Mage: The Awakening PbP - Preludes

[Tokiwong]

"What was your argument about?" she asks while she studies the rune on the floor, her voice quiet but clear, returning the conversation back to important matters. She sounds at least moderately interested and replies to Daniel's look with a slight nod.

Starbucks shrugs, “Well we got into arguing about…” she pauses, “differences in philosophy, you know? Well not really like an argument it was a discussion at first, he came over to hang at my place and we were watching Star Wars and debating the role of Luke as an allegory of Awakening, in a way the Deathstar and all the events of the first movie were like his mystery play you know? Total head spin when you look at it that way. But anyway things got out of hand.”

“I really don’t want to get into what we were arguing about,” she says rapidly, “it was dumb, really.” She rubs her shoulder absent mindedly, “But he... I made him leave, it was totally not like him, not at all.”

Contested rolls between the characters and Starbuck. Starbuck gets 2 successes on a Wits + Subterfuge roll; Daniel gets no successes on a Wits + Empathy roll, and both Morrigan and Thessaly get 1 success each no one notices anything odd.

Starbuck leans against the wall in the lobby, “Basically if you could check on him make sure he is alright, that would be great. I don’t want to alarm the boys, and no need to get the Man involved you know? Rather keep this low-key, I would totally owe you one.”

She directs the last part to Daniel.

 

[Aenion]

"You were arguing about Star Wars?" Morrigan asks dubiously, the entire concept of comparing mystery plays with Star Wars and actually having an argument about it baffled her, What are these people? Children playing at being mages? You have been granted the power to play the laws of the universe and you're discussing whether Star Wars was a mystery play for Luke or not? I can't bloody believe it...

 

[Shayuri]

Thessaly seems pleased with the praise, and laughs off the "turning revolutionary" episode.

Her smile fades as the situation is outlined, and when Starbuck looks at her, she's quick to say, "We'll definitely check up on your friend. He's probably just depressed...people can get that way sometimes. Still, we'll make sure."

She seems...nonplussed at the description of the argument, but manages to keep a serious face.

 

[Lichtenhart]

Daniel is briefly entertained with the subject and begins considering it in his mind... then he remember he has more pressing matters.

"Don't worry, Starbuck you can trust us. It's OK. Would you like us to tell him anything when we find him? Otherwise just give me his address and we'll hit the road."

"Though I have to ask... This rune on the floor... I'm not familiar with it."

 

[Tokiwong]

"Don't worry, Starbuck you can trust us. It's OK. Would you like us to tell him anything when we find him? Otherwise just give me his address and we'll hit the road."

“Just tell him… well just make sure he is okay, “ she finishes. She gives the cabal the directions. Asimov lives outside of the town proper in a new housing development, slowly coming together. It provides him with a modest amount of security and solitude.

"Though I have to ask... This rune on the floor... I'm not familiar with it."

She then looks down to the rune, “Oh this? Well it means either ‘Solitude of Knowledge’ or ‘Fortress of Intellect’, depending on the inflection of the usage. Atlantean isn’t an exact language in the modern sense so it expresses supernal ideas with ease. But in translating that into a modern frame of reference it tends to lose something in the translation, you know? So given that, it can actually reflect a multitude of meanings. But essentially I just think it looks cool.”

Starbuck focuses back on Morrigan, “Hey to you it may just be a movie by a bunch of sleepers, to me Star Wars is an allegorical tale of mankind’s struggle to break free of the Lie; it may seem silly to you, but it has measure and it has weight. You can either cling to the past and try to learn from thrice dead masters or we can learn from the now and see that this world is alive and we can learn more from observing the now then we can learn from clinging to a past that may not have ever been.”

 

[Shayuri]

"Soo...the Fortress of Solitude?" Thessaly asks slyly, with a smile.

"Hey, Morrigan, you know, that Star Wars thing kind of even works if you think about it. You have the Emperor, who's a powerful user of 'the force' which is magic, right? He kills off all the other Jedi, which are like mages, to cement his own power! So Luke gets Awakened by Ben, trained by Yoda, and uses his magic to...uh...strike back."

She shrugs. "I don't remember the details, but I think I can see what they're talking about at least."

"Anyway, we should probably head out. Seeya, Starbuck! It was nice meeting you!"

 

[Aenion]

'I just think it looks cool...' Instead of watching movies all night, maybe you could let the rune inspire you and search for its true meaning... she thinks sceptically as she takes her time to commit the rune to memory.

"Silly is not the word I would use. This world may be alive but like all living things it will come to an end. Life is short and I believe there are more useful things to do with the power and time I've been given," she replies coolly, she was beginning to lose her patience with this woman.

"We will look into this", she says before following Thess out.

 

[Lichtenhart]

"Now, now, ladies. Let's not turn this into a "my way is better! no mine is!" kind of discussion. It's useless. We haven't really been give powers, we each have been given a glimpse of the Truth, a tessera of a bigger mosaic. The others are scattered all around us, and there are no best places where to look them, just places that's our responsibility to search. If we all looked in the same place, we'd never find all of them. There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt in our philosophy."

"Thessaly is right, Starbuck, we should be going. I only wanted to tell you this: remember when I told you about my theory of oblique reflections? Well, There's two ways of looking at it. In the first way you look for a direct reflection: the Emperor is an Exarch, Vader a Seer of the Throne, Yoda is a Thyrsus who mastered Forces. This is fine and deserves careful consideration. In the second way, the story bears an important message, but it's deformed and turned into symbols. Luke is a struggling soul. He knows that the universe is greater than the reach of his arms, and feels chained. Then maybe, the people he looks for in the three movies, Leila, Yoda and Vader, are the missing parts of his soul, the ones he has to find before he can finally say: I am complete, I know who I am. 'I'm a jedi, like my father before me'. This second way is surely more difficult, but I think is important too, because I can't believe the Supernal Realms would send the Sleepers messages that only the Awakened can read. Well, I'm getting carried away, we'll talk of this again. We'd better think of Asimov now. Goodnight. I'll call you as soon as I know anything."

 

[Tokiwong]

The mages leave, following the directions Starbuck gave them. It is an easy drive and the trio arrive outside Asimov’s home at about ten in the evening. The porch light is off, but there is a light on through the windows of what looks to be the living room, butt he curtains are drawn.

On the right side of the home is a home that is only partially constructed. A modest sedan sits in the driveway. A man is walking his dog down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street.

It is a quiet evening from the looks of things.

 

[Aenion]

Morrigan kept quiet during their drive there, only speaking when addressed. Once there she exits the van, putting her hands in the pockets of her coat, and takes in the street, Nothing too unusual, she thinks, giving a curt, polite nod to the man walking his dog.

She plays with the two lead coins between her fingers as she attunes herself to the sight beyond life as she approaches the door, looking for signs of forced entry. Her natural inclination was to assume the worst, though in this case she half expected to find him still sulking from his little tiff with Starbuck.

ooc: casting her Grim Sight rote: 8 dice