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Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Hello, I made a guy! I hope he does not suck too much. I'll let Ferrinus have a look to see if I hosed up anywhere.
I thought of a shitload of backstory, some of which is hinted at in the Equipment section. I haven't written it all down yet but I'll get that done ASAP. I do have a basic character description, though.

code:
===============================
Franklin Watts ("Matryoshka")
==============================
* Charity, Wrath
* Mastigos
* Adamantine Arrow

Detective Watts is 46 years old, stands about 5'11". He speaks with a mild Brooklyn accent. He has a
stern face, a little like Elliot Stabler from SVU, although with a more receding hairline, a more
lined face, and more gray in his hair, especially around the temples. He is well-respected in the
NYPD, and his intelligence and insight are considered invaluable on any case. He analyzes crime
scenes with a keen mind, deducing the behavior, motives, and thoughts of the perpetrators, profiling
them and predicting their next move. He's usually right. Then, later, in the interrogation room, he 
applies his mind to the psyche of the suspects and others he interrogates, probing their minds, 
making the suspects crack, applying his brain to solve the problem of finding the truth. He was very
good before his Awakening. Now, as a Mastigos, his skills have only improved.

==========
ATTRIBUTES
==========
MENTAL (70 + 5)    PHYSICAL (45 + 15)   SOCIAL (55 + 5)
------              --------            ------
Intelligence:   3   Strength:   2       Presence:       2
Wits:           3   Dexterity:  3       Manipulation:   3
Resolve:        3   Stamina:    3       Composure:      3

======
SKILLS
======
MENTAL (-3 Unskilled)   PHYSICAL (-1 Unskilled) SOCIAL (-1 Unskilled)
------                  --------                ------
Academics:      1       Athletics:  1           Animal Ken:     0
Computer:       1       Brawl:      1           Empathy:        3
Crafts:         1       Drive:      1           Expression:     2
Investigation:  4       Firearms:   3           Intimidation:   3
Medicine:       1       Larceny:    0           Persuasion:     2
Occult:         1       Stealth:    1           Socialize:      1
Politics:       0       Survival:   0           Streetwise:     1
Science:        1       Weaponry:   1           Subterfuge:     3
(secondary)             (tertiary)              (primary)

SPECIALTIES
-----------
* Investigation: Crime Scenes
* Intimidation: Interrogating Suspects
* Firearms: Pistols

==========
ADVANTAGES
==========
MERITS
------
Allies (Police) 2
Status (Police) 2                
Resources 3                      
Order Status 1 (Adamantine Arrow)
Eidetic Memory 2                 
High Speech
Sanctum 2
Language (Russian) 1
Quick Draw 1

DERIVED TRAITS
--------------
* Health:       8
* Willpower:    6
* Initiative:   6
* Size:         5
* Speed:        11
* Defense:      3
* Wisdom:       4

==============
SUPERNAL MAGIC
==============
GNOSIS: 2
---------
* Mana:                         11 max, spend 2 per turn
* Base Paradox Pool:            2 die
* Pattern Restoration/Scouring: 1 per day
* Ritual Casting:               1 roll per 3 hrs
* Spell Tolerance:              3
* Cannot Combine Spells
* Max Arcana:                   4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1

ARCANA: Mind and Space Rule, Matter Inferior
------
* Mind 3    [C: 5 dice, V: 8 dice]
* Space 2   [C: 4 dice, V: 7 dice]
* Time 2    [C: 4 dice, V: 7 dice]
* Death 1   [C: 3 dice, V: 6 dice]

ROTES
-----
ARCANUM
* Adamantine Arrow Rote Specialties: Athletics, Crafts, Intimidation, Medicine

* Mind 1  - Third Eye [Empathy, C: 8 dice, V: 11 dice] (covert)
* Mind 2  - Mental Shield [Occult, C: 6 dice, V: 9 dice] (covert)
* Mind 2  - Emotional Urging [Empathy, C: 8 dice, V: 11 dice] (covert)
* Mind 3  - Imposter  [Subterfuge, C: 8 dice, V: 11 dice] (covert)
* Mind 3  - Psychic Assault [Intimidation, C: 9 dice, V: 12 dice] (vulgar according to house rules)
* Space 1 - Spatial Map [Occult, C: 5 dice, V: 3 dice] (covert)
* Time 2  - Postcognition [Investigation, 5 8 dice, V: 11 dice] (covert)

============================
EXPERIENCE POINT EXPENDITURE
============================
10 xp (+ 4 xp leftover from chargen) for Time 1 -> Time 2
 6 xp for Psychic Assault
 6 xp for Sanctum 2
 4 xp for Postcognition
 4 xp for Emotional Urging
 3 xp for Athletics 1
 2 xp for Language (Russian) 1
 2 xp for Quick Draw 1
 2 xp for Spatial Map
 
39 total xp used
 0 total xp leftover
39 total xp

==============
CURRENT STATUS
==============
* Health:       [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
* Willpower:    6/6
* Mana:         11/11 (2/turn)

COMBAT VALUES
-------------
* Initiative:   6
* Defense:      3
* Armor:        1/2 (when wearing Kevlar, 0/0 otherwise)
* Speed:        11
* Size:         5

ATTACK STATISTICS
-----------------
* Brawl: [3B]
* Glock 19: [9L]
* Leatherman knife: [1L]

RESISTANCE DICEPOOLS
--------------------
* Stamina:      5 Dice
* Resolve:      5 Dice
* Composure:    5 Dice

OTHER DICEPOOLS
---------------
* Perception:           6 Dice
* Resonance Analysis:   5 Dice
* Brawl:                3 Dice
* Firearms:             9 Dice
* Melee:                3 Dice

=========
INVENTORY
=========
GENERAL
-------
 - Trenchcoat
 - Cell phone, with low-resolution camera
 - Hip holster for pistol
 - Police ID with badge. (He has two of these. When interacting with Sleepers while working with other
Mages, he uses an ID with a false name, address and badge number. Can't be too careful.)
 - Big Maglite flashlight

MAGICAL
-------
Light Pistol, Glock 19. Standard NYPD issue. Adamantine Arrow order tool
 - Damage 2, Ranges 20/40/80, Clip 17+1, Strength 2, Size 1, Cost 3

Leatherman multitool, with a 4" blade as one of its features, Mastigos path tool.
 - Damage 1, Size 1. Also has pliers, a small ruler, bottle/can opener, wire cutters, and various
pointy sharp things
like saws.
 - Presumably, he would have to unfold the knife blade before being able to use it as a Mastigos
magical weapon.

The smallest of a set of Russian nesting dolls, about an inch long. Death arcana tool.
 - The set of dolls this comes from was a gift from his former partner, Ivan Mikhailov, who
collected them.
 - Mikhailov was killed in action during the same case that led to Watts' Awakening.
 - Russian nesting dolls are known as "Matryoshka", and in tribute to his dead friend Watts took
this as his shadow name.
 - Mikhailov's death struck him particularly hard, emphasized even more by his own Awakening soon
after. Hence, he uses this reminder of his friend as a Death tool.

Photograph of a small red cooler, wet, sitting on a dock, covered in algae. Mind arcana tool.
 - The cooler is a piece of evidence from one case he's never been able to solve, even after
Awakening.
 - You probably don't want to know what was in the cooler. (But since you'll ask: dead baby with no
head.)
 - Watts spends a great deal of his free time going over the evidence in his head, trying to make
any headway.
 - He has spent years of brainpower going over this case, and doing so always focuses his thoughts.
Hence, he uses a reminder of this case as a Mind tool.

Wristwatch, Time arcana tool.
 - There is nothing particularly special about the wristwatch, although it does have an Indiglo
button.

WEAPONS
-------
 - Aforementioned pistol and multitool knife.
 - Two additional clips for pistol, 17 rounds each.

ARMOR
-----
Kevlar vest; he bought his own.
 - Rating 1/2, Strength 1, Defense 0, Speed 0, Cost 1

Nicolae Carpathia fucked around with this message at 00:46 on Nov 9, 2008

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Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

That guy's awesome!

His name is weird to me, though, because I've always considered "Matryoshka" to be a feminine designator?

It is, and he knows it. The way I look at it:

1) He doesn't really care. He doesn't speak Russian natively enough for the gender difference to jump out at him as an obvious error; he just parses it as a reference to nesting dolls. Mikhailov had a thing about them, saying they were a metaphor for how everything in life has more layers and other meanings if you look deeper. When Watts Awoke, he realized how literally true this was.

2) He probably wouldn't take any poo poo from anyone who made fun of him for it.

3) I imagine that the term has been used so often as a reference to toys that the literal interpretation of the word ("fat mother", I think) is mostly thought of as just an etymology. It's apparently very common for there to be Russian politicians on matryoshki, with the most recent head of state on the outside, going back to Lenin as you pop off dolls. I imagine that if Russians are okay with using "matryoshka" to refer to their dear leaders, Watts can get away with calling himself one. (That said, I speak no Russian myself, so if someone more familiar with Russian culture thinks it's really really wrong, I'd be okay with changing it to a masculine equivalent.)

quote:

This is correct. That bonus 25 xp I give you on attributes is the Mastigos resolve bonus.

aw gently caress's sake

Chernobyl Peace Prize posted:

Hey NC, one thing I noticed is that your math on your pistol is a bit off.

Shouldn't it be 3(Dex)+ 3(Firearms) + 1(Specialty) + 2(Equipment bonus from item itself), for a total of 9L on rolls?

I think?

You're probably right. I still have a hard time keeping track of all the modifiers. :(

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

Well I'm Russian and while I am not exactly immersed in the culture I can tell you that just because A) I know what it refers to and B) the way the name ends with a vowel makes it sound like a girl's name to me. Representing a politician on a matryoshka is one thing, but that doesn't mean you would call the politician himself a matryoshka any more than you'd call him a barbie.

Aw well. To be honest, for a while, I was considering giving him another name for precisely this reason after I looked up "matryoshka" on Wikipedia. But then I decided I liked the symbolism, and also couldn't think of anything else, and figured that even if it's glaringly wrong, it'd be in-character for him not to notice or really worry about it. It means more to him than just "I'm a fat old Russian lady", after all.

quote:

owned you fuckin bitch

my attribute points... lying in shards... around me... i am undone...

although now i'm not sure how to rearrange them, drat you ferrinus :(

Mental 3/3/3 (70 + 5), Physical 2/3/3 (55 + 5), Social (2/3/3) (45 + 15) sounds like it'd work, but I did like that Intelligence 4. Guess I'll have to get some XP first! (Hm, this does mean I can free up those five XP I used to bump up Dex...)

Nicolae Carpathia fucked around with this message at 04:54 on Oct 31, 2008

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Bumping this to point out an updated character sheet, with my Attribute points fixed up, a few more pieces of equipment, and using 3 newly-freed-up points to get Athletics skill.

Still not sure what to do with those leftover 2 points, since I've used 14 out of 15 xp on rotes. (You're a cruel man, Ferrinus, for making the upper limit an odd number even though all rotes cost even numbers of xp.)

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

I just realized that one-dot rotes aren't the only thing I can spend 2 xp on, I think I'll get the Quick Draw 1 merit for firearms as a last minute merit.

Edit: Also I fixed my guy's status and allies situation with the cops, my guy has been through so many changes...

Nicolae Carpathia fucked around with this message at 03:02 on Nov 2, 2008

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

Bonus! Notpaul's dude had a weird dream sequence that everyone cashes in on! +2 Arcane XP, for a total of 22.

Wait, did I miss a game?

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Based on the level of skills our characters have, what would be a reasonable assumption for the length of time they've been mages?

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

Could be less than a year, could be a few years. None of your characters are really experienced dudes.

You came in late (and thus already with 16 Axp and Gnosis 2), though, so it'd be reasonable for your dude to have a little more sorcery under his belt already.

Well, he is 46, so I'm guessing he's older than the other characters. Does three years or so sound about right? I'm trying to flesh him out a little more, to get a better feel for the character. I'm not entirely happy with how I played him last time.

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

Awakening doesn't come at a set age. There are old spry bearded wizards that everyone takes to be enlightened masters except they're novices who Awakened like 2 years ago when they were only 63. So how old you are doesn't control how long you've been wizarding, don't worry about that.

Yeah, I gathered as much. I don't think I phrased what I meant correctly, but it wasn't important anyway!

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

Hopefully we'll play this coming Sunday or Monday!

If it makes any difference, Sunday might work better for me. (I have to get up early on Tuesdays.)

Also I wish I had dots in Prime or Forces arcana, free rotes :(

Thanks for the update, Ferrinus!

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

What happened during the first run in at Enoch's Sanctum, incidentally? Can I assume that the other guys filled in Matryoshka about what happened, during the course of researching more about Enoch?

(Also, since I don't have Prime or Forces, this is a moot question, but if I had taken some of Enoch's rotes, would my Eidetic Memory merit have kept me from the die-roll penalties on remembering our research?)

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Cool, thanks! Sometimes I have so many questions :shobon: (I have the second highest postcount in this thread and have only played once...)

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Enoch, being an Obrimos, wrote many of his works about the Force and Prime arcana, but he also contributed to shorter treatises about other arcana. While researching some of Enoch's work, Matryoshka came across some of his writings about the Space arcanum. Matryoshka chose to take some time to pick up the Spatial Map rote, realizing how useful it could be in the likely event that he would have to use his gun.

* Space 1 - Spatial Map [Occult, C: 5 dice, V: 3 dice] (covert)
2 xp for Spatial Map
-1 to die rolls for remembering the research

ferrinus said this was okay on IRC

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

What happened to Alice?

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

Attn mages! I'd like to play tonight!

You guys should start accruing in #PC-OOC if you're available. I'd like to start sometime after 8:30 or 9:00 est.

yesssssss

ferrinus i totally need to kill a thing tonight

i was gonna say "kill a dude" but killing sentients fucks up your wisdom so i'll be okay with killing like rat golems or something

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

a man of ill repute posted:

how much arcane XP does it cost to buy from level 3 to 4 in your best arcana

i want to buy death 4

I think the house rules say that Arcane XP is only used for advancing Gnosis.

Also that was kind of fun, I am glad I got to do something besides make a few a-little-too-noir quips.

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

If he gets one it should just be a giant :c00lbert: imo.

Anyway, folks, I wanna run some mage today (Tuesday Nov. 11). Perhaps around seven or eightish? But there is a complication: AIM is not working for me for some bizarre reason. So start accreting in the channel if you want to contact me!

I'd love to play but 7 or 8ish is not happening. :( I have chem lab starting at 7, fifteen minutes from now, and it can last until 9:45 and then it's 30-45 minutes to get home depending on how much I'm persuaded by the speed limit signs. This is my situation every Tuesday, incidentally.

I guess if it runs long enough, and I finish up early enough, I can catch the end and get caught up for next week. :unsmith:

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Danhenge posted:

welp

I would join but I actually need to do some homework so I don't have to do it tomorrow so I can go meet some doctoral student from some other school whose program I may theoretically apply to

i think ferrinus said we can just pretend we brought you along

we're goin' on a road trip in an suv "on extended loan" from a police impound lot

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Danhenge posted:

i will command spirits wherever possible!

this is my #1 prime directive

...wouldn't that be your #1 Spirit directive

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

drat

how did a sleepwalker get to be so awesome, dude's got visions and a helldog and he can command nearly everything we run into

at least i got us an SUV! :unsmith:

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

NOT PAUL LAYTON posted:

This is just the beginning.

is this in the sense of "don't worry nicolae everyone will get a chance to be awesome too!" or "you have no idea of the terrible depths of my power!"?

edit: I didn't mean this as a complaint or griping about how things are going, this game is a lot of fun, I am just concerned I am not pulling my weight or doing much to stand out as useful!

Nicolae Carpathia fucked around with this message at 00:43 on Nov 14, 2008

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

incidentally, here's notpaul's player character, along with his Sleepwalker Retainer

You mean technically his character is Lego? drat.

That's a cool picture, though, I should get around to doing a picture of Matryoshka. I found my PDFs of Andrew Loomis's books and I am refreshing my memory of figure drawing. (I doodled some sketches already, but with no scanner I expect I'll have to break out the drawing tablet and do it in Photoshop.)

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

a man of ill repute posted:

you guys loving suck, demon party member would've owned

Yes, with Solomon, Phlegethon, and Sakrathor combined, the only people who'd need to show up are Ferrinus and notpaul!

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

God willing, we're playing today (11/20) as well as yesterday! Probably at the same time, around like 9ish.

we didn't really get started till 10ish though

anyway i might be around for a little bit, just to watch what's going on, but i do have to get up early so i'll probably be gone before 10. if i do play at all i'll probably just fall down a ravine or something for the duration of the session and then leave

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

+2 XP for making some progress.
+1 AXP for witnessing a staggering display of Forces magic.
+1 AXP for peaceful contact with a spirit in the wild.

48 XP, 29 AXP

so what did i miss?

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

The party crossed path with a cabal of three mages who said they were in Smoky Mountains to investigate the strange weather phenomena. You warned them that Enoch was the probable cause and they said they'd be careful not to engage before giving you a chance to speak with him if they found him first. Afterwards, the party noticed a huge Fate spell hanging over part of the park, and as they watch the spell reacted somehow to something in the distance and this reaction was followed by a tremendous flash of lightning and thunder. Afterwards there was a freak hailstorm.

The party made good time hiking, though near the end of their path into the ley line network they happened upon a wind spirit fleeing from several water spirits trying to eat it. They saved the wind spirit, which seems to have been a one-time servant of Enoch's that's now trying to reunite with him. It mentioned that Enoch was somehow incapacitated or in danger.

That sounds pretty awesome! Do we know anything about the Fate spell at all?

quote:

E: We may also play today!

That sounds even more awesome!

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

It's really big and also involves some Time and Prime, judging from Adramel's estimation.

...

+1 XP for making some progress.
+1 AXP for learning a little about ley lines!

49 XP, 30 AXP

For those who missed it, we found a ley line that had been artificially straightened, called a Straight Shot. We also learned more about Enoch's situation from talking with the wind spirit, Northern Tempest, and also with a man named Adrian, who came to us by surprise in the middle of the night. (Adrian doesn't breathe, walks around in the cold barefoot, registers as dead, and commented that he eats people who inconvenience him overmuch. Still, he seemed mostly harmless and helpful enough. Everyone OOC thought he was a vampire but we never bothered to ask IC. Adrian wanted us to mind our business.)

Enoch is not in much of a position to relocate back to New York City to help clean up. He's currently pinned down, under attack by at least a dozen powerful wizards. Neither Tempest nor Adrian were quite sure about the motive of this attack. Enoch had been rearranging the ley lines in the area, including the one we found, which created some problems for Adrian's access to ley line nexuses until they worked out an arrangement. Because of this, Adrian thinks Enoch is an okay guy and was willing to give us directions to Enoch's location. It's about a day's walk. Adrian suggested that Enoch will know we're coming and that our best option was to look harmless. He also said that if we want to avoid the other mages, we should avoid the Dragon Lines -- natural ley lines that hadn't been rerouted artificially.

Also:
<Ferrinus> this weekend: enoch. i swear it.

I appreciated it when Ferrinus summarized the previous session for me, so I am just repaying the favor for everyone else.

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

Thanks for the summary Nicolae! Also I want to register my appreciation of Tombheart's (:laugh:) kicking up conversation in the camp while half the party went off doing recon, that sort of thing really adds to the game.

Yeah, I kind of wanted to join in on the demonology discussion actually.

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

________/

this is the longest noob chair

it... it calls me to it...

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Those sound awesome. Hm, I just need one more dot in Space for the first one... and three more in Forces, Life, and Matter

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Dammit Who? posted:

holy crap!

enoch got some poo poo to deal with

also i guess there will be no mage over thanksgiving? i hope not i will be gone till sunday evening

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

Hi, folks! I wanna run tonight, December 3rd. Let's start gathering in IRC around eightish...? I dunno post at me to say if/when's good for you.

yesssssss

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

oh my, that instill emotion spell sounds fun

if only i had a chance to get some rotes, i could upgrade emotional urging

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

Gonna run tonight!!! Same deal, start showing up at like 8 or 9ish.

yeah this was posted a 4:20 pm :smug:

i probably won't be around till 9:15ish :(

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Ferrinus posted:

That's okay! (you're unimportant)

i know it was just a heads up

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Dammit Who? posted:

oh, you ran today...

that's cool... :smith:

it was a standalone story not related to the enoch storyline, i'll write up a synopsis when i get home from class if you want

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

The story of the Body of Gabriel Norsworth takes place in an unspecified time relative to the Enoch storyline. Before? After? Who knows, man, it's all crazy when you're dealing with Mages. The only characters in this story were Medved, Socharis, Matryoshka, and Adramel. (Adramel showed up a bit late, but early enough to get written into the story easily.)

Socharis is at home, doing his day job of writing obituaries. This particular obit is a sad one: an 8-year-old autistic boy named Gabriel Norsworth, hit by a car after running into the road. Anna, aka Ghost Girlfriend, appears with another ghost in tow. It's Gabe's ghost, a wispy half-formed thing that won't last long. Gabe says that there's something bad in him. Anna thinks it means that there's something wrong with Gabe's body. Socharis heads to the hospital where Gabe's body is being held, while Anna stays behind so that Gabe's ghost won't be alone when it dissolves.

Meanwhile, Medved and Matryoshka meet Aaron, the head of the local Adamantine Arrow, a (presumably) former military man and current Acanthus. He tells them that within an hour, an operation will be taking place at a local hospital, and that it will go badly. Deaths will occur that Sleepers will be powerless to stop. He wants his people on the scene for when things go down.

It's either coincidence or the workings of a Master of Fate that Socharis meets the Arrows right outside the hospital. They brief each other on why they're there and head inside, after casting a few protective and sensing spells. Inside, they're confronted by the nurse at the front desk. Fortunately, Matryoshka manages to convince the nurse they're there to see a man with a broken arm whose name Matryoshka picked off a clipboard on the desk, and the group enters without suspicion. They meet Adramel in a hallway of the hospital. (It was never explicitly mentioned what he was doing there. Does he work at the hospital?) He's quickly filled in and joins the party.

There's still about thirty or forty minutes until the operation, so the first stop is the morgue. There's a security guard, but Matryoshka flashes a police badge, says a few lines about a body involved in a crime, and uses a little help from the Mind arcana to get the group in the morgue. There are shelves upon shelves of morgue lockers, and there's no time to look at all of them one by one. There's a computer, though, and Adramel uses the Force to access the records to find Gabe's locker. It's quickly opened. (As an aside, my IRC log file for that day ends at midnight, right with the opening of Gabe's morgue freezer. Spooooky.)

Socharis determines that the poor lad was indeed killed by blunt force trauma, while Medved's magic examination goes deeper. Gabe's body -- specifically, his organs, are in remarkably good condition for a child hit by a car. He theorizes that his organs are being preserved for some unknown reason, and Matryoshka theorizes that the operation that's going to go wrong will involve Gabe's organs somehow. Adramel and Socharis collaborate to alter Gabe's medical file, Socharis using his medical experience to tell Adramel what to write. Gabe's organs are now listed as unusable due to some sort of hitherto-unnoticed infection so that no one will be contaminated with whatever bad thing Gabe was talking about inside him.

With only a few minutes left until the operation, the group heads down to the floor below where the operating rooms are. They see an ambulance arriving through a window. On the elevator ride down, Matryoshka divines the near future. The person in the ambulance was rushed exactly to this hospital because that's where Gabe's organs were, but the surgeons will find that the organs are no longer marked as usable. With no other organs available, the patient will die... and as the elevator doors open, the patient, a small girl, is rushed past.

The little girl has to be saved without the aid of Gabe's organs, which, as Adramel reminds a horrified Matryoshka, would probably have killed her anyway. A plan is quickly hatched. It's drastic but it's the only option. Medved and Socharis will attempt to heal the girl using their magic. But they'll need to keep it hidden from the eyes of the Sleepers. Adramel gives the two healers Nightsight, and then cuts the power to all the lights on the floor, just after a doctor arrives from the morgue, screaming that Gabe's organs are no longer viable. There is a lot of surprise and shouting, and in the confusion, the two healers rush into the OR with the gift of night vision. Medved's magic fails (0 successes on a dice pool of 10, what) but Socharis's works beautifully (5 successes!), healing the little girl's injuries enough that she won't need a transplant with Gabe or anyone else's organs. In the darkness and confusion, none of the Sleeper doctors notice the magic happening, and Paradox is averted.

The four Mages run for it, and meet up on another floor, panting from the exertion. As the scene ended, they were discussing how best to get a closer look at just what the deal is with Gabriel Norsworth's body.

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Zarick posted:

Medved didn't even try healing her because Socharis succeeded so well -- the 10 dice that he got 0 successes on was to snatch the pen flashlight a doctor pulled out.

Ah, thanks.

Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

just a heads up, i have finals next week on monday and tuesday, so sunday night and monday night are completely out for me, but after tuesday's test i am open for a while

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Nicolae Carpathia
Nov 7, 2004
I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

Male. Bi. Unix. posted:

good thing i own so hard that it didn't end up mattering

to be honest as the only character without nightsight i wasn't really paying much attention during this section

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