IC New Beginnings DAWN Options

[pbangarth]

"I dunno. If I recall, any time a spellcaster goes down for the count, any spirit he had called just buggers off. Hmmm. Or sometimes they go berserk and attack everyone there till there's no one left to attack, and then bugger off. Maybe that has something to do with it? I'll take a close look at the image you have."

Torley closely examines the image for any clue that might help.

[ Spoiler ]

Perception (visual) 5 + 2 + INT 5 = 12 dice: 8 hits !! Holy sh$%!

[Crossbow]

The biggest problem for Torley is he really has very little idea what he is looking for in the pictures. He doesn't really know anything about Magic, he didn't even understand that his own abilities were magical in nature until after he woke up on the mountain. That said he can read body language, even when the body has rotted away to a skeleton. This mage had died in agony, some kind of slow cardio pulminary affliction.

The pictures of the circle also showed some very strange inconsistencies in pattern, and what little Torley did know about magic, hermetic ritual summoning is about CLEAR PRECISE PATTERNS.

This didn't look like that at all.

[pbangarth]

Torley scratches his head for a moment as he peers at the image. "I'm drawing some conclusions here from what little I know, but it looks like the mage took a heart attack or something just as he was summoning the spirit. The markings are all screwed up, rather than clean and orderly. Maybe that affected the spirit's nature as it came? "

"Oh. You mentioned something about a recipe. Maybe the formula the mage was using got perverted. Maybe that formula is what your little buddy was concerned about. "

[Necrogigas]

"Heart attack had been my guess too. Little Buddy was adamant that the recipe he was looking for was in the kitchen. He also claimed he couldn't move away from the location. We tore that place apart, came up with a hardcover cookbook."

He turned to Lil' Homie, "Do any of the markings in the, assumed, summoming circle mean anything to you? Anything of cultural or symbolic significance?"

[Crossbow]

Lil Homie will quickly shake his head, the skeleton picture freaking the kid out.

[farothel]

"Something is indeed off," Sammy said, "something broken, but I'm not sure what. Spirits are not my forte."
She has a look at the pictures that were taken, trying to find anything there.


magical theory: 6d6t5 2

[Necrogigas]

With his hopes of sandbagging the mages at a dead-end, he turned his attention to the spirit. He found it odd that the mages had immediately started analyzing him like a lab specimen rather than talking to him. He asked, "Can you explain your summoning and your task? The mages think something went weird with it all."

[Crossbow]

LBD thinks about it for a second, "The one who summoned pulled me from...where I was? Then he said to go the kitchen in Uzochi Oluleye's compund and get the magical REE-CI-PEE and not to come back until I had it. But he didn't really say it that way."

[pbangarth]

Torley chimes in, "So, how did he say it, exactly?"

[Crossbow]

LBD put his hand on his chest and pointed at Torley with the other shakily, "Go...to....the UZOCHI...compound.....kitch-...-en..and......get.....the...SECRET....*wheeze*..REE...CI...PEE...for the....ma-...-gical....heart...soup!!!........Don't....leave....that....kitchen...un-...-til....you...HAVE IT!!..........GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

(OOC Everyone can make a Willpower[2] check as the little spirit's act is so intense you actually want to go to the kitchen yourself. Magical defenses apply)

[pbangarth]

Torley feels the pressure of the little spirit's need and almost wants to run through the door to get to the compound. He also wants to live. Which desire wins?

[ Spoiler ]

WIL [2] check with Edge thrown in at the start = 6 dice, exploding 6s: 4 successes !!

Torley really does not want to go.

[Necrogigas]

O'Connor's eyes glazed over as he stood up, "That definitely wasn't in the cookbook we found. We should head back and tear the place apart."

[ Spoiler ]

Willpower 3 + Spell Resistance 2 = Pool 5
Willpower [2]: 3d6t5 1
https://orokos.com/roll/1002611: 2d6t5 0

[farothel]

Sammy was still looking at the pictures, trying to wrap her head around this summoning, so she didn't hear everything the spirit said, but she did manage to resist. She did notice the magic behind the command and the fact that O'Connor stood up.
"Maybe, but lets plan about it first," she said. She had gotten a bit curious about what the guy had been looking for to actually pour his life force into a spirit so powerful. But now she had to take O'Connor out of the magical compulsion, or at least stall him until it wore off on its own.
"There's still people looking for us, so if you don't want to be ripped to pieces before you ever got near the place, we best make a plan first."

willpower: 4d6t5 2

[Crossbow]

Jane, or Frosty if you prefer, is unaffected by LBD's magic. (Of course) She grabs Lil Homie, who was on his way out the door. Like Torley's Commanding Voice the effects of the speech are temporary, and the two affected quickly realize the truth in what Starlet says.

"What cookbook are you talking about?" she says to Bullet Storm, to which LBD pipes up and pulls said cookbook from...nowhere.

"This one! I grabbed it in case we meet my real summoner, since he had skin and hair and stuff." he hands the book to Torley.

[pbangarth]

Torley takes the book gingerly. "Er, thanks." He promptly hands it to Jane. "Here, you figure it out."

[Necrogigas]

O'Connor shook his head to clear the last of the magical compulsion. He nodded to Starlet and Frosty in thanks. He went to make sure that Lil' Homie was also back in control of himself. He was unsure if children were more deeply affected by such magics, "Well that just happened, you good?"

He turned towards Little Buddy and chided gently, "You shouldn't use magic on friends without their permission. With there being an exception for healing magic in an emergency. " He pulled out his commlink and started looking up educational videos to teach the spirit about time, mortality, and decomposition. Clearly, the imp needed the lessons if he couldn't connect the corpse to the summoner, even after he had explained it to the little guy.

While searching, he explained to the group, "Little Buddy told me he was at the compound kitchen searching for a recipe. He didn't mention this heart soup until just know. It was apparent that the summoner and spirit had a major miscommunication. I thought the summoner was looking for some kind of codebook. So we grabbed a bunch of other materials to solve the puzzle. It was after Little Buddy knocked me out and teleported us away that the timeframe of events became clear."

[farothel]

Sammy moved to Jane to have a look at the book. While she was sure the other mage was a lot more knowledgeable about these things, she wouldn't pass the opportunity to learn more about the ways of magic.

[Crossbow]

Jane has opened the book. She turns to the table of contents, then snaps the book shut, shoves it into Starlet's chest and a couple of steps away, her back to the group.

Starlet tries to find the same page and tries to find what struck the Johnson much. She scans the page, looking for something to account for the reaction. As she double checks what she sees, in her peripheral vision Jane is starting to shake with mad laughter, "Oh, that poor fragger..."

There it is on the page, clear as day.

REAL TEXAS CHILI FOR THE BODY......25
CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE HEART.........27
BRUNSWICK STEW FOR THE SOUL......29

[Necrogigas]

O'Connor's interest is peaked. He calls to Frosty, "So do we have a diffinitive answer on this summoner's deal? This whole time, I've been going back and forth on if he was an idiot or if I'm being one."

[farothel]

"Oh, you certainly are," Sammy said with a grin on her face, before turning serious, "but this is as far as I can see useless. There was certainly something strange about this guy from what I've seen in the pictures that don't make sense, but he could just be very bad at voicing his requests. Spirits have a completely different frame of reference, so you have to be very specific in your commands or they might do something completely different from what you intended."

She did open her astral sight on the book to see if there wasn't something hidden on the pages or in the book.

[Crossbow]

The book is completely mundane.

"What 'Little Buddy's' summoner was was a very powerful, very desperate and very sick man. People at the end of lives filled with privilege will do anything, grasp any straw, run down any rumor, and swear to follow any god if it gives them one more day. Keep that in mind Skipper," Frosty says to O'Conner, "because desperate men do not need nuyen, they need time."

The Johnson tosses the book back to LBD, "That is about all the energy we have to waste on this side quest, I just got the call. We need to boogie back to VI, because the auction is happening tonight."

[Necrogigas]

O'Connor nodded solemnly to Frosty. Clearly she was speaking from deeply personal experience, so he didn't press further. He reloaded his spent magazines and readied his equipment. He told Lil' Homie, "Check your gear, grab your AK, and decide if you're out or seeing this through. We're in the endgame, and it's about to get real." He moved on to Little Buddy, "Your summoner is dead and dust. You're free to make your own choices now. You can stick with me, or tread your own path from here."

[Crossbow]

LBD takes on a comically exaggerated thinking pose as he considers what O'Conner tells him. "I will hang around until it gets boring."

Frosty sends Lil Homie down to get a ride and then gives the details to her team. The the 34th floor of the Global Sandstorm building is the location for the auction, security, provided by the Oni's Honor Guard, is especially tight. Only one bodyguard will be allowed at the auction with any principle, anyone else will have to wait in the garage. A secured elevator is the only access to the auction.

The mission is to secure the map, period. If it can be won fairly, great, if not the team will be expected to get it from whoever does, by any means necessary. Frosty will leave those means up to the team, but with the island on high alert, engaging in any action on VI is essentially suicide.

Frosty also has an update on Clementine and Mercy, they were deported to their country of origin that morning. She is already making arrangements to help them get back to Seattle.

[pbangarth]

Torley crosses his arms and puts on his most confident face, with a hint of a smile. "Well, boss, clearly I am the one who should be in the auction with you.

"The right word from me into the right ear and your competition will stop bidding at the crucial moment. Bullets or spells won't do. It's gotta be me."

[Crossbow]

"I was thinking you as well Torley, but be careful about using magic on the competition. Maybe just some schmoozing prior and a rumor about the authenticity of the map." Frosty replied. "Fortunately, we already have clothing from our trip to the market for a high caliber affair."