“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power.”

   -Jim Morrison

_____
Looming over Grant Park like a tombstone, the Congress Plaza Hotel was one of the largest hotels in Chicago. Most of the tourist guides knew it as being built after the great fire to show off at the World's Fair. Others would learn of it as the home of Al Capone, and still some would celebrate it as the home of one of the country's first serial killers. Whether it's power had attracted that history or history had attracted it's power would be a question that had no answer, but it was there, humming in the air loud and clear for anyone who could hear it.

Leaving the convocation hadn't been much of an issue; most of the other attendees had already begun their forms of celebration, and the alcohol had already begun flowing as the group was heading out. It seemed that Faux was not lying about their hopes that they would become a cabal; few seem surprised when they were seen leaving together. The Hierarch had given the address of the hotel along with a room number; 1200, South Tower. The floor had started with 1201, but true to his advice, the journey yielded otherwise.

They had traveled two floors up, down one in another elevator, then to the top in the original elevator, down to the 11th on the same one, and then had to take a stairwell to the 12th floor to find it. The hallway still looked all the same; a blue carpet with a repeating red pattern, white walls with small gold embellishments, and numbered doors all the way until the hallway's end. The only difference was that this one had a room 1200 at the end of the hall, whereas before it had simply been a window overlooking a space between both of the hotel's towers.[Private to Midas: Ever since your Awakening, the world has had a pallid shade to itself...but something about this place was especially bleak.]

Unlike the other ones, however, room 1200 had no door handle. There was still a bracket at eye level with the room number and a peephole, but in the place of a know was a smooth gold-plated panel screwed into place...

"Alright, let's be smart about this."  Olympic says, facing the handle-less door.  "If he is or was an Obrimos like me, he'll have used Prime to bind his wards.  I'm going t check for that first." Olympic took a deep breath , closing his eyes.  Then, letting the air from him lungs in a slow, controlled manner, he reopens his eyes, which were now fully dilated.  Without touching it, he examines the door and the walls around it.

---

OOC:
Entering Active Mage Sight: Prime.  I don't think I need to roll for this.

Mnemosyne nodded, pulling her coat a little tighter up around her shoulders. She was still not particularly happy to be here in her good clothes - it's not like she can just throw money at new dresses on a grad student's salary! - but at this point she'd be damned before she admitted it.

"There's probably another special trigger that'll open the door," she said, nodding to Olympic as she fished around inside her purse. She pulled out an ornate-looking gold - or brass? - fountain pen, which she began twirling absentmindedly between her fingers as she too takes a deep breath, closing her eyes and feeling the now-familiar sensation of her senses pushing through the skin of the Lie, and opening them to see the world overlaid with the symbolism of Pandemonium.

Animus, she thinks, though not to herself. You there?

Always... her familiar purred softly, from a few inches behind her ear. She suppressed a shudder. He loved doing that to her.

Be alert. If I can find a way to get you inside, I'm going to send you in ahead to scout.


OOC: Also activating Mage Sight (Mind and Space), and spending a point of Mana to add Spirit as well.

Also, ST, from my understanding of the rules, Unmanifested Goetic Familiars don't have any actual form, even in Twilight - they're just disembodied Minds. So couldn't Animus just like... slip underneath the door, or through an air duct, or any other small but "open" space to get inside the apartment ahead of us to look around? Assuming there's nothing else magical to stop him.

Parcelsus agreed with the overall opinion to look first and touch later. Blindly walking into a mage's sanctum was asking for trouble.

She fished her pocket watch out of her vest pocket and ran her fingers along its cover, feeling the pulse of the mechanism in her fingertips. Her vision shifted to see behind the veil that hid the truth. She studied the lines of possible futures and the stable past in and around the door.

OOC: Activating Mage Sight - time and fate

---

Olympic

Opening your eyes to the arcane was like staring into the sun, but seeing past the blinding light to reveal the chaos beneath. As he stated at the door, there were lines that he could not see, but could feel were there. Leviathan's working no doubt, with a nimbus that left a taste of burnt food when it was detected.

There was a spell woven deep along the walls, like rebar in concrete, reinforcing it from intrusion. It was created just as he had guessed, although it's purpose wasn't clear. Maybe if he dug a little deeper...

Roll Gnosis + Prime - 3 to pierce the effect and read what the spell is

---

Mnemosyne

As the fallen world showed it's reason, the sense of spacial warp was overwhelming at first. Normally the mage sight would have a slight motion to it when walking into an area where reality had been folded in on itself more than once, but this was more than just a slight turn of the stomach.

While reaching out with her Mind did not find a thought other than that of the people she was with, the Spirit added it's own complexity. She'd seen the Gauntlet more than once, and knew how to tell if it was thin or not, but it probably wasn't supposed to look this shredded...

OOC For the most part, yes. Spirits and Ghosts exist in Twilight unless fettered or anchored, and the only things that can exist in both the Fallen World and Twilight are creatures, items, or phenomena. Buildings generally don't exist unless they are remembered, in which case they can form a ghost structure in Twilight that can inhibit them. That said, this is a "phenomena" case that isn't solved so easily, and to save time I'll let you know that Animus could not penetrate the walls if they attempted to.

---

Paracelsus

Reality fractured as she re-opened her eyes, able to see the many branching paths that the future could take. It did not seem that time had been altered here, although the sight allowed her to see remnants of magic used in every corner of the hallway like splatter from a can.

OOC Active Mage Sight does allow Paracelsus to see the that this hallow is tied to a Destiny, or has one directly on it; the details are not clearer than the fact that some bigger event awaits it.

As she gazed around the room, Hohenheim pushed himself against her heels, the cat purring loudly at her feet.

Paracelsus crouched down to pat Hohenheim's side as she studied the area. "This is clearly the right place, but I expected to see some hung spells and there aren't any. Maybe there's a way to hide them."

"One thing is certain, all paths lead to something very important happening here."

Midas closes his eyes momentarily and breathes deeply. "This place has a bleak scent to it. Death, I think, has occurred here, and likely one of the more unpleasant kinds."

He opened his eyes and focused, allowing his perception of Death to grow, encompassing the tragedy before him.

OOC: Activating Mage Sight: Death Arcana.

---

Midas

The hallway almost feels like it wears death as a shroud, although there were no obvious signs of doom. The door remained as it did, however, silent and sturdy and still lacking a handle.

[Private to Midas: With your two-dot attainment in Death (ala Death Sight), you do detect ghosts. You cannot directly see them, but their presence can be felt beyond the door.][Private to Mnemosyne: with your two-dot attainment in Spirit (ala Spirit Eyes), you can sense the edges of Twilight creeping from beyond the door. It's almost if pieces of the Supernal are torn away to expose it.]

Midas paused. "The unquiet dead linger beyond the door. But first, we must open it," he said, looking it over. "Maybe we're overthinking this. Not every problem has to have a magical solution, right? Maybe there's a secret lever, or something like that."

He closed his eyes momentarily, and stopped looking at the world through the lens of Death. Instead, it was Matter that now colored his vision, hoping to discover the secret to opening the door.

"Leviathan... I know that's some kind of mythological monster, but wasn't that also, like, the title of a philosophy something or other? I think it was written by that 'nasty, brutish and short' guy."

Olympic shields his eyes, apparently nearly blinded by what he sees. "Oh wow, I guess I should have expected that.  He definitely used Prime to weave something into the walls..."

---

OOC:
10:28, Today: Olympic failed (no successes) using 2d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,6.  Gnosis + Prime - 3 + 3 for Spending a WP to not make it a chance Die.

Turning off Prime Sight, going into Forces.

EDIT:
21:08, Today: Olympic rolled 2 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 8,5,2,8,1.  Forces + Gnosis + Willpower - 2.


This message was last edited by the player at 02:11, Fri 30 Dec 2016.

"Hobbes," Mnemosyne answered Midas without looking away from the door.

She frowns, deep in thought, before she speaks again. "Be careful - something's very wrong here." She steps forward, leaning in to look closer at the edges of the doorframe. "The Gauntlet here has been torn to shreds, and something's not right with Twilight here either. Paracelsus, you have some experience with Spirit, right?" She motions toward the door. "Come take a look at this. And be on guard for roaming spirits, who knows what's gotten through..."

OOC: ST, can I roll to Scrutinize the "Twilight edges" I see with Spirit sight?

"Spirits?" Midas said, with an edge of nervousness. "That's... not really in my purview. But I'm sure that's a bad sign, whatever this 'Gauntlet' and 'Twilight' stuff is," he said.

He shook his head. "Excuse my ignorance. I've only been at this for, like, two weeks."

"The short version," Paracelsus said to Midas, "is that everything is alive and there are multiple dimensions that stack up on each other."

She smiled, "The long version will have to wait until later."

Paracelsus took a closer step to where Mnemosyne indicated. She recited the spell and focused on the door.

OOC: I'm still puzzling this out so let me know if I make a mistake.
Exorcist's Eye
1 Reach- Casting Time

Yantras
- High Speech +2
- Concentration +2

Spirit 1+ Occult 4+ Yantras 4= 9 dice, no paradox dice

15:56, Today: Paracelsus failed (no successes) using 9d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((6,2,3,5,7,7,3,6,5))

"I'm not seeing anything," Paracelsus frowned. "I don't think it worked."

Hohenheim brushed up against Paracelsus' leg. They were both disappointed that the spell hadn't worked.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:36, Thu 29 Dec 2016.

Somewhere in the distance, an old heater rumbled to life, making every vent along the hallway shake before the rushing of hot air becoming background noise.

Midas

Midas' eyes gloss over as he began to gaze past Death, locking in on the pattern and structure of the world around him. The walls and doors here were strange; it was as if they were made of regular materials, but were durable beyond reason. This wasn't just along the door; the entire length of the hallway seemed to be that way, woven with magic along it's seams.

As he looked at the door, the handle was there; at least, on the level he could sense, it had never left. It still wasn't tangible, but it was there.

Roll Gnosis + Matter - 3 to use Mage Sight and try to get more information from the door.

---

Olympic

As Olympic opened his senses even further, the motion of the world reached out...or it would, normally. The air may have been still in the hallway before, but to the sight, it was placid. He could feel the still air hanging around him from his skin to the vents, and even the electric lights didn't surge and flicker with the surges that he was used to seeing.

The movement he did feel was the door handle before him. As he focused his Sight, he saw the spell that was cast on the handle, forcing it to vibrate so quickly that it became both invisible and intangible.

With active Mage Sight, Olympic can see this is a Forces-based effect, so the Counterspell attainment can be attempted.

[Private to Olympic: I'm not going to have you change it since you got two successes and not one, but how does the math on that reroll work out? Gnosis 1 + Forces 3 + Willpower (3) - 3 should be a dicepool of four and not five, right?]

---

Paracelsus

Hohenheim looked up at her, a short mew coming out before brushing a tail along the door. The crackling energy of the failed spell hung around in the air like small fireflies, disappearing from her vision within seconds as she felt the Supernal fade, leaving a strange taste in her mouth.

---

Mnemosyne

The tattered edges of the Gauntlet flapped like a flag in an invisible wind.

You can. In fact, let's put these Mystery rules to the test. I'm going to be referencing the System Reference thread that I created for this, so if I'm quoting anything wrong from the book it's because I wrote it wrong there (and apologize in advance).

The Twilight Tear is a Mystery with an Opacity 2. You can attempt to have a Revelation about it (roll Gnosis + Spirit - 2) or spend a Willpower point and do actual Scrutiny (roll Gnosis + Spirit). This may be an extended action (first with two successes, second with one), although rolling an exceptional success lowers the Opacity by 2 instead of 1. If you fail to finish this by three rolls (equal to the unmodified dice pool), the Opacity will go up and then start increasing from there.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 05:05, Sun 01 Jan 2017.

Mnemosyne was only half-listening as she leaned in closer to the doorframe. She holds up her pen and begins tracing it in the air along the jagged edge only she can see, allowing a little bit of Mana to leak out of her pattern as she focuses her awareness, feeling the Fallen World fade further from her senses as the symbols of Spirit begin to come into focus...


OOC: Alright, let's see how this goes! Since my dicepool for Revelation would be 1 dice, let's skip that, spend a WP point, and go straight for Scrutiny.

First Roll (Gnosis 1 + Spirit 2, and spending a point of Mana for an automatic success):

10:33, Today: Mnemosyne rolled 1 success using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((1,4,8)).

That's 2 Successes with 1 point of Mana spent, which should reduce Opacity to 1.

Second Roll (Gnosis + Spirit 2):

10:38, Today: Mnemosyne rolled 2 successes using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((10(+1),3,10(+7))).

Success! Mystery Unlocked!
This message was last edited by the player at 15:43, Fri 30 Dec 2016.

The other awakened in the hallway became paler shades of themselves as Mnemosyne's refocused through her Sight. Twilight and the world usually rested together as one, but in this place, they had begun to peel off of one another in what looked like a rather violent fashion.

When she looked closer, it wasn't so much the things she saw as the feelings that crept into the peripheral of the wider lens. There were different energies in the air, hovering about like a static charge on the skin. First she felt the remnants of Paradox, having been released into the air not too long ago, as well as the taint of Abyssal energies that burned the back of the throat. There was also the subtle buzz of the Death and Spirit Arcanum as a fuel for it, leaving every sensation served on a grim palette.

While it couldn't be confirmed without seeing it, from the things Mnemosyne had studied, a botched summoning wasn't a bad theory...

"Aha!  I see what you did there... the knob is here, we just can't see it or touch it normally.  I think I can reverse this.  Um.. It's definitely a Forces effect though, so you all might want to take a step or two back.  For safety."  Olympic says as he rubs his hands together.  He holds them about three inches away from where the knob is hidden, and focuses.

---

OOC:

Counterspelling is basically a clash of wills, after you spend a mana, right?

11:13, Today: Olympic rolled 1 success using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 2,1,6,8.  Forces + Gnosis.

[Private to GM: A failure of math is how, my apologies.  I can't really remember how I got there, but you are 100% right, the pool should have been 4, not 5.  Thankfully, the final die there was not one of the two successes, so the result should still be the same.]
This message was last edited by the player at 16:18, Tue 03 Jan 2017.

There's a crackle in the air as new magic clashes against old, and to those who used their Sight, a crackle of energy passed through the air that left anticipation of more in it's wake. The handle hissed as it slowed it's vibration, steam lightly rising off of the brushed metal as it reflected Olympic's hand back at him.

Well, funny story, I was reading through the book and think I messed up on this. While it would truly be a clash of wills, counterspell looks like it specifically only works on magic while it's being cast, and not to end a continuous effect. That's what Dispelling for, which falls into Prime.

HOWEVER, Olympic has Prime, which allows him to do exactly that. Therefore, the dice pool would have still been 4 (1 Gnosis + 2 Prime + any yantra). Success indeed. Due to this, you have 2 Reach. I would assume you're using one of them to apply advanced duration (since it only lasts for 3 seconds otherwise), and the other to cast instantly. That work for you?

Mnemosyne suppressed a shudder at the hint of Paradox tainting the doorway. Once she had seen enough she steps back, pulling her awareness back toward the real world (switching back to regular Active Mage Sight) and pulling her coat closer around her shoulders as if to fight off a chill.

"...Okay, so the Hierarch might be using us as bait. That's good to know." She shook her head, then turned to the rest. "Something is very wrong inside that apartment. I can't be sure without looking, but it looks like our missing Councilor might have botched a summoning. Badly."

Animus... She thought to the Goetia hovering formlessly over her shoulder. Will you behave yourself if I manifest you?

I'm insulted, Master. When have I ever caused you problems?

Don't make me answer that question...

Mnemosyne held out her pen and begins to chant softly in High Speech, tracing a pattern in the air with its tip. To anyone looking in her direction with their Sight, her shadow, dimly cast by the hallway's lighting, seemed to shift to cast against the light, instead of with it, and they'd feel a slight, momentary surge in emotion, as if whatever they were feeling suddenly became amplified...

---

OOC: Time for some more complicated spellcasting...

Casting Goetic Summons (Mind 3, pg 162). While I don't need the primary effect of the spell (as Animus is right here next to her) I'm casting it for the secondary Spirit 2 effect, which grants the Goetia the Manifested condition for the Duration of the spell.

Spell Factors - Instant Cast (1 Reach) Advanced Duration: 1 Scene (1 Reach)
Yantras - Mantra (+2) and Dedicated Magical Tool (+1)

Rolling for Paradox first - going to Contain if I get a success:

11:19, Today: Mnemosyne failed (no successes) using 1d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((1)).

And that's a dramatic failure on a chance die (since my Paradox pool was reduced by my Tool) which means I regain 1 point of WP!

Rolling to Cast Goetic Summons (3 Mind + 1 Gnosis + 3 Yantra):

11:21, Today: Mnemosyne rolled 4 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 9,8,9,10(+4),3,3,4.  Casting Goetic Summons.

So close to that Exceptional Success! Oh well. That's a success to give Animus the Manifested condition for the remainder of the Scene.

---

Ephemera began to flow from the tip of her pen, first tracing the smoky outline of a figure, then rapidly filling in a solid form, until on the floor in front of her sat what appeared to be a large German Shepherd, its head reaching up past her waist height, all jet-black save for its eyes, which were deep red - and, in fact, glowing slightly. As Mnemosyne finished her incantation it looked up at the group with as haughty and aloof of an expression as its canine face could manage.

"Um... this is Animus," Mnemosyne said, gesturing toward the 'dog'. "My familiar. Something is wrong with Twilight inside the apartment, so I wanted to make sure he could follow us."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:50, Wed 04 Jan 2017.

"Possibly," Midas says, focusing his eyes on the Matter around him. "Might also be a test. See if we can't solve this sort of problem on our own. I mean, if we can't, do we even deserve to be mages?"

Sorry, been pretty busy. Here's that Mage Sight roll you asked for. Spent Willpower on it.

13:37, Today: Midas rolled 2 successes using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((7,8,8)).

"Before we walk in, let me check something," Paracelsus said.

She took out her pocket watch and drew the symbol for Time on it while reciting the spell in High Speech. When she was finished, she opened the watch and looked inside. Her first question was "Will I be in danger if I open the door and walk inside?"

Divination

4 Reaches
+1 Reach- casting time
+1 Reach- ask more complex questions
+2 Potency- 2 additional questions

Gnosis 2+ Time 3+ Yantras 3 (High Speech and Tool)= 8 dice

15:58, Today: Paracelsus rolled 6 successes using 8d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((10(+9),2,7,2,10(+6),10(+7),3,10(+9))).

Meanwhile, Hohenheim was careful to put Paracelsus between himself and the phantom dog.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:08, Wed 04 Jan 2017.

Olympic waits at the newly revealed doorknob while Paracelsus looks into the future.

"Handy trick, that.  Remind me to learn how to do it."  He says to the others in a stage whisper, trying not to disturb the spell casting.

OOC:
That assessment works for me!  I also have the Dispel Magic Rote in my Grimoire, so no matter how it happened, that spell was going bye-bye.

To those with their Sight still open, it was as if the group were lighting sparklers, each nimbus swirling in the air and lighting it on fire. The spells that were left on the hotel floor seemed to reciprocate with their own energy, the light smell of lavender in the air increasing as each new spell was cast. The canine familiar form hovered into existence alongside the Mastigos, locking eyes with the cat familiar, both their tails slowly moving back and forth.

As they continued to work their wills, a low rumble passed through the hallway as the train passed outside, and the distant shaking of light fixtures could be heard through the doors.

---

Midas

As Midas looks closer, the weaving of the Matter Arcanum became clear as writing on the wall. The magic woven into the doorway went deeper than just the Forces spell that Olympic had dispelled; deeper within, a secondary spell had been cast that placed a lock deep inside of the . It seemed that either Leviathan or his allies had cast more than one layer of protection on the entrance.

If Midas wants to attempt a Compelling spell (Matter 1) to magically open the lock within the door, the door's Durability trait of 2 will be subtracted from the dice pool as the Withstand trait. Of course, there's more than one way to skin a cat...

---

Paracelsus

Both the minute and hour hand spun in opposite directions, the tiny gears giving an audible whir as they churned with her spell. It didn't speak, as forming words was beyond even the machine, although Paracelsus could feel the response rush through her arm as the Arcanum gave it voice.

Yes

Congrats on the first exceptional success, that's question 1 of 3. When you have 4 Reach listed, is that because you are taking an additional Reach as part of your Exceptional Success? Or were you taking Paradox for that instead and wanted a different bonus?

"Hmm... looks like there's a lock within the door itself. Anyone know how to pick a lock? Otherwise, I'll try and magic it open."

"I know a thing or two, but I don't have my hairpins with me.  Also, I do have a boot with a moderate amount of muscle behind it, if it comes down to it."  Olympic offers, half seriously.

"You wanna kick down the magically trapped door, be my guest. Let me just stand back and to the side a bit..."

OOC: Neither. I messed up, it should only be 3 reaches, so 2 questions. I'd like to try the condition/resolution option- I'm not sure who determines that.

Paracelsus considered her next question. She had a list of questions, but yes/no answers wouldn't get her very far. Still, there was one thing she was worried about.

"Will the entity that came through that tear in the veil return?"

"There's still danger here, but it could something on the door, something inside the room or something completely different. Still, forewarned is forearmed. I suggest you magic it open instead of picking the lock or forcing it. It should be safer."

---

Paracelsus

Yes.

The hands spun a second time, almost bending with their speed, little metal grinding against even smaller brass, seeming almost eager to answer her. Even with the grim news, there was a warm feeling the crept from it as it's last response came out, sending a warm feeling along Paracelsus' arm and through her chest.


Gain the following Condition:

Charmed: You may invoke this twist of fate at any time as a reflexive action. If used to avoid injury, resolving this Condition reduces the damage to 1. Otherwise, neither you nor the mage knows the exact nature this good fortune will take when it manifests — only that it will have a significant impact.

Resolution: Your character narrowly avoids some misfortune or enjoys a lucky break; the Condition is resolved as described above. Gain an Arcane Beat instead of a regular Beat when you resolve this condition.

"I said 'if it comes down to it,' relax!  I may not be as well read or smart as some of you, but I'm not that dumb!"  Olympic says, hands up in mock surrender.  "But, that does bring up a good question before we go in.  Are any of you any good in a fight? If there was a botched summoning back there, we might have one on our hands.  Personally, I can handle myself pretty well, and Forces is pretty direct in its destructive power."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 19:19, Sun 08 Jan 2017.

"Whatever came through there is coming back," Paracelsus told the others. "So that's a good question, Olympic. I'm afraid the best I can do is whack someone with a stick or flick small objects at them- I play field hockey. I can run away with the best of them, though, and that's always an option."

"Go ahead and give it a shot, Midas." She and Hohenheim got out of the way to let Midas do his thing.

Mnemosyne looked down at her dress and shoes, then back at Olympic. "If it's got a Mind I can do a little damage. Otherwise I'm counting on him," she replied, gesturing toward the black dog seated by her feet. It grinned - or at least, a canine approximation of a grin - showing off its fangs.

She nodded toward Midas. "Go ahead. I'd rather not make a forceful entrance if we can help it."

Midas sighed, calling upon his knowledge of Matter to compel the lock to open. It wasn't normally his field, but if it was necessary...

Okay, I'm still getting a hang of this system, so bear with me if I get this wrong.

This is an improvised spell with a base spellcasting pool of Gnosis + Matter, which is 3. I will add the Concentration Yantra for +2 abd my Dedicated Magical Tool for +1, for a total of 6 dice. The Durability of 2 is subtracted, for 4 dice total. And finally, I spend a Willpower to bring it up to 7 dice. As I am Gnosis 1 and using my Dedicated Magical Tool, I roll 0 Paradox dice.

Rolled four successes total on the roll to Compel the lock to open.

03:52, Today: Midas rolled 4 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((2,7,8,10(+6),8,5,9))

As Midas touched the door and compelled it to change it's shape, the others could hear the wood creak and moan like an old house, shifting back into it's original form. With both the handle becoming solid and unjoined from the wall, the door swung inward, a draft of cool air meeting the awakened as if there were an open window inside.

Even without Active Mage Sight, the awakened feel the presence of the Hallow when the door opens. There is a power in here.

The Hallow was a room like any other in the hotel at it's first glance, but as you stared in, the room became deeper and wider as if an optical illusion were unfolding. It didn't expand beyond reason, but to say the room was almost twice the size of a suite would be fair. The walls were decorated in a faded white and gold wallpaper, weathered and breaking with seams...

...and, of course, covered in blood.

It was a sight unlike any other; as if there had been an explosion in the middle of the room, but instead of fire and debris, it instead coated the room in a thin layer of gore and viscera. It had even hit the light fixtures, casting their tinted light along stained sheets and the soiled carpet. There were no bodies to speak of, although there did seem to be some stains that were concentrated in the center that may have been something before.

Other than that, however, it looked empty.

Everyone: It's pretty gnarly. Roll Resolve and Composure to enter the room without taking a condition.

Midas: Since you only have Matter 1 and Gnosis 1, Midas would originally only have a dice pool of 2 before adding yantras and willpower, meaning that he would have had a 6d10 roll instead. Since you had 4 successes, removing one die would at worse change it to 3, but even if that were the case it's still a success.

"Oh, shit..." Olympics mumbles half to himself as the gory scene is revealed.  He felt his stomach start to turn the same way it had when he first saw the photos of his brother, but this time he was able to suppress it.  "I don't think we we the ones who made a forceful entrance here."

He takes a few cautious steps across the threshold, keeping his eyes peeled for any movement in the physical realm.

---

OOC:

09:50, Today: Olympic failed (no successes) using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 3,6,4,7.  Wits + Composure (Perception).
09:38, Today: Olympic rolled 3 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 2,2,10(+4),10(+8),6.  Resolve + Composure.

Resolve+Composure:
10:04, Today: Mnemosyne rolled 3 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((8,9,6,2,8)).

---

Mnemosyne put her hand over her mouth and nose as she followed Olympic into the room. She felt her stomach churn at the sight, but managed to keep her cool. "I guess we've found the missing Councilor..." She shuddered at the thought, then focused inwardly, letting a little Mana out to suffuse her pattern with protective energy... (Spending a point of Mana to activate Mind Mage Armor).

She cast her eyes around the room, still attuned to the higher realms, looking for more signs of whatever caused this macabre scene (Mind, Space, and Spirit active mage sight still active.)

Animus, meanwhile, padded straight toward the center of the room, looking around at floor-level. Even he seems to be on high alert.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:15, Tue 10 Jan 2017.

Paracelsus had to stop at the doorway to recover her composure. She had thought there might be a body, but hadn't expected anything like this.
19:14, Today: Paracelsus rolled 1 success using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((5,5,2,8,1)).

She carefully entered the room, doing her best to avoid the bodily remains spread around. Hohenheim leapt to her shoulders in order to avoid stepping on (and then having to clean off) the bits of body.

With her Fate/Time sight active, Paracelsus scanned the room to see if anything else stood out.

Midas enters the room, but rather than looking scared, he looks... well, furious.

"Oh, not this shit again," he growled. "Everyone on guard. Whatever did this might still be lurking around."

His eyes scanned the room, his knowledge of Death and Matter helping him to interpret what was almost certainly a scene of grisly murder.

Midas rolled 3 successes using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,10(+7),3,8,6,8.  Resolve + Composure.

With the blood being dry as well as the stale scent that hung in the air, it was safe to assume that whatever had happened was not recent. Unlike the actual taste of blood, which actually bit the senses, this was a burn on the back of the throat with each exhale. Those that used their Sight could feel the dark energy that seemed to pour off the walls and up from the floor, like the

Paracelsus: with your Time sight, you can see the Time effect bound to the room that seemed to distort the length of a day to make it longer. It seemed to be emanating from an object within the room. Roll Gnosis + Time to attempt to locate it.

Midas: It was a botched summoning alright, but from the remnants of the magic that Leviathan had been casting, it seemed that he had been trying to summon a Death Supernal.

Mnemosyne: Through your Sight, you find yourself standing at the torn edge of Twilight. When the summoning went awry, it appeared that the Abyss all but exploded forth with energy, tearing the spirit energies to shreds as it gave way to whatever came through...and something definitely came through.

All the while, you begin to feel a sickening feeling in the back of your throat as you feel a dark energy begin to grow...


Roll Initiative. Anyone who rolls a 13 or higher may take an instant action along with this post to cast or use attainments.

Oh snap, first initiative roll of the chronicle!

Mnemosyne's roll -
12:59, Today: Mnemosyne rolled 15 using 1d10+5 ((10)).

Animus's roll -
13:01, Today: Mnemosyne rolled 9 using 1d10+7 ((2)).

Not going to cast any spells because I already have one active (Goetic Summons) and I don't want to add more Reach to my spells than I can avoid... and I already have Mind mage armor active.

Olympic's days as a quarterback were not far behind him, and his reflexes served him well.  As soon as he felt something coming, he closed his right hand into a fist and instantly, he was surrounded by an invisible shield.

13:21, Today: Olympic rolled 14 using 1d10+6 with rolls of 8. Initiative.

Spending a Mana to activate Forces Armor.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:32, Fri 13 Jan 2017.

Gnosis+ Time to find object emanating Time:

14:09, Today: Paracelsus rolled 3 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((9,2,5,8,9)).

Initiative: 14:12, Today: Paracelsus failed (no successes) using 1d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((6)).Init= 10.

Hohenheim's init: 14:14, Today: Paracelsus rolled 2 successes using 1d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((10(+10,2))).= 15

Paracelsus focused on finding the object that was affecting the passage of Time. Hohenheim's back lifted and the hair on his back and tail grew out. He hissed a warning as the energy grew.

"He invited a thing of Death here, and paid for it dearly," Midas said, drawing necrotic energy around him to defend against enemy attacks. "Let us hope we don't do the same."

Casting the Death Variant of Mage Armor, spending 1 Mana.

Got a 9 on initiative.

18:09, Today: Midas failed (no successes) using 1d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((3)).