Behind the Crown [IC], Behind the crown are shadows Options

[pbangarth]

Before going to Mary Margaret's shop, Blue tries to figure out what the new music is about. And before he heads upstairs to check it out, he summons Sweez to see if he (Blue thinks of Sweez as male) knows anything.

[ Spoiler ]

The music has started, so it must be after dusk.
Summon F4 Sweez (Hearth Spirit): target 4; 8dice: 3 successes, but it's a glitch!

Blue only has 1 Karma Pool. Let's see what a pissed off Sweez is like.

[Koekepan]

Something is interesting about the vision of Sweez. He seems to be somehow less strung-out dance club debris, and more ... psychedelic? Or something? His clothing seems to have become more whole, less worn, and more complex with small touches like tiny multicoloured slips of piping added to belt loops, and his twitchy demeanour seems a little calmer.

Oh, and the music surrounding him seems to have less straightforward throbbing, and a somewhat more airy tone.

[pbangarth]

+++Well, this is interesting, +++ thinks Blue.

:::Hey, Sweez. The music sounds different, and you look a bit different, too. What's happening?:::

[Koekepan]

:::Things grow. Things change. The great DJ fades in a new track, and old ones drop out. Even dragons change their moods. Eternity is a lie, but the groove is eternal.:::

His eyes show slowly swirling flickers, like looking at a galaxy through a kaleidoscope.

[pbangarth]

Blue shakes his head in wonder. :::That's deep, man. Go back to your groove for now.::: He releases Sweez, and heads upstairs to see what is going on.

[Koekepan]

The upstairs actually doesn't look remarkably different. Not even an ARO saying anything about being under new ownership nor anything like that. Just the usual, sweaty, gyrating bodies grinding up the dancefloor. The beat does not identifiably display any variation akin to what Blue seems to remember from beneath.

Is Sweez getting some other influence? Is he increasing or changing his powers? Is something else coming in? It doesn't seem to be from here.

[pbangarth]

+++Curiouser and curiouser. I had a bit of trouble with the summoning, but the music downstairs was different before I called Sweez.+++

Blue figures summoning Sweez up here to see if their nature is 'normal' would be probative. If up here Sweez goes back to the way he was, then there could be something about his place, or him, that is affecting things. But where to do so without causing a stir?

Well, as long as Sweez stays in the astral, only the Awakened could notice him. Blue tries. He goes into a bathroom and locks the door behind him just to be safe.

[ Spoiler ]

Summon F4 Sweez. (Keep as many factors the same as possible.): target 4; 8 dice: 4 successes
Resist Drain: target 4(L); 10 dice: 5 successes No Drain.

[Koekepan]

Sweez manifests quite easily, and the first thing that he does is to snort up a long line of white powder from the edge of the bathroom sink.

The sink. It's there in the astral, but looks different. This place has been around quite a while, but has surely been remodeled. Blue sees stickers advertising some band called Mudhoney, whatever that is.

Regardless of that, when Sweez straightens up after the impressive snort, he seems yet more animated than before, and the beat that surrounds him is yet more complex than before.

[pbangarth]

How to delicately get to look into Sweez's aura without being too nosy?

::: Sweez, you look like you are in an amazing state. I've never seen you so ... good. Do you mind if I take a close look at your aura? I'd love to figure out what is pumping you up tonight. :::

[Koekepan]

Sweez folds himself into lotus position, closes his eyes and manifests a third eye in his forehead with which he stares at Blue. :::Tune in, turn on, get hype. The great dance is already going.:::

[pbangarth]

+++Well, I guess that is a go ahead,+++ thinks Blue.

[ Spoiler ]

Assense Sweez: INT 4 gives 4 dice:, target 4: 3 successes
Aura Sensing Complementary : 3 dice:, target 4: 1 success, so no additional success

3 total.

[Koekepan]

The aura is hard to look at. It's flush with power, and throbbing although his emotions seem pretty calm and muted. If anything, it looks like too much power in too small a container.

[pbangarth]

That great dance reference is a little disconcerting. Blue read the history of North America when magic came back.

:::Tell me about the great dance.:::

[Koekepan]

:::When the first volcano exploded, it was the drum that announced the first beat. It was the pyrotechnic that lit the stage. When the mists rose from the swamps, it was the fog effect that put the dancers in their own worlds. When the first creatures wriggled through the mud and slime, the first steps of the dance were invented.:::

While Sweez speaks, the music around him rises. The pace is hard, making Blue's pulse race. It seems to swirl around, confusingly.

:::The dance gained rhythm and purpose when the ice fell, and hunger for the beat grew with every flicker of the seasons, the lights of the sky were the lighting crew punctuating the beat:::

Voices seem to rise around Blue, chanting and joining with Sweez.

:::All these rhythms took their own pace, and the syncopation of life confused its import to all but the enlightened, and yet now is the confluence of times, the downbeat of this point, the cracking of a new egg.:::

Sweez seems to swell, blurring and duplicating into a crowd of dancers rising from lotus position and entering a dance together.

[pbangarth]

:::Sweez, I have two more services in this summoning. Rather than call you back, just go downstairs and answer my questions there when I get down there myself. This bathroom is not the right place to talk about ... whatever is happening."

Blue heads back down to his apartment to carry on the conversation. Hopefully coming up with a useful question or two on the way.

[Koekepan]

Sweez dissipates into a shimmering mirage when Blue suggests it, leaving just the club's music thumping behind him.

[pbangarth]

Blue makes his way back down to his apartment and looks for Sweez. He also listens to the music as he makes his way down, to see if and when it changes.