bump?

Chance's eyes got real big as he glanced around to see if there was anyone else around that may have heard...or felt...or whatever it was, the question from Fate. "Umm, I don't think so," was all he could think to say in response. He'd never been one to consider himself particularly important, much less the savior of all magedom. Moreover, he was pretty certain he didn't believe in the concept of the Hieromagus; and if there was one, that sounded like a hell of a lot of work, and not really something he was cut out for.

Of course, he also knew that Fate often had different opinions of what people should do, and he'd found that it was generally easier to swim with the current of Fate, rather than fight the current. He shrugged as he looked around.

 There was a long pause and then another response. You are not.

 It was unheard of for fate itself to speak. It always silently guided events, never voicing anything though it was quick to make its displeasure known... just never verbally.

 Chance found that there were roughly a dozen fellow mages in the building, each doing some form of research or another (it was from them that he'd heard the rumors of the Heiromagus). Some were studying the fruit, others studying resonance... but they were all studying something.

Chance looked around to see if any of the other mages heard anything, "Right, well I guess it's good we got that understood," he said to no one in particular. He walked up to one of the  other mages, preferably one not too engrossed in whatever they were doing and asked, "So I get that the storm was caused by rage spirits and storm leviathans, but do we know why? I mean those things don't just appear out of nowhere, there has to be some sort of proximate cause, right?"

 The mage, a young man with sandy brown hair and green eyes looked up from his research on a fruit. "Not really, no. It was impossible to read the resonance of the storm. It was as if it were actively scrubbing resonance clean.

 That said, there is a dragon in New York that might know... and yes, I mean a literal dragon with wings and a tail. It was out flying in the storm and giving directions to the different mages. I heard he showed up at the Grand Consilium. As to where to find him, I have no idea."

Chance looked at the man incredulously, "A dragon? Seriously? What has this world come to. But I mean, there can't be too many places in the City a dragon could hide, right? Unless it was just a mage really giving paradox the middle finger. Do you know where in the City the dragon was seen? Might make finding it a bit easier."

 The mage shrugged. "Dunno, the city's a big place and it's been mostly abandoned now. He could be living anywhere and we might likely not know."

 Still, he circled a map of a roughly three block radius of where the dragon was seen based on the stories he'd heard.

OOC: not going to give a specific place as I am, IRL, unsure of New York's actual layout. Still, it's a few blocks west of Time Square and a bit Northeast of where you are now.

 After circling the map, he spoke up. "That said, there were several of the higher-ups at the Grand Consilium… you might want to talk to some of them. I can give you the office address of the head Syndic. If anyone knows anything about the dragon, it'll be him."
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:30, Fri 24 July 2020.

Chance shrugged, "Sure, give me his address. It never hurts to ask, right? Better than sitting around here looking through old books and studying weird fruit." He looked down at the fruit his fellow mage was inspecting, "I mean no offense, but that's not really my thing. You know, 'a rolling stone gathers no moss' and all that jazz."

 The mage glared at Chance and handed him back the paper. "Sure thing, Jackass. Now, leave me to my old books and weird fruit and stop wasting my time."

 It seemed the young mage had taken offense. Still, he had a lead.... but, it was dark and there were no taxis in the destroyed city.

 So now was the question: Head there now, by foot, in the dark... or wait till morning?

Chance offered the man a warm smile, "Sure thing, have fun with that." He grabs his backpack and sets off for the address he'd been given; what could possibly go wrong navigating a new city at night? With so many people having fled the city so abruptly, there had to be an abandoned car with the keys left in it somewhere...
This message was added to by the player at 22:58, Mon 27 July 2020.

 After several minutes of searching, Chance located an old car with the keys still inside. It still had a little gas in it even though the windows had been broken.

 The problem was the amount of rubble in the road and abandoned cars made navigation difficult. It took several detours and the gas ran out before you could get to the destination fully but, a little walking later and you found yourself at the apartment of the highest ranking mage in the city.

 Despite the power being out, there was light in the window where he was supposed to be.

Chance was nonplussed by the twists and turns it had taken for him to get here; it was par for the course when you allowed Fate to guide you. Stepping up to the door, he calming reaches out and knocks on it while opening his vision to any wards that might be protecting the apartment.

 From out in the hall, Chance could hear the hum of a gas generator running, likely the source of the electricity within the apartment.

 As Chance knocked, he could hear movement from inside. The door opened slightly revealing chain locks on the other side and an older man in perhaps his sixties peered at you from between the cracks I the door. "Yes? Who is it?"

Chance smiled and nodded in greeting to the man on the other side of the door, "Uh, hey, yeah. I'm a member of...the club...from out of town. Was wondering if I could just have a few minutes of your time. New York is definitely not what I expected," he added with a mirthful smile.

 The man looked at Chance appraisingly... but did not open the door. "Pardon me for being cautious, but club members don't usually show up to my house this late at night. Like you said, New York has seen better days. What did you need?"

Chance shrugs, "Like I said, I just arrived in town, and really don't know anyone here. I was at a clubhouse earlier and was told you might have some insight into what the hell happened here. I'm not a detective by nature, but Fate has brought me here, and I generally don't find it healthy to ignore her for too long."

 The man looked at you for a minute or so... and likely looking around you too but, sensing no hostility from you, unlocks the door and lets you in. The inside of his apartment looked cozy, still lit by electricity despite the power outages in the rest of the city and you can see a gas generator out on his balcony.

 All around his apartment are books on all manner of topics. It seemed that this man was quite the well-read individual. "The short version of the story is that we found ourselves at the epicenter of a magical shitstorm.

 So, are you an emissary from any of the other Consiliums or just... by yourself?"

"Yeah, no kidding," Chance said as he casually glanced around the room. "I mean, I heard there was a dragon flying around in the shitstorm." At the man's question he shook his head, "No, I'm here alone. Like I said, Fate brought here. I'm an Acanthus, I tend to let Fate guide me where it wants to take me."

 The older man sighed and nodded. "Yeah, that'd be Noah. From what I understand, he now lives on a giant green ship out in the middle of the ocean. He's the person closest to all of this... but I wouldn't go out looking for his boat without an invite. The last people we sent didn't come back."

"Noah? Okay," he said with a short sigh, "so is he a mage with overly grandiose ideas of what are acceptable ideas of displays of power, or some other type of being? If he's a mage, how in the hell has he managed to steer clear of paradox? Is he not part of the Consilium?"

 The man rubbed at his chin. "Well, he used to be a mage. We're not sure what he is now. All we know is that he apparently died, came back as a dragon, and whatever transformation he's undergone isn't affected by paradox.

 Before the transformation, he was part of the Consilium and Free Council. He was our synthetic technician... but, lately, he's been off doing his own thing. Apparently, there's some sort of demon infestation in the city that he's busy with. They attacked us when we brought him in for questioning. Somehow I believe the infestation and the storm are connected... so we have people out looking for clues.

 That'd be a good way to get ahead in the city right now, if you don't mind some danger."

Chance's face turned into a slight frown, "Well, I'm not exactly a fan of danger, I prefer mai tai's on the beach. But Fate did seem to bring me here for a reason, so I might as well see where it leads me. I don't really have any expertise in dealing with demons, but I guess I'm willing to help where I can."

 The old man nodded. "Good. I'll spread the word to the other members of the Consilium to share what they know. If you learn something new, we'd be grateful for the information."

OOC: so, is there anything else you wanted to do in this thread or would you like to move on and join the others?

OOC: I'm good to move on

 You're free to enter the Cultists and Cabals thread now