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SCAB has wrapped up it's first chapter, if you want to see if my Urban Fantasy with love, loss, wizards, and sacrifice is the right thing for you! Then click here, and read all of my posts. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3908680&userid=225602 I quote every important conversation point, and frequently have "Question Time" in the thread, where people are able to interrogate people live and on the fly. You can read only my posts and get the complete story. We are also running into our first downtime, which is where we're going to see our main Character, Gerald, actually do things he wants to do, he has $300,000 and a penchant for research, so if you want to be caught up on what's happened so far, heres a rough summary for you! If the story catches your interest, I recommend reading and catching up with us. I love writing, and I've had Scab going for 3 or 4 months now, and I don't plan on dropping it any time soon. The world of SCAB is one very similar to Shadowrun, but with less cyberpunk. There is magic in a very few select individuals, there are Elves, Orcs, Goblins, Minotaurs and Dragons, who are all just people trying to live their life under the crushing boot of capitalism. Gerald, our main character is an unlicensed wizard with his grimoire on his smart phone. He buys spells off the dark web when he can't find anything in public torrents. He is also a SCAB, an unlicensed non-union wizard. He is not allowed to practice magic publically, or for pay. He is allowed to practice magic safely within the privacy of his own home, if he had one. When our story first begins, Gerald is a homeless man living out of a tent in an alley. He has a run-in with the local police who want to see his license for magic. As an unlicensed mage, Gerald is not allowed to practice magic in public and having a magic tent that's much bigger on the inside definitely counts as magic. He has an appointment and needs to escape from the police, so he takes his magic tent and runs hoping to lose the police on the way to his first job. He manages to give his tail the slip, just barely and he meets the first power player of our Story, Majesty Ambrosia they are a powerful person whose rich beyond measure and seems to have ties to a local crime family by the Ambrosia name. We find out she needs a wizard to solve a problem, preferably one that does not have to report to the police or the wizards union, which is exactly where Gerald fits. Majesty Ambrosia has lost her dearest daughter, and is offering a lot of money to whoever can find them. Gerald then goes off to explore, and the thread decides that Gerald is not only a blood mage, but a blood mage who cavorts with demons. Gerald ends up finding out that Stephanie had a life partner named Karen, and the two were doing some sort of research. They end up quickly leaving their apartment and attempted to torch the place to no avail. Gerald follows leads all over town leading him from an apartment complex, to a wizarding arena, to an underground demon fight club, to a secret laboratory. Gerald finds out that there is also a bounty on Stephanie and Karen's head. He picks up many clues along the way, I'm about to spoil the end of the chapter here, so if this story seems interesting to you, stop reading now and follow from the beginning Karen and Stephanie were kidnapping wizards for the explicit purpose of sucking the magic out of them, essentially allowing them to control who can, and cannot have magic powers. The process kills the wizards that are kidnapped, and sometimes kills the person they're putting the magic into. Gerald is able to lie through his teeth to get them not to kill him, and uses his demons and his magic to blow up their awful laboratory, and return Stephanie and Karen, alive, safely to their mother. He also fakes their deaths, allowing him to not only collect on the money for finding and bringing them home safely, but also for killing them, collecting on the bounty Now we are at the end of the Chapter. Gerald has a mountain of cash, and is in very good with Majesty Ambrosia AND Emmet leader of the Underground Demon Fights. We are currently deciding where Gerald is going to spend his down time, what he is going to be doing during said down time, and how long he is going to be spending on that down time. We'd love to hear from you in the thread! ======================================= Chapter 1 - Acid Jazz ======================================== The smell of musk, unwashed bodies, and piss are the first things that greet Gerald every morning. That’s when the morning routine begins. He grabbed his wand from under his pillow, a stiffened piece of oak, raw and ragged. It is 8 inches long, sharp at the tip. It’s rough, splintering, and has what looks like dried blood on the tip. He openned his eyes to take in his surroundings, somedays his wizard’s curtain is in a park, or an alley, somewhere off the beaten path where the local authorities won’t bother him. Spitting into a spitoon, Gerald started his morning ablutions, teeth, hair, beard, body. Then he waved his wand and various multicolored bottles that smell like cloves and cinammon fills the air. Gerald’s portable home is a small 20 foot, by 10 foot space. The various rooms of the tent are seperated by pieces of purple silk. In one corner, there is what he would call his wardrobe. A loose pile of clothes in various states of duress hung as though held up by invisible pins. There are suits with patches seamed shut, pants of varying colors and tears, garish ties emblazoned with mystifying whirls and patterns. Opposite of that was his washroom, he heated up a bucket with his wand, and hung it on a hook, the small bottles of oil followed him and deposit small drops into the receptacle. He pulled a cork from underneath, and with another wave of his wand, fresh clean water past over his nude form. The water was then collected from the basin, and used to water his plants. Gerald observed himself in the mirror, he was 6 foot 2, lean, and sinewy. His bright red hair fell in gentle curls around his face, and his eyes were a sharp piercing blue. He was covered from head to toes in various scars. The most prominent of which reached from his top right shoulder, to the bottom of his left hip, as though his body had a zipper that was itching to be undone. His eyes were bloated from years of drinking, and his face was pallid and blotchy. He had a full goatee, cut to a sharp point. Gerald had a job to do today, and so he wore a dark green coat, a black vest a white shirt, and tan pants. He put on a black tie with gold stripes and tucked it gently under the vest. He took stock of his plants as he tightenned his belt. Then Gerald moved to the kitchen, picking bits of herb and onions from various pots strewn about the place. A potatoe and onion sliced itself and fell into a skillet. Soon the smell of cooking food, and cleaning oils washed away the stink of the city, at least for a moment. The kitchen took up less than a quarter of the tent. The sink was emaculate, shining chrome sitting proudly among the cotton cabinets. A set of four ceramic stones of varying sizes sat off to the side of it, a cast iron skillet worked tirelessly shifting over an enchanted plate. It sizzled tirelessly and soon depositted it’s contents onto a plate.  Just as Gerald took the first bite, there was a knock on his tent, the whole thing rippled, the roof bended in awkward shapes and swirls to accomodate the hand pressing in on it. “Hey buddy, you gotta take this down.” Gerald groaned inwardly, and hurriedly stuffed his breakfast into his face. His mouth was still full as he walked to the front flap. Openning it, he saw two people uniformed in blue, wearing silver stars on their chests. gently caress, the police, he thought to himself. “I’m sorry officers, what can I do for you.” This guy does not look homeless, He could see the look on the cops’ faces. They were expecting some transient. Not the tall and proud wizard that stood before them. The first one gulped, and put his hand on his gun. “No funny business magic man.” The other one stood with his arms folded, “You can’t block this public walkway with your fancy curtain, take this down or we’re gonna have to confiscate it.” “Confiscate what my home?!” Gerald balked, and scoffed, You can certainly try. “Just get out of here and there won’t be any problems,” The first cop undoes the snap on his holster. “Fine, fine, no problem,” Gerald snaps his fingers, and the curtain disappears. “Look there’s a shelter nearby, why don’t you try and go there, their are plenty of beds, and they may even give you space to set up your curtain.” The officer said, a bit of kindness dulling the edge of his voice. “Have you been to that shelter?” Gerald bit off. “What?” “Have you actually been there?” “No, but that doesn’t mea-” “It’s at capacity, every shelter in the city is at capacity, do you think people would rather sleep on the streets if there was another option? I mean look around officer, every overpass in the city has giant spikes jutting out, like a macabre set of teeth. The benches in the park are seperated by arm rests so you can’t sleep on them, and every goddamn shop has rocks, or spikes, or sprinklers so you can’t sleep there.” “We’re not your social worker, go find someone else to whine at, or else.” The first cop said, when he spoke Gerald noticed that his canines were long and protruding. His eyes were a dull red, and his nails were long and sharp. The threat hung in the air, making the tension almost palpable. Gerald knew he had hosed up, this area of the city he put his tent in was much too affluent to accomodate a Wizard’s Curtain. He already regretted it, but the job took him here, and if he was too walk, he wanted to be close by to his next appointment. He collected his things. He felt the police officers eyes on him as he walked away down the alley. He reached into what seemed like thin air, and pulled out his bowl of food. Finishing it as he walked. The city was beautiful, huge dazzling buildings of various colors reached up like irridescent fingers reaching for the sky. Everywhere shimmered like gemstones, and many of the buildings themselves had veins of color, runelines, and wards etched directly into them. Gerald could feel the hostility of the city, a kind of oppressive aura that screamed at him “You don’t belong here.” Everywhere he walked he could feel unseen eyes burning a hole into him. He realized the cops were following him, “Hey wait, we need to see your license and union badge.” gently caress. Gerald took a deep breath, pulled out his wand, and picked up the pace. He shouldn’t have talked back to police, he could have just left, why was he always so difficuilt. He pointed his wand at the ground, and a puff of dark black smoke engulfed him. He broke out into a full sprint. There was terrible throaty growl behind him. He looked over his shoulder, Oh… oh no… there was a dark grey wolf, long, vicious, with cruel teeth and burning red eyes loping after him. Gerald was only a block away from his employers. He’d be safe if he could just get there.  The snarling wolf growled as it got close to him, Gerald grabbed someone taking a picture and shoved them hard. They connected with the wolf, falling ontop of it. The creature yelped, and struggled to pull itself out from underneath them without harming what was most likely a wealthy tourist. Gerald flipped them the bird and kept running. The wolf pulled itself free, and chased after him, livid and foaming at the mouth. Every step that Gerald took the wolf was taking four. There’s no escape, this is where it ends. Gerald’s struggled to catch his breath, panting heavily. He started to slow, just a bit. He could feel the dogs teeth snapping right behind his wasteband. The wolf lunged, and Gerald crooned “GERALDAUGUSTUSHEREFORMAJESTYAMBROSIA” as quickly as he could. He leapt inside the building slamming the door shut behind him, on the head of the wolf. He slammed the door a few more times, and the creature finally acquiesced, repelled by the wards on the building, shooting it into his partner who was following behind. Gerald took a moment to take in his surroundings. For now, he was safe. The lobby of the building was impressive, a huge overwrought chandelier glimmered from the ceiling, as a listless doorman looked up for a second to see what all the commotion was about. Non-plussed he went back to reading his paper. There were tables filled with newspapers and magazines and comfy plush chairs settled around them. The tile of the building was black, with the grout painted gold. The walls looked like raw maw sit sit, it shone such a bright green.  Gerald stepped into the elevator, and the doorman pressed a button on his desk. The elevator started to spin and Gerald had to hold oto the walls to keep his balance, as soon as he felt like he was going to fall the spinning stopped, and he fell out of the elevator, into a plush and luxurious red carpet. Lady Ambrosia stood there, they wore a long red dress that accentuated their form, a high slit running up the leg on one side. Their hair was short, straight and undercut swooshing over her head in a tiny pompadour. They were standing in front of a window, looking out, a decanter in one hand, and a cup full of amber liquid in the other. They sipped their drink as Gerald stared.  “You’re rather early, I wasn’t expecting you for another 10, or 20 minutes.” Ambrosia said curtly. “Traffic was better than expected,” Gerald said with a wry chuckle, panting still. He was covered in sweat, and he hoped that he hadn’t sweat through his suit. He was unprepared for how attractive Majesty Ambrosia was. He tried not to stare too hard at the dress. He felt in over his head. When he met their eyes, his heart skipped a beat. “Right…” They turned to look at him, and he did his best to meet their gaze. Majesty Ambrosia continued “My bookie recommended you, said you helped him with a spot of trouble a few years ago. He said you don’t ask questions, and don’t quit until the job is done. I need a man like that.” Gerald had been taken aback by their beauty, and without thinking, “I can be the man you need then!” He said his voice, a bit too cheery. He grimaced internally. Phrasing. “Good to hear, I’m in a rather delicate situation, my adopted daughter a 17 year old woman by the name of Stephanie Ambrosia, has gone missing.” Ambrosia continued. “As far as we know she is not awakened, and I worry for her safety.” “That sounds like a situation for the police,” Gerald said, finally focusing on business, “Why do you need an unlicensed scab like me?” “There may be… Unsavory elements to her kidnapping, and she’s integral to a rather delicate situation with the family business. A union wizard would require to report any findings of illegal doings directly to the police. I would like to avoid that all costs.” Their voice was sharp as knives and crystal clear. “You find her, you bring her back to me, you do not talk to the police.” “I’ve had some of my men do a preliminary investigation, though none of them are awakened, so it would do you well to overlook where they’ve been. My daughter’s apartment is a wreck, it looks like the place was torn over, she could have been taken from there. She had a roommate who is also missing at the moment, we’ve left thier apartment exactly as it was left a week ago, with guards making sure no-one comes in or out. We’ve also checked her normal hangouts, she likes to go to an Awakened Karaoke Bar called the Singing Sorcerer and that was the last place she was seen, her roommate was last seen gambling at the Wizard’s Arena.” “She’s been gone for a week, and you’re just hiring me now?” Gerald said in-spite of himself, “You know what the odds are o-” “Finally,” Ambrosia cut him off with a dark look, “We have a list of her friends that hangout with her from time to time, which I will handover to you. I hope you’re as good as you say they are.” “Let’s talk compensation,” “There is a reward for finding her, $125,000, I’ll pay 1% up front, $1,250” Alright, Gerald, time to ask yourself the big question, What do you do? A.) Haggle for more money B.) Leave out the front door C.) Leave out the back door D.) Ask more questions (Write-In) Then what? C.) Go to her apartment D.) Go to her last seen location (The Singing Sorcerer) E.) Go to her roommates last seen location (The Wizard’s Arena) F.) Go to the police Boba Pearl fucked around with this message at 08:21 on Mar 28, 2020 |
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Jan 1, 2020 01:32
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C D Boba Pearl posted:It is 8 inches long, sharp at the tip. It’s rough, splintering, and has what looks like dried blood on the tip. And JFC go see a doctor.
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Jan 1, 2020 02:05
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1A A wizard worth his proverbial salt needs reagents, and those don't come cheap. 2D We need leads - witnesses - not something some other search team's likely already turned up.
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Jan 1, 2020 03:16
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A C
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Jan 1, 2020 06:57
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A 125,000 would be adequate for a warm trail this is a cold case I'll need 200,000 and 10% down. C maybe we can detect something the unenlightened couldn't.
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Jan 1, 2020 07:02
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Toughy posted:A 125,000 would be adequate for a warm trail this is a cold case I'll need 200,000 and 10% down. Going with this vote.
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Jan 1, 2020 07:06
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AE
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Jan 4, 2020 03:22
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Sweet Talk Majesty Ambrosia: 2d6 9 It’d be hard to milk more money out of her, Gerald thought, but he needed a place to put up his tent. “Look, I feel real sympathy for your situation, but I’m probably going to have to summon a divination spirit, knock on doors, bribe guardsmen, that sort of thing. I need a place to hang my curtain so no one bothers me in the silken office, if you know what I mean.” He rubbed his fingers together. “Here’s my offer, I’ll do it for $20,000 upfront, and $180,000 when the job is done. That’s to cover room and board for however long it takes, and opens up the coffers to get reagents for big spells, the kind of magic only the richest, most supplied Wizards in the city can do.” Ambrosia sucked in air through her teeth as she thought, a high pitched whistling noise that seemed to cut through the room itself. She stood and thought. The moment was tense. For a second Gerald thought he may have seriously hosed up. Oh god I asked for too much, she’s not going to give me the job. The moment stretched on even further, Gerald grew uncomfortable and started to sweat again. Maybe it would have been better if I stayed outside with the wolf. “I’ll give you a room here at the tower, $5,000 up front, and $150,000 when you find her and bring her to me.” Gerald internally sighed, “But, with this extra money, comes extra responsibility, I want daily reports of everything you’ve found. I’ll reimburse you for any expenses, as long as you bring me itemized receipts.” She’s sharp as a knife, and twice as edgy. “Itemized receipts? With all do respect, my line of work doesn’t exactly… mesh with a paper trail, if you catch my meaning.” “I’m sure you will make do.” She reached down for her cigarette holder, and took a long drag. The herbal smoke filled the room, and it was clear that Gerald had been dismissed. Gerald left the room and took the elevator to the lobby. The exact moment the elevator doors slid open, The Doorman called to him, “Congratulations sir,” The Doorman said boredly, “You have been given one of our executive suites as an office. Not to mention an excellent starting retainer.” The Doorman slid over a leather briefcase, and unlatched it, showing five one-thousand bundles of twenty dollar bills, and a key. “Plug the key into the elevator, and it’ll take you right to your office.” Gerald quickly took the money out of the briefcase and pocketed it, and took the key. “Thanks uh…” He did a once over on The Doorman for a name tag. “My name is Gerald,” he quickly recovered, “What’s yours?” “I’m The Doorman.” “Yes but I mean, what should I call you?” “I’m The Doorman, sir.” “Ok, fine, Thank you Doorman.” “Happy to help, sir. If there is anyway to assist you, know that I will be happy to help, as long as you are a member at Chateau Ambrosia.” Gerald looked outside and saw the two cops from before, waiting across the street watching the main lobby. “Do you know a better way to exit this place Doorman?” “There is a private exit, or if sir likes, there’s always the roof for those who are magically inclined.” “Thanks, again.” Gerald left to the elevator, and looked at the array of buttons, at the top stood an insert for a key, he jammed his key in it and twisted. There was a shudder felt throughout the entire elevator, a popping noise, and then a rush so fast Gerald felt like he was pinned to the wall. Then with a second pop he fell forward into a room, it was a 6x6 feet square office space, with no windows, and the only door led straight back into the elevator. This will do nicely, Gerald quickly threw up his tent and walked inside, he openned a safe and tossed his money in, keeping $200 on himself as loose cash. A nice nest egg if I need it, he closed the safe door, warded the tent, and left. He stepped back in the elevator, and went back to the lobby, and was led by The Doorman to the private exit. The private exit was through a locked room at the back of the lobby that lead to an alley. Gerald pulled out his phone, and quickly typed in Stephanie’s address. She lived in a tiny apartment in a derelict part of the city. It’d take an hour by bus. Gerald walked to the bus stop and sat. Next to him stood the signage for the bus stop. It was old and rusty. He looked over his shoulder down the street and back. When he was sure no one was looking, he took out his wand and tapped the metal pole. A thin piece of paper squeezed itself out and his flyer waved proudly in the morning air. “Ghosts Got your Ghoulies? Demons Defenestrating your Darling? Have Whirling Woes only a Wizard can solve? Text 1-310-NEEDWIZ.” After 2 bus stops and 15 minutes of walking, Gerald found himself at a full block of nearly identical apartment buildings. There were bars on the windows facing outwards, and the only way to differentiate one building from the next was to follow the graffiti illegible swirling signage decorated every building. It wrapped around the apartments like a python constricting the flats. You could almost feel it sucking the life out of the place. Gerald’s phone chirped happily and told him he had arrived at his destination. The door leading inside of the building had had it’s door knob removed some time ago, and it was easy to push the door open. He walked up two flight of stairs and reached the top of the building. There were two men standing guard on either side of the door. They wore suits, dark sunglasses, and leather gloves. Each had a gunbelt strapped to an automatic weapon. There is a red splash on the door across from them, and the ground was stained a rusty brown.  “Hey, Majesty sent me, I’m here to check out the room.” One nodded silently, while the other openned the door, “The place has been pretty much undisturbed since the kidnapping. Well, except for the blood. Door was loving booby trapped. Watch your step.” The other one points to a piece of wire that was attatched to the door. “Whatever she had set up to the door, blew through our guy. His entire top half exploded. After that, no one wanted to do anything until we had someone awakened take a look. You magic?” Gerald snorted a little, “Yes, I am magic.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone, “11:30 AM” shined bright back at him. Investigation Start: Gerald only has so many hours in a day before he gets tired and goes back home. Only so much investigating can be done. The longer that Gerald stays in a place, the more likely police are going to show up and give him hell. He has 3 from the following list he can do, 4 if you want to push it, 5 if you reeeeally want to push it. A.) Check for more traps B.) Start a chat, “When did you guys get here?” “What happened to the last guy exactly?” “How far into the room did you get?” “What did the trap look like?” C.) Divination, summon a spirit and use it to answer a few questions, “Why does this place look like it’s been totally ransacked?” “What reagents are here that will lead me to Stephanie.” “What has Stephanie been doing the last month or so in the appartment.” etc. D.) Conjuration, summon a hell dog and try to get it attuned to Stephanie’s scent. E.) Necromancy, summon a spirit in the area, and ask it questions about the comings and goings of the apartment F.) Evocation, try to find some of Stephanies things to create a mental link with her (if she’s willing.) G.) Enchantment, try to find some of Stephanies things to find a magic compass that points to her (if she’s not warded.) Boba Pearl fucked around with this message at 07:42 on Jan 4, 2020 |
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Jan 4, 2020 07:22
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CDG. We're here to find Stephanie. Those things are all about finding out where she is. We're gonna straight shoot to that solution.
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Jan 4, 2020 07:34
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ACD
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Jan 4, 2020 07:36
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BCD If the hell dog gets exploded by traps then we found the traps. If the hell dog does not get exploded by traps there were no traps. Either way we can stay outside the door and do not need to look for traps.
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Jan 4, 2020 08:02
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CDGF
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Jan 4, 2020 09:03
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A C E
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Jan 4, 2020 12:53
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Current Tally: A...2 B...1 C...5 D...4 E...1 F....1 G...2 There's a tie for the third action, between A & G, there's a few options open to us. We either Push our luck and do both, or Someone breaks the tie
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Jan 5, 2020 01:28
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Push our luck, obviously.
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Jan 5, 2020 01:31
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 Push Luck
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Jan 5, 2020 01:56
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A
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Jan 5, 2020 02:04
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A
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Jan 6, 2020 01:56
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Always for Push Luck!
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Jan 6, 2020 03:16
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A.) Check for more traps C.) Divination, summon a spirit and use it to answer a few questions, “Why does this place look like it’s been totally ransacked?” “What reagents are here that will lead me to Stephanie.” “What has Stephanie been doing the last month or so in the appartment.” etc. D.) Conjuration, summon a hell dog and try to get it attuned to Stephanie’s scent. 4 for 4 options, 6 voted for 3 options or less, The guards were less than useless didn’t even bother to check for traps and got blown half to paste. Gerald chewed at a hang nail. There was a sharp pain as the flesh peeled away from the nail bed. He grimaced, and started to draw a rune on the door. The blood didn’t stick though, and slid off. He pressed harder but when he touched the door it felt the door felt like a seasoned cast iron pan slick and oily. Confused Gerald turned to the guards, “Stephanie’s not awakened right?” The guard replied, “As far as we were told, both her and her roommate weren’t. It’s not like Wizards are that common in this area. I guess being able to turn lead into gold means you don’t have to stay in slums” Gerald groaned, “Magic doesn’t work like that,” The other guard looked up, “What do you mean?” He seemed genuinely courteous, Gerald smiled internally, “Well, magic’s all about sacrifice. Whether it’s life energy, gem stones, or even cold hard cash, every spell has it costs. You can absorb the cost,” He makes a small flame in his hand and starts to make the small ball of flame roll down his fingers back and forth, “Or you can sacrifice something to it,” Gerald pulls out a few strands of hair and the flame glows a bright blue. He casually slid it to the palm of his hand and snuffed the flame out. “There’s a ward on this door, one only a mage could make.” He was talking more to himself than the guard, Gerald pulled out his wand and jammed it into the palm of his hand. He gently cracked the door and started to splash blood around the apartment. It hit the floor and made a slight hissing sound. The apartment was a small bachelor pad, the singular bed was thrown against the wall, and the ground was littered with papers. They had a coffee table with a heater on it over turned. Where the blood hit the floor bright green lines criss crossed across the apartment. Gerald hissed through his teeth, She did NOT want visitors, but wouldn’t whoever tossed this place have set off the traps? He very gingerly stepped into the room avoiding the bright green lines. The line was a single piece of fishing wire looped around various overturned furniture, Gerald followed it to where it led. The line seemed to disappear into the wall, he gently ran his finger over the wall and his fingers failed to gain purchase. The fishing line was tied around a bottle, inside was a blue flame. Gerald undid the line and pocketted the bottle. He looked at the ground where his blood was hissing, he rummaged through the papers. His blood bubbled and hissed when he slid aside the paper his blood rolled off onto the carpet. Gerald took out a small knife, and started to peel away the carpet. The atmosphere felt electric, and the sharp smell of ozone pierced through his senses, like a wall it hit him. He knew what he was looking at, “A ley-line?” He asked himself peeling back more and more carpet. Sure enough, there was a rune burned into the aging plywood. “Hey, hey what’s that?” The guard from earlier said peering through the door, “It’s a ley-line.” Gerald replied, “It’s basically the equivalent to having a wizard’s ATM card. I can cast spells here, and the cost is taken from someone else’s bank account. Sometimes literally. You’d be surprised at how much poor the almighty dollar can produce. It means any magic I cast here will essentially be free, well free for me anyways.” Gerald grasped his wand, and tapped it to the ley-line. He pulled it back and a thick viscous blue liquid led from the floor to the tip. He drew arcane shapes in the air, and focussed. He kept a clear picture in his mind, and tried to push everything out. The room was electric, Gerald ignored the goosebumps and shivers running down his spine. He jammed his wand forward and cut through the air. An angry gash openned and rainbow colors swirled through shining bright. He kept his focus and jammed his wand forward again, the gash got larger. The spirit oozed out and took the form of gerald, but translucent and seemingly filled with blue goo. The room fell away, soon there was nothing but a void, Gerald, and the translucent version of himself. There was no light, but they could see each other clearly. Nothing else was around, the seemingly infinite of the abyss threatening to swallow them whole. “Why does this place look like it’s been totally ransacked?” The spirit took in a deep breath and sighed, the room popped back into view underneath them. Two cloaked figures start to toss the room. They are faceless, one puts the bottle in the wall, while the other starts to flip over furniture and wrapping fishing line around it. “What reagents are here that will lead me to Stephanie.” The room is completely tossed, the two figures are seen holding out wands and tiny puffs around the room and bathroom start to pop. With each pop a tiny bit of dust and smoke rises into the air. “What has Stephanie been doing the last month or so in the appartment.” He could see into Stephanie’s and her roommates life. There was only one bed in the apartment, her and her roommate shared. They would eat breakfast together. They were happy, yellow lines of happiness permeated their Aura, and even without looking close he could see that Stephanie was laughing. The roommate spent most of the time inside the apartment, while Stephanie was out. There was no TV, and they would sit at the table reading and pouring over notes. Gerald tried to get a closer look but the paper were smudged and blurry, impossible to read the lines literally sliding off the book. For the next 2-3 days depending on activity is Open Questions, you can ask anything of the Divination Spirit and it will try it’s best to answer your questions with it’s powers
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Jan 6, 2020 09:10
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Show me when Stephanie and her roommates last left the apt.
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Jan 6, 2020 16:17
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Toughy posted:Show me when Stephanie and her roommates last left the apt. The room fast forwards for a few minutes, Stephanie bursts into the room. It must be early in the day because her roommate was still asleep. She shakes her awake and her roommate tries to pack a few things. There was no face on the forms, their movements were erratic. Her roommate was still packing things when Stephanie reached under the sink and pulled out a large duffel bag. She grabs onto her roommate is still packing and nearly drags her to the door. Stephanie stuffed a rag into a bottle of vodka and lit it with a quick flip from her lighter. Flames quickly spread into the room licking the tightly stacked papers. They run out the door. There was a bright flash of light, and the fire disappeared almost immediately.
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Jan 6, 2020 21:03
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Aside from the police and those two cloaked figures, has anyone else been in the room between Stephanie and her roommates left and me getting here?
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Jan 6, 2020 21:22
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Junpei posted:Aside from the police and those two cloaked figures, has anyone else been in the room between Stephanie and her roommates left and me getting here? No police have been inside the room, just the 3 hired security people, one of which wasn't able to get past the doorway. The room zooms in to one of the corners of the apartment showing a small white mouse crawling along the baseboards of the rooms.
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Jan 6, 2020 21:38
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What was packed in the duffel? Did they interact with any other physical objects while studying the notes? Aside from coffee mugs, scones, etc. Anything weird about the mouse? Did the cloaked figures find anything? Examine the cloaked figures further to see if they gave away any identifying details.
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Jan 6, 2020 22:10
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malbogio posted:What was packed in the duffel? The room zooms in, and soon only the duffel can be seen. As Stephanie pulls it out, The spirit reaches down and touches it, revealing it’s insides. There are tons of books and papers, very few clothes, 2 bundels of 20 dollar bills (So $2,000 cash,) a wallet, and 2 passports. Then the room started to rewind, stopping whenever they were studying. They would spend hours on their phones, on the notes, and onto their laptops. They left their laptops behind when they rushed out of the apartment, and it was one of the things the figures took when they left, they also took any books left behind. The figures seem less shadowy, and on a second viewing, it’s apparent that one of them is manipulating the papers some how before tossing them. It’s blurry, so it’s hard to tell if he’s using a wand or a handheld scanner. The divination spirit pulls the image back a bit, and the mouse starts to glow a brite white, the mouse lives in the walls, and regularly slips out to crawl along the kitchen counter, or the baseboards. It seems to live a normal mouse life. The creature slips and slides effortlessly through the space between the walls, it spends most of it’s time in this one apartment, dining on sugar and bread. Though it’s careful to undo the bread tag instead of chewing through the plastic. The divination spirit seems to strain, and pierce the cloaks of the figures, but a bright symbol shows, and seems to repell the shadows reaching out to it.  There’s a whoosh of energy, and the symbol blazes deeply. The spirit strains and pulls the image back, the figures cloaks ripple slightly eddies of shadows swirling in the void.
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Jan 6, 2020 23:26
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Does our scab recognize the symbol?
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Jan 7, 2020 00:35
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How can we collect and analyze the "pixie" dust from the two figures that ransacked the place?
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Jan 7, 2020 04:24
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Lux Animus posted:How can we collect and analyze the "pixie" dust from the two figures that ransacked the place? It looks to be a mage's crest of some sort, but he doesn't recognize it.
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Jan 7, 2020 04:28
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I also want to question the mouse about peoples' comings and goings.
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Jan 7, 2020 04:30
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Lux Animus posted:How can we collect and analyze the "pixie" dust from the two figures that ransacked the place? The spirit waved his hands, and small motes of light align themselves on the floor, twinkling like dander in the sunlight.
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Jan 7, 2020 04:32
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Boba Pearl posted:The spirit waved his hands, and small motes of light align themselves on the floor, twinkling like dander in the sunlight. Ok, let's get a baggie of this stuff if we can.
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Jan 7, 2020 04:33
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Lux Animus posted:I also want to question the mouse about peoples' comings and goings. The divination spirit, pulls out, from the apartment, further and further. This particular mouse is hiding in an alley near the Wizard's arena. Lux Animus posted:Ok, let's get a baggie of this stuff if we can. Gerald reaches out and puts a small speck of the dust into a component bag. He conjures a small label and writes "Traceless Powder" on the label.
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Jan 7, 2020 04:44
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What did the figures find before they ultimately left?
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Jan 7, 2020 05:05
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Is there any hidden wall safe or the like?
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Jan 7, 2020 05:11
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Junpei posted:Is there any hidden wall safe or the like? The divination spirit zooms into the apartment and shows a hidden compartment under the sink, where the duffle bag was kept, and the illusioned wall panel, where the Demon in a Bottle was kept. Lux Animus posted:What did the figures find before they ultimately left? The divination spirit zoomed through to the break in, and showed the figures looting. They went through every paper before throwing it on the ground, and the mouse that was in the apartment scampered. They took copies of every journal and scrap of note. They also took the laptop that Stephanie and her roommate left behind. Ontop of that they took some hair from a hairbrush in the bathroom.
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Jan 7, 2020 05:15
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Boba Pearl posted:Ontop of that they took some hair from a hairbrush in the bathroom. Oh good let's do that too - collect both our marks' hairs for tracking.
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Jan 7, 2020 05:19
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Lux Animus posted:Oh good let's do that too - collect both our marks' hairs for tracking. The tiny puffs of air and smoke was magic used to destroy any traces you could follow, hair, finger nails, blood, dander, etc.
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Jan 7, 2020 06:08
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Interview that mouse! Buy a small portion of expensive parmesan to bribe/insult the mouse with culturally insensitive offerings.
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Jan 7, 2020 07:18
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| # ? Apr 29, 2024 02:11 |
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Outrail posted:Interview that mouse! Buy a small portion of expensive parmesan to bribe/insult the mouse with culturally insensitive offerings. 
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Jan 7, 2020 07:24
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