Songs for the Dead [MTAW2E OOC]

[KaiserAfini]

Since its not polite by Swedish etiquette to take a gift to a place of business (the Convocation), Gilad will instead have a custom pins made for himself and place it in his clothes when they move to mage company: A pin with an image of the deer humanoid from his Awakening, with the suit and the glass. Because that may either draw attention from a lead or might be a great conversation starter, either one is a win in his eyes.

[CalvinSiler]

Great! Go ahead and roll presence + expression.

Edit: I'm asking for expression rather than socialize since it is an art piece rather than an action. The effect will be similar to "gain attention".

[CalvinSiler]

TempleBuilder and nickeldan This would be a good time to place your characters in the scene. Perhaps Katab and Gawain notice Gilad while the band is setting up.

[KaiserAfini]

Roger that, so Presence [3] and Expression [3]:

10, 9, 9, 6, 6, 1, 7 = 3 successes.

So I believe that should allow making a fairly competent pin, maybe hide a High Speech rune into the style of the background to help people understand the symbolism easier.

[TempleBuilder]

Sorry if this is a bit late, but Katab would want to meet up with any local Mystagorges for rumors and a brief on local protocols so they don't make the Mysterium look bad. They also made sure to refresh their memory of everything about the Castoff. Is a Death Fraying good enough to remove the haze (aka decay) on old memories? I think it would be kinda like a Deathy version of Perfect Recall?

[CalvinSiler]

Hmm. That would be an interesting use of the Death Arcanum. I had to think for a little bit. It kind of goes to the question of what distinction the MtAw world/system makes between soul and mind. A mystery!

I think if one wanted to go with the idea that a ghost is an echo, a kind of "memory", then you could possibly use a death spell to summon or bolster a memory (it might look similar to summoning a goetia), but that would be Perfecting rather than Fraying. Give it a try and try to put an interesting description (meaning that it is somehow different than the effect of a Mind Unveiling) in the IC thread. Is this something you think Katab has tried before, or are they following a new hunch? If you succeed I'll give you an arcane beat for following Katab's obsession of finding connections between the Astral and the Underworld.

Katab and Gawain meet with the curator for Athenaeum associated with the Barrio Sur Concilium who works as a docent for the Antiquities museum. Sendero tells you that there has been some recent event that has the councilors and Hierach concerned, but he doesn't know all the details. He thinks it has something to do with the tunnels underneath the city that connect some of the older churches. As far as protocols for the city he warns you to be careful if you travel to Astral Space as there are "seismic anomalies" in the Temenos of Buenos Aires. Sendero himself does a lot of research on Pre-Columbian mysteries and it sounds like your book has to do with European Colonial symbolism.

He also reminds you to get a present for the great granddaughter. Something with religious significance (Bible, Rosary, Cross, etc.) is traditional, but modern kids these days...who knows what they want?

nickeldan Anything you want to add?
Maroon_Mumba you still with us?

[CalvinSiler]

Just posted in the IC thread. Any of you are welcome to go next. I'm going with the idea that you are all in the same location.

[nickeldan]

Is there a safe place (perhaps with some local Arrows) that Gawain can stash his broadsword? I'm assuming that it would not be polite to bring it to the party.

[CalvinSiler]

Why would you assume that a 155 cm Scottish claymore would be out of place at a 15 year-old girl's birthday party?

Let's say that the coat room attendant was very understanding when you arrived. Barely even raised an eyebrow. It's in a room near the front door of the house if you should need to retrieve it during the evening.

[TempleBuilder]

You raise a good point on whether Katab would think of such a solution. I would wager that Katab would think of Death as governing Pancryptia, and other non-magical processes of Information Entropy. Whether they are right or not is up to you. I believe that Ghosts as Trauma could work, but I'm fairly certain that summoning on of Katab's memories would require Patterning, which is currently out of Katab's reach. I vaguely remember Dave Brookshaw commenting on a thread that Death could directly restore a memory, but I can't place it at the moment. Could be misremembering, so until I find that thread, I would prefer to go with your interpretation.

Owing to the current ambiguity of whether the idea is even possible, I propose a slightly different tack that Katab could go with. Namely, a *minor* Astral journey to the Realm of Katab's Memories of the events around the Castoff. If we go with this idea, should we roleplay the entirety of it? or should I just write Katab thinking about the events within the Onerios before having the rest of the post be about the party?

[KaiserAfini]

I think that would be a good idea, meditate into Katab's Oneiros, find the memory and then use Death to clear away the entropy of the area.

Alternatively, requisition a Perfect Recall cast or imbued item, its within the Mysterium's specialties, so it should be easy to get.

[CalvinSiler]

Death perfecting should be within the ability of a Disciple of Death. But if you prefer to go into Katab's Oneiros that's fine too.

If you choose to do that while in Beuenos Aires, maybe wait until after the current scene. Given the astral anomalies of the city it might be an interesting adventure.

Or if you prefer to have done it before hand, maybe you can relate what you found to Gawain. I am trying to get some player character interaction going.

Do you feel as a player that you have the information you need about the cast off, or are you looking for something that hasn't yet been discussed?

[KaiserAfini]

Why would you assume that a 155 cm Scottish claymore would be out of place at a 15 year-old girl's birthday party?

Let's say that the coat room attendant was very understanding when you arrived. Barely even raised an eyebrow. It's in a room near the front door of the house if you should need to retrieve it during the evening.

"Why would it be ? Swords are a sign of high status, you need to go under a stone to find one, doubly so if they have gold or silver filigree, now that costs strawberries. We are wearing these ceremonial suits and fancy nooses. A fine blade not being the perfect complement to one's outfit just goes over one's dandruff"

[CalvinSiler]

So Katab ( TempleBuilder) and Gawain ( nickeldan ) are in the coat check area stowing Gawain's sword. Blackfish ( Maroon_Mumba ) is in the garden contemplating escape of some kind, and wishing he knew where his friend Katab was. And Gilad ( KaiserAfini ) is speaking with a mysterious old woman in the main courtyard while the band is setting up.

Many other guests are beginning to arrive. Amelia, the great granddaughter who is celebrating her 15th birthday, will be arriving soon from the church and then the party will really get going. It is a major cultural event, lots of important people, both mages and sleepers will be in attendance, and a certain reporter is likely to show up soon. It is about seven in the evening, the sun is setting, and it is five hours till midnight.

At some point in the evening the hierarch and councilors will want to speak with Katab and Gawain, and also have another meeting with Utopia about the Arrow circle's business in Argentina, which concerns the whole region and is one of the main reasons for the convocation.

[KaiserAfini]

So far as he knows, the person in the cloak vanished at some point before reality flooded in Gilad's Awakening, he has no idea where they were "dropped off", since Gilad was focusing on intuiting what to do by following the rhythm of the land.

So far as he knows, this person might have unearthed that mage's research and that is somehow important to her current Mystery.