The Found Arcana – Chapter 6 [IC], Continuation of https://www.rpgplayroom.net/forums/topic/the-found-arc Options

[Gilga]

AM texts >> Trouble says that the safe smells of Invictus, perhaps he stole the ring, and then he got disrupted, so someone else has it. Katya was strangely at the site despite her job as bodyguard she should have been near the Duchess rather than out on the roof. Something does not add up.
Oh, and he also says that the smell is Invictus and not really olive oil. So don't submerge him in olive oil, please.

[Tecumseh]

<<But even if Invictus grabs the ring, he still has to get it out of the room>> Mato points out. <<Setting aside the astral protections - the ivy or whatnot - Invictus can dematerialize and rematerialize, but he certainly couldn't do the same for the ring, could he? The ring would need to physically leave the room somehow.>>

He goes back to scanning the walls for holes or weak points, or looking for other avenues that a ring could be smuggled out. Air vents or plumbing or the like.

[Beta]

<<We definitely are missing pieces here, somehow. I'm almost wondering if the wasn't stolen from the safe, but rather was never there. I'm reminded of a kid's trid I saw one time where a box of rough cut diamonds were reported stolen from a safe, but they'd been stolen earlier and replaced with ice crystals that had melted and then evaporated leaving almost no trace. Could Invictus have made himself look like the ring, and used magic to disguise his true nature? And then once in the safe de-materialized and worked his way through the wards? I don't know enough about what free spirits can do to even guess if that is possible, or how we'd ever prove it.>>

<<Also Cunniingham keeping Katya away seems odd to me, but I can't even come up with speculation to cover that one.>>

He thought a bit more, then approached the Duchess "I am very sorry, but we have just a few more questions, because it looks like someone has done something very tricky here so we need as much information as possible to sort it all out. Did you put the ring in the safe immediately upon arriving in the room, or a while later? And obviously the entire experience was overwhelming so I don't know if you would have noticed, but was anything about the ring that seemed unusual? Did if feel or like someone had oiled it? Or was it already warm when you put it on? Or anything about it at all that seemed unusual at the time?"

[Gilga]

AM felt lost, but she continued thinking>> So Trouble mentions that the True name of Invictus was in the safe actually. True names can be used to compel a spirit. So I wonder if this is the case, or if Invictus really turned himself into a ring when the real one was stolen during the vase distraction. The drone we heard probably stole it and disrupted helpless Invictus so that he does not speak about what happened to him.

She listens, and feels really bad.

[Gilga]

AM asks Pike, "Did you know that Invictus' true name was in your safe? Was the Blue Admiral Invictus' formula or are you missing another very important property?"

[Jack_Spade]

Pike looks taken aback at the mention of the formula: "How... Ah, yes. Investigators. And good ones it appears.
Well since you know about it already, I might as well tell you: Invictus was bound to a shortsword that my grandfather found at an auction some 70 years ago. At the time no-one knew that beside a remarkable well preserved relic, it also had Invictus in it - protected from the mana ebb. I'm not entirely sure about the mechanics of the whole thing, but I was told it was a similar affair as with the genie in the lamp. Invictus was aware inside and could interact in limited ways with the wearer of the sword. Unfortunately for him, his sword was stored in my grandfather's and then my father's safe most of the time - until I at about 8 years got hold of it while my father was cleaning out some papers. Invictus spoke to me. I was so shocked that I dropped the blade and ran away. I received quite some threshing for that, let me tell you. Anyway, the sword stayed locked away for another 8 years until my 16th birthday, when I remembered the occassion and asked to have it for a present.
That's when I became fully aware of Invictus' predicament - Manalevels were high, but he was still bound inside the sword - or in some kind of weird metaplane that can be accessed through the sword - if one is a spirit, or some such.
In any case, it took me another five years until I finally got a chance to free him. Since then Invictus was in my debt. I kept the sword naturally, it was quite handy to be able to contact him at will.
I will admit, that our relationship wasn't always carefree. He resented the fact I still kept the sword locked up. But - well, it is my sword..."
Pike seemed to realize something and went to the safe. With flying fingers he removed a false bottom plate and called out at the empty space below: "Son of a bitch. Not only the Blue Admiral but also the sword is gone."

[Gilga]

"Trouble do you remember seeing Invictus' True name before? Can you determine how long ago it was removed from the safe?" she thinks at Trouble through their shared link.

She nods as Pike speaks.
Can you tell who had access to your safe within the last few days?

[Jack_Spade]

Trouble replied at once: 'No longer than a few hours - the signature is quite fresh'

Pike replied: "Only my beloved one and I have access to the safe." He turned to the Duchess: "I think I gave you access about a month ago."

The Duchess nodded, still timidly.

[Gilga]

She asks Trouble "can it be followed?" She says "The sword was in the safe until a few hours ago, so either it is still in this room, or it left the safe when you were in here. How did you discover that the Blue Admiral was stolen - and what exactly did you do when you discovered?"

[Jack_Spade]

The Duchess spoke: "I had a bad dream. I can't remember it, but it had something to do with the ring and the stone. So when I woke up, I went to the safe to take a look. That's when I saw it was open and the ring was gone. Only the open box lay there."

Trouble replied: 'I can't follow it - there is no astral trace to chace after.'

[ Spoiler ]

Can't remember if you gave Trouble the Search spirit power - that one she could use, but with all the wards around the house she would have trouble finding anything

[Beta]

Jawsey hesitates a bit at asking Pike yet more questions, but it feels like they almost have hold of something and just need to tease it out a bit more. "Sir, you said Invictus was not happy about you keeping the sword. Did he know where you kept it? I presume that you did not give him access to the safe, but had he ever seen you open it, to your knowledge? For that matter is the safe normally concealed or obvious, and would you have a list of who normally has access to your room who would know about it? This feels like something planned, not spontaneous, so someone must have known enough about the safe to have a plan to deal with it."

Bothering the Duchess was the inverse problem to bothering the Duke, worried about stressing out the poor woman rather potentially angering her husband. "The safe was already open? Did you happen to notice the time when this happened?" To both he said "Was there anything else at all odd in the room when you woke up? Or anything that disturbed your sleep at all last night?"

[Jack_Spade]

Pike replied: "He was disrupted about a year ago - which meant I had to free him from his sword... again. At that occassion he certainly saw where I kept it.
Only I and, since a month ago, Maria are keyed to open the locks.
Hm, I gather you suspect Invictus is behind the theft. I can't say I'd put it beyond him, he is powerful and can be manipulative - but he isn't exactly the longterm planner. Luckily, I have protection from his powers as I entered a kind of spirit pact when I freed him the first time. He can't harm or influence me. But apparently that doesn't extent to my belongings since I'm now missing two magical artifacts."

Maria answered Jawsey: "I felt odd when I awoke. But I can't remember why or what I dreamed that night. I only knew it had something to do with the safe and the ring."

[Beta]

Jawsey rubbed his temples, wondering if any of this would make more sense once he was outside something warm and caffeinated? "I don't know if this is relevent, but at this point it is probably worth tracking down every oddity ... we were told that Invictus rubs olive oil in his hair every day -- or at least took olive oil every day for this purpose, we'd have to double check if anyone saw him do it. It seems like odd behavior for a spirit. Do you know anything about that?"

[Jack_Spade]

"That, oh yes, quite a waste if you ask me, but it was a habit of him - half a bottle everyday." He sniffed: "You are right, I can smell it in here. I never understood how he could bring that with him through the astral."

[Tecumseh]

<<Who created these wards?>> Mato asks AM and Jawsey, wondering if there's an astral signature that makes it obvious. If not, they'll have to ask.

<<I presume they've very strong, neh? As such, powerful magical artifacts wouldn't be easily smuggled through them, at least not without alerting the creator of the ward. So let's find out who made them and see if they gave permission for someone or something to travel through the wards.>>

<<Alternatively, it seems that Invictus has a unique ability. The fact that olive oil follows Invictus when the spirit materializes and dematerializes suggests that Invictus can convey physical things between the physical realm and the astral realm. If so, perhaps that is how the ring and sword left the room. Pike said it himself: Invictus "was still bound inside the sword - or in some kind of weird metaplane that can be accessed through the sword". If so, that could be the way out.>>

[Gilga]

she texts the group channel >> We need to search for the artifact with a spirit, or with Tatanka and Trouble. Can you ask McElroy to give them permission through the wards? Time is of the essence.

In the meanwhile, AM checks the cameras/logs to see if anyone left the mansion in the last recent several hours.

[Jack_Spade]

The cameras revealed, and the guards concurred that no-one had left the premises so far.

[Beta]

Jawsey looks at AM and Mato, and asks "Any more questions here, for now? Or do we move on to searching?"

===========================
With questions done, Jawsey got started on the spirit searching. "To me, the sword should be easier to find, or at least harder to hide. And it should clearly enough show Invictus's aura that hopefully our spirits can make a reasonable job of it. We should look for the ring too, but I'm thinking of starting with the sword."

Hunting for something hidden? That sounded like a good job for one of the Hunter Brothers. Trouble was likely more clever, but more searchers was not a bad thing.

[ Spoiler ]

summon spirit 3+1=4: 9d6t5 5 limits to 4
spirit resist: 4d6t5 1
drain resist: 13d6t5 7
Force 4, optional power = psychokinesis, 3 services, no drain

Fortunately the spirit was as eager for the hunt as Jawsey was, and gave him no trouble. After a moment's thought, Jawsey provided the image of Invictus's aura and asked the spirit first to search the astral within the wards for any sign of the spirit or magics with that signature. He explained to the Pike's what he was doing, and begged their patience while the spirit searched "After all," he explained "The easiest answer to how someone moved a magical artifact through wards without raising an alarm is that they didn't, but instead concealed it well within this suite, to recover at a later time."

[ Spoiler ]

spirit search within the ward: 9d6t5 3
search in 2: 8d6t5 3
search in 3: 7d6t5 1

I don't know if their patience for the search will extend beyond half an hour? but I'll throw in one more roll just in case that it does. He won't let the search go beyond that because the glitch chances begin to get high.
search in 4: 6d6t5 1

Taking out the later search roll for now, until the inner search is finished up

[Jack_Spade]

[ Spoiler ]

Not replying yet, since spirit search has a base time of 10 minutes - and the spirit needs to reach a threshold of 5 before it can begin at all with an extended test.

[Jack_Spade]

The spirit acknowledged after almost three quarters of an hour that he was unable to find the sword.

[Beta]

"Sorry to have taken so long. I can't promise that the sword isn't hidden in here, as my spirit likely couldn't have cut through any concealment that Invictus itself put in place _if_ that was still up after its disruption. But if it was shoved behind furniture or something it should have been able to find it. We'll take our search outside the wards now."

After they were in the rest of the house Jawsey set his spirit to searching again, this time in all of the unwarded areas of the house. Then he suggested that they take a few minutes to see if they could still get some breakfast and something caffeinated.

[ Spoiler ]

spirit search outside of wards: 9d6t5 3
search out 2: 8d6t5 3
search out 3: 7d6t5 2
search out 4: 6d6t5 2
Totaling 10 successes before he calls off spirit search.

[Jack_Spade]

The second attempt proved to be more successful. The spirit replied:
"The remains of the sword are on the grounds, but it appears to be broken."
Jawsey saw a glimpse of the position - apparently the sword was at the center of the hedge maze.

[Beta]

Jawsey tells Mato and Ana what he has finally found, and suggests <<We should probably let our various bosses know soon, but I think we should examine the maze for any magical or physical traces before anyone else tramps through it. I'll fly out astrally, perhaps Trouble could come look too? I assume no cameras there, but Mato, are you free to skate out that way and look for other signs?>>

Once they have planned, Jawsey projects, grateful to have had enough sleep to have refreshed his spirit, and heads out to examine the Hedge maze -- first the centre, then the maze as a whole.

[ Spoiler ]

astral perception at centre of the maze: 11d6t5 5
astral perception, rest of maze: 11d6t5 3

[Jack_Spade]

In the maze itself, Jawsey found no sign of overt magic beyond very faint traces of the watchers that moved past on their way to the perimeter. At the indicated spot though, it looked like a small explosion had rocked the astral. A lot of mana had been released recently in a fashion that reminded Jawsey of alchemy gone wrong. The mundane site showed a little gravel and sand pit that once had been part of the stone garden at the center, but now was marred by molten slag of what once had likely been the sword. A heavy slab of concrete - part of a large sun screen stand - showed fitting markings, indicating that whatever had destroyed the sword had likely been covered with the slab while it did its work.
Someone had offed Invictus and made sure he couldn't come back any time soon to tell any tales...

[Beta]

Jawsey returns to his body with a heavy heart. No way should all have this been possible without someone knowing something. He liked the people here well enough, but at least one of them was at tHe least lying, and more likely actively plotting. Given which, who should he tell?

His team, of course. Cunningham had hired them, so maybe wanted them to succeed? As their employer he had to be told. But McElroy and his peers? Pike?

Jawsey passes the information to the team, and asks their opinion on who to tell, and how soon? At the least it would be good to get physical eyes out there to look for clues that might not show up on the astral, before anyone else trapped around and messed with things more.