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Mags Mags walks over to Faust, looks around and picks up a bracelet. She puts it on, then passes him the ceremonial knife. Here, trade you. Seems like you'll get better use out of it than I would, we found it at the altar.
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Jul 8, 2023 15:33
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To RafaelShellception posted:To Rafael You keep watching the pistol grunt like a prey bird as Raymond manages to subdue the rifle holding one onto the ground. But something is wrong. You'd swear you never got distracted, you never took your eyes off him, but suddenly, you see a flash movement and, before you can react, a gunshot booms out. You instinctively raise your gun to shoot at him, but you feel a piercing pain on your shoulder and hear something recoil on the wall behind you. You scream in pain, and the gun bounces from your hand onto the ground below as blood starts seeping onto your shirt. Perception (internal): 1d4 4 Shooting (attack, base 4): 1d10 10 Straight-up failed perception as the dude rolled a critical throw - you'd have shoot back in literally any other circumstance, but you just never saw him coming. The wound isn't lethal and the gun is close to your feet (and Raymond's), but you are bleeding from your shoulder and the pistol grunt is definitely unchecked now. To Raymond As you concentrate into holding the guy to the ground, you hear a gunshot and a scream, and you see Rafael bend down, the gun on his hand falling to the ground and bouncing close to where you two are. You still have your free action on the fallen grunt, or a normal attack one on the pistol grunt, though he is quite far from you right now. Shellception fucked around with this message at 23:48 on Jul 8, 2023 |
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Jul 8, 2023 23:45
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Ol' Pearlie Two Gums "Oh thank you!" Pearl fights the urge to squeal in joy as Faust hands her his soggy notebook. Trying to respectfully destroy it, she begins unravelling the spiral of metal holding it together until she has a long thin piece of metal and the messed up string she found in the rocks. Taking a few minutes to untangle the string...hopefully this will work?? Pearl takes the string (please let it hold...} and ties it to her makeshift hook with a bowline knot. Sitting on the ledge she lowers it carefully to the nest below and holds her breath. (Will edit in a roll here, want to confirm what I'm rolling with Shell first if needed). Maerlyn fucked around with this message at 02:29 on Jul 9, 2023 |
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Jul 9, 2023 02:26
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To Pearl You swiftly work the spiral wire onto an improvised hook - who'd have guessed all those hours of bored crafts at your desk in the library would pay off in the real world? The string is terribly flimsy, but you manage to get it into a mostly workable state. You sit by the ledge and let the hook hang down, aiming for the handle. The seagulls aren't impressed by your attempt, and they do try to bite off the hook once or twice, but you quickly shoo them away. They perch nearby, and look like they are judging you harshly, but they don't interfere and after a couple attempts, you are able to fish your purse up without having it fall into the sea. You let go a sigh of relief, pack the hook away and rejoin the others. Worth waving a roll for 
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Jul 9, 2023 07:33
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To Mags, Faust, Pearl and Margaret You take your time and get all ready to go in; as soon as everyone seems ready, Mags waves to the group and leads them inside the second tunnel. One by one, you carefully cross the rusty iron gate, kicking it down a bit further in the process. Some of you do notice Tina is nowhere to be found, despite the path being straight ahead. Did she go in alone? This time, it's a short walk until you arrive at an almost vertical wall, stone holds haphazardly cut on it. It's a rough climb, and you do need to hold tight with your hands onto the steps, but you all manage to climb it up relatively quickly, even if some of you get a bit winded from all the exercise. The top corridor is again pitch black, but Mags is ready with her light. Under the light, you notice this part is littered with various trash and broken bottles, and it also smells of piss like the back of one of the rougher bars down at the port. You are clearly closer to some kind of civilization. Mags shushes you up and lowers the light to the ground, and you all make the trip in silence. As you reach the end of the corridor, you can see a hole on top, with some pallets and rocks piled underneath to allow climbing up and down from it. It's quite probable that the ceiling just collapsed, and the cave is being accessed from the outside using that ramp. Right now, you can't hear much in there, but there is a very distant rumor of occasional cars passing by. You have to be very close to street level now. Around 30-20 minutes left now, not much else. To Mags Like before, you can't really see much but the hole. You aren't clear at all on how it happened, but you do recall crossing a wall around here, somehow? To Margaret You follow the group, a bit lost on your thoughts. But as Mags stops and you all reach the dead end, something grabs your attention. On the wall to her left, there is a bright, open portal. You push a bit ahead and try to see where it goes, but you cannot see anything inside at all. Time to go in or out, but someone has to lead. If you opt to go out using the ramp, no roll needed. Shellception fucked around with this message at 10:45 on Jul 9, 2023 |
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Jul 9, 2023 10:30
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Margaret 1 gum Still in a daze, Margaret ambles towards the open portal, taking no heed of the words of those around her.
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Jul 9, 2023 17:09
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To Mags, Pearl and Faust As you all argue about what to do and try to find your way through the dead end, you don't readily notice you are suddenly down one person. Gonna need Mags' memory or Faust's magic to find the way. To Margaret You cross the portal. It leads somewhere you have never been - a rundown room, maybe once a wine cellar, now not much more than a pile of rubble and rotten wood. You see a crumbling archway in front of you, and you enter it without any sort of question. The room beneath it is... unusual. It's almost devoid of furniture, except for some wall shelves and a wooden table. Your eyes and your attention fly to the giant magic circle carved into the stone floor, and to the darker spots inside it, and the slightly scattered animal skeleton in the middle. Then to the walls. They are covered in what looks like magic symbols, crudely drawn in with a brush. They don't look like paint. You shudder a bit, but the circle keeps occupying most of your focus. That is, until you notice the small figure sat near the table, her nose in a book. Then, somehow, she becomes all what matters to you. "Oh. Hi!" Tina says, like she didn't just run away from under your nose. "Come! I found something" You approach the table. There is no light source, but then again, none of you need it. You sigh a bit. Surely that's good news, right? "This book" she says, pushing it towards you. "Look! I don't know what language it even is written on, but I can read it. I'm sure you can too. It's a ritual. An invocation" She pauses for a second as she excitedly flips the pages ahead. "I think that's what we were looking for. The exit. The end" Tina continues, and you can't avoid thinking you were looking for something else. Answers. But you aren't even sure you have the questions. Tina looks at you and sighs. "I'm sorry" she mutters, her enthusiasm suddenly sounding way more subdued. "It's just, everyone who goes out, they never remember... anything, or anyone. At all. Agnes doesn't even know she was once married. That she waited for him, every day, for thirty years. It's all erased. It never happened. And I... and you..." Tina stops, confusedly, and takes a deep breath that almost sounds like another sigh. When she starts again, she looks you straight in the eye, and the words sound like she just lined them up inside her mouth, ready to fire them all before they can scatter off again. "Youresmartandbraveandsocute, and I wanna..." she stops awkwardly. "If we ever meet again... outside... when this all ends... you know..." She stops again, and the end of the phrase comes in a bit unconnected. "They told me, someone did, that it's OK now... like, you know. Girl and girl" Shellception fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Jul 9, 2023 |
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Jul 9, 2023 22:03
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Rafael Points: 2 “Ow! I mean, like, what the heck” Using his still working arm, Rafael reaches inside and finds the illicit not-cake, pause for a moment before moving on the grab the taser and quickly trying to zap the somewhat incapacitated guard… just to make sure… if you could roll for me that would be cool “Raymond, watch out for the other guard, that’s guys out of control. He might even be a government agent!” Dropping the taser Rafael reaches for the gun.
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Jul 9, 2023 23:00
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To Rafael (and Raymond) Wincing in pain, you quickly scuttle to the side and use your non-dominant hand to stick the taser onto the fallen grunt. It connects. He screams in pain and convulses for a bit - Raymond also feels a slight electrical shock, but it's diffuse enough that he isn't meaningfully affected. The grunt falls aside, fully knocked out. Tasing rifle guard (combat): 1d10 9 You throw the now uncharged taser aside and make a sweep back for your gun. Still holding your back against the wall, the red spot on your right shoulder growing bigger and bigger, and still somehow vaguely selfconscious of the wet situation down your legs, you push yourself up a bit and aim at the grunt again. "Try again" you mutter beneath your teeth. It hurts, and you aren't sure he is buying it. But he doesn't shoot you again right up. Progress! Intimidation (internal): 1d4 3 Shellception fucked around with this message at 10:27 on Jul 10, 2023 |
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Jul 9, 2023 23:08
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Margaret 1 gumption Gosh. You're sure Tina said some other stuff, but her last two sentences have successfully erased anything else from your focus. You can feel your ears getting beet red. gently caress. Keep it cool, come on, keep it cool. "Ahem, yes, of course. I... I am all of those things. Smart and brave and..." gently caress, gently caress, gently caress. "Yeah, so I, well, I have never tried with, y'know, but sure, I mean I want- no, I could-, I mean I-" gently caress it. Margaret pounces on the sitting Tina, throws both arms behind her back and head and kisses her in a tight embrace that she wishes could last three decades. She can't hold back the rush of emotions -joy, fear, love, anguish, hope- that overwhelm her, neither can she hold back the spring of tears running down her face.
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Jul 10, 2023 04:06
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Mags Mags only has to do a route once to commit it to memory. She points to the hole. It should be through there, but all this wasn't in the way. We'll have to be careful, I don't think we have time to find another way
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Jul 10, 2023 04:24
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To Mags (and Pearl and Faust) You quickly guide them up the hole, helping the clumsier ones up, waiting to make sure no one gets left behind. Once you're done helping Agnes out of the hole, you pause and look around - where is Margaret? Did she go ahead by herself, too? You sigh. There was clearly something strange with those two, wasn't it? They way they moved in the dark? That definitely wasn't natural. You hope you haven't been somehow led to some kind of trap. You climb up the improvised ramp and rejoin the others. ---- It looks like a small, run-down shack that is, by some miracle, still partially standing up, though filled with all sorts of debris. A beam has fallen from the ceiling; you'd guess that was what made the hole you just climbed out of. There is trash and broken glass everywhere here too, the walls are covered in smoke going up to the holes on top that you'd guess were once windows, and a rusty, darkened oil drum stands in the middle. If you had to guess from the burnt down papers around it, it's probably been used as a campfire quite frequently. It has a bent metal door, probably someone's failed attempt to stop people going inside it; as it stands, it doesn't stop anyone from going out, at least. A faint afternoon light seeps through it. You all move out of the shack, carefully watching where you step; it's clear that there is nothing of interest to see here. Outside it, what was once probably a big garden is now an assortment of giant weeds and overgrown, neglected trees, with dirt paths cleared around here and there from people walking around. A bit further away you can see what was probably once a ground level fountain - the pipes have been removed long ago and it's been made into an improvised bench array with broken planks and one or two old tires. Further still stand the walls - old stone and definitely too high to climb up, but there has to be a way in and out. To your left, at some distance, you can see what remains of a old, burned down wooden house, doors and windows bricked up. To Faust Once your eyes get used to the light again - it takes a while - you inmediately recognize the place. Not the hangout spot, you have never been here, but the house. You'd recognize the Witch's house anywhere. It's Saint Tonquois' magical ground zero, the place where all the stories start, and oh boy, are there stories - odd noises, odd screams, disappearances. Murders. At least three that you can remember, and you have a great memory. You've drunk up all the old tales with the avidity of a buddying magic practitioner, hoping that some day you'd be the one to be brave enough to crack down the mystery once and for all. Maybe save the city in the process, that'd be nice, right? Being a hero for once. But you've never been brave enough to actually approach it, of course. You need to become stronger first - spirits don't take kindly to amateurs, and if you know anything, is that somewhere in there, something really strong lies. You feel a shudder up your spine. You pretend to extend your legs and nonchalantly walk a short distance ahead from the rest, least they notice you're actually feeling more than a bit uneasy. Shellception fucked around with this message at 08:11 on Jul 10, 2023 |
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Jul 10, 2023 08:03
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To Margaret You let it all out, a burst dam of supressed emotions - all the fears, all the insecurities you have buried down within yourself for decades on end, all the hidden small shames and regrets you never ever look at, for fear of not being able to look away from them ever again, but also all the hope and joy you've systematically denied yourself time and time over, all in a ball of confusing, euphoric feels. Tina gets up from the chair and repositions herself a bit, pushing back on you - your back is now slightly leaning over the table, and a cold hand has moved fast over your cheeks, wiping away your tears before you can even realize it, before she leans back in for a second round. You feel the cold of water-soaked clothes seeping through your own, but also the warmth of the body inside them, burning through the coldness like a small flame. You bask on the tight pressure of body against body, a comforting hand rhytmically rubbing your back up and down, your chest softly and silently convulsing under the sobs you definitely aren't experiencing right now. Not you. You haven't cried since you were ten years old. Shellception fucked around with this message at 11:56 on Jul 10, 2023 |
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Jul 10, 2023 11:24
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To Margaret (Part 2) Somehow, somewhat, at some point, even the tears dry off. You let yourself go with the flow, taking your time, enjoying the moment. You feel relaxed, like a big boulder had been lifted from your chest - a weight you didn't even know you were carrying, surprisingly enough. You were always so sure you knew yourself so well. After all, who else would? You were sure of a lot of things, come to think of it. You open your eyes to a smiling, bespectacled face repeating the same tear-wiping gesture as before, and you'd swear she, too, has changed in a matter of hours. That she's no longer the shy smiling girl at the book deposit, but a woman. In all the dimensions of the word. Some of which you'll probably need to think about later, probably. Later. "We're out of time" Tina tells you, still not letting go of the embrace. "We need to move" You reluctantly agree. How much time has passed, really? You can't tell. It might have been a year. You see Tina leave your side and start to pick up the fallen candles around the circle, putting them up in the marked positions. "Where are the others?" she asks, and you realize you don't have an answer for that. Were there others? Where are they? "We might need to try this alone. It can't be much longer now. I think the book was pretty clear, so maybe we can... do you have a lighter?" She sounds decided, and you wish you could share her conviction. Book has instructions on how to carry a ritual - you can read them, which doesn't mean you can carry them out. Since you can see in the dark, you do notice the lump of clothes on a corner of the room, as well as the smaller table propped under the ceiling opening on a corner of the room. What to do/where to go? -- Note to everyone else: As per the Raymond/Rafael stuff, I'm just waiting for Raymond to be around - the grunt's turn was used, as was Rafael's. No hurry on that front. As per the garden people, I'm waiting on you deciding where to go or what to look at, pretty much, but I realize the last post was a bit ambiguous - if you need me to guide you around, just tell me.
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Jul 11, 2023 21:52
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Margaret 1 gum With a still throbbing heart and quivering wet lips, Margaret suddenly feels very invested in finding a way to disrupt the Margacycle. I should have cleaned my flat on the weekend, dammit. What did she say? Ah. "A lighter? Yes, I do have one." She starts looking for it. "Er, I don't smoke, mind you. I just have it in case I need to do some impromptu baking in an old oven." Wait. "Not that there's anything wrong if you smoke..." There totally is. "But I don't think you do..." She catches herself touching her lips and blushes. "Anyway, we can discuss that when we're at my place. I, er, have a nice balcony. A bit small, but we'll get some plants and any smoke would-" Not the time! "Lighter." She extends her arm with the prize, focusing all her energy in stopping her limb from trembling.
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Jul 12, 2023 04:13
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Faust The Witch's House! There are so many stories about murders, disappearances and strange sightings around, the only reason he didn't connect it to the Margaret mystery before was the fact that people with other names had disappeared here. Spirited away, some say. There was that story about the guy who went here to mee a girl, but she never showed up and when he looked into it, he found out she'd died decades ago. ... Come to think of it, this may very well be related to the Margaret stuff. What with the disappearing for thirty years thing. Anyway. Faust digs out his pendulum and focuses on finding the highest concentration of spiritual residue in the area.
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Jul 12, 2023 07:41
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To Margaret "Thank you" Tina picks up the lighter, apparently oblivious to your confusion. You see her bend down to grab the nearest candle and light it up after some fiddling with the button. "Here, have it back" She goes around the circle with the candle, getting all the others lit up in turn. It looks like a giant birthday cake with a dead cow in the middle, you think, but maybe that's how magic is supposed to work? "And no, don't worry, I don't smoke" Tina breaks the silence after a bit. "Used to. But you can't really smoke inside the library, it damages the books, so I've been clean for a long time. But I do... how do you call it? weed? Very rarely and always out on the roof, at night. Never inside" She notices the perplexity in your face and laughs softly, her attention back into the candle circle. "Agnes taught me how to. She managed to grow a couple plants inside an old wardrobe. I am not sure how, but they are still thriving, and well, you know, I have all the time" she comments as she inspects the circle critically. "I think one candle is missing, but we'll need to take what we have. Now for the center..." Tina furrows her brow. "I don't think we have anything living to sacrifice, and I'd really prefer not to... maybe a few drops of blood will do the work?" You feel a bit out of your depth here, and vaguely wonder where the occult kid has gone. Shellception fucked around with this message at 12:32 on Jul 12, 2023 |
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Jul 12, 2023 11:51
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To Faust You get your trusty pendulum out, close your eyes and concentrate on feeling the vibrations. It's an ornate silver ball with intrincate filigrees carved on it, and it was expensive, but worth every cent you paid for it. You clear your mind and follow the forces - it's very tenuous at first, but after a bit you start feeling a stronger pull. Bingo! You pick up your pace, your eyes still closed, barely feeling the bites of the prickly weeds on your legs. To Mags and Pearl As you are still deciding where to go, you see Faust decidedly march in a straight line through the weeds and towards the house, not even bothering to follow any of the existing paths. Mags knows where the previously broken window is, so she can guide you inside the house without the need for a combat check. Alternatively, any of you can feel free to combat flykick the nearest one, they're "just" boarded up. Or peacefully remove the planks somehow, that may work too. To Faust (part 2) "HENRY!" Agnes' call wakes you up from your trance, and you open your eyes just a few centimeters short of the house wall. The pendulus is vibrating like crazy, and it's clear whatever you are chasing is inside, and, you'd say, also lower by the ground. Maybe a cellar? You take a look around, but you see no trapdoors. You also feel a bit of unstability. Whatever it is, it's not fully asleep.
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Jul 12, 2023 12:13
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Margaret 1 gum drat you, Agnes! That smells even worse! A prickly sensation on her neck makes her realize they have not been alone during passion hour. "Don't worry, Margaret. We won't sacrifice you to the ritual." You're too small, anyway. She stares at the dead cow and a face comes to mind. "Maybe the other Margaret would come and help out."
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Jul 12, 2023 15:07
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To Margaret Tina seems a bit lost in thought, pondering the circle around. "Hm? Doubt it. She just wants to leave. Can't blame her. She too has loved ones she'd like to... you know... see again. Even if she will forget them as soon as she goes out" The idea of just forgetting everything you've experienced today gives you a small ping in the heart. Surely it wouldn't be so easy, would it? You'd swear Tina has winced a bit right now, too. She doesn't take her eyes off the circle, though. "If, you know, if this works... maybe we can all finally go home. Even her" A thoughtful silence follows. "Margaret" Tina says, and you realize it's actually the first time she's used your name. "... Margaret is okay with you, right? like, you don't prefer Maggie, or Marga, or something like that..." she rambles on in a lower voice, and you notice that she's probably about as confused as you are right now. She keeps staring the circle away as she reconnects the sentence. "There is a portal" she notes. "If you manipulate it, it probably can go back to... if you think you can convince her to just... not go away... maybe we can get some more time. We are out of time" You can indeed use the portal to bounce around places you have already been to (that have portals on them), if that helps you somehow. Shellception fucked around with this message at 18:40 on Jul 12, 2023 |
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Jul 12, 2023 18:38
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Faust 6 points "I can feel it! Something's in there! Below, the cellar maybe? Quick, help me find an entrance!"
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Jul 13, 2023 07:25
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Pearl 2 sticks "I think Mags has been out here already right? I'd rather not fumble around by myself... If we knock on the door think someone will answer?" "I don't think I can break any windows with some increasingly worn out heels and a purse."
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Jul 13, 2023 09:04
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Mags We kicked out a window around back, come on.
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Jul 13, 2023 16:55
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To Faust You all follow Mags' lead around the side of the house and through the hole left by the broken boards in the window. As you get ready to go in, you feel a small touch in the arm. "Henry" Agnes says. "I think it's better if I wait here" You open your mouth to argue, but she makes a silence gesture and you obey, more out of instinct than anything else. "It's old and decrepit. What if anything goes wrong? Who will even know you are down there?" She sounds concerned now. "You have my number. Anything happens, ring me. And if you've not come out in two hours, I'm calling the police" You feel the pendulum buzzing on your hand like crazy. "Take care, Faust" she says, and retreats a bit to watch as you all go in. To Faust, Mags and Pearl The walls on the room you get to are completely covered in soot - you'd guess this is a result of the fire that almost burned the whole thing down. There is no remaining recognizable furniture on it, but the open trapdoor on the ground is easy to see even before Mags, her trusty light on hand again, points it out. Time to go down! No stairs because of fire, but there is a table underneath the trapdoor, so the jump is small enough to not need a roll. To Margaret Suddenly, you hear a rumour in the distance. Seems to be coming roughly from over your heads. You sneak a glance at Tina, but she doesn't show any signs of having heard it. Shellception fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Jul 14, 2023 |
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Jul 13, 2023 17:27
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Margaret 1 gum "You can call me Greta." She curtsies. "I'll be back." She opens a portal to meet Margaret Prime and enters it. A second later, her head peeks out of the portal entrance and she tells Tina: "Oh, there's a rumor coming from the ceiling. Must be the pipes." The portal closes and Margaret is now facing her nemesis. "Hey. Do you have a goat or something we can use as a sacrifice in a magic ritual?" wologar fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Jul 13, 2023 |
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Jul 13, 2023 18:55
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To Margaret "Hah. Very funny" You're just a bit surprised to see she's kept her promise. Even more because she's very clearly not tied up, either - she's sitting on a comfy looking chair in the same corridor you left her, with a book on her hands. She smiles at you, but it doesn't look like a warm gesture. Then she wipes an imaginary stain on her cheek. "There, girl. You got lipstick on your face"
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Jul 13, 2023 20:27
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To Faust, Pearl and Mags (part 2) Mags jumps in first, confidently, and once inside she helps both of the other two in, holding her hands up from the top of the table. It's not a big jump, though the old wood does creak a bit under your collective weight. Once your eyes get used to the semidarkness, barely pierced by some candles on the floor, you are treated to an unexpected scene. You can see the circle on the ground, even though it doesn't feel like you should be able to - It's clearly there, even if your eyes don't take all the details in. Close to the table, what looks like a dead body is slumped on the floor; Mags does remember it, and she also remembers the table with the books, which is barely visible among the shadows of the room. It takes you a bit more to notice the small figure standing up in the middle of the room - she does not speak or acknowledge your presence in any way, even though you are sure you just made a ton of noise coming in. Faust, Pearl and Mags' collective perception (internal): 3d4 10 (4, 3, 3) You all recognize Tina. Pearl and Mags can't see her right hand from there, but on a flick of the candlelight, you do notice she is holding her left arm palm up and slightly extended to the front. A small, bright red streak of blood is running down from it, seeping through her fingers onto the ground below. Faust's attention is elsewhere. To Faust This is the place, you know it. It has... everything. You had only seen this kind of magical circle in books - this has been carefully crafted and equilibrated, a prodigy of occultism. It's quite pretty, actually. Or it would be, if it wasn't all wrong. You feel your tattoo burn on your arm and quickly scan the room. You can't see much, but you can see the number of candles is wrong, and they don't seem to be positioned correctly, either. The sizes are all irregular, some look broken. The circle itself is also badly scratched on one side. Nothing on this is balanced in any way, shape or form. You notice the strange flickering of the lights, and your hair does stand up a bit. Even in its borked state, something is started to happen there. --- For everyone: what to do? Rolls to discretion.
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Jul 14, 2023 20:57
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Faust 6 points Oh crap. That's bad. This is really bad. Some amateur must have botched whaever ritual was set up here and now it's working, but not as it should be. Quick. Think. How to deal with a botched ritual? The circle is the most important part, of course. It's the barrier between the summoned entity and the summoner, a broken circle is a death wish. Not enough time to properly redraw it. Faust drops his backpack on the floor and digs out the salt. Charging past the others, he places a generous heaping of salt over the worst scratch. "Quick! Do you see any other holes in the circle?"
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Jul 14, 2023 21:16
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Margaret 1 gum "There's a second cow in this building. A dead one, inside a circle of candles. See it yourself." She opens a portal again and extends her arm towards it as invitation.
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Jul 15, 2023 13:56
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To Margaret Anna sneers back at you, then makes a grand gesture of checking a watch on her wrist. "I'll be out of here in fifteen minutes. That was our deal, wasn't it? Hardly enough time to go on a trip. But don't worry, I'll be sure to come down here sometime, so you can tell me how it all went"
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Jul 15, 2023 15:04
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Margaret 1 gum "God, you're useless." Margaret waves Prime away and goes through the portal. She blinks thrice at the new condition of her love shack. "Well, ain't this a party." She sees Tina and winces. "A blood party. Stop that, dear. We don't need any more summons."
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Jul 15, 2023 15:35
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To Margaret As you touch Tina's shoulder, you feel a strange sensation. You'd say it's vertigo, but you are standing in a basement's stone floor, right? You look around and feel like your brain is being turned inside out. You know where you are, but, somehow, you are no longer there. The outer wall of the circle extends as far up as you can see - a solid, impassable stone wall, though you can see some cracks here and there; a particularly wide one seems to have been fixed and shows a solid, bright white sheen. It also extends as far down as you can see, plunging down into unseen darkness. The concept of darkness somehow bothers you more than anything else right now. There is also a lot of blood on the ground. It pools at your feet before sliding down into the depths of the well, revealing an invisible staircase descending in a wide spiral along the wall. You didn't see Tina moving, but she is walking - holding her bloodied arm first, letting the blood flow onto the ground like a guide. You didn't see so much blood before, and are sure no human being can have all of that inside them, but she looks as fine as anyone can look here. She doesn't seem to acknowledge you at first, but you feel her speaking after a while. No words are coming out, but you hear them anyway. "Use the book" she tells you, and you'd swear the phrase comes with a smile. "Let's go home" You feel a faint warm, comforting sensation on your lips, one strangely reminiscent of before, and blush a bit. But she isn't close to you, she hasn't even looked at you as she continues her descent. Your vision turns blurry. The basement and its inhabitants come back into focus, reality forcing itself onto your perception. Tina is still frozen in place, blood flowing down from what you can see is an open cut on her inner elbow, probably a prick on a vein, done with surgical precision. She is holding a small, sharp knife on her right hand, one you'd swear was around the table before. You see the others wandering around, Faust apparently very concerned with fixing something or other in the circle. To your feet, the blood splotch seems to have grown in size. To Faust You can't really describe it, but the circle set in motion feels to your occult senses like a spinning top - it was swinging wildly before, and it still seems way off, but it has regained some of the equilibrium. You move around, putting small salt barriers on the places that seem to be less stable, and almost yell at Margaret as she walks over one of the patches while moving like a dart towards the center. What on Earth is she doing? You follow her with an indignant gaze and see her stand near Tina (how long has she been standing there?!) before noticing the blood on both the ground and her arm. Shellception fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Jul 15, 2023 |
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Jul 15, 2023 20:15
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Faust 6 points Gods above, it really is amateur summoning hour here, is it? "Tina! Stop bleeding into the circle right now! Chuck, get out of this circle and take Tina with you, you're weakening the veil! And be careful you don't touch the salt patches!" He turns around. "Mags, Pearl, can you help me with the candles? They're out of alignment!"
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Jul 16, 2023 06:48
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Mags Candles right!...and what is the correct alignment here?
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Jul 16, 2023 16:26
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Faust 6 points "Well at least one is missing, which is a problem. A big one. Something's here and we need to stabilize the energy flow." gently caress it, he's not getting that opportunity again any time soon. "Nine-point circle sounds like the best option. Here, remove those three candles and I'll move the other ones. Makes absolutely sure you're outside the circle at all times, and don't disturb the salt."
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Jul 16, 2023 16:56
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To Rafael (and Raymond) (Part 2)Shellception posted:To Rafael (and Raymond) You try to keep your composture up despite feeling slightly lightheaded. To your side, Raymond is trying to get to the rifle, trapped underneath the fallen grunt's body. The goon looks straight at your eyes, seemingly not worried about Raymond at all, but you do notice he's pointedly keeping him in his field of vision. "Don't" he says. "You can't shoot. And next time you are going down" You both see him lower his arm to the ground, though he definitely hasn't let go of the pistol. "Truce" the goon spits after a short while. "Drop the gun and any other poo poo you have on you and gently caress off the way you came, and we'll forget about this. Else, you are dead. Your pick" He eyeballs you both, and you know he is ready to pounce back in. To Rafael: If you want to try and shoot at him it's gonna take a successful combat roll plus a good (2 or 1) perception check - otherwise he will shoot before you do. To Raymond: Guard is distracted with Rafael, but he will try and shoot at you if you move. Grabbing the rifle is a combat check, and will probably trigger a shot. In both cases, non-combat actions will not trigger the guard, in principle.
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Jul 16, 2023 19:54
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To Margaret (part 2)Faust posted:"Tina! Stop bleeding into the circle right now! Chuck, get out of this circle and take Tina with you, you're weakening the veil! And be careful you don't touch the salt patches!" You hear Faust yell and notice Tina wincing and recoiling a bit, and her extended hand trembles visibly. It's the first reaction you've seen on her since you came back, but she doesn't do anything else, nor acknowledges the words in any other way. Combat check (base 5): 1d10 8 Small post to note that getting Tina out of here by force IS gonna take a successful combat roll against her - that is, a critpass or a pass against her fail. She doesn't break concentration fully here because she passed. There may be other ways to get her to stop that don't require fighting her, open to ideas. Also, anyone can try stuff here, not just Margaret.
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Jul 16, 2023 21:24
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Pearl 2 gums "I think we need to try to get Tina out of there, yeah? I don't know if I'm strong enough by myself but someone grab her other arm and we'll drag her out? I'm open to other ideas."
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Jul 17, 2023 01:57
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Margaret 1 gum "Tina, I don't mean to be crass, but what the gently caress are you doing!?" Still dizzy, she sees movement around her. Not Tina, though. The book. She grabs the book and opens it. "The gently caress am I supposed to do with this?" Argh, let's try that telepathy thing I didn't know I had. Tina. Are you ok? That blood is fake, right? Is she listening? Hope so. Tina? I have the book. Now what? Just don't tell me to 'read it, duh'. I need details!
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Jul 17, 2023 18:09
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To Faust (and Mags and Pearl) Mags hears Faust's request and quickly picks up the spare candles, putting them on a pile on the side as he runs around the circle, positioning the most regular ones in the marked spots. It's starting to look way better, Faust thinks as he takes a proud look at it. It's also starting, for lack of a better analogy, to spin faster. You know what this means - something is going to happen soon here, and however it got set in motion, it really really doesn't look like anyone is controlling it right now. To Faust: combat (with occultism bonus) whenever you want to jump onto the ritual. No need for it to be right now, you can do other stuff before attempting it, but it'll be a requested roll. To Pearl As you contemplate the problem of getting Tina out of the circle, you feel your attention gravitating towards it, and a small pull towards its centre, not too different from the one you felt before. You look around, but it doesn't seem like the others care too much. No rolls here for now. To Margaret You sprint out of the circle and grab the book. You stare at it, still a bit dumbfounded - you hope for help here, but your thoughts seem to be falling into the void. No one answers. You sneak a concerned peek at Tina, but she hasn't moved a muscle. Reading the book (internal): 1d4 2 You can't tell what language the book is written on, but it all seems to make sense as you eyeball its pages. As you skim through the purple prose, you vaguely wonder if the occult kid there can read this. It's very hard to parse, but your eyes quickly fixate onto small details. Circle schemes, not dissimilar to the one in front of you, an incomprehensible and monotonous lethany probably intended to be an invocation to some entity in (as far as you can tell) three to five voices, instructions and ritual tools for the positioning and correct sacrifice of the blood offering. You have seen a small knife like the one depicted there pretty recently, you recall. You feel a small shudder up your neck, and you are pretty sure it's not SpideyMargaret's fault this time. No rolls for now, though it depends on what you want to do. Shellception fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Jul 17, 2023 |
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Jul 17, 2023 19:55
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