Nazareth Awakened - Chapter 02: Wives of Solomon

[Shayuri]

"I don't," Chance replies to Harper. She looks at the bookstore then and remarks, "But he might have left something, or dropped something, in the bookstore. He does spend a lot of time in there."

She smirks.

"You know. If we're lucky."

The magic of Fate wasn't quite like her understanding of Time. It wasn't the same KIND of understanding. With Fate, it was more like you understood how not to understand; you didn't try to reach back in time and make sure Agnasci dropped something one day and then didn't notice. You didn't take control of all the variables and make sure that little bit of detritus was still there today.

Chance was fairly sure trying that would lead to very bad things. Like any tapestry, Fate had bounce to it. Pluck too hard, and it'd smack you in the face.

You gave it wiggle room. You made the 'imago' and then just let the LACK of understanding fill in the blanks between what was, and what you wanted. Fate worked best when you didn't look straight at it. Even when you tried to control the coin flip, you just tried to get it to come up 'heads,' you didn't work out exactly how high it'd go, or precisely how many times it would tumble in the air.

"Lets take a look."

(OOC - Hee hee, I keep posting at work, when I don't have my book! There's a Fate 1 spell that gives happy little coincidences though, and perhaps having something of Agnasci's turn up at the store is not so implausible that it would be beyond the spell's scope. She's gonna try it anyway. )

 

[Mosier]

This isn't the first time Orlando has been held against his will. It's a horrible feeling to not even have the freedom to move, but the worst part isn't the injustice, or pain, or fear. It's the goddamn boredom. The idleness is already creeping into him, sapping his will.

While his captors are distracted, Agnasci comes to a decision. He won't simply sit here, helplessly awaiting his fate. He has the tools. He has the power. Now, he even has the opportunity.

Agnasci will use a point of Willpower to open a scrying window in Penrose's sanctum. Knowing the man, Agnasci figures he's almost certainly up to some obsessive task there.

 

[TillForPie]

Chance, Harper, and Law

The three head into the bookstore, where they each feel the surge of magic as Chance casts her spell. She looks around expectantly, feeling lucky and hoping for some sort of immediate result. The mages scour the shop under Faye's suspicious gaze. They're not sure Harper's bird can track Agnasci even if they did have a possession of his. But damn it, they have to do something.

After about twenty minutes of this Chance's phone beeps as she receives a text. It's from Joel: Don found those headphones you lost. They fell behind the couch.

Damn it.

Agnasci

There's a foreboding sense of danger when Agnasci tries to will the scrying window to open. Paradox is in the room with him, honing in on the use of sympathetic magic (which is always vulgar). If only he had a magical tool.
[sblock=Paradox roll]Roll: 1 = Failure with 0 successes
There is no Paradox[/sblock][sblock=Spell: Scry]Roll: Gnosis 1 + Space 2 + Willpower 3 - Sympathy Penalty 6 = Failure with 0 successes
No successes were scored on a chance die[/sblock]Agnasci has used 1 Willpower and 1 Mana in his attempt to open a scrying window in Penrose's sanctum. Unfortunately he's only been in the sanctum twice and thus has a weak sympathetic connection to it. He has a stronger sympathetic connection to Penrose himself but without knowing his mentor's real name the penalty would have been the same.

Agnasci has 4 Willpower and 7 Mana remaining. Each additional use of sympathetic magic will increase the chances of paradox. Unfortunately he won't be able to spend Mana to mitigate the chances of Paradox as he can only spend one Mana per turn given his current level of Gnosis and a Mana is required simply to cast sympathetic spells.

 

[GlassEye]

Harper, Thyrsus mage

[section]

Harper stops his searching with a frustrated sigh. He glances around the shop and notices Faye giving them that look. The one she normally reserves just for Harper.

"Agnasci ever leave anything lying around here," he asks her.

Harper isn't exactly certain what he'll do with the object, if there even is one, but he has a vague idea. Before he can even continue down that line of thought, though, he'd have to get his hands on such an object. He gives Faye a tentative smile.

​

[/section]

 

[TillForPie]

Chance, Harper, and Law

Faye narrows her eyes at each of the three mages in turn, clearly trying to decipher what they're up to. "Someone left a pair of sunglasses in Penrose's sanctum after the last lesson. They might be Agnasci's." She turns halfway toward the door, as if to go get them, but she stops. "Why?"

 

[GlassEye]

Harper, Thyrsus mage

[section]

Harper, for a moment, ignores Faye's question.

"They belong to either of you?" he asks Law and Chance. He keeps his expression schooled into a flat stare and turns back to Faye. It's high time she remembers who is the mage around here and who isn't. "Because we need them."

​

[/section]

 

[TillForPie]

Chance, Harper, and Law

Harper may not realize it, but it's in that moment of elitist dismissal that Faye's insecurities are validated and the stare she gives him is withering. She leaves the room and returns a few moments later, setting the sunglasses on the counter for the group to take before wordlessly returning to her Susan Johnson novel.

The sunglasses don't belong to any of the three mages. They probably are indeed Agnasci's.

 

[Rubberneck]

Law is intent on letting Harper and Chance deduct Agnasci's location. Law's magic would not really be useful in this endeavor. Unless Agnasci really screwed up and bit the dust. When the glasses are mentioned Law shakes his head,

"Ain't mine."

He'll wait for the other two to do their thing and wait patiently for what they have to say.

 

[Mosier]

Agnasci isn't deterred by his failure. It was probably stupid to try sympathetic magic on a place he's hardly ever been to.

The bookstore, however, is much more familiar to him. He was more comfortable there than he ever was in Rachel's trailer. He gives the scrying window spell another shot, this time trying to place the scrying window in the bookstore.

Agnasci will attempt the spell again, using another point of Willpower.

OOC: The scrying spell seems to be an exception to the "sympathetic magic is always vulgar" rule. The spell itself says it's both covert, and uses sympathetic modifiers.

 

[TillForPie]

Agnasci

OOC: The scrying spell seems to be an exception to the "sympathetic magic is always vulgar" rule. The spell itself says it's both covert, and uses sympathetic modifiers.

The spell itself is listed as covert because there's nothing visibly magical about the use of the spell (no fireballs or floating objects), but as with all other covert spells (such as First Impressions or Voice From Afar) it's made vulgar when used at sympathetic range - it would remain covert if used at sensory range. No exception is made for Scry. To be sure, there wouldn't be many occasions where you'd want to use Scry at sensory range (maybe to see around a corner, to listen in on a whispered conversation from across a room, or to look down at yourself for some reason?) but that's how it works.

Agnasci feels the hungry presence of Paradox yet again. He braces himself and hopes it passes.
[sblock=Paradox roll]Roll: 1 base + 1 successive vulgar magic = Failure with 0 successes
There is no Paradox[/sblock][sblock=Spell: Scry]Roll: Gnosis 1 + Space 2 + 3 Willpower - Sympathy Penalty 4 = Success with 1 success
Agnasci successfully opens a scrying window in the bookstore. It will last as long as he concentrates, plus an additional two or three seconds[/sblock]Agnasci has 3 Willpower and 6 Mana remaining.

Agnasci closes his mind to the distractions in the basement and tries to focus on the image of the bookstore that he has in his mind. He exhales and when he opens his eyes a moment later he's in the shop. At least - in a manner of speaking. He's looking down into the room as if peering through a surveillance camera. He can turn and pan to a limited extent but has a feeling that he'd be unable to wander too far from his point of arrival. All his senses are engaged: He can see the room, smell it, hear it, and even feel the objects within it as his view rolls beside an isle of shelves.

Faye is behind the counter, reading as usual. Chance, Harper, and Law are on the other side of the counter taking turns examining a pair of sunglasses. His sunglasses. Maybe they're already looking for him!

Chance, Harper, and Law

The three mages feel the tingle of magic. They're each likely to just assume it's one of the others casting a spell while examining Agnasci's shades. All of them cast unannounced spells quite frequently.