As their destination came into view Stele lowered his phone, putting it to sleep as he took in the quaint little house.  Despite its proximity to the graveyard there was an undeniable sense of habitation to the place, a quiet vitality that spoke well of the inhabitants unflagging spirit.  'Cute home, hope its still occupied by the end of the day.'  The necromancer mused somewhat grimly, his grasp tightening on the rolled top of the bag of sweets he hoped would provide them with an easy in.  Usually being this close to a cemetery would be soothing for him, something about the stillness that pervaded them syncing up with the fragments he remembered from another world entirely to create a calming whole, but it wasn't quite working today.

Looking at each of his companions in turn Stele huffed out a little puff of air to steel himself and offered the bag to whomever might have a free hand.  "Right, we're going for subtle first, so a little veil seems in order no?"  The moros asked softly, the question largely rhetorical as he reached back and slipped his cards from their case.  Fixing the goal in mind, he shuffled the pack with the ease of long practice before catching the topmost card between two fingers and turning it toward himself.  Studying the depiction of a man utterly engaged in his own scrutiny of the world, Stele nodded slightly and flipped the card around, letting it face outward as he began to chant in the tongue of the ancients detailing his intent as he reached for the perfection of Stygia.

OOC:  Casting Suppress Aura - Free reach on Advanced Duration (one month) & Casting Time.  Increasing Scale to target up to eight people.  Yantras are the card (Two of Wands) and High Speech.
12:17, Today: Stele rolled 2 successes using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((4,2,9,6,6,9)).
This message was last edited by the player at 16:22, Tue 02 May 2017.

Necus had to suppress a sudden sense of panic when Stele began will-working, wondering what her mentor would think of her allowing a virtually unknown Mage to cast upon her.  Group think won the day in the end, and she submitted to the casting.  As he completed the Yantras, she opened up her own Mage Sight, suffusing it with elements of Spirit and Life to check their surroundings.  Specifically, she was looking for local Spirits around the home, something intelligent enough to be more than minimally aware of its surroundings.

OOC:  13:40, Today: Nexus rolled 2 successes using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s.  Perception.

Was it any surprise that Selene was eager to take the bag of little cakes and sugar rolls from the necromancer? Of course not. She'd walked backward much of the way, giving her an angle to better maintain a friendly conversation at. Even when others refused to talk or had nothing to say, she seemed perfectly happy to wait in silence. Stele received most of her attention, but that seemed to be mostly in the form of teasing him about how well dressed he was and threatening to push him into the puddles that collected in every gutter.

"So! I bet I know who's going to knock on the door," Selene declared and soon heaved herself over the fence in front of the garden-lawn. "Anyone want to follow me, or are you the type of friendly visitors who stand by the footpath?"

OOC: Activating Mage Sight, in particular looking for Mind effects. But those likely won't be present until the door's open.

OOC: There are no major spirits to be found outside the house or in line of vision.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:13, Tue 02 May 2017.

"I still think this is a weird way to be neighborly." Despite her mumbled protestations, Clasm came along, drawing the business card that Oz had provided as she kept pace with the... more bubbly woman. She'd been an interesting source of conversation, so far, even if they hadn't talked about anything substantial yet. Unless Selene was only putting on an act, though, Clasm suspected that her going up alone had the potential to backfire. At the very least, it would help if someone who'd been working for Oz for a bit was present to give the errand a stronger air of legitimacy.

Using the walkway instead of jumping over the fence likely helps, as well.

"Someone has to."

Nexus added, her affect still flat, her gaze tracking everywhere but on her companions.

Between one word and the next Stele felt the shift, the whispers rising at the edges of his awareness as his Nimbus bled out into the world and washed the colour from it.  It was oppressive for a moment, an all encompassing pressure that muffled the soul, but as quickly as they had come, the shadows retreated.  In the wake of that flood they left just the gentlest of traces, a little bit of darkness to damp out the light that burned in most of them.  Relaxing the tension that had built in his shoulders while he focused on the imago, the Moros offered Selene a thankful little grin as he shuffled his deck back together and slipped them away.  Her good-natured ribbing and playful demeanor were oddly endearing, almost puppyish in a way, and he had wholeheartedly enjoyed the opportunity to gasp and flinch dramatically each and every time she'd threatened the wellbeing of his accoutrements.

He wasn't surprised in the least that the statuesque blonde had been the one to seize the initiative in both taking up the burden of sweets and approaching the house, so with his implements safely tucked away once more, he soon joined her if by the rather more conventional method of the footpath.  "We can always claim it's an American thing."  Stele offered Clasm conciliatorily.  He hadn't seen many other good options for approaching the house and none had been presented, so they'd just have to hope for the best with this one.  Pausing only to give the doorway a quick once over, the necromancer took a measured breath and unfocused his eyes just a bit, shifting his attention past the objects before him and into the symbols that lay just beneath the surface.

OOC:  Triggering Mage sight with Death and Matter to look for any lingering shades/death echoes or unusual substances.

OOC: Okay, spoken to Bast and we're going forward as if she has activated her Mage Sight as well.

Death: There are no Anchors on this side of the cemetery wall, but it seems the group has an audience. An elder woman and a teenage boy both sit on the cemetery wall.

Matter: There's nothing of great value around, and the door to Belinda's house is in good condition. It hasn't been recently broken or repaired.

Prime: No spells have been cast in the observable area. Nothing on or in the parts of the house you can see through windows.

Spirit: The gauntlet strength of this area is 3, typical for a suburb.

Mind: There are four thinking beings around you, surprise. Will expand as relevant.

Life: So anyone who has toxins, diseases and personal tilts should let Nexus know. It's obvious to her now.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:07, Fri 05 May 2017.

Bound. Selene takes a few long steps toward the door, hopping up the steps. She kept the bag of sweets tucked under an arm. To the flat of her palm she pressed a silver coin, rolling her fingers across the face of the Queen beneath the brown paper. She rapped her knuckles against the door once, twice, again and again. "Hello? Mister... Kevin! Are you home??"

A muffled call can be heard from somewhere within the house, sounding a lot like "Coming!". Heavy footsteps approach the door and, after a moment of rustling locks, a man who is much too tall for the frame of of the door opens it.
Kevin is tall and broad, and it looks as though he likely has to leave his own house ducked down and sideways. A salt and pepper beard and slightly leathery skin indicate he is not young by any means, but his blue eyes are bright and curious.
He seems surprised about the gaggle of folk in front of his door, though he clearly notes the precious cargo Selene is carrying almost instantly.

"Sounded like an Ozzy at my door! What brings you lot here then?"

The accent is unmistakably Australian, a discerning ear will guess Adelaide. Though he is not inviting the group into his home, the friendly giant doesn't seem overly cautious or concerned by their appearance.

OOC: Updating this now.
Mind: He is a thinking being, but there has been no mind altering affects on him.
Life: He is alive and well for the most part. Seems he's taken some painkillers, but it's something like acetaminophen.
Spirit: He is not possessed, nor has anything riding along.
Death: He's not dead, nor an anchor.
Matter: Kevin is wearing a diamond earring in one ear and a gold ring on his left finger.
Prime: He has no traces of magic cast on him and is definitely a sleeper.

I don't have my rulebook on me in the airport, but I hope that's clear enough.

"Sally sent us from the inn. Wanted to check in on Bindy." Clasm gave the man a polite smile, one she'd had plenty of practice with prior to her Awakening. The professional expression of cheer faded a bit, though, in favor of a more natural smirk as she nodded her head in the direction of Stele. "The gentleman here was of a mind that one can't be neighborly is such a manner without bringing snacks to be shared. Therefore!"

Clasm then gestured to Selene's foodstuffs, leaving the implication clear. She did so with her right hand, the left rubbing the ring on her finger as she shifted the card in her grip. The left hand drew the card that foretold the future, and Kevin's choice as to whether to let them in had yet to be decided. Hopefully, she could shift the odds to get a foot in the door.

OOC: Two free reaches and a point of Mana to cast Exceptional Luck reflexively, using her Dedicated Tool as a similarly reflexive Yantra.
12:32, Today: Clasm rolled 3 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s.  Gnosis + Fate + Yantra.
Exceptional Luck is Clasm's Praxes, so that's an exceptional success, which she'll use to refund the Mana spent, as well as getting bonus Mana on top of that. I'll then move the Primary Spell Factor up Fate - 1 steps, so Potency increases from 1 to 3. Clasm is giving herself a 1 Turn Boon that provides +2 dice and the Charmed Condition, which will go toward the following social roll to get in the door.
12:37, Today: Clasm rolled 2 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s.  Persuasion + Manipulation + Boon.
I'll also resolve the Charmed Condition in the hopes of speeding things along in a favorable manner. Since it's not averting a serious injury, how it manifests is up to ST discretion. Since the Boon-granted Condition was gained through a casting that was an exceptional success, though, it grants a beat where it normally would not.

"S'pose you Yanks bring guns to check up on strangers", the statement was said with a widening grin, though at the mention of Sally his eyes had grown harder.
"May as well get this over with then, or else your Sally will be the one knocking down me door"

Leaving the door open, Kevin turned and moved down the narrow hall,
"I'm sure the civilized folk know, but you should take your shoes off, Yankie Doodle! Don't have time to clean the muck from outside. Kitchen's on the left!"

The walls of the hallway were a crisp white, but bright paintings were on the walls, showing square buildings, desert dunes and oases. The years of the paintings went back as far as the early 2000's and all signed in black acrylic with the same signature. The house smells clean and the interior is chilly, as if windows have been left open further in the small home.

Kevin leans against a counter in the kitchen, sipping at a ridiculously large mug of coffee. The rumbling of a percolator intermingles with the soft sound of curtains moving. His shoulders are rigid and his face drawn in a much more serious expression than just a few moments ago.

"Go on then, ask your questions, but Bindy isn't here"

"Might we ask where she is then?"

Nexus fell back on classic English politeness, including having refrained from speaking up when Kevin had referred to her as one of the Americans.  It didn't really feel like her anymore, when she wore this name, but she accepted it anyways.  She could say the words, the classic English avoidance of embarrassment, even if she couldn't feel them.

"The mime speaks! Or is it goths they call you lot these days?", the joke was weakly made and Kevin's grin faded quickly. Taking another swig from his mug, he addressed Nexus:
"Thing is, much as Sally's concern is kind, it's none of her business. I know if she finds out where Bindy is she'll go find her and try to fix her but... There's no fixing her anymore, and I don't want to upset Belinda by bringing old faces 'round"
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:41, Sat 06 May 2017.

"Thank you!" Selene beamed toward her countryman. She left her sandals on the porch, leather thinned from what must have been years of constant use. Her toes stretched out and wiggled. They curled into the carpet as she stepped into the house and bounced pads against the smooth floor of the kitchen as she entered. Setting the bag on the counter, and opening it with a quick rip down the side of the brown paper.

"I think we've got eclairs and ... Jammy, sticky things. Who wants what one?" she asked, inspecting the bag's contents. She paid little mind to the suddenly serious turn of the conversation. Instead, she's pulling out little cakes and carefully setting them out on a now loose leaf of brown paper. As she set them out, her eyes caught Kev's for a moment. Just long enough to grab the spark of memory in them that the pastries brought, the reaction and associations that everyone had for the first time they'd seen a fancy, bakery sweet. Too adult to be had as a child, but always the object of desire.

OOC: Casting Read the Depths. Reaches: instant casting, shifting Duration to Advanced and what the hell, a memory alteration if I want it. Yantras: Coin and Skills (Empathy).
19:58, Today: Selene rolled 3 successes using 8d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 6,3,8,5,1,9,9,2.  Gnosis+Mind+Yantra.

So that's mind and memory reading if he has less than 5 Resolve. Particularly, Selene would like the memory of the last time he spoke with or saw Bindy.

OOC: Response to Selene:
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:56, Sun 07 May 2017.

"Aw. That's not fair. You can have one of both," Selene says, pushing a pair of pastries toward Kev. Her smile had even shifted to a frown, but only for a moment. "We should've brought coffees. Isn't the coffee here just awful?" she asks, looking to Kev for confirmation. Even for someone from the wilds of Western Australia- as Selene was- recognized the inferiority of English coffee.

The large man relaxed at Selene's statement and gave his countrywoman a conspiratorial grin,
"Brits wouldn't know a good coffee if it was brought right to their veins, but I've got the good stuff here. Pot's on already with some ground I brought back with me from Turkey. Proper Turkish coffee! You're more than welcome to some, especially to have with these sweets"
He turned to grab some mugs, most decorated with the same art style that the paintings in the hallway had and all significantly smaller than the one Kevin was drinking from.
Though, that mostly meant they were normally sized.
In a move that was absolute avoidance of Nexus' question, Kevin plucked sugar and milk from their respective places and put them on the counter next to the food Selene had unpacked.
"You seem very nice, and I'm sorry that Sal twisted your arms to come here, but she sticks her nose where it don't belong and she needs to leave us be this time"

"If Sal getting personally involved is what's stopping you from getting whatever's wrong with Belinda fixed, then fixing her may be possible within that stipulation." Clasm smirked as she spread her arms wide, indicating the gathered Mages. She hadn't taken any of the offered foodstuffs yet, mainly because she figured it'd be more than a little awkward to stick around for snacks if negotiations fell apart. If being the key term, there. "After all, it isn't unheard of for Sal to delegate, and we're about as far from old faces as you can get. What needs fixing?"

For a moment the room became quiet as the wind died down and the final sputter of coffee fell into the pot. At Clasm’s words it was like what little energy Kevin had been putting forward was drained and he leaned heavily against the counter, going so far as to press his forehead against the cabinet in front of him.
“Alzheimer’s”, the word was shaky and the intake of breath after it stuttered slightly, “Bindy… her dad had it as well. Doc says it’s hereditary.”
Turning back to the group he scrubbed at misty eyes,
“She gets upset when she hears voices she should remember… It's why I want to keep Sally away. They take care of her and the nurses are lovely, but there’s no fixing it”
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:05, Mon 08 May 2017.

"That's a hard thing."  Stele commiserated, his steely gaze softening somewhat as he avoided the meaningless platitudes that came so easily at times like these.  Given that a goodly portion of his client base were well into their 'golden years' he'd seen his fair share of the kind of suffering a disease like this could bring, not just to the patient, but also to everyone who had known them.   Nodding his thanks to Selene as she portioned out the pastries, the necromancer tried not to frown too openly as he felt the chill of magic steal across the room from whatever she'd just done.  Stealth had gone out the window shortly after the door opened, but he couldn't quite shake the notion they needed to be on guard here.

"You're right of course, Sal didn't know what was going on when she sent us.  I think she was just worried that she hadn't heard from Belinda in a while."  He added, selecting a jam cookie and a napkin from the mess before retreating to a respectful distance.  It would be an easy thing to try and help this man, to give in and do whatever they could to ease the suffering that was right in front of them, but that was a dangerous habit to get into.  'Not my field anyway.'  The necromancer mused as he broke a tiny piece from the edge of the sweet and popping it into his mouth.  Maybe he could give Bindy a boost, let her avoid the worst of the slips for a week or two, but curing a persistent degenerative disease was a long way outside his wheelhouse.  "You don't know us well, but if it's all right with you I'd still like to check in on her.  At least then we can tell Sally we gave her a treat and her love even if that's all anyone can do."

Bast remained quiet as they entered the house, standing against the counter. Ordinarily she would speak up, but it looked like the others were handling it and with a group this large, she wasn't sure when to chime in...

She frowned almost imperceptibly as the older man mentioned Bindy's condition. That was sad, certainly, and it seemed like a logical explanation for her absence, but... wouldn't Oz have been able to discover that much on her own?

At her silent command, the ephemeral feline on her shoulder dropped off onto the nearby countertop and took off deeper into the house. It could be nothing, but... it couldn't hurt to check, right?

---

OOC: Sending Mau to scout briefly around the house for anything abnormal. If my understanding of the rules is correct, I believe I still get the effect of Mage Sight when using Mau's senses, so she should be able to see anything that Prime or Forces sight would pick up, though that's up to your ruling of how shared senses work, ST.

Rolling Finesse+Rank, since I'm assuming that's the most relevant dice pool for a spirit like this, and spending a point of Mau's WP to add dice -

11:40, Today: Bast rolled 4 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((2,2,10(+3),4,9,9,8)).

With a small nod, Kevin walked past the group into what looked to be the living room, grabbing a pad of paper and a pen that were perched next to a corded telephone. The bright pink and yellow writing utensil looked ridiculous in hands stained by oil, cuts and bruises littering his hands and fingernails. Moving back into the kitchen, ducking his head under the entryway as he did so, Kevin passed the paper to Selene:

178 Romford Rd, E7 9HY

The words were printed in blocked lettering, as if to avoid any chance of them coming back for a correction.

"It's a fifteen minute walk, I wanted to keep her close..." The words were plaintive, as if asking to not be judged, "You let Sally know that my Belinda is fine and to leave well enough alone. That woman did always like to stick her fingers into every pie she could reach, especially when she was told not to"
He shook himself slightly, the expression on the Australian's face had slowly darkened in annoyance as he spoke but the futility of it was clear to him. Kevin rose and moved back to the phone,
"If you want to leave now, I can call them and tell them to let you in. Don't want to make more of a fuss for you than Sal already has"
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:28, Mon 08 May 2017.

"Thank you, Kevin.  We will do our best to be circumspect.  My apologies for the inconvenience."

Nexus said in a clipped and polite tone, casting the others a glance as she rose and began to leave.

Clasm made a noise of agreement, but it wasn't intelligible due to her having a mouth full of some sort of baked good from the available snacks they'd brought. At the first mention of Alzheimer's, she'd done the Wise thing and stuffed her noise hole so that someone with more tact could handle the talking. She cast her gaze across the others as she inched toward the door, more specifically where she'd left her boots. She didn't know why she'd gotten into the mindset of 'shoes' before, her footwear were her weapons. She wasn't going to set them aside lightly in the future.