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

[magic_gathering2001]

"So, what think you all on the idea of traveling to the place mentioned in this music? The Nemean never denied that we should leave the house to complete this task, but simultaneously did not seem to think the task a particularly long one. In either case, some should remain with the spirit and ensure that he does not hide himself elsewhere inside the house."

 

[Shayuri]

"Well wait," Thorn says. "Just going there ourselves won't solve anything. We'd need to bring him with us...or maybe..."

She slaps the photograph of Howard's Rock down near the spirit.

"Check this out," Thorn instructs it. "This is a picture of Howard's Rock. What do you think?"

 

[Hella_Tellah]

She slaps the photograph of Howard's Rock down near the spirit.

"Check this out," Thorn instructs it. "This is a picture of Howard's Rock. What do you think?"

The spirit stares long and hard at the picture, and begins to shake and grit its teeth. Its skin turns bright red, and it lets out a hideous roar of raging hatred, its lower law stretching out nearly two feet, showing a fearsome maw filled with hundreds of razor-sharp teeth. A rush of wind swirls through the room, putting out the oil lamps lighting it and sending loose papers flying. The spirit's roar grows louder, and in a bright flash of light, he disappears.

 

[magic_gathering2001]

"It seems the spirit reacted poorly to those pictures, but I think it not vanquished yet. While I would greatly prefer to consider the spirit vanquished and our task complete, it seems unlikely that the spirit would vanish permanently at the sight of a simple picture. It would reflect poorly should we report our mission complete to the Nemean before the spirit had not fully and permanently left."

 

[Shayuri]

Thorn gives Prometheus a quizzical look, then shrugs and looks around.

"I dunno...I mean, where would it have gone? I'm thinking this picture could be a ban of its, you know? Proof that it's wrong. One look at that, and it has to retreat. Like Dracula and the cross."

 

[magic_gathering2001]

"I suppose that your statement could have merit, however it would look poorly on ourselves should we approach the Nemean without first vanquishing the spirit entirely. I do confess a lack of knowledge on the subject, so I concede to your will in this matter."

 

[Hella_Tellah]

The Nemean walked in drying his hands on a towel. He untied his apron and tossed it over on the piano stool, letting the wind-blown sheet music flutter away beneath it.

"Well, you got rid of him," he said. "Not bad. You're probably going to see a bunch of those little buggers around town these days, so it's good you got some experience dealing with one."

As he spoke, the Nemean slowly circled about the room, looking each of the new mages directly in the eye, gauging their reactions. His manner suggested a graying old lion circling around wounded gazelles.

"Now that I know you're up to it, I want to strike a deal with you kids. The Consilium's been looking for ways to get into some of the old archives of the Stone Assembly, a Cabal that once controlled all the goings-on in Massachussets' Awakened community. Our records of the Stone Assembly go back to the founding of Boston, but every last one of those old fogeys disappeared back in 1923. From what we've gathered, these stuffy old guys had enough artifacts and grimoires to choke an Exarch, but we can't find hide nor hair of 'em.

"Previous efforts to dig up any of the Stone Assembly's libraries didn't pan out too well. We had this third-level Master out of the Mysterium looking into it, but she went off to Benefit and hasn't been heard from since. I figure siccing a more diverse team on the case will get us better results.

"Now, here's what's in it for you: we've set you up a decent Sanctum over in Cambridge to use as a base of operations. Quiet neighborhood, active Hallow--everything a new Cabal needs to get to work. Do a little work for the Consilium, and you've got yourself a quiet place to cast and a nice source of free-flowing mana.

"Whaddaya say? You kids got the stones for some real wizardry?"

 

[BlueLotus]

As the Nemian spoke, Levanna folded her arms across her chest. Her expression changed to a disapproving frown as he talked of sending the fledgling cabal off to who knows where. At least the old man was being blunt about it though, rather than trying to talk it up with appeals to higher callings or misdirection as far as she could tell.

Her expression changed and her arms fell back to her sides as her eyebrows arched and her lips pursed in a gesture of "not a bad deal." She said as much aloud.

"Sounds fair to me," Levanna said, imagining herself cackle with glee the next time she balances her checkbook and there's not a rent expense. "Though of course I'd like to know as much as possible before ultimately commiting to it. Are there any theories or educated guesses as to what might have happened to them?" she asked to start.

 

[Hella_Tellah]

"Sounds fair to me," Levanna said, imagining herself cackle with glee the next time she balances her checkbook and there's not a rent expense. "Though of course I'd like to know as much as possible before ultimately commiting to it. Are there any theories or educated guesses as to what might have happened to them?" she asked to start.

"Well, there weren't any bodies, for starters," The Nemean began. "Course, that's not saying much when it's sorcery involved. I bet each of you could hide a body a dozen ways so 'the heat' couldn't find it. I did some searching myself, over in the Shadow Realms--hell, that's where I'd stash a body--but I didn't find a damned thing. Miss Jane might know more than that, but like I said, she's off at Benefit livin' the commune life.

"So as far as a lead goes, I was thinkin' you all might have some luck tryin' to get a good, solid sympathetic connection. Over at Harvard, they've got a bunch of personal effects and papers from turn-of-the-century business leaders. I'd bet you dollars to donuts you could find some of Caranton's stuff in there--H. D. Caranton being the last Heirarch of the Stone Assembly, you understand. If you could bring me something of his, we could work off of that sympathetic bond, maybe get some kind of a temporal connection out of it."

 

[magic_gathering2001]

"I believe myself to know someone who could grant us access to the facilities there should we choose to accept. For myself, I feel inclined to agree to your terms Nemean; to research the mysteries of the occult has long interested me, and to sate my hobby for a reward certainly seems agreeable."

[sblock=ooc]Academics check to discover anything that a non-mage could possibly know about the old Heirarch.

3 int + 3 Academics +1 history = 7 dice[/sblock]