensional shadow, immune to attacks (but not Supernal magic), no physical actions, still capable of spellcasting.

...and melts into an inky puddle on the floor, which hurries to the exit of the room. Is there a way out? Was that corridor leading somewhere important?

[rwknoll]

*NEW SCENE*

Ragnar
You feel as if you have just woken up from a strange dream. You remember going into the portal with Lynx and Dr. Asphodel, but everything after that is hazy and dark. An image of dark corridors and a cavern flashes very briefly through your mind, and then fades. The man makes eye contact with you and looks at you concernedly, and it triggers an echo of a memory of a divination you cast. He will find you...

Make a perception roll (Wits + Composure).

Lynx
Your thoughts are hazy, as if just waking from a dream. You remember going into the portal, but very little after that. You catch a brief scent, or a memory of a scent, of stale air and remember the echo of water dripping. Otherwise, you have no memory of what happened in the portal.

These rolls are different than normal. You do not gain any condition or a Beat. (Also, remember that you only gain a Beat from a failed roll if you had a normal failure and voluntarily chose to make it a dramatic failure.) However, make a perception roll, using your bonus from your spell.

Dr. Asphodel
You remember going into the portal with the others, but nothing after that. You feel like you have just woken from a dream, but you can't understand why; you have no memory of where you have been or what happened to you in the portal. The effect is unnerving.

Failing a chance die roll is still just a regular failure, unless you roll a 1 (you rolled a 6). However, you can choose to take a Beat and make it a dramatic failure if you wish. Let me know if you want to do that, otherwise these results stand.

Phoenix and Moonstone

Initiative:
Abyssal entity -- Attacked
Moonstone -- Ran and activated Cloak of Shadow
--> Phoenix -- Waiting on your response about the spell, per my OOC post, so you can take your turn.

Moonstone
You melt into a puddle of shadow, which is an unnerving experience but one that fills you with relief as you slip away from the fighting.

You may make a perception roll.

Binder
You fade into consciousness, slowly drifting awake. Your body is aching.

You heal 1 bashing damage after time passes. Make a perception roll.

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

LYNX

Active Sight: None
Active Spells: Heightened Senses (Life 2; Potency 1, 1 week duration: +1 to Perception rolls); Body Control (Life 2; Potency 2, 1 week duration);
Willpower: 2/5. Mana: 7/10
Conditions/Tilts: Inspired

Perception roll, 7 dice → 2 successes.

[rwknoll]

Lynx
While your head is slowly clearing, you notice something odd. There seems to be some kind of small object or lump in your pocket that you don't remember putting there. Upon checking it, you find a small, perfectly round pebble that fits in the palm of your hand. It feels slightly warm to the touch.

[Caladriu]

Moonstone
Active Sight: None | Active Spells: None
Conditions: Divergent (Active), Abyssal Imago (3 Reach), Abyssal Backlash (+6 Paradox), Shaken
Health: X/OOOO | Willpower: 1/8 | Mana: 2/10 | Beats: 4/5 | Arcane Beats: 3/5

Wits+Composure: 2 successes

Also going to scour Abyssal Imago now that it's a new scene and take the damage and arcane beat.

[Haberdasher]

RAGNAR

Active Spells: Serendipity
Conditions/Tilts: Poor Lighting (-2 to all vision-based Perception rolls)
Health: /OOOOOOO I WP: 2/4 I Mana: 8/10 I Wisdom: 7
Beats: 1/5 I Arcane Beats: 2/5

Ragnar blinks at the man. That place... was it even real? The memories seem to pass away like fragments of a dream, like water slipping through his fingers. The sight of the man stirs a memory, almost like an echoing voice, of a spell he cast. He seizes onto it with all his will, as his mind still struggles to center itself. "You found us. I knew you would. I cast the spell to see the future and you were there waiting for us."

Ragnar makes his perception roll. Wits 2 + Composure 2 + WP 3 = 1 success. All those dice, only one success. Ah well.

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

LYNX

Active Sight: None
Active Spells: Heightened Senses (Life 2; Potency 1, 1 week duration: +1 to Perception rolls); Body Control (Life 2; Potency 2, 1 week duration);
Willpower: 2/5. Mana: 7/10
Conditions/Tilts: Inspired

Lynx groans and flops to his side. He gazes upwards at the sky, trying to draw in his surroundings. He feels the lingering thrill of the dream, trying to relive it, to remember... Then he spots the elderly man.

Oh. There's an elderly man here.

He shifts and sits up in one motion, stretching his shoulders... ...Where's my shirt?

"I'm okay, thank you, how are you?" he replies absently with a slight nod to the man. He rubs his beard, then scrambles up on his feet easily with the help of his body control, absorbs his surroundings, and focuses on Dr. Asphodel and Ragnar.

"Ragnar? Dr. Asphodel? Are you hurt?" He kneels next to them in turn, giving them cursory examinations as his senses instinctively sink into those of Life - and Life only - to make sure they're okay. During his examination, he glances at the man with his exposed senses, drawing in his scent, his breath, his essence, and when his observations are done, he lets go of the Primal Wild.

Lynx activates Life Senses momentarily, checks Ragnar, Dr. Asphodel and the man, and then turns his Senses off.

He's learning!

[rwknoll]

Moonstone
You hear and see Phoenix is not running after you as you instructed. He is instead turning to face the monster alone, with nothing but a broom. You see it wrap a tentacle around him and squeeze, trying to crush him. It seems to be enjoying it.

Ahead, you see an exit to this room: a cracked door that opens to reveal a tall spiral staircase leading up and away. The rumbling is growing so loud and the floors are vibrating so much that the room seems to be threatening to fall apart.

You rip the Abyssal energy from your soul. It hurts intensely, but you feel cleaner somehow.


Ragnar
The older man studies you curiously and smiles. "You did well, then. I was led here by my own Fate spell. I knew if I came here in time, I might be able to find you all. My name is Mathias. I have so much more to tell you, and to ask you..." He frowns again, his face pained with worry. "But we must go, and quickly. I don't know the full story, but there is another group of fledgling mages not far from here in incredible danger -- and the city may be as well."

Mathias studies his watch. "The power is back on, so that means the next train will be here...yes, in just a moment." He looks at each of you and asks, "Please, come with me!" He motions for you to follow and points down the street. The nearest train stop is about a block away. Mathias looks both ways out of the alley and then begins to jog towards the train station.

Despite the distractions, you notice something odd in your pocket, a narrow object with a sharp end. Inspecting it reveals a small knife with a steel hilt and a blade made from a jagged, black stone. It looks familiar somehow...maybe something from the dream?


Lynx
You breathe in the smells around you and study your companions closely. They give off their natural scents, with no whiff of anything that suggests toxins, disease, or serious injury.

The man appears similarly healthy and uninjured. If anything, he is more healthy than you would expect for an average man of his apparent age.

[Haberdasher]

RAGNAR

Active Spells: Serendipity
Conditions/Tilts: None
Health: /OOOOOOO I WP: 1/4 I Mana: 8/10 I Wisdom: 7
Beats: 1/5 I Arcane Beats: 2/5

Ragnar's emotions feel like a firecracker. Fate spell? Does that mean he became a mage like I did? A thousand different questions spring to mind, but Ragnar decides they can wait. There are far more pressing matters than his curiosity, justified as it may be. He also notices the knife, with its blade of black, obsidian-like stone and steel handle, and keeps the knowledge to himself. He'll have chances to investigate it, and its significance, once they have completed this task. For now, Ragnar follows Mathias, fixating on him as a guide in both a literal and figurative sense.

[MagicSwordsman]

BINDER
Willpower: 0/7 Mana: 0/10 Health: X/////O (-2)
[Pattern Scoured: -1 Str]

Wits 2 + Composure 4 = 6 -> 2 successes.

[rwknoll]

Ragnar, Lynx, and Dr. Asphodel
As you start to follow Mathias, you nearly bump into another man who turns the corner into the small street right in front of you. He turns and studies each of you, then glances over his shoulder and looks with a confused frown at Mathias, who hasn't realized yet that you've been interrupted. The man turns back to Dr. Asphodel, politely ignoring the rest of you.


"There you are, Dr. McCallister," he says in relief. "I've been looking for you. There was an incident with one of the students from your class -- nothing serious, just some scared kids running into each other in the hallway after the power went out -- but I need you to help with a few things back in the building." He sighs and chuckles. "Someone said they saw you heading over here, so I thought I'd try and catch you."

Dr. Asphodel blinks and flashes a smile. "O-of c-c-course, D-dean G-gray. Le-let's get b-back. J-just helpin' Simon here wit' o-one of the o-other st-students," she replies quickly.

Although you are new to this class, you know that Dr. Thomas Gray is the Dean of the Humanities Division at the University of Chicago. He teaches one of the other FYS classes down the hallway from yours. Dr. Asphodel begins walking back towards the academic building with Dr. Gray. She glances over her shoulder at the two young men and frowns apologetically, but nods firmly towards Mathias. The older mage has paused at this point, waiting for the others to catch up with him, but he is clearly trying to get moving.

At this time, Dr. Asphodel will become an NPC, until such time that Beans decides to come back.

Binder
You look around you and see that you are alone. You're not sure where the other girls went, but you don't see them. You also don't see the creature that attacked you or the other mages you were briefly traveling with.

You do, however, feel something odd on your Periphery. To your naked eye, you see the wall on the street vibrate where you last saw the portal, causing dust to fall off the building. You know you can't see the portal without your Mage Sight, but something might be happening -- unless there's something else nearby, too.

[MagicSwordsman]

BINDER
Willpower: 0/7 Mana: 0/10 Health: X/////O (-2)
[Pattern Scoured: -1 Str] [Shaken] [Mage Sight: Mind, Space]
Beats: 0 Arcane Beats: 4

Binder can't help but feel a little snubbed. Pass out trying to help folks and where does it leave you? They leave you lying on the sidewalk.
That being said, being taken to the hospital would've been really inconvenient, so it's no sense being too upset about it.

He eyes the vibrating wall while keeping his distance, then pulls up Mage Sight to get a better look.