Skyscraper Graveyard IC: Renaissance City

[Thanqol]

Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus - Detroit City Motto

Skyscraper Graveyard

OOC Thread 1
OOC Thread 2: Jealousy and Ambition
OOC Thread 3: A Sword On His Back
OOC Thread 4: Lack Of Data
OOC Thread 5: Gradually, Then Suddenly

IC Thread 1: Renaissance City
IC Thread 2: Simple Choices
IC Thread 3: THIS IS YOUR GOD


1/9/2015

Something big is going down. The city can feel it in it's bones.

The ley lines of Detroit are twisted, fractured and broken. Like rivers polluted with garbage, twisted resonances and Abyssal fractures. The wellsprings are dry; the life and light and power that brings Mana into the world are decrepit. The city's concrete heart isn't beating, and blood moves turgidly through it's decaying veins.

And then something big happened.

It was like a bolt of lightning hitting the heart of the city, sending out a shockwave of mana which briefly surged through the ley lines and, for a minute, jolted the city alive. Some power from the Supernal just found a vector in the mortal world. It could be an artifact, a spell, a spirit, an Awakening - whatever it is, it's something that anyone with an eye on the city and an understanding of Prime magic would be able to notice immediately.

Almost as soon as it happened, Errant appeared outside the Renaissance's skyscraper and gave Turing a folder labelled "Cyprus: The Golden Gloved Archon" with the attached note "She is coming to town to secure whatever just happened. Get to it first." That Errant didn't move through any usual channels or proxies is a pretty big indicator that this is serious.

Tracing the shockwave back to it's source is relatively simple - it lead to a large stone church. It's in the middle of an active construction site, fenced off and with a few private security guys milling around near the entrance. Demolition is extremely common in Detroit, but it's rare to see construction work like this. The sound of hammering and machinery fills the air.

The place is soaked in tass. There's an air of Reality about the place, sunk into every stone. Whatever happened happened here.

[Anarion]

As Errant makes her way out, leaving Turing with the dossier, the elevator opens up and Tessen steps out to the first floor. She's got on a pair of khakis and a light pink sweater, since there's a bit of chill in the air. Her hair is loose, however, and falls down in a bright red cascade all around her back and down almost to her knees. There's also a very small grease stain on her cheek, that she is probably not aware of.

"Turing, good news. I got the elevators sped up a bit. And, they should close consistently now, even when I'm not there to make the electricity work right." *She beams widely* "Um, you, uh, still probably shouldn't go to the 27th or 28th floors though. They, er, might be liable to collapse in under too much weight."

*Looks at the dossier with the really odd symbol at the top*

"Oh, was someone here. I didn't realize, how rude of me. What did they drop off?"

[Deadly]

Moments after Errant had left and Tessen arrived out of the elevator, Amun could be seen jogging towards the tower, his suitcase bumping along behind him. It wasn't a hurried run, that would draw attention, it was just the sort of casual gait that someone might engage in for a bit of good ol' exercise. That it happened to get you somewhere faster than walking was just a happy coincidence.

His hair appeared wilder than usual, as if his luggage contained a Van de Graaff generator. Perhaps it did. Otherwise he looked not much different from any other day.

He came to a halt and said casually, "Pleasant day, innit? What's going on?" The casual tone betrayed a sense of urgency. As if what he meant to say was "Holy ****, something just happened!!! Did you feel it too?!" He glanced down at the folder in Turing's hands.

[the_druid_droid]

Turing was standing outside by the door, smoking a cigarette. When Errant appeared, he quickly stubbed it out and his pose straightened; it wasn’t a salute, not exactly, but the respect it conveyed was clear. He took the folder, skimmed the note, and gave a clipped nod as Errant departed.

With a flick of his finger, he broke the seal and moved into the lobby to read through the dossier, sheltered from the wind. He was still leafing through the file on Cyprus when Tessen appeared. At first, it seemed like he hadn’t heard her.

“That was Errant; don’t worry about the pleasantries. Something big - sh*t, make that really big is going down,” here he paused to look up at the other mage, “I think we’re all going to need to be in on this one, if you’re up for it. Do you know where Amun is?”

The question was answered for him by their cabal-mate’s arrival, and Turing hurried out the doors to meet him on his way.

In answer to Amun's greeting, he frowned. “Not entirely sure, but I think it’s going to get a lot less pleasant,” Turing waved the envelope, “Errant was just here and we may have even more company really soon. I don’t know if this is a Guardian thing proper, but if you want to come along, I could really use the company.” Amun could make out the request in his voice, although he cringed a little at the thought of dragging his friends into a Seer operative’s sights.

“If you’re interested, look through this, then do me a favor and burn it.” He held up the now-open envelope like an invitation, and readjusted his glasses with a free hand while he prepared to view the world with Grim Sight.

[Roll for casting Grim Sight, 1 success. Prime would probably be better suited, but he doesn’t have that Arcanum yet; it’s on the list. If Death doesn’t help any, he’ll either follow the others or ask a ghost]

[Anarion]

Tessen takes a look at the dossier. "Cyprus, the golden-gloved archon" she muses aloud. "Let me just..." *she takes out her pocketbook and writes down Cyprus's name and title, as well as beginning to make a sketch of the person shown in the image, in the case the name isn't enough to identify her properly.

Spoiler

Show

Name and image written in fated pocketbook. Tessen should learn at least one theme or connection related to Cyprus (or to whoever she's drawing if that's not really Cyprus).

[Thanqol]

[In general, you don't have to roll to have Mage Sight or a Shield spell up in a non combat situation. The only consequence of failing the roll to put it up is spending another 3-6 seconds to put it up again.

Death Sight is basically the opposite of the spell you want here; it is of no help]

When one pressed the pen against a page, it left an imprint on the opposite side of the paper. Most of the time these imprints were just mirror-image reflections of what you'd written on the previous page. With this notebook they were something more.

The words that appeared were, "Fear obliterates even the search for truth. Fear of something terrible is a form of faith."

[Anarion]

Tessen looks at the dossier and back to the words that appear in the notebook, and reads them aloud. Her other hand is playing with her hair ornament for today, a ruby and teal Anna's hummingbird that she twists left and right nervously as she's reading.

She closes her eyes and lets out a deep breath. Fear obliterates the search for truth. Does that apply to her...or to me?. "I guess, if you want the company, I'll come." When she opens her eyes, the pattern of the supernal is laid out before her, threads and weaves stretching out across the whole city, connecting everyone and everything so strongly she could almost reach out and pluck the strings. She looks towards the source of the shockwave.
[activated supernal vision]

[Thanqol]

Tracking the path of mana towards the church was an exceedingly simple thing. There was no subtlety, refinement or control in whatever had just been done.

It was a fairly long walk, though. It'd be at least two hours on foot.

[Anarion]

"Oh, no. I can see it, b-but it's halfway across the city and none of us know how to teleport. If something's happening now, we'll never get there in time."

[the_druid_droid]

“Goddammit!” Turing’s features were clouded by frustration at the failure of his Mage Sight and Tessen’s news.

Then, after thinking for a moment, he turned to address Amun. “Please tell me you’ve got a feeling that a taxi’s coming. Or really any sort of mass transit crazy enough to take us there; I’m not picky.”

If Amun’s influence over fate failed them too, they would have to think seriously about borrowing a car; he hoped Alchemy might be enough to fix up one of the many abandoned vehicles in the city long enough to get them there...

[Deadly]

Amun read the report quickly after Tessen was done with it, then pulled out an old plastic lighter, the cheap kind you get thrown at you for practically free if not actually free. It looked like it had been used frequently to open bottles and similar tasks. He set about setting fire to the paper.

He nodded at Turing and looked distracted, muttering a little to himself. To anyone else on the street it might look like he was warming up to go into rambling madman mode and would be worth avoiding. Amun was good at giving that impression, possibly the burning paper in his hands helped. "Yeah," he said, "in my experience you can't walk ten feet without the risk of getting hit by one. In fact I think I hear one over there," he said, throwing the burning paper away before it burned his fingers, and pointed.

Sure enough, a cab was rounding the corner down the road just then.

[Improvising, Dice pool 3: 9, 6, 10, ten again 1, 2 successes, not too shabby]

[Thanqol]

The cabbie was an extremely twitchy, and dangerously thin black guy. He had a lot of needle marks on his arms and the hollows under his eyes that indicated that he was a recovering drug addict. On the dashboard was a photograph of two small girls.

"Where to?" he said.

[Anarion]

"We're going to a church across town. The um, oh, what was the name of it?"

Spoiler

Show

Raw intelligence roll to remember the name of the church. (4d10)[7][9][6][7](29)

[Thanqol]

[You don't know where you're going yet; you haven't seen the church yet. All you know is 'Thataway'. I included the description of the church in the intro to give you the option to start having arrived]

The driver nodded vaguely, chewing heavily on gum. He punched the gas, heading right along the ley lines.

[Anarion]

[Oh, I thought when you mentioned it following the supernal vision description, it meant that the threads were so strong, Tessen could see right to it.]

Tessen leans to the side, looking out the window at the threads and directing the cab driver to follow the proper streets. She's barely paying attention where they're going, just following the strongest threads in as direct a route as possible to their origin.

[the_druid_droid]

Turing clapped Amun on the back, or more accurately, on the thick layer of clothing that covered his back.

"You have a nose for these things, my friend. I appreciate it."

When the cab arrived, he piled in with the others, but grew quiet as Tessen began giving out directions. The file Errant had given him had mostly concerned Cyprus, which might mean that even the Epopt didn't have a lot to go on regarding the recent disturbance...

At the very least, they didn't have much to go on, and so they would need to make a point of figuring out what the score was before heading in.

Turing sighed; he really wanted a cigarette.

[Deadly]

"An ear," Amun corrected with a jolly grin and got in the car. It wasn't too often he got to ride a cab, but the situation didn't allow for much enjoyment of the ride. Something big was going down, and things could get very ugly if they weren't careful.

He leaned back, letting Tessen do the directions while he considered the information in the folder, and the ley lines and trails they were following. Maybe as they got closer there would be something, a clue to what had happened or what they were after. His hand played idly with a small die as he concentrated.

[Supernal Vision, just because Amun likes to follow along with Tessen]

[Thanqol]

[Oh, I thought when you mentioned it following the supernal vision description, it meant that the threads were so strong, Tessen could see right to it.]

[No, supernal vision doesn't work that way I'm sorry. My mistake for parsing it badly]

A construction site was a fascinating thing for a lot of reasons to a group of Mages, no matter what magic they favoured.

To the Obrimos, it was at once a location of tremendous power and utter devastation, and yet all those terrible forces were working in concert to create. The roar of engines destroyed the land, the pounding of hammers shattered wood and crushed nails into place, shouts and short wave radio signals co-ordinated the terribly complex network of violence that was necessary to create something enduring. A single slip of any of these forces and someone would die. Only the most incredible precision, intelligence and control stopped this scene from being a bloodbath. Only faith and humanity would make this a place of worship.

To a Moros, it was a moment of potential. Less raw power than an empty plot of land or a newly-burned ruin of a building, but the actions occurring here would nonetheless outlast any of these workmen. Each time a stone was cut it took away from what the church could be and settled it into what it would be. The dreams and ideals and imagination that had designed it were dying, being born, manifesting, solidifying into an external shell. After the church was done, what the church could have been would would be dead. Was that a bad thing? That question didn't come into it. This moment only had power because it was finite.

To an Acanthus, it was a beginning and an ending both. A thousand stories told the tale of this church. The path that lead the boy to becoming an architect, the visit to Rome that made him want to build a church, the one in a million chance that secured him the funding to make this happen in the rotting heart of Detroit. Other stories overlapped; the story of the city, which hoped that this act of defiance would somehow turn things around. The story of the foreman, who'd forgotten his lunch and was angry and would take it out by yelling for speed which would cause one of the workers to fall and almost break his neck and laugh it off later at the pub and never admitting that at the time he had been so scared. A million stories happened, happening, soon to happen, all part of the endless tapestry of creation.

All these things were Real and True here. And the Church glowed with potential. Tass was seeped into the stones. Colours were stronger and more vivid. The sky was a little more blue. Who's enlightenment this was, it was impossible to say. Perhaps what mattered most was who was there to witness it.

Whatever had happened had happened inside.

[Anarion]

"Let us out on the corner please," Tessen directs the cab driver. "And," she blushes, "Turing could you get the fare. I still don't have a job or any spending money."


The sheer number of threads, the tapestry is overwhelming. Like walking towards the middle of spider web. That's not really helpful though. Tessen wants to know how to go inside without anybody seeing them or bothering them.

She fingers the hummingbird ornament absentmindedly while Turing is paying, ending the supernal vision spell, and putting up two others while she waits and scanning the construction cite to see what kind of power flows through it.

[cast Unseen Shield with potency 2 and duration 24 hours without spending a mana. Reduces dice pool from 5 dice to 1 die, but since out of combat, that should still allow a success, even if it takes 12-15 seconds instead of 3-6. Cast potency 5 read matrices.]

[the_druid_droid]

Turing had already been reaching for his wallet; when he paid the cabbie, he made sure to include a healthy tip. Once the man had sped off, turing returned his attention on the church.

Even without mage sight, he could tell the place was powerful; in the middle of a desperate city, men were working to codify in stone a hope that had only existed on paper and in hearts until now. And yet, whatever had happened here today was more significant still.

They really needed to beat the Seers to this.

“I think we should go for a walk around the block; I want to see what we’re getting into, and find out if there’s another way in.” Beginning to walk down the street, Turing shoved his hands into the pockets of his overcoat, and did his best to look like he was headed somewhere else.

[Thanqol]

It was really easy to case a place when everyone was wearing soundproof headphones. There was a standard rent-a-fence and two standard rent-a-cops guarding the front door, and perhaps twenty or thirty workers. The main door of the place was open, any others were hidden behind construction work.

There were enough eyes around that it would be very difficult to hop the fence and run inside without being seen.

As they watched anyone with Prime or Fate sight would see there was suddenly a new connection to the church, an Important one that ran right to the centre. This was clearly a spell - someone had cast something to bring them rapidly to this place. The spell was cast on the person themselves, not the building, so it couldn't be dispelled from this end, but it was a warning that they didn't have a lot of time.

[Anarion]

"Oh, maybe they'll just let us in. They look, um, a little bored, don't you think? But I, uh, don't really want to do it. Turing, Amun, you go ahead, I'll just follow you in."

[somewhat indulging either cowardice or sloth, or both.]

[the_druid_droid]

Turing shrugged; he was really the only one required to do this, and if his friends were going to put themselves in the way of the Throne, he’d prefer it to be on their terms. He straightened his tie and readjusted the pin holding it in place, then began walking toward the security guards.

Come on Samedi, let’s put on a show

Deciding the best lie to tell would be one that was mostly true, Turing fished out a notepad and pen from an interior pocket. “Hello gentlemen, my name’s Luke and I’m with the press.” Technically, it was a pirate radio station, “I’m working on a story about the soul of Detroit, and I gotta say, there’s something special about this place. A real feel of urban renewal, and that’s rare these days. Think I could convince you to let me go take a peek inside, maybe chat with one of the workers? I promise I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I’ve had a look around.”

The Moros hoped that his efforts to present a dignified face to the world would add a little weight to his words.

[Thanqol]

"Gonna have to see some I.D., pal," said the rent-a-cop. He stuck his hand out - and this group was streetwise enough to know that President Grant's I.D. would be just as valid here.

[the_druid_droid]

“Let’s see here...” Turing brought out his wallet and began flipping through it.

Sonuvabitch.

At least there was something fitting about good old cash being all the ID a rogue radioman needed.

He left a couple of large bills in the man’s hand. “How’s that?”

[Thanqol]

"Welcome to the site, Mr. Grant," said the rent-a-cop, waving them through.

No one troubled them on their way into the church. And, immediately on going inside, they could see what all the fuss was about.

The interior of the church had just been painted. Breathtakingly. The artist was standing in the middle of the room, paint dripping from his brush and his eyes full of stars. He wasn't a mage - but he wasn't quite a sleeper either. He was like a Symbol, like a living artifact, a fragment of some higher realm. A nondescript black painter with a dirty apron, paint-stained face and stars in his eyes.

And the painting he'd just finished...

A sword, a massive sword, raised aloft on a pillar of fire. It hung above the altar, like the Sword of Damocles hovering above the head of the preacher. On the very tip of the blade was a splash of blue, red and white. Mid way down was a blue star, and indistinct blue writing on the blade. The sword hung in a painted sky so clear and blue, with clouds so white and detailed that it put the sky outside to shame.

And in that sky hung crosses. Dozens of them, in the colours of all the nations of the world. Shining like metal, hovering in the sky around that enormous, fiery Sword of God.

The painter smiled. "Hello," he said, like he'd been expecting them.

[Anarion]

Awestruck. Tessen's jaw nearly fell open when she walked inside. It was so...beautiful. Not pretty, no, but the forms were platonic, the way that the world was supposed to look. Without the vast nothingness of the abyss pressing down into them, there was nothing washing out these colors. This was the touch of the supernal. She gazes as well at the room with her mage sight and tries to read any resonance.

Spoiler

Show

Rolling to read resonance with mage sight...in the OOC thread.

"H-how did you p-paint this?"

[Deadly]

Amun frowned under his mane of hair as they cased the place. "Someone's very likely to arrive here real soon," he said quietly to his friends, with no doubt about who he thought this someone was.

As they made their way inside, past the guards, he followed silently. Inside he stopped and marveled. Amun was not a highly religious person. In his mind there was no god deserving of worship but yourself. Still, he could definitely appreciate a piece of art like this, on its own merits. It was a creation of transcendant order upon a chaotic, messy and above all wrong world.

While Tessen scanned the room for supernal connections, Amun focused his attention on the man, and the winds of Fate speaking about him. Maybe he could pick out something of importance.

[Sibyl's Sight - Wits+Occult+Fate 9 = 3, 3, 2, 3, 8, 5, 10, 7, 1, ten again 9

Two successes

I hope I'm doing all these things right]

[Thanqol]

Resonance: Ascension. More than just representing divinity, everything about this room and this painting is aspected towards becoming more than you are. There are other resonances here, but they are blotted out by the sheer volume of that primary one (it will take a ritual casting here to gain more resonances)

Fate Sight: What is clear, above all, to Amun's sight is that this is image is what is True rather than what Is. The artist has used imperfect tools to try and communicate a total prophecy and a full-body vision, and he has had neither the space nor the tools to express it properly. What you see on that roof is but a small fragment of a larger prophecy.

The other thing that is obvious is that this sword, whatever or wherever it is, is hanging over Detroit.


The man smiled. "I just tried to paint what I saw. I knew that once I finished this, the angels would arrive -" a faint bow of the head made it clear that he was referring to them "- so I did my best to make it as clear as I could."

[Deadly]

Amun took in the whole breathtaking thing. As grand as it was, it wasn't the most important thing here. Clearly they had to get this man - and what he knew - out of here, and fast. Amun closed his eyes, trying to focus his senses on the flow of time in the building. Feeling the sands blow through his hands, slipping away fast, he turned to his two companions, "I don't think we have much more than five minutes before she gets here. We need to get this man to safety, and fast. This creation is only a fragment of something much larger."

[Timey-wimey dice pool: Gnosis+Time 2 = 1, 8, one success]