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

[rwknoll]

Caliginosa and Fatewise
While Callie still has her Mage Sight actively observing the house, she places her call to Valentine at precisely 11 am. Fatewise similarly has her Sight open continuously as she surveys the area.

The phone rings repeatedly, and her mentor does not answer. But seconds later, you both feel a dizzying sense of vertigo from a willworker’s Nimbus as a spell encompasses the door. Neither of you possess the appropriate arcanum to sense the immediate effects of the spell with your Active Sight.

Everyone
Even for those without Active Sight, you sense a supernatural effect on your Periphery; some of you might see a flash of light or hear a bell chime, while others perhaps catch a faint whiff of sulfur. All of you see the door open to reveal a White man in his mid to late 30s with a lean build and trimmed beard, wearing a well-tailored suit.



He glances around quickly, a look of concern on his face, and he studies the neighborhood. ”Come inside,” Valentine instructs, opening the door the rest of the way and stepping aside so you can move past him into the house.

Immediately upon entering, you have a sudden realization: This house is bigger on the inside.



You find yourself in the foyer of what appears to be a mansion. Double stairwells on either side of the foyer lead up to another level, passing a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. You can easily tell that the vaulted ceiling is taller than the entire house had been back on the street, and it had lacked the second level that this one obviously possesses.

As the last of your cabal enters and Valentine closes the door, Fatewise (and anyone else with Active Sight) can see the spell that was on the door disappear, and Valentine seems to visibly relax. ”For those who do not know me personally, my name is Valentine.” He smiles and offers a handshake to those who will accept one. ”I’ve brought you to my sanctum. I believe we will be safe here. Please, make yourselves at home.”

Valentine leads you into a large study on the main floor. There are ornate bookshelves lining the walls; a quick glance shows that many of the books reference occult subjects, and a few have High Speech runes along their spines. There is ample seating, including a couch and several large recliners with leather upholstery. Valentine motions for all of you to take a seat, while he stands and leans back against a marble pillar in the corner of the room nearby.

Let me know if anyone would want to study anything in particular as you walked through the foyer or study, with mundane or Active Mage Sight. Also feel free to interject with conversation or actions you would do before the scene continues.

After you have all settled into your seats, Valentine says, ”Thank you all for coming here on such short notice. The house you arrived at is a Guardian safe house, but as you may have guessed, that is not where we are currently located. I created an Iris to this sanctum that is located...elsewhere.” A small smile appears briefly on his otherwise serious face. ”I will make sure that you will be returned to the safe house when we are done here, or transported elsewhere if desired. My property is shielded against multiple types of prying magic, as a necessary precaution.

”The reason that I have brought you all here,” Valentine says with a worried look, ”is that I believe you are all in grave danger. Just after the...Deathstorm, one of the most infamous events in the history of this Consilium, we detected an unusual increase in the number of newly Awakened mages. Estrella, the Acanthus Councilor, thinks it is some twist of Fate, or perhaps some cosmic equation correcting for the...the tragedy of the lives that were lost.” Valentine pauses.

You may all roll Wits + Empathy if you like.

”Regardless of the reason,” Valentine continues, ”there were twelve newly Awakened within a week of the Deathstorm, including the five of you. A few days ago, one of them disappeared without any explanation or warning. Yesterday, the other six went missing.”

Valentine pauses to let the gravity of this information sink in. He stares intently at each of you in turn.

”The Councilors are aware of this dire news and believe that it is not a coincidence, and that it is the work of other mages, or perhaps one powerful mage. Awakenings have implications for the Kindred and Uratha in different ways, and there are other supernatural beings that might have a keen interest in our society, but it is unlikely that anyone but another willworker would understand the significance of these twelve mages specifically.

“As one of the two Sentinels of this Consilium, and the mentor of one of the newly Awakened mages,” Valentine’s gaze lingers briefly on Caliginosa, ”the Hierarch has ordered me to inform you all of this news and to increase patrols of the Consilium’s sancta. I imagine you might have some questions,” he says dryly.

[DrSteve]

Morganna

Mage Sight: Peripheral | Conditions: Steadfast| Spells: Pierce Deception (Potency 1, Duration 1 day).
Health: OOOOOOO | Willpower: 6/6 | Mana: 11/11
Tilts: None | Beats/Exp: 1/0 | Arc. Beats/Exp: 1/0

As Cali makes the phone call Morganna wonders if somebody is going to answer the door or if the group is about to be teleported using space.

There’s a few things going on with your spell that I need to digest here and want to help clarify for you, and to make sure I understand what you’re trying to do.


First, on Orokos, please use the dice rolling template “Xd10h8” for all normal rolls, where you replace “X” with the number of dice you need to roll. So for example, you would use “9d10h8.” This will roll 9d10, count the number of successes, and automatically reroll one time for any 10s you hit. This saves the need to roll your 10-again dice pool separately, and it’s a lot easier for me to understand your results at a glance.

Certainly! Sorry first online game and still getting the dice roller figured out. Is 10 again hardcoded? Is there a notation for 9 and 8 again or rote?


Second, on a spell with Potency as the primary spell factor, you can automatically advance the base Potency to your arcanum rating, so it’s 3 by default. It looks like you used Advance Duration and took a -2 penalty to bump up duration to 1 day, so that’s correct. I don’t understand what other penalties you wanted or what you want the final Potency to be. Your total dice from Yantra bonuses after accounting for dice penalties for spell factors cannot exceed 5. Because you get 8 total from Mudra and Shadow Name, you are sitting at 6 dice after accounting for the new duration, so unless you take more penalties, that caps out at 5 instead. So the final dice pool should be Gnosis (2) + Mind (3) + Yantra bonuses (5) = 10, which is actually better than what you had rolled, but it was already an exceptional success so there’s no need for me to do extra rolling for you.


The spell is supposed to add three dice to stats for one scene. She's then going to look around with prime based mage sight. I took one reach out of the three free reaches she gets to use advanced duration and then left the duration so base so it would not impose a dice penalty.

The, incorrect, math used was default potency one +2 additional potency imposing a -4 dice penalty. It's not worth reopening the scene to fix.

Third, I am ok with players asking for specific conditions or making suggestions, but ultimately that decision will fall to me as the Storyteller, because it’s my role to make narratively dramatic decisions to help the flow of the story. In this particular case, I am ok with giving you the Inspired condition from your roll with regards to “making mental observations”, and I am similarly ok with you resolving it and then getting another exceptional success on your Perception roll because that’s thematically appropriate. I also like the Steadfast suggestion, so you can take that. In the future, please make sure to seek input about conditions or tilts rather than taking your idea and running with it.


Sure but:

Exceptional Success: The spell’s effect takes place better than
imagined. The character regains one spent point of Willpower,
and the player may choose one of the following results;
• A bonus step in the primary spell factor.
• A Reach in the primary spell factor.
• A Condition which will give Arcane Beats when resolved,
on either the mage or her subject.
• All Mana spent on the spell is refunded, and the mage
receives one more point of Mana.
• The spell ignores any Withstand levels and takes effect at
full Potency..

Core Book: Page 115

And also

Exceptional success
gives a positive Condition of the player’s choosing, and dramatic
failure will give a negative Condition of the Storyteller’s choosing.
You can find a list of example Conditions in Appendix Three.

Core Book, Page 83

Perfectly fine doing things your way.


So, take an Arcane Beat for resolving the Inspired condition, and take a regular Beat for resolving your other Aspiration of picking up Lucy’s uniform. You had previously made a note about “getting backup for the meeting.” However, please remember that we are still in the same scene, and you can only get 1 Beat or Arcane Beat per scene for aspirations or resolving conditions, respectively, so you won’t be able to fulfill that for a Beat. Would you like to pick a different Aspiration?

Actually no. It's a placeholder. I'm trying to set up one short term Aspiration that relates to moving the main plot, one short term that interacts with another character and a long term for when the character has spotlight time. I think that may have bee the design intent.

I'm thinking of swapping the obsession for exploring the relationship between fallen occultism and the supernal as that came up during play, but am undecided.

[squidheadjax]

Caliginosa
Mage Sight: Peripheral | Conditions: None | Spells: Supernal Vision (+all paranormal)
Health: OOOOOOO | Willpower: 5/5 | Mana: 11/11
Conditions: None | Tilts: None | Beats/Exp: 0/0 | Arc. Beats/Exp: 0/0

---

Satisfied that they at least aren't about to be ambushed in the moment - and that they definitely are at the right address, thanks to the markings - Callie tells the others, "Ok, I'm gonna call him. Hopefully won't leave us waiting too long..." She fidgets with her feet a little and glances around at the milling people, feeling more than a bit exposed. "Next time I hop the fence and wait out back," she mumbles quietly to herself.

After the little grumble, she takes out her phone to call Valentine. "We're here, boss," Callie reports simply, and waits for his instructions.

[rwknoll]

Caliginosa
You surreptitiously glance around the street, trying to determine if there is anything unusual going on or any threats to be concerned about.

To your mundane vision, your keen eyes do not spot anything that appears to be dangerous or unusual. It is a Saturday morning, however, and although the weather is starting to turn a little crisp and cool as autumn arrives, you do notice several people walking down the suburban street minding their own business. None of them seem to be paying particularly close attention to you at the moment, but there are a few on the block.

You “blink” your Mage Sight, filtered through your Path to the Aether, for just long enough to take a quick glance around. You do not detect any unusual changes or fluctuations in electricity to the houses, including the house in front of your cabal to which Valentine has directed you to. The movement of the people walking on the street and cars passing by are both highlighted to you, making them easier to notice.

But your attention is primarily drawn to markings placed around this house that, now with your Sight active, glow brightly to your eyes. Written in High Speech, there are runes by the mailbox next to you and on the facade of the house, conveying a brief message that roughly translates as “property of the Guardians.”

You do not see any active Awakened spells or Attainment effects anywhere on the house or its lot, nor do you see any Hallow, tass, or any particular environmental effect that could be used as a Yantra.

For purposes of casting obvious magic, there are enough Sleepers on the street that Paradox rolls will have the 9-again property.

Lynx
You survey the street and see enough people walking around, assumedly Sleepers, that you know there would be some level of risk to casting obvious magic. You don’t see any danger here that immediately stands out to you. When you survey the house in front of you, you see that the curtains are drawn, there is no car in the driveway, and the garage is shut. You can’t tell if anyone is home.

Morganna
It is...disconcerting to see the effects of your magical ability to pierce deception as you travel around town before heading to the planned meeting. Simply staring at food or other “normal” aspects of suburban life in the Greater Chicago region doesn’t automatically suggest that the food is a “lie” or active untruth. However, when you see billboards with writing advertising food as “the best burger in town” or using “100% fresh ingredients”, you immediately recognize the words to be bold-faced lies. Looking at the people of La Grange as you drive is similarly bothersome; you can’t see people’s morally questionable actions or lifestyles, but you see an awful lot of people with dyed hair, makeup designed to make them look younger or to conceal blemishes, and fake imported goods.

You thankfully remember to pick up Lucy’s scout uniform. At least you aren’t letting this magic stuff get in the way of your personal life...right?

As you cast your spell, you feel your wits sharpen and a sense of resiliency grow. The world seems brighter, clearer, more in focus around you. Nothing escapes your attention. You catch a few teenagers glancing in your direction at you and your cabal, but when you look towards them, they avert their gaze and go back to their business. A man in a car stares at you briefly and waves in a seemingly friendly fashion as you study the car. No one seems to be malicious, but perhaps they are curious why you are gathered in the driveway.

There’s a few things going on with your spell that I need to digest here and want to help clarify for you, and to make sure I understand what you’re trying to do.

First, on Orokos, please use the dice rolling template “Xd10h8” for all normal rolls, where you replace “X” with the number of dice you need to roll. So for example, you would use “9d10h8.” This will roll 9d10, count the number of successes, and automatically reroll one time for any 10s you hit. This saves the need to roll your 10-again dice pool separately, and it’s a lot easier for me to understand your results at a glance.

Second, on a spell with Potency as the primary spell factor, you can automatically advance the base Potency to your arcanum rating, so it’s 3 by default. It looks like you used Advance Duration and took a -2 penalty to bump up duration to 1 day, so that’s correct. I don’t understand what other penalties you wanted or what you want the final Potency to be. Your total dice from Yantra bonuses after accounting for dice penalties for spell factors cannot exceed 5. Because you get 8 total from Mudra and Shadow Name, you are sitting at 6 dice after accounting for the new duration, so unless you take more penalties, that caps out at 5 instead. So the final dice pool should be Gnosis (2) + Mind (3) + Yantra bonuses (5) = 10, which is actually better than what you had rolled, but it was already an exceptional success so there’s no need for me to do extra rolling for you.

Third, I am ok with players asking for specific conditions or making suggestions, but ultimately that decision will fall to me as the Storyteller, because it’s my role to make narratively dramatic decisions to help the flow of the story. In this particular case, I am ok with giving you the Inspired condition from your roll with regards to “making mental observations”, and I am similarly ok with you resolving it and then getting another exceptional success on your Perception roll because that’s thematically appropriate. I also like the Steadfast suggestion, so you can take that. In the future, please make sure to seek input about conditions or tilts rather than taking your idea and running with it.

So, take an Arcane Beat for resolving the Inspired condition, and take a regular Beat for resolving your other Aspiration of picking up Lucy’s uniform. You had previously made a note about “getting backup for the meeting.” However, please remember that we are still in the same scene, and you can only get 1 Beat or Arcane Beat per scene for aspirations or resolving conditions, respectively, so you won’t be able to fulfill that for a Beat. Would you like to pick a different Aspiration?

Eurydice’s Heir
Your vision is giving you a small headache. A loud horn blares at you as you nearly walk in front of a car driving down the street that you cross to reach the house. You need to do a double take to recognize that the group in front of you is your cabal.

You look at the house and see nothing worth noting. It’s just a house. You blink and notice that your vision is starting to clear up a bit, thankfully.

Take an Arcane Beat for resolving a condition! Also, this is random, but isn’t Eurydice the correct spelling rather than Euridice? Or is there some different translation or something I won’t know about?

Fatewise
Filtering your Sight through the lens of Arcadia reveals a web of fate’s threads binding every person and object around you. Some of the threads are thin and nearly nonexistent, while others are firm and vibrant. Trying to overlay your Mage Sight with your mundane vision is taxing and requires additional effort to sift through all of the information, so much so that you have a hard time studying the mundane world around you. But despite that, your keen eyes still take in the neighborhood on the block and the simple, nondescript house before you. You definitely notice that people are curiously glancing at the group of you before the house, but none of them seem to be watching you too closely...at least as far as you can see.

With your Active Sight, you see two flashes of energy around Morganna as she casts a spell with exceptional success, and another exceptional action as she surveys the block around you. You can almost feel the air of confidence that she exudes after completing these actions. Through the lens of Time, you can see a split-second warning of everyone’s intentions just before they act. You do not see any temporal warps or any signs that anyone or anything within this area has come back into the past.

Remember that you take -2 to mundane actions while Active Mage Sight is up, so your dice pool for the perception check is only 4, but you still net 1 success if we drop the last 2 rolls.

Make sure to also remember that you will not be able to earn Arcane Beats from your Boons when they resolve. If you get an exceptional success on the spellcasting in the future, that’s a different story.

[DArchon5]

Fatewise

Mage Sight: Active (Fate, Time) | Conditions: None | Spells: Divination (Potency 2 [1 Spent], One Hour), Exceptional Luck (Potency 5, One Day)
Health: OOOOOOO | Willpower: 5/6 | Mana: 11/11
Tilts: Charmed, Informed |3 Beats/Exp: 0/0 | Arc. Beats/Exp: 0/0

---

Rene looks both ways before crossing the street to where the others have gathered. You can't be too careful.

"Morn! How are you all today?"

"Utterly terrified for our safety, thanks for asking."

Considering the what Valentine is going to warn them of concerns all of them, hiding the results of her divination didn't seem logical.

Fatewise's eyes gaze at the strings surrounding her, both picking up details in the Fallen World and looking out for whatever warnings the threads may hold.

Fatewise is a bit cautious after the Divination, so she's keeping her Mage Sight Active for the scene for 1 Willpower.

Fatewise also has Trained Observer 3, which means she takes 8-Again on her Perception Check.

https://orokos.com/roll/864196
Perception Check: 1 Success.

She also cast Exceptional Luck before coming here, just in case.

Exceptional Luck
Primary Spell Factor: Potency
Type: Rote
Target: Self
Potency: 5
Duration: One Day
Casting Time: Instant
Yantras: Mudra, Mantra
Base Dice Pool: Gnosis (2) + Fate (3) + Mudra (Occult, Mysterium Specialty) (5) + High Speech (2) - Spell Factors (Potency 2, Duration 1) (6) = 6
Reaches: +1 Advanced Duration, +1 Instant, +2 Affects Spellcasting
Free Reaches: 4
Total Reaches used: 4

https://orokos.com/roll/864199
Exceptional Luck Casting: 4 Successes. 1 off from exceptional.

Paradox does not occur.

Boons: The Charmed condition, the Informed condition, and +5 to 3 rolls (2x Occult, 1x Investigation).

[squidheadjax]

Caliginosa
Mage Sight: Peripheral | Conditions: None | Spells: Supernal Vision (+all paranormal)
Health: OOOOOOO | Willpower: 5/5 | Mana: 11/11
Conditions: None | Tilts: None | Beats/Exp: 0/0 | Arc. Beats/Exp: 0/0

---

Callie shrugs at the ambivalent reaction to her suggestion of invisibility. "Alright then. He's my boss, so I'll call him once we're satisfied we're not being spied on."

Pretty much just waiting on perception resolutions, I guess?
Also I am no good at all at arranging things to pump beats for myself :/

[Second Chances]

Euridice's Heir
Mage Sight: Peripheral | Conditions: None | Spells: Suppress Aura, Soul Armor
Health: OOOOOOO | Willpower: 6/6 | Mana: 10/11
Tilts: None | Beats/Exp: 0/0 | Arc. Beats/Exp: 2/0

---

The Heir locks up his bike a few blocks away, then strolls over to the meeting place, greeting the others as he sees them.

"Morn! How are you all today?"

"Mysteries are better than marking," notes the Heir wryly, "I can think of worse ways to spend my weekend. Invisibility could be a good precaution. Who knows what trouble we are about to get up to."

Completely absorbed by the conversation and still mulling over his failings with Space this morning, the Heir utterly fails to notice anything about his surroundings.

I am going to immediately resolve the Myopic condition to pick up that lovely, lovely Arcane Beat. So that's a failed perception roll from me.

[DrSteve]

Morganna

Mage Sight: Peripheral | Conditions: Steadfast| Spells: Pierce Deception (Potency 1, Duration 1 day).
Health: OOOOOOO | Willpower: 5/6 | Mana: 11/11
Tilts: None | Beats/Exp: 1/0 | Arc. Beats/Exp: 1/0

Morgana smiles as she picks up Lynx. Good looking, a good deterrent to trouble and unlike most arm candy, probably actually able to handle himself in a fight (most folks in the later category look like they've been through a few).. "Hi Lynx. It's been a surreal morning. Tried pierce deception. Driving around town with the spell active is . . . interesting. Can we skip the fast food and get something at the grocery store? I didn't know you could do an ingredients list in Atlantian but the supernal had something to say about the Burger King, on the corner. Don't think I'm ever eating fast food again. Besides I need to pick up some dry cleaning on the way."

Walking into the dry cleaners a bit later, Morganna was surprised to notice the number of counterfeit outfits on the rack. More fun with Atlantean runes. God this spell was both interesting and disturbing at the same moment.

"Want me to make us invisible while we wait?"

"Out in public like this? Not sure that's a great idea. Are we expecting trouble?"

"Maybe. Let me see what we are about to walk into and then I'll make the call."

With the Morganna mumbles a quick spell. For a minute it flashed through Morganna's mind wait a minute this sleeper stuff shouldn't work, but it is because it resonates with my shadow name. So what does that mean about the entire sleeper occultism is a lie meant to hide the truth? I wish I could talk over what that means with Viv

Not sure what you wanted to do with this scene, but I'm compressing the errand so as not to sidetrack the group. Replacing picking up laundry with find out what Valentine wants.

Augument Mind
Primary Spell Factor: Potency
Target: Self
Duration: 1 Scene
Potency: 3
Duration: Day (-2 Dice, 1 Reach)
Casting Time: Ritual
Yantras: Mundra5 (Persuasion 4 + 1 rote specialty), Shadow Name (3)
Base Dice Pool: Gnosis 2 + Mind 3 + Mundra 5 + Shadow Name 3 - Potency 3 (1 free +2) (-4) = 9
Reaches: (3 free) +1 Instant Casting, +1 Scene Duration

Effect: Add One Dice to composure and two dice to wits for a scene.

Cast Roll: 9#1d10 9 8 8 4 4 10 9 4 9

Wow, 6 hits and one 10 again.

10 again: 1#1d10 4

The 10 again does not hit.

Takes inspired from the crit success:

Rolling Composure 4 (3+1) and Wits 4 (2+2) = 8 dice on Prime based mage sight.

Resolves inspired for an arcane beat.

10 again: 8#1d10 10 2 7 4 10 6 9 10 4 hits, 3 10s

10 again number 2: 3#1d10 1 7 6 Nothing on the 10 agains.

Inspired triggers crit on three. Will take steadfast. Morganna is feeling pretty good about how that spell went right now.

I'm not resolving Morganna's feel more in control of the situation Aspiration yet, but a couple more rolls like that and she may be feeling more in control.

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

Lynx

Mage Sight: Peripheral | Conditions: None | Spells: Body Control (Potency 5, 1 Week)
Health: OOOOOOOO | Willpower: 5/5 | Mana: 11/11
Tilts: None |3 Beats/Exp: 1/0 | Arc. Beats/Exp: 0/0

---

You finish your morning rituals and routines, Lynx and Morganna finish grabbing their breakfast and running errands, and eventually you all make your way, either on foot or by car, to the address Valentine has provided you.

As seen on a quick Google Maps before arriving, the address belongs to a nondescript one-level house, probably built in the 1960s or 70s. There are no cars in the driveway or on the street in front of it, and the shades are all closed.

A glance at the time shows that it is almost 11 am. You remember that Valentine gave instructions to call when the group was at the front door at that time.

Lynx and Morganna, last chance to include a brief post about any errands you run or things you do before heading to the meet-up, including Morganna’s plan to pick up clothes for Lucy.

Everyone, please roll Wits + Composure for a perception check. Please also indicate whether or not you would like to use Active Mage Sight, and if so, which arcana you would have active. You can “flash” it briefly if you just want to glance and not use up your free duration for the scene, or you can spend a willpower to keep it up for up to the end of the scene if desired.

Lynx wouldn't have done any errands while with Morganna. He'd have gushed about spirits and the Spirit arcanum if there was any privacy available, say, in the car, and would've offered to pay for breakfast.

"Morn! How are you all today?"

Lynx greets everyone eagerly, surveying the street as he runs a hand through his hair.

"Want me to make us invisible while we wait?"

Lynx looks at Callie curiously.

"Out in public like this?" Lynx surveys the driveway, uncertain what to think as he taps his lynx pendant. His voice grows wary. "Not sure that's a great idea. Are we expecting trouble?"

He quietly checks his phone. Almost 11...

"So, uh. Who's calling Val?"

Perception roll - 6d10o10h8: 2 Successes [6d10o10h8=2, 9, 3, 2, [10, 7], 2]

[squidheadjax]

Caliginosa
Mage Sight: Peripheral | Conditions: None | Spells: Supernal Vision (+all paranormal)
Health: OOOOOOO | Willpower: 5/5 | Mana: 11/11
Conditions: None | Tilts: None | Beats/Exp: 0/0 | Arc. Beats/Exp: 0/0

---

Everyone
You finish your morning rituals and routines, Lynx and Morganna finish grabbing their breakfast and running errands, and eventually you all make your way, either on foot or by car, to the address Valentine has provided you.

As seen on a quick Google Maps before arriving, the address belongs to a nondescript one-level house, probably built in the 1960s or 70s. There are no cars in the driveway or on the street in front of it, and the shades are all closed.

A glance at the time shows that it is almost 11 am. You remember that Valentine gave instructions to call when the group was at the front door at that time.

Lynx and Morganna, last chance to include a brief post about any errands you run or things you do before heading to the meet-up, including Morganna’s plan to pick up clothes for Lucy.

Everyone, please roll Wits + Composure for a perception check. Please also indicate whether or not you would like to use Active Mage Sight, and if so, which arcana you would have active. You can “flash” it briefly if you just want to glance and not use up your free duration for the scene, or you can spend a willpower to keep it up for up to the end of the scene if desired.

Callie waits to note that everyone's here and gets ready to make the call. "Want me to make us invisible while we wait?" she asks the others, sounding just a bit hopeful for the chance to show off.

wits + composure: 6d10h8 3 Putting Prime and Forces sight up briefly; will examine anything she finds with Supernal Vision instead of keeping the Sight cranked up, unless time seems pressing.

[rwknoll]

Fatewise
As you manifest your Imago and assert it upon reality, the web of golden strings tightens upon the clockwork mechanism you envision until a metaphorical bell rings out once. The sound causes the whole contraption to vibrate, but one string in the web shakes longer than the others. You grasp it in your mind’s eye, follow it along its course, and glimpse a not-so-distant future that you know is likely to happen and gives you chills:

Valentine is gathering you to warn you of a dangerous threat to your safety.

At any time before your spell expires, you can ask one more question. Remember for divination that the question has to be about your future specifically, since you were the subject. Also, please make sure to always phrase questions as relating to a future event. I’m interpreting your question as “what will happen when I see Valentine?”

As for your spell, I don’t think advanced potency does anything here except make your spell harder to dispel and help if there is a clash of wills involving your divination. Finally, you did not overreach; you had 5 free reaches and only used 4, so you didn’t need to roll paradox. Let me know if you have any questions about the spellcasting mechanics.

Eurydice’s Heir
The Space arcanum is somewhat foreign to you compared to the arcana familiar to you from your Path to Stygia. You try to expand your mundane sight, but it falls apart utterly and rebounds. Your vision falters and narrows, and your peripheral vision goes fuzzy.

The Fates bless your other spells, and you feel the cold comfort of Stygian forces wrap around you, protecting your soul from supernatural harm.

Yay, the first dramatic failure! You gain the following condition:

Myopic. Your vision is warped, dulling your senses. You take -2 on Wits + Composure rolls related to perception. Whenever the Storyteller asks you to roll for a perception check, instead of rolling, you may voluntarily fail the roll and resolve this Condition.

Resolution: Opt to fail a perception roll, as described above.

Beat: N/A.

You can reuse the paradox and wisdom rolls next time but only if the dice pool is the same. Otherwise, it’s probably just easier to roll a new one.

Everyone
You finish your morning rituals and routines, Lynx and Morganna finish grabbing their breakfast and running errands, and eventually you all make your way, either on foot or by car, to the address Valentine has provided you.

As seen on a quick Google Maps before arriving, the address belongs to a nondescript one-level house, probably built in the 1960s or 70s. There are no cars in the driveway or on the street in front of it, and the shades are all closed.

A glance at the time shows that it is almost 11 am. You remember that Valentine gave instructions to call when the group was at the front door at that time.

Lynx and Morganna, last chance to include a brief post about any errands you run or things you do before heading to the meet-up, including Morganna’s plan to pick up clothes for Lucy.

Everyone, please roll Wits + Composure for a perception check. Please also indicate whether or not you would like to use Active Mage Sight, and if so, which arcana you would have active. You can “flash” it briefly if you just want to glance and not use up your free duration for the scene, or you can spend a willpower to keep it up for up to the end of the scene if desired.

[DArchon5]

Fatewise

Mage Sight: Peripheral | Conditions: None | Spells: Divination (Potency 2, One Hour)
Health: OOOOOOO | Willpower: 6/6 | Mana: 11/11
Tilts: None |3 Beats/Exp: 0/0 | Arc. Beats/Exp: 0/0

---

Casting a Rote always felt strange to Rene.

If she were to describe her nimbus or mage sight, she'd liken it to an endless web of golden strings, invisibly pulling everything to their fates. But rather than being pulled by some mastermind, the strings we pulled by each action and reaction people and even animals take. Each action reverberates endlessly through the web, spurring additional actions and reverberations in turn.

Casting one of her spells, then, is like finding the exact string she needed to pull, and carefully tugging at it. Enough to instigate the changes she desires, but not enough to cause... rips in the threads.

Rotes are different, colored as they are by their creator's own vision of the Supernal. It's like an overlay, some of the creator's vision superimposed over her own vision of the strings. Mimicking the exact way the Rote is cast would normally be difficult, if not impossible, for Rene to do. But that's what the Mudra is for, a set of instructions of to manipulate the Supernal through her strings in such a way as to mimic the Rote's creator.

As her strings finished wounding and unwounding the intricate clockwork that composed the Rote, she slackened her hold of them and cast the Spell. The gears began to spin, their teeth pushing and plucking at invisible prongs in the air, and music began to fill her ears.

The strings wound the mechanism enough for two questions. One for now, one for later.

"What is Valentine calling us for?."

[Second Chances]

Euridice's Heir
Mage Sight: Peripheral | Conditions: None | Spells: Suppress Aura, Soul Armor
Health: OOOOOOO | Willpower: 6/6 | Mana: 10/11

---

The Heir doesn't get to reply until after he finishes casting his botched spell some hours later, although he does a moment while cleaning his robes.

Worth a shot XD Nothing yet. They'll be there though. The Fates demand it. I just finished my ritual casting for the morning, I expect they are wrapping up the same.

Despite his confidence in his cabalmates, the Heir texts Fatewise as he's heading out the door.

You still with us kid? Callie's all jumpy cause of this mystery text. Gotta say I agree with her on that one.

[squidheadjax]

Caliginosa
Mage Sight: Peripheral | Conditions: None | Spells: Supernal Vision (+all paranormal)
Health: OOOOOOO | Willpower: 5/5 | Mana: 11/11
Conditions: None | Tilts: None | Beats/Exp: 0/0 | Arc. Beats/Exp: 0/0

---

Lynx

Glad you're sleeping better! Didn't have too bad a night myself either. Were you awake when Val messaged you? Do you have any clue what it's about?

Does Artemis have hounds XD? Just going to lay down some proactive spells. Should be enough time to get it all done. Got any idea what this is about?

She texts back:

No, not yet. I'll find out when you do, probably.

To both of them. No response from the others mildly worries her, so she adds, also to both of them,

Hey, have you heard from Fatewise or Morganna?

[Second Chances]

Euridice's Heir
Mage Sight: Peripheral | Conditions: None | Spells: Suppress Aura, Soul Armor
Health: OOOOOOO | Willpower: 6/6 | Mana: 10/11

---

The Heir wakes with the text message. He normally rises between seven and eight in the morning on weekends, the unfortunate byproduct of even early starts during his years in education. The Heir is filled with a healthy paranoia these days, with the Deathstorm and its implications weighing so heavily on his mind. He needs spells, both Space and Death, to feel comfortable in public, even though in his heart he knows it is overkill. He's already begun his ritual cleansing in preparation for casting when the next text message comes in.

Hey, you gonna be there?

Does Artemis have hounds XD? Just going to lay down some proactive spells. Should be enough time to get it all done. Got any idea what this is about?

Not waiting for an eye, he calls on his knowledge of Space, weaving High Speech between his prayers and burning incense as a simple, modern offering to the Gods. He supplicates Athena and Artemis, asking the Goddesses for their wisdom and cunning to open his eyes to the world around him, to offer the perspective Sleepers cannot see. It is a sublime ritual, it is beautiful, it is restorative, it is (for lack of a better word) divine.

It absolutely fails.

At the end of the ritual, the Heir feels nothing. He has not called down the supernal. He cast about, frustratedly searching for a reason his magic failed. Then he touches his face and feels the blood dripping from his nose. The damned Nemesis! He had invoked a Paradox, contained so reflexively that he hadn't even noticed, but the blood from him nose has befouled the spell, destroying his ritual purity! Grunting in frustration at the lost morning, he stormed off to the washroom to clean himself. He would have to cast quickly, extending himself further, if he were to have defenses ready while outside.

First, he invokes Hades with a phrase of High Speech, hiding his enlightened soul from his enemies. Then, after a moment's hesitation, he askes Thanatos for his ward. It was unlikely he would need the Soul Armor, but these days, there was good reason to be cautious. By the time he changes out of his ritual grab and into his street clothes, he needs to get moving to make the meeting.

Let the Fates bring what they may.

The Outward and Inward Eye (Space 1, Cost 1 Mana)
Primary Spell Factor: Duration
Target: Me
Potency: 1
Duration: 1 Day (Reach and -2 penalty)
Casting Time: 3 hr (one period)
Yantras: High Speech (+2) and Shadow Name (+1)
Base Dice Pool: Gnosis 2 + Space 1 + High Speech 2 + Shadow Name 1 - Duration 2 = 4 dice
Reaches: Advanced Duration 1, Spacial Distortions 2

Paradox Dice Pool: 2 dice
Release/Contain: Contain
Roll for Paradox: 1 success - https://orokos.com/roll/861359
Roll for Wisdom: 1 success - https://orokos.com/roll/861361

Spellcasting Roll: 0 successes, I’ll take the dramatic failure and the Beat - https://orokos.com/roll/861362

Suppress Aura (Death 2)
Primary Spell Factor: Duration
Target: Me
Potency: 1
Duration: 1 Day (Reach and -2 penalty)
Casting Time: Instant (Reach)
Yantras: High Speech (+2) and Shadow Name (+1)
Base Dice Pool: Gnosis 2 + Death 3 + High Speech 2 + Shadow Name 1 - Duration 2 = 6 dice
Reaches: Advanced Duration 1, Instant Cast 1

Paradox Dice Pool: none

Spellcasting Roll: 4 successes - https://orokos.com/roll/861369

Soul Armor (Death 2)
Primary Spell Factor: Duration
Target: Me
Potency: 1
Duration: 1 Day (Reach and -2 penalty)
Casting Time: Instant (Reach)
Yantras: High Speech (+2) and Shadow Name (+1)
Base Dice Pool: Gnosis 2 + Death 3 + High Speech 2 + Shadow Name 1 - Duration 2 = 6 dice
Reaches: Advanced Duration 1, Instant Cast 1

Paradox Dice Pool: none

Spellcasting Roll: 1 success - https://orokos.com/roll/861372