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

[Beta]

Jawsey messages Matt with the information about the 'purple pound's, adding that the spirit seems to have left for now.

When Jawsey can grab a quiet few seconds he gives a quick call on Red Jacket Boy -- only to receive a brisk astral reminder that one calls friends and allies with care and respect. Shaking off a quick wave of dizziness he takes the time to ask Red Jacket Boy to come and keep watch for him, and the spirit graciously appears without further mischief. Jawsey asks him to stay astral, stay in a quiet corner near the ceiling, and to simply let Jawsey know of any astrally active forms that come into the room.

[Tecumseh]

Mato gives Jawsey a silent nod to confirm the receipt of the message when he knows the elf is looking at him.

Changing rounds covertly is a slightly different challenge. He has the manners to know NOT to do it overtly and there are a lot of people around who might be alarmed if he handles his weapon openly.

Luckily Mato is well-suited for this challenge. In a break during practice, while everyone is resetting their positions, his dexterous fingers easily palm a magazine of the purple rounds. A mental command from his smartlink ejects the magazine of gel rounds in the Walter. It's in his shoulder holster, so all he has to do is slip a hand quickly under his jacket. When his back is turned, two cyberfingers quickly grab the magazine of gel rounds while two other cyberfingers slip the purple rounds into place with a small *click*. The magazine of gel rounds is soon in his pocket and he's back to the ongoing practice.

He does wonder, though, why Invictus represents enough of a threat - To whom? he wonders- to warrant the instructions to/from Jawsey. Has he caused trouble before? Why the restriction? Conversely, what exactly is he doing down here?

Questions for another time. For now, between AM, Trouble, Jawsey, whatever help Jawsey summons up, and the purple rounds, Mato is not terribly concerned about Invictus.

Edit: grammar, clarity

[Gilga]

Shaman Maka gazed back at the spirit, a mixture of emotions dotting her aura. From fear to curiosity, awe, and embarrassment. Such a powerful spirit must see right through her, and that self-awareness is awkward to behold. She waves her hand making a shy "hello", and as the spirit leaves, she asks her partner "Did you see that Bard?".

To the dematerialized Trouble she thinks "Stay close to me, he may be dangerous."

[Jack_Spade]

Brad replied to Anna with a frown: "See what?"
The chasseur cocked his head and like Mato discreetly changed magazines of his pistol.

Red Jacket Boy watched silently on as the test performance came to an end. All places where brought back into pristine perfection and Thornton called out:
"Alright everyone, get into position. No more talking from now on. Concentrate on your tasks. Guests and family are approaching."
Just as everyone hurried into place, faint classical music began to play, filling the room with a sense of tense expectation.
The two servants closest to the doors opened on a nod of Thornton the two double doors.
Now only the shine of candles and very discreet, dimmed spots as well as the large christmas tree remained as a source of light, as Sir Pike and the Dutchess, followed by Cunningham and Katya Komorova directly behind them strode into the room. They were followed by all the guests of the house - including Invictus. Everyone was wearing the finest clothing the team had ever seen - except Invictus who just appeared in his Roman legionare garb.
After that it was a frantic flurry of movement from the staff to accomodate their charges and bring in the first course.

[ Spoiler ]

Everyone give me another Edge+Agility roll +2 for the successful test before

[Tecumseh]

Mato feels calm and confident. In fact, he feels as composed as he ever has in his life, to the point where he wonders if he's under some sort of magical influence. Was it the shooting qualification? The fight against Chan? Bringing Zeus to heel? Perhaps all of the above, or none of the above.

The surroundings are rich and luxurious, but he doesn't feel out-of-place. He grew up well-off enough that he doesn't feel star-struck by the ostentatious luxury. The candles are beautiful, the classical music is beautiful, the clothes are beautiful. It's all... a gilded cage. Can any of them actually escape it? The things you own end up owning you.

He follows his instructions and begins to bring in the first course.

[Beta]

Jawsey wouldn't ever have said that he was the servant type. To himself he'd even admit that he rather enjoyed being served. But this, this was different. Being part of this much pomp and excess, working as part of a team to make it happen, almost like so many actors in a play, it was somewhat enjoyable.

Of course he was pulled out of the moment when Red Jacket Boy told him about Invictus returning to the room. Jawsey told it that it could leave now -- whether or not Invictus was going to be trouble was a different thing, but for now the spirit was easy to spot, and Jawsey doubted that any other astral beings would come cause mischief around something so powerful.

He'd wondered if Jenny Marshall would be as glamorous in person as on the trids, but he immediately realized that he'd mostly just be seeing the back of her head, and a bit of her shoulders. How glamorous can shoulders manage to be? he wondered, but then it was time to bring in the first course and the flurry of activity drove out such questions.

[Jack_Spade]

The training before had paid off: The meal went along without a hitch.

AM found that Pike was - at least for a super rich noble - quite a likeable guy. And he seemed to be genuinely in love with the Duchess. He barely took his eyes off her, but still found time to acknowledge the service, smile and say thank you for it.
The Duchess for her part was more reserved although she too was polite to the staff and avoided eye contact most of the time with anyone except for Pike, whom she looked at least some time in the eye.

Mato had Harabia and found out that the actor/actress was indeed as good as they were supposed to: Whenever they turned to their left they showed feminine body language and cadence while talking to Thorbjörn Valez, easily giving the appearance that they were also a full blown decker.
But as soon as they turned around to the other side, Harabia appeared to be dominantly male, parleying with Chan Wu about politics and business with assuredness and confidence that made one 100% sure they were another high powered Exec.

Jawsey learned that Jenny Marshall was quite a lot more than she appeared: Contrary to her image, she spoke educated and with a keen intellect about business opportunities with Igor Kaminsky. And while Igor appeared to be a condescending asshole, she never once took any of his shit and called him out at every turn. When the dinner reached the desert, Igor excused himself and left the party. Jenny had a very pleased smile on her face as she turned to her other seat neighbor, Invictus, and began chatting with im about history. Invictus likewise excused himself after only five minutes.

As time went on, desert plates were removed and coffee served. The rich aroma filled the hall, when Pike gave a subtle nod to Cunningham. Cunningham got up and went outside, while Pike got on one knee:

"Dearest Maria..." Immediately all conversation ceased and even the music was turned down, "... we have know us for years now - although it somehow feels as if I had known you since time began. You are in my thoughts all day everyday - awake and in dreams. And I can't imagine ever being apart from you.
Dearest Maria... would you..." At this moment Cunningham materialized by Pike's side, handing him a small ring box. The team noticed that a group of armed men in the uniform of MET2K had also entered the room and now had taken position to the left and the right of the door.
"...marry me?" Pike opened the box. Inside was a ring with a truly gigantic looking blue stone. The gem was nearly 2cm in diameter and practically strobed in the dim light.

[ Spoiler ]

Int+Wil everyone as well as a Perception test without any audio or visual modifiers

[Gilga]

[ Spoiler ]

Int+will: 10d6t5 3
perception: 10d6t5 3

AM did her part and tried to avoid the growing sense of dread understanding that it all goes so quickly and she is stuck playing nice. She couldn't really bail on Pyke though, he was like the most important guest. She hopes for the best and is polite and transparent as instructed.

[Tecumseh]

Mato is alert and attentive. He appreciates the opulence but, for the most part, he doesn't feel envy. There is a twinge of desire when he smells the coffee, which calls to him like a loving mistress, but he ignores it to focus on his duties.

He keeps his eyes moving during the proposal. Certainly if he had cybereyes he could be capturing footage of this that would be worth a fortune, but since he doesn't - and since he doesn't intend to form any emotional memories over this scene - he chooses to glance around the room. If Mato had been planning something infamous (Wait, should I have been planning something infamous?) he would launch his plans during a moment of high distraction, like the present moment.

[Beta]

As 'the moment' drew near, Jawsey tried to scan the room as best as he could, although certainly the opulence and pageantry was distracting. It was only as the MET2000 members came in that he finally realized [color blue]I should be watching the astral[/color]

Nobody had chased Red Jacket Boy away from his corner of the astral, so Jawsey gave him a new assignment "[color orange]Let me know of any new magic use or astral forms that you see.[/color]" And then when he had a moment to step back from the table for the spectacle itself, he activated his own astral vision.

[Jack_Spade]

The Duchess drew her hands to her face, tears flowing freely from her eyes and with a choked voice she managed to get out: "Oh Thomas, yes I do."

There was spontaneous applaus from all assembled - including the staff - as Sir Thomas Pike put the ring on the Duchess' finger.

Jawsey kept looking in the astral - the ring was a powerful object in the astral, connected to many emotions, including alien ones that Jawsey could only suspect to be belonging to a dragon.
But there was something else. The faintest trace of a spell, burried beneath the aura of the ring. Some kind of detection spell as well as an illusion.
The ring fit the finger and Thomas and maria embraced and kissed.
Even the usually sourfaced Katya smiled at the two embracing figures while Cunningham practically beamed with something akin to fatherly pride.

[Tecumseh]

Mato, oblivious to any astral proceedings, claps politely.

If he gets close enough to Katya he might scan her with his cyberware scanner, but that would be more for his own curiosity than anything else.

[Beta]

Well that is worrying ... I wonder if either of them know that about the ring? And Invictus should be able to tell, too, what does it think? Jawsey clapped along with the others, while quickly reading the aura's of the newly engaged couple.

[Gilga]

Trouble was extra curious about the ring, and he examines it closely fascinated by its design. AM's order is to help in the mission, which is open-ended enough for him to show some goodwill. After carefully looking at the ring, he tries to see where Invictus is and if there are other astral entities in the room that are worth talking about.

[ Spoiler ]

Log+will/perception: 2#10d6t5 7 2
Wow 7 hits on int +will(!!!)
assensing ring: 10d6t5 3

In the meanwhile, AM observes her surrounding, trying to keep her composure while imagining that either the ring was already stolen, or something dramatic is about to happen. She looks for traces of magic and extends her counterspell to the Duchess and Pyke as well as her friends. She claps her hands, and grins to hide growing suspicion inside. She watches the matrix for anything unusual that might happen.

[ Spoiler ]

Matrix perception: 10d6t5 1

[Jack_Spade]

[ Spoiler ]

@Gilga

you already rolled your perception and resist to illusion in post #83

You can assense but you don't penetrate the astral illussion on the ring

Neither Invictus nor any other spirit beside the one Jawsey had called were inside the room.

The music got louder again, and the guests got up to dance with each other as well as Pike and the Duchess.
The kitchen servants began to clear the tables, allowing the other servants to take up unobstrusive positon, watching out for their charges to tend to them should it be necessary.
Soon, Thorbjörn Valez excused himself too, leaving the dancers one man short. Chan purposefully strode towards Mato and reached out her hand: "You wouldn't make a girl sit out during a dance, would you?" Her voice was slightly purring and she seemed to have drunken just enough alcohol to make her mischiveous.

[Tecumseh]

Mato watches Harabia dance with Jenny Marshall. Dancing with Chan represents a potential distraction... but it also means that he'll be closer to his charge (provided, of course, that Harabia stays on the dance floor).

After making a quick mental calculation of the pros and cons (and taking a second to study the people dancing), he smiles and says to Chan, "I would not." He offers to take her hand to lead her onto the floor.

This is a waltz, right? he thinks to himself. It must be waltz. He thinks about what he knows about waltzing, which is just about nil. Lead to the right, rotate AAHHH how often do we rotate??

[Beta]

Jawsey looks around to see if any of the other servants are dancing. He'd rather be near his charge than back by the wall, but he doesn't want to commit a faux pas. He messages AM and asks <<Thoughts about joining the dancing? Think we are allowed? Our principals are dancing with each other, so if we danced close to them we'd be able to provide better coverage -- although I don't claim to be as a good a dancer as they seem to be.>>

[Gilga]

[ Spoiler ]

I rolled for the cat. Forgetting sometimes that he's there.

[Jack_Spade]

[ Spoiler ]

@Gilga
Ah, I missread your post then
Trouble pierces the illussion but has trouble identifying the spells

As far as Jawsey could see, the ring had no effect on the Duchess or Pike.

Mato found dancing with Chan a lot more agreeable than fighting her. Her lithe body felt pretty nice - even through the metal of his arms and she skillfully steared him through the walzing movement. Paired with his impressive agility he had little trouble making it look like he knew what he was doing.
<<Careful>> Cunningham's message reached Mato just as they had begun the second round <<You are dancing with a tiger right now. Thornton has his eye on you, as does Hamington...>>
A loud crash came from beside the entrance. All heads snapped around, focusing on the MET2K mercenary stationed there who looked down on a broken vase that had been on display next to him. There was a sense of panic and confusion on his face as Mato, Jawsey and AM noted. Evidently he had touched the priceless artifact with his outstreched arm and it had toppled to the ground.
Hamington was immediately on the man like a ton of bricks.
A muttered but heated exchange followed that summoned the man's superior, after which Hamington immediately sent a message to the Chasseur feed: <<Chasseurs on duty to me.>>

[Gilga]

>> I can't dance... Too shy. Instead, she takes some breathing room, enjoying not being the center of the spotlight.

What is wrong with the ring? she thinks at Trouble, hoping for an explanation.

She then sends Tatanka to find Invictus, Trouble would be more suited, but he is busy with the ring.

Texting Van-der-Bloom she asks >> Is anything okay? People are getting very suspicious here... Perhaps we run some diagnostics, check the camera? Can you rescue me? Parties are difficult.

[Jack_Spade]

Trouble replied through the mental link: 'It's a very beautiful ring. There are just some spells on it. I don't think I know what they do though.'

Van der Bloom didn't reply to AM's query and his persona didn't seem to be active.

[Tecumseh]

Mato smiles privately at the messages from Cunningham. There is a risk in every action, and every non-action. There are opportunity costs for each. At the moment he feels more of a need to keep Chan happy than Thorton. He is playing a dangerous game, but so far he feels that he's doing a good job of walking the fine line. Maybe he'll feel differently in a few hours if Chan tries to assault him... or maybe he deferred that risk by dancing with her. In the meantime, he has enjoyed holding her athletic body close to his.

He makes his apologies to Chan we he is summoned. "Apologies, Miss Chan. This has been a lovely dance but duty calls." He nods toward Hamington as he moves to lead Chan to the edge of the dance floor. He bows to her, which seems polite.

Should I come on to her? Would that make me the pursuer and thus make her lose interest??

He ultimately decides against it, as it might push Thorton and Hamington over the edge. Walk the line.

The situation with the MET2K mercenary is odd... Why would he have touched it with an outstretched hand? Bumping it with an elbow is one thing, but holding your hand like that makes it seem so deliberate. Once he has disengaged with Chan, he moves to Hamington per his instructions.

[Beta]

He messages back to AM No problem, probably safer not to dance and stands back, alternating looking at Jenny and scanning the room.

Until the crash happens. He's impressed with himself for resisting temptation, and looking at his charge rather than at the commotion.

[ Spoiler ]

composure?: 13d6t5 7

. As soon as he ensures that she is safe, he moves to astral perception and scans the room for anything that seems off

[ Spoiler ]

asense scan: 11d6t5 3

[Gilga]

AM asks Trouble "Go find Van der Bloom. He should be active" As a semi experienced grifter, she assumes that it may be a distraction, and she uses the commotion to approach Pyke and the Duchess, placing them under her counterspell field.

She texts Cunningham ccing the team >> Notice that Van Der Bloom is strangely offline, which implies something bigger than a broken vase. Also, the ring is enchanted with multiple spells - you did not mention that in its description.

She texts

[ Spoiler ]

You got me thinking of Bloom filters all the time.

[Jack_Spade]

Jawsey looked at the group assembled at the door. There was something about the guard's aura and that of Hamington that seemed off, but as he looked closer at the guard the something was gone. Jawsey was pretty certain that it hadn't been a spell - those he knew well and recognized.

Chan seemed reluctant to let Mato go, but then she smiled. "See you later." and winked.
Matro reached Hamington just after Brad and found his position to the left of the old Captain:
"... an inexcusable behavior. Do you have any idea how expensive this vase was?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, but..."
"Nothing but. You Huns can frag right off. Vandals, all of you."
"Sir, this is uncalled for, I'm sure our insurance..."
"I've had enough of this, young man. You and your contingent can go outside now and secure the perimeter around the grounds. Your services aren't needed inside anyway. My men have everything under control."
At that he nodded towards Mato and Brad.
"Our contract..."
"I am responsible for security around here. And I am telling you to take your goons and go outside where you can't do as much damage. Verstanden?"
"Aye Sir. On your responsibility."
The chastized mercenary turned on his heel and left the room, followed by his brothers in arms.

Cunningham replied to AM: <<Yes, that is curious. Go down to the cellar and check up on him. One of the staff brought him his meal down half an hour ago, so hopefully he just nodded off.>>