Nazareth Awakened - Chapter 02: Wives of Solomon

[Shayuri]

For a second Chance feels as if the ground under her feet has opened up, and she's falling...falling... She sways with that sudden vertigo and has to close her eyes. She almost drops the gun, but manages to click the safety back on and tuck it back into her pocket on sheer muscle-memory. Excuses and evasions course like a river through her mind.

She hadn't pulled the trigger. There was no way to know if her spell had caused his death. Law had done something too. Maybe it was for the best; he'd tried to kill Agnasci. What if he'd Awakened and used that power to go on a rampage...or worse, to accumulate even MORE power and become some kind of malevolent equivalent of Penrose?

Like any good lie, they were all true.

But the real truth was that she'd killed a man tonight. Not intending to, but certainly not intending him well either. And not alone, but guilt wasn't like water; it didn't lessen just because you split it up. And maybe he'd deserved it, or maybe it was for the best in the long run...that wasn't for her to know. In the end she was only responsible for one thing; she'd used Fate as a weapon against a man, and then he'd died. That was on her, and there was no amount of wiggling that'd change it.

She brought her sleeve up and wiped it across her eyes. It had been such a little spell. Chance could see now how that was a hopelessly naive viewpoint, like someone scoffing at a little .22 pistol. Any gun could kill a man, if you hit him right. You could never forget that, if you wanted to wield that weapon responsibly.

How strange that she took that lesson so easily to heart, but had to learn the same for commanding the hidden powers of the universe the hard way.

Taking care not to step in any blood, Chance went over to where Mad Dog had fallen, hesitated, then stooped down to pick up the little carving. It had a smear of his blood on it, but she didn't wipe it off. That blood was important. This would be a reminder for her of this moment, and this act, and who had paid what price for her carelessness.

It wouldn't bring him back, but it was the best she could do.

Stuffing her hands back into her hoody's pockets, Chance went back towards Law's car and the others.

 

[Mosier]

"Hey! Agnasci! Where do you think you're going?"

​

​

Agnasci waves at him dismissively. "I'll catch up with you later. One last loose end to tie."

Before he gets too far, Agnasci catches a glimpse of BR's motorcycle parked on the curb, and he feels the keys jingle in his pocket. He hops on to the bike, and speeds off to BR's house.

When he gets there, Agnasci heads straight to BR's stash of money.

 

[TillForPie]

Agnasci, Harper, and Law

Accelerating and braking with hand controls is foreign to Agnasci and he gets off to a jerky start in the driveway.[sblock=Untrained motorcycle use]Roll: Dexterity 2 + Drive 1 - no motorcycle specialty penalty 1* (Armory - pg 138) = Success with 1 success
* The penalty is 2 if attempting a maneuver. Simple driving like this will require a check per scene[/sblock]He cautiously rolls the bike onto the slick street, screeching the tires a bit as he accelerates. He nearly tips over at one point but rights himself before pulling away from the incredulous Law and Harper on the grumbling motorcycle, heading off in the opposite direction as Chance.[sblock=Wisdom Degeneration Roll]Wisdom 6 Sin: 3 dice = Success with 3 successes
Agnasci does not suffer Wisdom degeneration[/sblock]Agnasci likely doesn't have difficulty justifying the theft to himself. BR did play a part in the attempt on his life.

Agnasci has passed a degeneration roll and does not lose Wisdom.

As a general, unrelated note for Mosier to keep in mind during further interactions with other characters (including PCs) for the remainder of the night: He's still suffering from irrationality. I don't have a problem with anything that's happened, but just feel a reminder is good to provide especially given the supernatural and punitive nature of his bedlam derangement.

 

[TillForPie]

Chance, Harper, and Law

Law and Harper can only exchange glances as Agnasci rolls away on the motorcycle. The two hop into the Tahoe and speed away from the house in the direction Chance had gone. They meet her at the end of Longstreet, where she's rounding the corner of 14th Street on her way back to the group. Law pulls over so that she can hop into the back seat before the trio make their way south on 14th. The police station is in northern Nazareth, just north of Main Street, so circumnavigating the town on southern streets will minimize the chances of encountering any incoming law enforcement.

The interior of the Tahoe is silent but for the pounding of the rain on the roof.

Agnasci

Agnasci pauses at the corner of Longstreet and 15th, looking both ways and spotting distant emergency lights to the north near Main Street. The police are on the way. He turns left, toward the police lights, and speeds the hundred or so yards to the entrance of BR's apartment complex before turning into the parking lot, grabbing an empty space, and killing the lights on the motorcycle.

 

[Mosier]

Agnasci pauses at the corner of Longstreet and 15th, looking both ways and spotting distant emergency lights to the north near Main Street. The police are on the way. He turns left, toward the police lights, and speeds the hundred or so yards to the entrance of BR's apartment complex before turning into the parking lot, grabbing an empty space, and killing the lights on the motorcycle.[/FONT]

Agnasci wastes no time going straight for Rich's money stash. He'll take almost all of it, leaving Rich only $500, enough to get out of Nazareth.

"Nice knowing you," Agnasci says. He puts Rich's keys where the money used to be.

After he takes the cash, Agnasci will go back to the bookstore on foot, being careful to stay off the main roads.

 

[Rubberneck]

Law remains mostly quiet as he zig zags through side streets, headed toward the bookstore. Chance didn't have much to say leaving the conclusion that Law's spell did in fact work, maybe in way more devastating than Law would have thought possible. He rests his elbow on the armrest and runs his free hand through his hair. His head swimming with the events of the evening. He suddenly and abruptly breaks the silence,

"Do you think we can trust Agnasci?"

 

[Shayuri]

"I think we need to have a word with him," Chance opines. She's subdued, looking out the window as she speaks. "There's pretty obviously a lot he hasn't been telling us, and that can't go on. It affects us all."

She hesitates, then adds, "That biker? The one that fell off the bike? He was...Awakening. As he died. I saw this magic kind of swirling aroun d him. Not spells, exactly, but..." Chance shakes her head. "He recognized me too. When he saw me, I could see it in his eyes."

 

[Rubberneck]

The news of the biker being in mid awakening during his death rattles Law, he figured that the biker didn't make it, but hearing it out loud obviously confirms it. Even during his career as a Police Officer, Law had never taken a life. He tries not to look too distraught to the others and lets out a long breath. Harper is the only one that can walk away from this experience with a clear conscience. he actually saved someone's life. Law and Chance had a hand directly involved with killing that biker. As for Agnasci, he's the sole reason they were put in the situation to begin with. Agnasci definitely had some serious explaining to do.

"Penrose is going to want to know about this."

He says softly,

"I wonder if that's going to be a problem. It can't look good to the Consilium or whoever when we're out here killing each other. What the hell is going on here in Nazareth? That's what, the fifth awakening in the span of a few months? We're headed to the bookshop."

He says this in case the others hadn't noticed.

"Not sure how we want to go about breaking the news."

 

[GlassEye]

Harper, Thyrsus mage

[section]

Harper has been quiet since shortly after Agnasci took off. Brooding over the madness at the house, Agnasci, and now the biker's death. He's seen death before: he hunted several times with his grandfather, but it didn't feel like this. And funerals he had attended, well, the sanitized bodies of the dead laid out prior to burial hardly count as experiencing death. This today, this was more visceral. The only thing he had felt more than this was his own awakening and that was a completely opposite feeling.

Law's magic dealt with death. Harper looked over at the man and wondered how he managed to hold it together all the time. He sure didn't envy him.

He listened as Chance and Law talked quietly and briefly. Most of that stuff he had no idea how to deal with so he shunted it to the side until he could have a moment to think and figure things out for himself.

"What do we know, really? I hardly know what happened and I was there with you. If he comes back Agnasci will have to speak for himself and maybe he can fill in the blanks. Other than that we tell Penrose what we saw." He scowls and looks a little confused or uncertain. "Don't we?"

​

[/section]

 

[Rubberneck]

"What do we know, really? I hardly know what happened and I was there with you. If he comes back Agnasci will have to speak for himself and maybe he can fill in the blanks. Other than that we tell Penrose what we saw." He scowls and looks a little confused or uncertain. "Don't we?"

"That's the problem I'm facing. We are weak in comparison all the other mages out there. The wrath they can rain down us would be unimaginable. In normal human society I am now a murderer, I'd be imprisoned for my entire life, if of course they could tie me to the accident. Nevertheless there are consequences for what just happened. We are involved in an entirely new world here, who knows what punishment they'd set for Chance and I and probably Agnasci. There are new rules to be followed and I have a feeling murder is still a big one to be broken."

The feelings of guilt, sadness, and rage swarm over Law. Law shouldn't completely hold Agnasci responsible for the death of the biker, it was after all he and Chance that cast the spells that led to his demise. Law and Chance are obviously feeling the effects of their actions, but the way Agnasci casually just drove away unphased is what angers Law the most.