Legacy of the Stone Assembly, Chapter I: The Cabal, The Quill, and the Concord

Shayuri · Dec 19, 2008

In the brief lull, Thorn glances at the piano, trying to decide what the best course of action is from here... If the ward was easily unmade, that suggested it was -intended- to be unmade. Surely The Nemean was capable of better.

But once undone...then what? She wasn't quite at the level where she could just banish it. But maybe there were other, less direct routes to take.

(OOC - Thanks Solarious! That's a great post. Very helpful.

Is it possible to use Analyze Spirit and/or Read Spirit through the piano, or do I need to wait until I can actually see it?)

[sblock=Thorn's Aura]Mottled, with patches of light blue and purple, all suffased with bright sparks of light that twinkle like stars.[/sblock]

BlueLotus · Dec 20, 2008

Too busy preparing for her magic and talking to the others, Levanna failed to notice Prometheus' scrutiny [sblock=aura]dark blue that seems to want to bleed into orange, but the orange keeps getting swallowed up. lots of sparklies of an awakened as well.[/sblock]

"So I guess you guys are sure you want to do this. Okay.." she said, mildly annoyed. "We sure put a lot of thought into this decision." she added sarcastically and unnecessarily.

Levanna nodded at Thorn's suggestion. "If we're gonna do it, then yes, we should work together."

She closed her eyes and drew her athame again. She swept the blade around her with an extended arm while muttering her invocations. Then, while imagining a solid mystical barrier descending upon her body and melding into her skin, she pulled her arms close, crossed over her chest in a protective gesture. [sblock=spell]Levanna casts Ephemeral Shield, p. 246[/sblock]

"I don't have the power yet to keep a spirit in place preemptively. So when the wards are broken, we either have to act very fast... or hope it wants to play nicely," she said with unease creeping into her voice

"Thorn, it might be a good idea to grant everyone the Second Sight that can't do it on their own. If we mess up or this spirit is too strong, I think that everyone should at least be able to see what's happening," Levanna said. "What do you think? in the mean time I can start preparing to break the wards," she said, producing a half melted candle wrapped in a velvet cloth from her purse. She carefully set it upon the piano. It was apparently required for her to work this sort of spirit magic.

Hella_Tellah · Dec 22, 2008

[sblock=spell]

BlueLotus said:
Levanna casts Ephemeral Shield, p. 246

Gnosis (1) + Spirit (3) + High Speech (2) = 6 dice, 4 successes[/sblock]
Ghostly tendrils, visible only to those peering into the Twilight, coalesced into a protective, writhing globe around Levanna.

"I can grant Spirit Tongue to Jeremiah and Prometheus," said Gabriel. "My mentor taught me a rote."

[sblock=spell]Presence (3) + Socialize (1) + Spirit (2) + High Speech (2) - Extra target (2) = 6 dice, 3 successes[/sblock]
Gabriel muttered a short prayer in a pseudo-Latin form of Atlantean speech, and touched Jeremiah and Prometheus' foreheads. Twilight figures faded into their view, and they saw the piano appear to overlap itself as it extended into the Twilight and material world.

"I can dispel the entrapment as soon as we're all ready," he said. "I think we should try to command it to leave first. Failing that, we should determine its ban."

Solarious · Dec 22, 2008

[sblock=Aura]Light blue veined with light green, with hints of dark green and dark blue, shimmering with the telltale signs of an Awakened individual.[/sblock]
Jeremiah feels the twilight world flow into view, the strange double-displacement of the piano-spirit giving the room a disquieting effect. Feeling the burden of multiple spells interfering with his Pattern, he dismisses all his own active spells and brings up his own protections.
[sblock=Armor Up]Casting:
Misperception: Mind 2 + Gnosis 1 + High Speech 2 = 5 dice
Mental Shield: Mind 2 + Gnosis 1 + High Speech 2 = 5 dice[/sblock]
As he finishes, the obsessive nature the Guardian had perceived in the spirit sparks some inspiration about their nature.

"I just had a thought. Spirits seem to be representative of something, aren't they, of one concept or thing to the exclusion of all else. When I analyzed the resonances it had imbued into the sheet of music, it was entirely focused on emotions of longing and belonging."
"... I hypothesize that with the use of the Mind arcanum, we can repel or banish it by projecting emotions antithetical to it's existence. Specifically, I would imagine emotions of ostracism or loneliness would be most effective."
[sblock=OOC]For your question, Shayuri, you can probably target it since you can see it in twilight with Spirit Sight. Go ahead and rip out it's secrets to your heart's content.

On the other hand, using Emotional Urging on spirits is an established tactic against spirits, particularly the Conceptual Courts, and is especially true of the Emotional Choir. Effects can range from being drained of Essence to dealing a point or two of bashing damage and negating Influences.

Ultimately, the effects are up to Tellah. Different spirits react somewhat laterally to spells outside of the Spirit Arcanum.[/sblock]

Hella_Tellah · Dec 22, 2008

[sblock=Armor Up]

Solarious said:
Casting:
Misperception: Mind 2 + Gnosis 1 + High Speech 2 = 5 dice
Mental Shield: Mind 2 + Gnosis 1 + High Speech 2 = 5 dice

2 successes and 3 successes, respectively.[/sblock]
[sblock=OOC]

Solarious said:
For your question, Shayuri, you can probably target it since you can see it in twilight with Spirit Sight. Go ahead and rip out it's secrets to your heart's content.

The piano is blocking everyone's view of the spirit, unfortunately--and his view of you. Docking some dice for an area effect or using Sympathetic magic would work, as would many spells of the Knowing practice, since they're often not dependent upon the senses.

Solarious said:
On the other hand, using Emotional Urging on spirits is an established tactic against spirits, particularly the Conceptual Courts, and is especially true of the Emotional Choir. Effects can range from being drained of Essence to dealing a point or two of bashing damage and negating Influences.

Without giving away too much: I like the cut of your jib. That's a clever solution![/sblock]
"That's a solid plan, Jeremiah," said Gabriel. "I'll wait to free the spirit until you've had a chance to pollute the area with negative emotions."
[sblock=Gabriel's Aura]Gabriel's aura had a deep basis of yellow and gold, with a mottled, shifting veneer of colors featuring dark green flecks. The Awakened sparkles in his aura, if focuses on long enough, appeared to flutter upward in slow, wing-flapping motions, then dive rapidly.[/sblock]

magic_gathering2001 · Dec 22, 2008

"Before we pollute the area, and possibly aggravate a harmless spirit into attacking us, we should consider using emotions to draw the spirit closer to the area, instead of giving it extra incentive to flee. After all, a peaceable solution may be much easier to attain here, and much less destructive to the house. A better plan may be to alter the surrounding rooms, the floor and the ceiling, so as to inhibit the spirit from leaving. That way, should we need to catch the spirit, we will have a much lesser area to search through. In either case, I would gladly help you reweave the surrounding area."

Shayuri · Dec 22, 2008

"But we -want- the spirit to leave," Thorn points out. "That's the whole thing we're doing here."

She nods at the others and grabs the sheet music off the piano's stand. "Once you let it out, I'll see if I can figure out what it can and can't do."

(readying action to cast the Ban-detecty spell on the spirit once the piano's ward is dispelled)

magic_gathering2001 · Dec 22, 2008

"We want it to leave the house permanently and entirely, not to simply move it to another room or out for a week. Still, it does make little sense to trap a spirit in order to force it to leave."

[sblock=spells]
will recast prime 3/mind 2 conj in order to appear as a lonely sleepwalker. Ensuring to cast the new spell before letting go the old one.

Preparing to cast Celestial Fire if the spirit turns hostile

Dice for both: Gnosis 3 + Prime 3
[/sblock]

[sblock=OOC]
btw, when I went to look up resonance, it says that anyone who got a single success would realise their patter was under scrutiny, but not by who[/sblock]

Hella_Tellah · Dec 23, 2008

[sblock=spells]

magic_gathering2001 said:
will recast prime 3/mind 2 conj in order to appear as a lonely sleepwalker. Ensuring to cast the new spell before letting go the old one.
Gnosis 3 + Prime 3

Failure. Figuring that you'd roll again, I rolled it again, and Prometheus got 1 success.[/sblock]
As Prometheus reconfigured his aura, the other mages felt a twinge of the supernatural.

OOC said:
Mages who are not Prometheus: your Unseen Senses went off, but there's no indication of why.

[sblock=OOC]

magic_gathering2001 said:
btw, when I went to look up resonance, it says that anyone who got a single success would realise their patter was under scrutiny, but not by who

My mistake. You get away with it without being noticed...this time. :devil:

[/sblock]

Solarious · Dec 24, 2008

"Who what where?"

Jeremiah mutters harshly in High Speech, unlocking new perceptions to his senses, and scans the area, searching for scrying conduits.

[sblock=Spell]Casting Spatial Awareness: Gnosis 1 + Space 1 + High Speech 2 = 4 dice

Taking on the burden on exceeding Spell Tolerance.[/sblock]
[sblock=OOC]Another uncommonly known rule of spellcasting: sensory casting doesn't necessarily mean line of sight. Sensory range means you have to be about 200 yards, and have some way of perceiving the location of your target. Seeing isn't really necessary. It does form the best conditions for casting, but it is also possible to make do with hearing, or other methods, possibly granted through spells or other supernatural means. Don't quote me on the last part though: I'm not sure if spell-granted perceptions always count, or count at all.

Casting this way always imposes penalties though as opposed to seeing your target, and the harder it is for you to tell where your target is, the greater the penalties levied. For example, you are in a shootout with a Seer, and she has stopped to reload. You can hear that action clearly, so you take the opportunity to fry the her brain with a Psychic Assault, but it is done at a -2 penalty. Hearing soft footsteps from somewhere in your Sanctum in the middle of the night is a great deal harder to pinpoint, and may induce penalties of -8 or greater.[/sblock]