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

[Haberdasher]

RAGNAR

Mage Sight: None
Active Spells: Locate Object
Conditions/Tilts: Inspired, Lost
Health: OOOOOOOO I WP: 2/4 I Mana: 4/10 I Wisdom: 7
Beats: 0/5 I Arcane Beats: 4/5
Experiences: 1 I Arcane Experiences: 0

The Lie beats at him. He knows what is going to come of it: he can either let the Paradox taint the world, or he can turn it in on himself. Memories of the fight with Alux flash through his mind, and he rejects the former option. Suffer the consequences of your own mistakes, Ragnar. Don't punish the world for your clumsiness.

Steeling himself for the pain he knows is coming, Ragnar attempts to force the Paradox inwards on his own body. He tells himself that it's better this way. But damn if he isn't having trouble believing it.

Ragnar will attempt to contain the Paradox. 7 Wisdom = 7 dice -> oh dear. And I think I'll keep the regular failure from the navigation roll.

But whether because he can't contain it or won't, the Paradox slips away from him, and into the world. No!

[rwknoll]

Moonstone
While casting your Scrying upon Ragnar, you reach beyond your abilities in attempt to contact your cabalmate, and don't notice the way the Lie tries to infect your spell. Just as you reach out to the sympathetic ties bonding you to him, dark energy hijacks your spell and flies through the ties.

So 1 reach option for the Paradox roll is to apply a Condition to the target of the spell. Because you're technically targeting Ragnar, he will take another condition as indicated below.

---

You frantically try to navigate your way through the city streets, caught in your own hex. But you have more experience with Space magic than Ragnar, and you also know exactly how this hex works. You assert your will against the Imago trapping you, and just as your fingers clutch onto a brick wall of a building that seems miles away, the spell shatters around you. Now, you're just standing on a sidewalk along an old building in downtown Chicago. The buildings are blissfully still.

No -2 penalty to the roll, because the penalty was from the spell itself, not the condition. You may now attempt to navigate as you like, or scry again.

Ragnar
As you try to navigate the horrible circus maze that currently surrounds you, an image suddenly pops into your mind of Moonstone, who has a frantic look on his face as he stretches his arms out searching for something. Your vision blurs as a dark energy settles onto you, and suddenly your mind roils with emotions as you've never experienced before. Feelings of nervousness and concern balloon out of control into waves of terror and hopelessness. You try to quell the emotions, but they are so powerful.

Just as your emotions grow uncontrollably, the Lie overpowers you, and more dark energy is pulled directly into you. You feel a cloud of Abyssal power warp your mind's eye.

First, from Moonstone's released Paradox, you gain the following condition:

Divergent. Your character has a difficult time relating to other people and himself. If the self is a bowl of clear water, his bowl ripples and boils and freezes and spills more easily than most in response to stimuli. Apply a -2 to all Social rolls and rolls involving Resolve. The character also has 1 less Withstand against Mind spells targeting them.

Resolution: This Condition is resolved when you regain your full Willpower pool.

Beat: N/A

In addition, you gain the Abyssal Imago Paradox condition (p. 117). This means that you need to spend 1 extra Reach on each spell, or the spell automatically fails and you add 1 dice to the Paradox roll for a given spell. So for example, if you normally would get 2 free reach on a spell and want to spend reaches on instant casting and advanced duration, you would also need to spend a third reach on the spell (now making it risk Paradox) for Abyssal Imago or else the spell automatically fails and still risks Paradox.

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

LYNX
Active Sight:
Active Spells: None
Willpower: 3/5 Mana: 6/10
Conditions/Tilts: Steadfast
Beats: 3 - Arcane Beats: 4

Lynx listens determinedly to her words, pondering her inconvenience.

"Now, tell me. What do you know about spirits? What have you learned already from your own studies and your first journey to the Primal Wild?"

"Mathias and his cabal did mention spirits like textbook, but I couldn't relate to that," Lynx hums as he rubs his beard. "Spirits... are? Lynx suggests. "I mean, a spirit of tranquility is just... that. It's nothing more and nothing less. They embody ideals, I think, of what we think of them, or... do we think of them as what they are because that's what they are?" He frowns for a moment, trying to work it in his head. "I did meet a lion spirit, and he was arrogant and proud. At least, the one I met. I also know there are Great spirits," he put emphasis on Great, "The lion I spoke to claimed he was one - he wasn't - but also that he might know of one. I know there's a world beyond ours, the Shadow, I think it's called? A reflection of our world, the home of Spirits..."

He looks at Raven, and then beyond her. "That's where I'll find the Great Lynx, isn't it?"

[crapcarp]

Phoenix

Peripheral Sight | Armor: None | Active Spell(s): None
Health: OOOOOOO | WP: 4/5 | Mana: 2/10 | Wisdom: 7 (Understanding)
Conditions: Grieving [Guilty], Supernal Blindness | Tilts: None

"We've been going over all of this for weeks. We already know the weather here is shitty. Anyone who's ever visited Chicago knows that. And yeah, bad things happen to people after a lot of the weirdest storms. But what was so special about this big one?"

"It had magic up the wazoo, that's what," I answered, "I mean, yeah all of the weird storms have some kind of magic about them, but the big one was on steroids. I could barely focus on it directly at the time."

---

"I was at mass this morning at Saint John Cantius -- it's a lovely place, I've been going there for years, my sons were baptized there -- anyway, I was at mass and when I left, I saw there were some people going to some room blocked off for a private event. And I saw him! Look, this is his picture. Garrick, don't you think this could mean something?"

"Uh...maybe?" I say as I look at the blurry picture, why do the ones who sound like conspiracy nuts only have blurry photos? "Can't really tell who this is, so I can't say."

Probably Valentine, though, by the looks of it. The suit, was at the Consilium meeting, makes the most sense, but hey, it could've been some other mage. That's not important, though. What is important is the fact that Thomas is clearly obsessed with this, and I need to know why.

"Something going on with this guy and you?" I probe, "Like, has this guy done anything to do or your loved ones or something? Don't get me wrong, I understand that, it's just something I think we should know is all."

[Thorbes]

Ouroboros Ophis
Mage Sight: Periphereal | Active Spells: None
Health: OOOOOO | WP: 6/6 | Mana: 9/10 | Wisdom: 7 (Understanding)

Conditions: None | Tilts: None | Beats: 7 | Arc. Beats: 1

Ouroboros feels like his breath is taken away as he sees the middle aged woman ghost dissappearing though that... door. He cannot but remeber the way the ghost residing in his classroom moved on once Dante and him resolved his ties to this world of flesh, and wonder if this is something similar or a completely different phenomenon.

So, What Is That Door? (Wits+Occult) = 4 dice = 2 Successes!

-"No, this is different. They do not even look alike. Could this be some sort of permanent door to the Otherlife?"- For a moment his desire to know almost pushes him to cross it himself, but his rational mind soon takes over.- "No, there is a lot of things I do not know about this. As far as I know it may very well be impossible for a living person with a physical body to enter, but even if it that is not true it would be folly to conduct such a potentially risky experiment on my own without back up. I need to share this with Dante, maybe he can shed light on this mystery".

He takes mental and physical note of the location and description of the mausoleum and the strange "ghost door" phenomena. The snake imagery surrounding it all did not pass unnoticed to him. He remembers someone warning him about these kind of things happening when one had especially strong ties to his Shadow Name. Maybe he should take a break and be just Marvin for a while.

With that thought he closed his Sight and went for a walk through an actual park, full of living, breathing people.

[Haberdasher]

RAGNAR

Mage Sight: None
Active Spells: Locate Object
Conditions/Tilts: Inspired, Lost, Divergent, Abyssal Imago
Health: OOOOOOOO I WP: 2/4 I Mana: 4/10 I Wisdom: 7
Beats: 0/5 I Arcane Beats: 4/5
Experiences: 1 I Arcane Experiences: 0

The Abyss lashes out at him, punishing him not just for his own spell, but Moonstone's as well. At once, his mind is whirling with emotion and self-loathing. Idiot. Fool. You honestly thought you could do this? About the only thing you're good for is fortune telling, you can't even manage to follow a ball, you're not a mage, you're a cold-reading fraud. And now you're lost and will never find you're way home. You'll die out here, die out here, die out here...

Trying to work through the paralyzing fear, Ragnar reaches a hand into his pocket and clutches the handle of his silver knife for all it's worth. Trying desperately to follow the ball, he tries to form another spell around himself to aid him. He feels the stricture of the Abyss surround him, but the feel of the silver steadies the Imago he attempts to cast, if not his mind. Not enough, I need this to work. Then, his mouth starts forming words in a language he has never heard or spoken before, but he knows the words: the same ones he spoke during his Awakening. "What was now is again; what is shall be once more; what shall be was before."

Ragnar is attempting to cast his Exceptional Luck Praxis again to grant himself a Boon of +2 to a Streetwise roll. He has one free Reach, which he spends for Instant Casting. He then spends another Reach for Abyssal Imago.

This is the third casting that Ragnar has performed in this scene, so he gains an additional two Paradox dice. He will offset this with his Dedicated Tool Yantra and spend a Mana to bring it down to a chance die. Excess Reach 1 + Prior Risk 2 - Dedicated Tool 1 - Mana 1 = chance dice -> no success.

Ragnar will now move on to his spell-casting roll. He will use Mantra as a Yantra for a +2 to the spell casting roll. Gnosis 1 + Fate 2 + Mantra 2 = 5 dice -> 2 successes.

This time, the spell takes effect, and Ragnar continues to follow the ball.

Ragnar will attempt to navigate to undo the effects of Lost. Wits 2 + Streetwise 2 - Lost 2 = 2 dice -> nope.

To summarize, Ragnar has spent a Mana this turn.

[Caladriu]

Moonstone
Peripheral Sight | Spells: Urban Jungle (on Ragnar, scene duration), Incognito Presence (self, scene duration)
Conditions: Divergent (Passive), Guilty, Triumphant, Informed (Rumors) [-1 Strength until evening]
Health: BOOOOO | Willpower: 7/8 | Mana: 6/10 | Beats: 4/5 | Arcane Beats: 2/5

Okay. Breathe. The fractal has resolved. Turns out, being an inscrutable magical teacher is actually really hard! Is this what Hakim had to learn, too? When do you get so good that it becomes effortless? Or does it never get easier, and you just learn to hide it better?

It's not hard to navigate to the Tower when you're not hexed: it's the tallest building in the city. His confidence builds while he walks, and his steps fall into a hidden rhythm with the sounds of cars and pedestrians. As he gets to a corner, a flicker of an idea makes him turn right instead of left. 10 minutes later, he's in Millennium Park.

He's still unseen, and immediately forgotten as he pushes through the crowd of pedestrians in front of the Cloud Gate. Always wanted to do this.

He ritually mantles himself in the Cloak of Night, walks past a group of tourists, and kneels in a meditative pose underneath the mirrored sculpture.

Trying to cast Scrying again, this seems like a good place to monitor Ragnar from. Reach: Instant free, Sensory +1, Primary Factor to Potency +1, advanced Duration +1, exceeding spell control +2. So that's 5. And +2 for consecutive Paradox rolls. 7 dice. I'll spend 2 Mana to get that down to 5 dice: 3 successes.

Wisdom 7 to contain: 3 successes. Moonstone should now have 3 bashing damage since his earlier backlash has healed after 15 minutes.

Yantras: sympathy +0, environment +1. Gnosis 1, Space 2, and Willpower +3. -6 for Potency 2>5. 1 die: failure.

Currently at 4 Mana, 6 Willpower, and 3 resistant bashing damage. Turning on Mind+Space Active Sight.

He's got a throbbing migraine and nothing to show for it. The Warlock groans. I'm such a shitty teacher.

He breathes out his frustration, opens his third eye and gazes up into the omphalos of the sculpture. There has to be something Mysterious at or around the Cloud Gate, and either way, it resonates with Moonstone's budding magical aesthetic.

[MagicSwordsman]

BINDER
Willpower: 3/7 Mana: 9/10 Health: LOOOOOO
[Shaken]
Mage Sight: Peripheral
Spell Control (1): Hidden Door, Sleep of the Just
Beats: 1 Arcane Beats: 2

We already discussed it! is Marlin's immediate thought, but his mouth says something different. That discussion hadn't stuck very well.

"Oh, everything's going fine. Changing up the business plan a little. I heard recently that the best way to compete with the bigger retailers is focus more on a niche market, so I'm trying that out with some re-branding, some cycling of stock." It's easy to talk earnestly about because it's true. It's just not the whole truth. "I mean, I'm sure the store isn't ever going to do more than cover its own expenses, but it'll be an interesting experience." He shrugs, unworried. Having the bookstore barely break even was more than he'd expected when he started it. Further success would be nice, but nothing to break a sweat over.

---

Lying in bed next to Daisy that night, Marlin can't help but remember what she'd forgotten. Of course he'd told her. She was the first person he went to. She was like him, a skeptic who wanted to believe. She was going to flip. Well, he hadn't been wrong, exactly.

He doesn't remember the conversation leading up to it, not really. It amounted to: "Oh god my husband has had a psychotic break." "No really Daisy, here, let me show you."

He opened a scrying window to the bookstore. She gasped and stumbled backward, horror and pain on her face. Something about her reaction was off. Sure, it was a surprise, but..? She glanced between the tear in space and her husband, eyes glassy and uncomprehending, looking nothing like the intelligent, inquisitive woman that he loved, but rather like an animal having a torch waved in its face. She made a strangled sound. He ended the spell.

Her expression slowly changed from terrified bewilderment to irritated anger. "How could you," she hissed, "I don't even know what to say. What a horrible... prank. What were you thinking?"

"Wha- prank? What do you-" But he's already putting it together.

"I can't believe it, Marlin. I can hardly-"

"Daisy. What do you remember? What did I show you?"

"I, I," she looked scared again. "S-something awful. I don't-"

"No," he commanded, drawing his developing persona around him. "Remember." He cast again, placing his hand on her forehead, dispelling the fog that had already gathered around the memory.

Daisy screamed, staggered backward, bumped against the wall, slid to the floor, buried her head in her hands. "No, no, no," she babbled, "it's wrong, wrong, it hurts!"

Binder looked on in horror.

"Daddy?" Forest in the hallway, tired and confused. "What's going on? What's wrong with Mommy?"

"I'm not sure," Binder said hopelessly. It was all going wrong. "Come here, son."

Forest obeyed, scared but trusting, even when Binder pulled out the bronze knife. If remembering is what hurts, then maybe forgetting will fix this. He touched both of them with the knife, gently, following a ritual that came to him in bits and pieces. Daisy flinched, but didn't resist. Forest stared at his mother, starting to cry. Forget, Binder mouthed, as he cut away their memories of that night.

---

Marlin slowly comes out of his recollection, and drowsily checks his phone. Daisy's breathing has slowed, and he's still got plenty of time to get to the shop. He quietly gets up and prepares the spell that should ensure he isn't missed.

First stop, the bathroom, where he plucks a pair of hairs from Daisy and Forest's brushes. Next the kitchen, where he grabs a packet of "Sleepytime" tea. He makes a mental note to buy a new box soon. The tea goes on to boil (which, Marlin recalls, provided a convenient excuse once previously when Daisy hadn't been sleeping as hard as he'd thought). When the tea is ready, Marlin pours a glass, then slowly and repeatadly dunks the hairs into it, visualizing them, and therefore their owners, becoming soaked in somnelesence. He lights a match, then burns the twined hairs. As a final step, he delivers the spell physically to its subjects; a goodnight kiss. Daisy mumbles and rolls over in her sleep. Forest, limbs askew and half-tangled in his covers already, sleeps like the dead.

Casting Sleep of the Just (Mind 3)
1 Reach free: Spending 3 on spell control, advanced duration, and to swap primary factor.
Containing Paradox 2 vs Wisdom 7 = 2 vs 7 -> 0 vs 3

Yantras: Sympathetic Tool +2, Sacrament +1
Factors: Potency 3, Duration day, range touch, subjects 2
Spellcasting: Gnosis 1 + Mind 3 + Yantras 3 + Willpower 3 - Factors 2 = 8 -> 2

Physical contact established, he releases the spell into the world, where it settles over his family like a shroud, delivering sound sleep and pleasant dreams.

That done, Binder cleans up his spellcasting regeants and gets dressed, no longer worrying about being quiet. He double-checks the locks and potential fire hazards, then gets in the car and heads to the bookstore.

-1 Willpower, +1 Beat for "Keep magic a secret from his family"?

Hopefully everything looks fine here (not rolling out the flashback, assuming Daisy and Forest both have 2 or 1 Composure, touching multiple subjects for a spell). Let me know if I should alter anything!

[rwknoll]

Lynx
Raven nods as you speak. "You have the thrust of it. Spirits are not quite ideals or pure concepts, necessarily. Those are more like Goetia." She doesn't take the time to explain what those are, however. Instead, she picks up a stick from the ground and points to a patch of dirt by the bench. "Spirits are born as reflections of things -- places, objects, and yes, even emotions or ideas. These objects and emotions here, in the Fallen World," she draws a circle with the stick, "create Resonance in the Shadow World." Raven draws another circle alongside the first one.

"The Shadow is in some ways parallel to the Fallen World, as spirits that reflect the Fallen World reside there. But spirits are alive, and living things can change. They feed on Essence, a type of energy that blossoms into existence with a certain quality of Resonance matching its source. Spirits exist in constant struggle for existence. They consume each other to satisfy their hunger for Essence. The strongest survive; the weakest die."

Raven draws a line between the two circles. "The Gauntlet is the barrier between the two metaphysical worlds. It tends to be at its strongest around areas with many people, and weakest in the wild. Some spirits seek refuge in the Fallen World, because the Essence is more accessible and there is less predation from other spirits. All spirits are native to the Shadow, not our world."

Your mentor sets down the stick in her hands. "To understand the spirits, you must study them, speak with them, observe them."

Raven takes a deep breath, and her eyes glaze over as she exhales. You smell again the distinct scent that you smelled when you first met Raven, a scent that makes your heart beat faster and fills you with joy and dread all at once. "All spirits have names, strengths. Quirks. Weaknesses. Bans they must follow or must not follow. Banes that threaten them to their core. Study this spirit, and tell me what you see." She points her finger ahead, and you feel the hairs rise on the back of your neck as something triggers your Periphery senses again.


Phoenix
"Well..." Thomas sputters defensively, "No. Not necessarily. But this is my church. I worship here. It should be safe. And these...people, these sorcerers, could be desecrating it. With their Satan worship and their black voodoo magic. I swear, this man was investigating a body after that big storm. And I've seen him at this church at least once now. Now that I think about it, maybe more than once."

Thomas's thick eyebrows furrow on his forehead, and he crosses his arms. "Our goal is to hunt down and stop these people. To make our homes and our lives safer. He could lead us to many more of them, especially if they're meeting in our church. I'm sure of it."

TJ and the others look at Thomas thoughtfully, nodding along at his words.

You're still able to make your daily attempt for Social Maneuvering to help convince him that he should be focusing his energy on the man you're tracking, rather than the other leads they're looking at.

Ouroboros Ophis
You suspect, based on your very limited knowledge of Death, that this is indeed some kind of portal that allows ghosts to travel to the other world Beyond, the afterlife. But unlike with Mrs. Parks, the ghostly woman whom you helped move to the Underworld, while the gate opened before her and closed immediately, this one stays open. You suspect that it might be a permanent, or at least semi-permanent, portal. But nothing seems to come out of the portal from the other direction, at least not while you study it.

Your walk through a park with living people is simultaneously refreshing...and at least somewhat disappointing. It doesn't quite scratch the itch, not after studying Death the way you have.


Ragnar
Fate duels against Space as you try to rely on your manipulation of luck to allow you to traverse through the kaleidoscope-like city that Moonstone has trapped you in. You close your eyes and choose your direction at random, trusting the spell to help guide you towards the bouncing ball instead of trusting in your mundane senses.

You find yourself in an alley cutting between impossibly large buildings you don't recognize, while all the while the Willis Tower literally towers over you in the distance.

You hear footsteps behind you.

You turn around and see a younger man with pallid skin and frazzled, unruly dark brown hair. He has a thick beard that hasn't been trimmed or shaved recently. He's wearing ripped jeans and a tank top. The man takes a long drag off a cigarette, flicks it to the ground, and grinds it down with his heel. He leans over and picks up the red ball that Moonstone threw, and he studies it curiously. His eyes flicker to meet yours, and you notice that they're bloodshot and beady.

"You in some kind of hurry?" he asks. His voice is unexpectedly raspy.

FYI, you don't have access to the High Speech merit yet. It's gained by joining an Order, and no one has taught it to you yet, so you can't use High Speech as a Yantra yet. I assumed that you would have used a different Path tool, such as your knife, for a +1 bonus and your spell would still succeed. It looks like you didn't adjust for duration, so unless I'm mistaken, the spell ends after the round on which you cast it -- so you don't get the bonus to subsequent rolls.

Moonstone
For a moment, your frustration tries to grow and beat you down, the way it has when your emotional defenses have been worn out. But you've had more chances to rest recently, and your success with creating a cabal of your own uplifts you and reminds you that you're here to help Ragnar, your cabalmate. You take a breath through the frustration and turn to the Cloud Gate with determination.

As you open your Sight, you immediately feel a hum of energy emanating from the sculpture. You can pick up the consciousness of every child, man and woman surrounding the Bean, laughing and taking pictures. But before your eyes, the Cloud Gate seems to flicker and twist in place, like it wants to move. And at the very center of the structure, where you can stand and look up into the reflective ceiling of the sculpture, you sense a spatial distortion that warps the air.

Opacity 4 for this Mystery. Yes, you may gain a WP for Naive. And I also need you to roll a Clash of Wills using Gnosis + Mind.

Binder
Daisy nods thoughtfully. "I know the business plan in the broader sense. Sometimes I just feel like you're off in another world. You've been a little distracted lately. I was worried that you were having trouble or something. But with all you've had going on between work and helping with Forest, I guess I underestimated how busy you must be." She smiles and caresses your cheek. "If I haven't said it lately, thank you for all that you do for us and our son. For me."

---

Your spell settles onto Daisy and Forest, who slip deeper into their sleep. The house is peaceful and quiet when you leave.

As you walk out into the front yard, you have an odd, inexplicable feeling of being watched, but there's no one outside that you can see. It quickly fades, and in a short amount of time, you arrive at the bookstore. No one else is in the area at this hour.

When you go to open the bookstore, you realize that the door is unlocked. You swear you remember locking it when you left. You're always meticulous about it.

Sure, take a Beat for pursuing your long-term Aspiration and using magic to hide secrets from your family. I really liked the scene you wrote here! Awesome writing. Spell roll looks great. It's interesting to me that this is a Mind 3 spell actually.

Roll Wits + Composure for a perception roll.

[Caladriu]

Moonstone
Focused Sight (Mind, Space) | Spells: Urban Jungle (on Ragnar, scene duration), Incognito Presence (self, scene duration)
Conditions: Divergent (Passive), Guilty, Triumphant, Informed (Rumors) [-1 Strength until evening]
Health: BBBOOO | Willpower: 7/8 | Mana: 4/10 | Beats: 4/5 | Arcane Beats: 2/5

Calm, centered, focused on the Supernal World as filtered through the great mirror. The people around the sculpture become blurred shapes and vague icons, significant only as symbolizing that the mirror has the capacity to reflect them. The warping at the center of the Cloud Gate seems so much more elusive and subtle than his clumsy Veiling of Ragnar's spatial senses. Moonstone opens his palm, ready to accept knowledge as it comes to him rather than grasping desperately as he did with the Highstorm portal. He lets Mana rise from his hands and watches the reflections of the dancing patterns it forms. Like a secret message in reversed writing, the real truth is seen in the mirror.

Spending 1 Willpower to activate Scrutiny, taking me to 6.

Clash of Wills with Gnosis+Mind, 3 dice: failure.

If the Clash is being caused by something I'm seeing with Focused Sight, I get the rote quality on the roll. If that's the case, here's a re-roll of my failures: still failed.

First turn of Scrutiny. Spending 1 Mana. 3 dice: 1 success +1 from Mana.

Second turn, spending 1 Mana. 3 dice: 1 success +1 from Mana. Should be at Opacity 3 now.

Third turn, spending 1 Mana. 3 dice: 2 successes +1 from Mana. Should be at Opacity 2 now. Further Scrutiny rolls are unsafe.

Fourth turn, spending 1 Willpower. 6 dice: 2 successes. Should be at Opacity 1.

Fifth turn. 3 dice: 1 success. Opacity 0. Made it through the gauntlet!

Now let's attempt Revelation. 3 dice: failure.

---

So: the rules say that if you fail Revelation, you can only try again once you've reduced the Opacity. But I've already reduced Opacity to 0. I'll go with however you want to resolve this, but my first thought is to roll again at -1 for a second attempt. Feel free to use or ignore!

Second attempt, 2 dice: failure.

Third attempt, 1 die, +3 from Willpower: 1 success.

Currently at 1 Mana and 4 Willpower, or 5 Willpower if the additional Revelation attempts are invalid.

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

LYNX
Active Sight: Spirit (This post)
Active Spells: None
Willpower: 2/5 (one spent during post, was at 3) Mana: 6/10
Conditions/Tilts: Steadfast
Beats: 3 - Arcane Beats: 4

"All spirits have names, strengths. Quirks. Weaknesses. Bans they must follow or must not follow. Banes that threaten them to their core. Study this spirit, and tell me what you see."

Lynx shivers as he allows his Senses to sink into the Wild, and he turns them straight to where Raven is pointing. Bipedal but hunched, pointed ears, markings like eyes but none on the face, jagged features, with wispy tendrils that wave and curl. He taps into his understanding of High Speech, tapping the pendant as he lets his magic ask his questions for him, his High Speech turning into questions, expressed through Raven's tongue, an ethereal song.

Lynx opens his Senses to Spirit, and then attempts to cast Spirit 1 "Know Spirit", reaching for Instant casting time. He garners 2 successes.

With Potency 4, subtracting the spirit's rank, he asks the following 4 questions in priority: Spirit's name, then Influence, then Rank, then Ban.

Potency: 4
1 target: Unknown spirit.
Duration: Instant.
Yantra: Path Tool (+1 dice), High Speech (+2 dice).
Base Dice Pool: Spirit 1 "Know Spirit": Spirit (2) + Gnosis (1) + High Speech (2) + Willpower (3) + Path Tool (1) - Potency (4)
Reaches: 2 Free Reach: 1 on Instant Cast, 1 on spell maintenance (Web of Life).

There is no risk of Paradox.
Total Dice Pool: 5 dice.

Roll for Spirit 1 "Know Spirit" → 2 successes.

[MagicSwordsman]

BINDER
Willpower: 3/7 Mana: 9/10 Health: LOOOOOO
[Shaken]
Mage Sight: Peripheral
Spell Control (1): Hidden Door, Sleep of the Just
Beats: 1 Arcane Beats: 2

Wits 2 + Composure 4 = 6 -> 1 success

[crapcarp]

Phoenix
Peripheral Sight | Armor: None | Active Spell(s): None
Health: OOOOOOO | WP: 4/5 | Mana: 2/10 | Wisdom: 7 (Understanding)
Conditions: Grieving [Guilty], Supernal Blindness | Tilts: None

"Our goal is to hunt down and stop these people. To make our homes and our lives safer. He could lead us to many more of them, especially if they're meeting in our church. I'm sure of it."

It seems that he didn't see me along with them. Thank God for that. But he's too close to the Consilium for comfort. If I don't stop them, they'll find them for sure. I could warn Valentine that they're on to him, but then he'd wonder where I got the intel, and that'll draw unwanted attention on myself. Damned if you do, damned if you don't, and worse to pay if you try to get away from both. Such a bind. I need some time to think about this, fortunately I can buy some.

"I don't think investigating a body makes them a witch necessarily. And even if they were, they haven't proven themselves a threat yet, unlike another witch I know," I segue to a different mage, "Anubis has already killed people and still at large. I haven't seen him since the big storm, so maybe he's connected to it in some way. Maybe hiding in the storms somehow."

Phoenix is trying to use basic reasoning to convince the other Hunters to go after Anubis as his Social Maneuvering attempt, saying he's a clear threat to make him a priority and connecting him to the storms for that appeal.

Intelligence 2 + Wits 3 = 5 dice → 1 success

[Haberdasher]

RAGNAR

Mage Sight: None
Active Spells: Locate Object
Conditions/Tilts: Inspired, Lost, Divergent, Abyssal Imago
Health: OOOOOOOO I WP: 2/4 I Mana: 3/10 I Wisdom: 7
Beats: 0/5 I Arcane Beats: 4/5
Experiences: 1 I Arcane Experiences: 0

Ragnar looks at the stranger. Someone's talking to me. No. Can't have that. No time. Need to get there. Need to fix myself. What if I cause a Paradox? He could be in danger. He could be a danger. Is he? Ragnar peers at the stranger, staying silent and still as he concentrates. He dips his finger into the stream of Time, trying to see ahead in time. Paradox has been beating at him a lot, recently, and it seems to be growing with each spell he casts. Eventually, it's going to spiral beyond his control, and the harm to himself or the world will be severe. He senses that his Mana is almost depleted, and he can't continue to rely on his body to take blow for him. You should've learned what Paradox costs, Ragnar. Let this be a lesson to you. Reel it in. If you can't Reach, you'll just have to get creative. He keeps his hand in his pocket, clutched around his silver dagger. Is there a chance that this man might cast a spell on me? Does he pose any other threat to me?

Ragnar will attempt to cast Divination (Time 1). He has two free Reach, one of which he will spend to fulfill Abyssal Imago, the other one for Instant Casting. He has no excess Reach, so he risks no Paradox. He'll use the Concentration and Path Tool Yantras.

Gnosis 1 + Time 2 + Concentration 2 + Path Tool 1 = 6 dice -> 2 successes.

[rwknoll]

Moonstone
For a moment, as you scan the crowd around the Bean, for just a moment you think you brush your Sight across something, but the sensation fades as fast as it came on. As best you figure, it must be a consequence of studying the Cloud Gate so intently.

You turn your attention to the Cloud Gate and the spatial distortion at its center. You focus your Sight more intensely on the ripple in the air, and the already dimmed sounds of people around you fade even further to faint murmurs on the edge of your consciousness.

You watch the streams of mana flicker into the distortion with intense curiosity like an insatiable hunger. When the mana enters the shimmering air, you feel a pulse of energy and watch with awe as the mana refracts and scatters, vanishing in all different directions.

Creatively inspired by the flow of mana, you intensely pour your willpower into studying this spatial distortion. The world fades around you. For a few minutes, all thoughts and worries about Ragnar, about your new cabal, about everything, fade to the background. The Cloud Gate is intoxicating. The Mystery eludes you for a moment, and you try harder, and harder, to understand it. Where was the mana going? How? Why? You feel a rising wave of frustration and nervousness as your emotions swell, but you study the Bean even more intently.

And then, blissfully, the Mystery unlocks before you, and your eyes widen in surprise. Euphoria passes through you as you grasp the meaning of the warp. Although you have never directly used your own magic to teleport yourself, you sense that this distortion will allow you to instantly transport to anywhere in the city. It will need some mana to do so, and you'll need to guide yourself mentally. But you believe you could use this to travel anywhere in Chicago.

As best as you can determine, this distortion was not created by an Awakened spell per se; instead, it developed in response to the sculpture. Over time, as other mages and Sleepers studied the Bean with magic and mundane senses, the mirrored surface created ripples in Space around the city. It's possible that the Highstorms enhanced this energy, and turned those ripples into a web of sympathy connecting the Bean to the entire city.

You swell with pride at figuring it out on your own.

I think your interpretation of the Revelation roll when failed at Opacity 0 makes sense, and I think it's fair. Arguably we could make it add to Opacity if you fail after too many tries, or make you come back after boosting Gnosis, but this seems more interesting.

Totally made this up on the fly, I hope it's neat! You learn the following:

Surface Information: The distortion is not made from an Awakened spell, but mimics the Teleportation spell (Space 4, p. 178). It resembles the Patterning practice. The distortion appears to be about a decade old.

Deep Information: You learn how to utilize the distortion. You need to stand in the center of the Bean and spend 1 mana, and then make one of two possible skill rolls. First, you can attempt Wits + Composure for a perception roll; on a success, you can teleport to any location within line of sight of the Bean. This essentially amounts to a 1-mile radius of Millennium Park, and can even bring you inside a building, as long as it's within view of the Bean and not blocked by something else. Alternatively, you can roll Intelligence + Streetwise to target a specific location anywhere within the city limits of Chicago proper. If successful, you arrive on the nearest city street directly outside that location. Failed rolls still expend a mana point and will bring you to a different location.

Lynx
You take a deep breath in and open your Senses, and as the Fallen World fades around you, the spirit lurking in front of you appears to your eyes. It's small, maybe the size of your head, and appears to be made of water. It has no discernible humanoid features, looking instead like a small puddle of water that ripples and undulates in the air.

You speak in images and craft your spell, and your vision sharpens around the spirit. You feel a pulse of spiritual energy pass through you, and instantly, you simply know this creature. Its name comes to you in a complex image of a small puddle on a rainy day, echoed in the tongue of the spirits that you roughly translate as "Aqua." Unsurprisingly, you sense that the spirit has the ability to modestly influence water, and the spirit itself feels relatively weak.

Raven smiles proudly and holds out her hand, intoning in High Speech. With your Sight active, you clearly see her cast a simple Spirit spell that settles around the spirit. Aqua immediately turns towards Raven and moves towards her, swirling slowly around her. Raven points, and the spirit moves in the direction of her hand. "The Spirit Arcanum is, obviously, your most important tool of all as you interact with these creatures. You can use it to study them, command them, protect yourself from their supernatural abilities. Even harm them and defeat them, if necessary."

The Spirit spell on Aqua vanishes, and the spirit quickly moves away from Raven and into the nearby creek. It seems to be poking its "head" out of the water and studying Raven, then vanishes out of sight. Raven turns and walks up slowly to you. "Do you have any other questions before we continue?"


Binder
You look around and don't see anything else that seems to stand out to you. You hear a rustle in a bush next to the building, and your heart nearly leaps out of your chest, but then you see it's just a cat. It looks at you for a moment, mews, and then suddenly runs after something it must have spotted in a nearby alley. The street is otherwise quiet.

When you look inside, you don't see anything out of place. Nothing else seems touched or missing. Your spell hiding the door to your sanctum is still there, and the door is closed.

So why do you have an odd sense that someone or something was, or is, here?


Phoenix
Thomas seems less confident about his concerns after your short speech. "Well...I guess when you put it that way..." TJ cocks his head and looks at you with a small nod and a frown, too. It seems like this time, your words have caught more of his attention.

"That is a good point," TJ admits. "But we want to make sure we don't focus too much on any one lead. We've always done our best work when we come together as a team. Maybe we should check out all of the options."

I would say that your roll needs to be an Attribute + Skill, not a dice pool using two Attributes. The only roll I can think of that uses that combination is a perception check. I'll say it succeeds this time, but for future rolls I would probably go with Intelligence + Persuasion for that kind of maneuvering attempt.

You successfully open the first of TJ's three doors, so two Doors are left to convince him and the Hunter cell to stop pursuing their current leads and focus primarily on the man you're looking for. You currently have a Good impression, so you can make another attempt on the next day. I'll also point out that per the Social Maneuvering rules on p. 215, you can try other things to boost your impression with TJ. I'll say that you know from experience that his Vice is Pride. If you want, you can make an offer that feeds into his Vice or by using a gift/bribe to boost your impression to Excellent. If you do so, you can make additional Social Maneuvering rolls over the next few hours.

Ragnar
You feel a rush of adrenaline as Time wraps around you. Without pushing yourself to see a more detailed future, the answers to your questions come to you only as flashes of insight and instinctive feelings in your gut: Yes. Yes.

As soon as your Nimbus flares around you, the man smirks wickedly. You feel a pulse of energy on your own Periphery as the small red ball in his hand suddenly crumbles to dust before your eyes. Still trapped in Moonstone's hex, Willis Tower looms ominously over you from a distance.

The man takes a step towards you. As he does, he pulls out a small metallic rod that appears to be made of lead. You're keenly aware of the fact that the alley is empty. "I just want to talk," he says with a sneer.

It doesn't take a divination spell to tell that he's lying.

Just as a reminder, you can only use the Concentration Yantra for spells with a Duration lasting more than 1 turn. Subtracting 2 dice from your pool still nets you a success, however, so your spell succeeds.

Because you successfully cast a spell that did not risk Paradox, you resolve the Abyssal Imago condition. Take an Arcane Beat.

Ouroboros Ophis

I forgot to mention this earlier, but you resolve your Aspiration to find and study an Avernian Gate. Take a Beat and pick a new Aspiration!

Also, please let me know if there is anything else you would like to do during the afternoon. Otherwise, we can shift to the evening with your meeting with Dante.