The Heart of the Dragon (OOC)

[Anarion]

A few things

1. Do not concern yourself with how this relationship will affect my ability to run the game. I'll run the game however it ends up needing to be run, you come up with a team relationship that explains how the three of you will be working in a team.

2. SiuiS, why is Flouresce working with Mara? I think you're focusing too much on the relationship with Vulcan, where you three can be working together without requiring that initial relationship at all. Perhaps Mara merely came with a pet dog Mage?

3. If you're really stuck, I'll do what Thanqol did in Skyscraper Graveyard and just say that you all have an immediate realization that you share a sympathetic connection when you first meet. I'm hesitant to do so because I don't know that I'm thrusting you guys quite as much in the center of destiny as we seem to be in Skyscraper Graveyard. You're more of a group of well-positioned opportunists in this campaign.

[SiuiS]

Mara is an "out of towner", and needs somewhere to go. She is also higher ranking than Flouresce, who has a sanctum she would enjoy and a workspace she benefits from, as well as potentially being friends along the same lines that make them both interested in such a scene. Getting the two together and not antagonistic is cake. Any friendliness which arises is a bonus.

Vulcan is a native, which is why the focus - Flouresce would likely already know about this Silver Collared Overseer, and would have Opinions. Getting them together is, again, easy. Except the emergent properties of Vulcan's described desired set up are bad, from a perceived narrative sense. These are not choices I am making, they are the natural result of the equation. I am trying to cut them off at the pass without having to back out and make a different character, so small tweaks at the base, the variables themselves, will work better and more organically. I do believe that Vulcan having stolen a device which is the fruit of long labor on Flouresce's part would fulfill all requirements.

Also, given some thought I would like to nix that particular Embarrasing Secret. It wouldn't be fun in play, and would likely be needlessly stressful as we all try to figure out how to not obviously open it up. Normally flaws that do the character are great, but that goes too far. I would like to remain as an (ex)member of the Free Council however. I also would like to know which order I would take rote specialties from? I do not think they will come up much regardless, though. If I can think of something less likely to ruin the show, I will bring it up for consideration.

[Thanqol]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

I am not saying your dynamic needs to be replaced. However, the logic that you are a materialist and will react in certain fashions goes both ways - Flouresce is not a materialist. He will act in certain (differing) ways. If the cause is not a thing he cares about he will be ambivalent. Ambivalent Flouresce will do his own thing. This results in either Anarion running two separate, but overlapping games, or in Mara giving orders (or another top arrow, either/or). Flouresce's reaction to this (ambivalence) is just as noteworthy as Vulcan's projected ambivalnce towards the destruction of ephemerals. It is no less worthy a motive, which is where any cattiness on my part is seeping through. I come across as terse when both supporting a point and having to justify it.

If the thing stolen was a material item that was taken, then on the surface it would either be useful to him, and he would hold that against Vulcan, possibly dropping her in unfriendly shadow out of Darwinian trial by fire, or it's something he got that he didn't care about. The only compromise is that the event is important to Flouresce while the item is sufficiently important to Vulcan. You would have to have undone his work, which means somewhere between the free council and the Adamantine arrow, Flouresce put in footwork and elbow grease. This provides internal focus.

Seems acceptable. For the sake of future clarity, you can volunteer that as "I think it'd aid the dynamic if the whatever item Vulcan stole was something that Flouresce was personally invested in, either as the one who made it or who put a lot into it's recovery. This adds an additional layer of drama if Vulcan still secretly possesses the whatever item."

We also cannot have a two-in-one situation wherein the only non-mind Mage is trying to keep a secret from the other two. This just now occurred to me as a Bad Idea on my part

Heh, not a winning strategy.

Originally Posted by Anarion

2. SiuiS, why is Flouresce working with Mara? I think you're focusing too much on the relationship with Vulcan, where you three can be working together without requiring that initial relationship at all. Perhaps Mara merely came with a pet dog Mage?

Word

3. If you're really stuck, I'll do what Thanqol did in Skyscraper Graveyard and just say that you all have an immediate realization that you share a sympathetic connection when you first meet. I'm hesitant to do so because I don't know that I'm thrusting you guys quite as much in the center of destiny as we seem to be in Skyscraper Graveyard. You're more of a group of well-positioned opportunists in this campaign.

That was not a mere convenience saver on my end; it's an important plot point. I also think a divided loyalties story is weakened by a magical friendship link.

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Thanqol

Seems acceptable. For the sake of future clarity, you can volunteer that as "I think it'd aid the dynamic if the whatever item Vulcan stole was something that Flouresce was personally invested in, either as the one who made it or who put a lot into it's recovery. This adds an additional layer of drama if Vulcan still secretly possesses the whatever item."

I unfortunately had not encapsulated it in my own mind as such. And I do not think I have artfully conveyed how unutterably wrong editing things seems to me. Adding a new detail, or gods forbid, removing one? I like permanency in my written media. I felt better taking the blow to my pride and waiting for you to post gain before offering this solution, than editing it in and risking not only the confusion of mistimed communication but also violation of some strange ethical taboo. I suspect it's a hold over from my obsessive compulsive days.

Heh, not a winning strategy.

It was a beautiful plan, actually, until I realized I could have a legacy faster than I could defend myself.

Oops.

That was not a mere convenience saver on my end; it's an important plot point. I also think a divided loyalties story is weakened by a magical friendship link.

Oh, interesting. I look forward to the culmination then.

[the_druid_droid]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

The note that both Mara and Vulcan have striking looks was a joke, by the way. You only do that for female characters, so Flouresce is safe

Just once I wanted to be a pretty pony princess too

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Mara is an "out of towner", and needs somewhere to go. She is also higher ranking than Flouresce, who has a sanctum she would enjoy and a workspace she benefits from, as well as potentially being friends along the same lines that make them both interested in such a scene. Getting the two together and not antagonistic is cake. Any friendliness which arises is a bonus.

Just a note about the rank - I envision the second dot coming as a sort of promotion shortly before she left for Hong Kong. It's part of the package she was campaigning to get from the Arrow, but it's not something she's used to yet. As a result, she's unlikely to outright order anyone to do anything not connected with her own personal issues or major goals the Order sets her; she's still too much in the mindset that she's an initiate herself.

Actually, Mara's relationship with the Arrow back home is probably on a probationary note right now. There are almost certainly mages on both sides of the Pacific that are wondering why more familiar faces, like Satori, didn't get the post. Tracking down Vulcan may be the first feather in her cap that convinces the Order to give her some more breathing space, although they're still going to be keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn't embarrass them or start any international incidents.

Game-wise, it would definitely be reasonable for the US Arrow to contact her occasionally for a check-up, or to give her explicit orders, at least until they're convinced she'll be competent as a free agent.

Originally Posted by Thanqol

Heh, not a winning strategy.

I was going to say something along the lines of "secrets and lies", and then I had a thought of Pinkie with the Mind Arcanum and I had to sit down for a second.

That was not a mere convenience saver on my end; it's an important plot point. I also think a divided loyalties story is weakened by a magical friendship link.

I too am intrigued by what this will turn into.

[Anarion]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

I also would like to know which order I would take rote specialties from? I do not think they will come up much regardless, though. If I can think of something less likely to ruin the show, I will bring it up for consideration.

Probably the Arrow, since that's who you're actually associated with. Do you still want to represent the association with the Free Council mechanically in any way, or is this just going to be part of the backstory now?

Originally Posted by Thanqol

That was not a mere convenience saver on my end; it's an important plot point. I also think a divided loyalties story is weakened by a magical friendship link.

Yeah, I figured that was something special, although it's interesting to get confirmation there.

Originally Posted by the_druid_droid

Just once I wanted to be a pretty pony princess too

This is really the only reason to run an RPG.

Originally Posted by the_druid_droid

Actually, Mara's relationship with the Arrow back home is probably on a probationary note right now. There are almost certainly mages on both sides of the Pacific that are wondering why more familiar faces, like Satori, didn't get the post. Tracking down Vulcan may be the first feather in her cap that convinces the Order to give her some more breathing space, although they're still going to be keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn't embarrass them or start any international incidents.

Game-wise, it would definitely be reasonable for the US Arrow to contact her occasionally for a check-up, or to give her explicit orders, at least until they're convinced she'll be competent as a free agent.

Who would you expect to call Mara? Would it be Satori, or someone higher up from the US Arrow?

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Anarion

Probably the Arrow, since that's who you're actually associated with. Do you still want to represent the association with the Free Council mechanically in any way, or is this just going to be part of the backstory now?

I plan to take status amongst the Free Council, but the arrow works. There would be a handful of any pentacle order, yes? So up until now it's entirely possible that Flouresce was like, a full 1/20th of the Free Council, which had like two open cabals and a few shadow agents?

-

I have... Uh, had a question on rotes. With Spirit, seeing spirit's in twilight, and looking through the gauntlet to the shadow are two separate effects. Combining them would be Spirit 3, since the requirement is one higher than the highest level effect, right? Less important now though as I realize I can do this on the fly without needing a rote for it.

DD, between Mara and Flouresce we have six resources dots and 3-4 sanctum dots. How should we allocate them? I suggest resources goes to size, since we have a large space that is often full of sleepers, and sanctum goes to security to keep the sleepers out of the really important parts (the smaller sized chambers in the back). Anarion, how would this work, exactly? Is this fine?

[Anarion]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

I plan to take status amongst the Free Council, but the arrow works. There would be a handful of any pentacle order, yes? So up until now it's entirely possible that Flouresce was like, a full 1/20th of the Free Council, which had like two open cabals and a few shadow agents?

1/20th? Woah, there are way fewer mages than that. The city is going to be crowded with ~8 free council members not including you. There's a little bit over 50 mages for the entire city, with the influx of new people.

I have... Uh, had a question on rotes. With Spirit, seeing spirit's in twilight, and looking through the gauntlet to the shadow are two separate effects. Combining them would be Spirit 3, since the requirement is one higher than the highest level effect, right? Less important now though as I realize I can do this on the fly without needing a rote for it.

DD, between Mara and Flouresce we have six resources dots and 3-4 sanctum dots. How should we allocate them? I suggest resources goes to size, since we have a large space that is often full of sleepers, and sanctum goes to security to keep the sleepers out of the really important parts (the smaller sized chambers in the back). Anarion, how would this work, exactly? Is this fine?

I'm going to withhold answering the rote question as I don't have the book handy at the moment. That's probably how it works, just want to double check.

For the sanctum. Eh, I'm not sure. I'd like to hear what Thanqol and DD think. My inclination is that you need to use only your sanctum dots for your sanctum, and resource dots are buying something else. You can't have 4 dots of sanctum security and zero size then buy up the space with resources.

[Thanqol]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

I unfortunately had not encapsulated it in my own mind as such. And I do not think I have artfully conveyed how unutterably wrong editing things seems to me. Adding a new detail, or gods forbid, removing one? I like permanency in my written media. I felt better taking the blow to my pride and waiting for you to post gain before offering this solution, than editing it in and risking not only the confusion of mistimed communication but also violation of some strange ethical taboo. I suspect it's a hold over from my obsessive compulsive days.

SiuiS, one of my greatest values is clear communication. I endeavour to be precise with my words to the exclusion of all other drives and priorities. As such, it's increasingly irritating me whenever your posts cross the line into incoherence. Your typos aren't just wrong letters, they're entirely wrong words which entirely change the context of what you're saying, you drift through nonsense rambling when you need to make a clear, concise point, and you argue based on priorities I can not and do not understand and because of this your arguments seem arbitrary and deliberately hostile.

I've found myself in recent times skimming, disregarding or not understanding a lot of your posts, which is a real problem when we're locked in a small room together like this. I would very much appreciate it if you put some more effort in to communicating properly. If editing is such a huge mental hangup for you do what I do and hit 'preview post' instead, and then take a long calm look through what you've written and ask yourself 'would a someone who didn't speak English as his first language be able to follow this?'

Originally Posted by Anarion

For the sanctum. Eh, I'm not sure. I'd like to hear what Thanqol and DD think. My inclination is that you need to use only your sanctum dots for your sanctum, and resource dots are buying something else. You can't have 4 dots of sanctum security and zero size then buy up the space with resources.

I agree with this. I think a Sanctum can be embedded in a larger structure - the Batcave is a Sanctum while Wayne Manor is Resources - but they're not interchangeable. Sanctums are off the books.

[the_druid_droid]

Originally Posted by Anarion

Who would you expect to call Mara? Would it be Satori, or someone higher up from the US Arrow?

Hmm, first I should probably say that it isn't really likely to be the entire US. I was sort of interchanging the terms just to get nationalities right (which may be what you mean here as well). I'd imagine she'd only really have contact with the branch of the Arrow that was local to where she was from although I've conveniently left that vague as "somewhere in city/suburban USA".

At any rate, it would probably make the most sense to have Satori be the face of the Arrow for her, although the orders coming down to her may reflect the fact that although this is her mentor speaking to her, it's the Order's administration as a whole that's tracking her progress.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

DD, between Mara and Flouresce we have six resources dots and 3-4 sanctum dots. How should we allocate them? I suggest resources goes to size, since we have a large space that is often full of sleepers, and sanctum goes to security to keep the sleepers out of the really important parts (the smaller sized chambers in the back). Anarion, how would this work, exactly? Is this fine?

Hmm, I kind of favor the embedding idea. Resources we could dedicate to the club itself, which is more or less mundane, and then the Sanctum dots could be for the spatially close by, but un-talked-about "back room" or what have you. Kind of like a gangland owned joint, but we're the good guys.

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Thanqol

SiuiS, one of my greatest values is clear communication.

Okay. I recognize this is a problem, and I have been doing things to correct it on the back end. I've slipped again over the last month, but the effort is there.

Part of the trouble is that being, for lack of a better word, painfully deliberate, causes my posts to be antagonistic. It's a feedback loop from my mental tone of voice. It feels unpleasantly masculine, and I prefer not to go into full-on Asserting Myself mode.

I agree with this. I think a Sanctum can be embedded in a larger structure - the Batcave is a Sanctum while Wayne Manor is Resources - but they're not interchangeable. Sanctums are off the books.

A Size 0, security 1 sanctum is by-the-books possible, actually. Which means a 1 dot sanctum is now a 0 dot sanctum, an is the size of a large bathroom. 2 dots now has the size of a 1 dot sanctum, which is a one-bedroom apartment, etc.

I was erroneously operating under the original ruling, however, wherein the extra dot was required for privacy. So we would have only 1 dot worth of Secure Sanctum, and the rest of the area would be unsecured, open to the public, and only part of the sanctum for being close to the hallow.

Originally Posted by the_druid_droid

Hmm, I kind of favor the embedding idea. Resources we could dedicate to the club itself, which is more or less mundane, and then the Sanctum dots could be for the spatially close by, but un-talked-about "back room" or what have you. Kind of like a gangland owned joint, but we're the good guys.

this was the feel I was going for, yes. How secure versus how large do we want it? Since we have to pay an extra dot I think that means we are rolling with a functional 3-dot merit.

[Thanqol]

Vulcan now has backstory!

Spoiler

TWO GENIUSES

“Sumi Mukuro is very clever, but she does not apply herself” – this was the refrain of report cards that followed Vulcan all the way through her educational career. ‘Very clever’ was an understatement, though – Vulcan was a bona fide genius. She sailed through all of her courses without applying herself at all, instead relying on her natural genius – and getting better marks than almost all of her less-gifted fellow students. With academics so easy to her she devoted the majority of her actual effort and time into art, design and physical construction.

Mukuro’s father was a career politician and rather distant from his family; a man to be respected rather than loved. Her mother had never been able to keep up with two genius children, and did her best to discipline them even though they could run rings around her.

It was believed by some of her teachers that her slothful attitude came from her twin brother, who was a genuine layabout. But while Sumi Makoto was actually lazy, Mukuro was arrogant and considered study beneath her abilities. Makoto and Mukuro were equally intelligent and always very close. Makoto found language very interesting, and started to develop as an author, and Mukuro was a specialist in the visual arts. With these factors in place it was only natural that they decide to work together on a manga – and when they released it, it was a huge hit. Skydam North was a tragic story about a man who overthrew a democratic government and established a fascist dictatorship so he could mobilise an invasion of the Spirit world to rescue his kidnapped lover. The profits from the manga meant the duo would never have to work, so they instead decided to travel the world to look for more inspiration.

Europe was their first destination, and Germany in particular had inspired Skydam North, so a visit there was a priority. One night, after fighting off a strange fever, Mukuro went for a walk in the fields to clear her head. She ignored the warning signs, having never accepted limitations on herself before, and jumped the fence. She then stepped on a land mine.

AWAKENING

She was greeted in the underworld by the very apologetic German battlefield engineer named Egon who had laid that land mine back in the second world war. He patched her up – not that her ghostly form was bleeding very much, despite the loss of both legs – and decided it’d go a bit of the way towards making up for the whole thing if he showed her around. Egon carried Mukuro on his back on a tour of the trenches, explaining to her how the allies had pushed them back to this spot and that they were losing the war. Their division had been ordered to take Hill 468, a fortified artillery position. Egon was dimly aware that he was a ghost and that the first charge had failed, but the men here were bound to keep charging up that hill until they finally seized it. Their duty demanded no less.

Mukuro was horrified to see hundreds of men trapped in this eternal, hellish cycle by their ‘duty’. She was horrified at the falling shells, the maiming and screaming, the bayonets and gunfire, the stink and gangrene, the starvation and mud. Their ‘duty’ had lead them to sacrifice everything they possessed, and then sacrifice themselves. There was no artistry here, no creation – just two enormous machines grinding against each other, crushing gears lubricated with the blood of millions.

But when the next charge came, she demanded to go with them. A revelation had come to her – it wasn’t just the ideal that these people were dying over, they were also dying over that very real, very concrete spit of land. That muddy patch of dirt represented their duty. It had no worth, but their priorities had been so skewed by lies that they valued it more than themselves. She had to give it to them.

So a helmet was placed on her head and a pistol in her hands, and as the charge began she crawled behind the men, dragging herself by her hands. As the shells fall and men died all around her she crawled onwards. Over barbed wire and into the enemy trenches she crawled onwards. She shot a man with her pistol and kept crawling, soaked in mud and blood. She crawled all the way to the summit of the hill with only her hands, finally arriving below the flag pole. She scrawled her name onto it in blood and hoisted it high, one wretched tug at a time. Over that muddy, desolate battlefield, the flag flew, and for a moment there was quiet.

THE THRONE

Mukuro came to in hospital, alongside her brother. She’d lost both her legs. Makoto was distraught, but Mukuro was quietly fascinated by the strange new layer of vision that was overlying everything she saw. For the next few months from her hospital bed she practised her new magic, warping, bending, breaking and repairing the few objects she had access to. She gradually found some mobility in a wheelchair, but not nearly as much as she remembered.

Then a gentleman in a very nice suit walked in and told her that he represented the secret society of wizards that ran the world, he would very much like her to join his secret society, and he was prepared to offer her a set of prosthetic legs thirty years in advance of anything modern technology could provide. She would have had to be stupid to turn him down.

The official story was that she was trying a new prototype prosthesis, but it was generally downplayed as being many years off full completion – even though Vulcan had almost all her old mobility back. She was directed by the gentleman to Hong Kong where she’d receive further training.

At every stage since, service to the Throne has just made sense. There wasn’t anything wrong with serving a higher power, because all service was transactional. She just had to remain aware that she should never die over a spit of land, so to speak – anything she did had to benefit her more than it harmed her, otherwise she’d just be a pawn in someone else’s game. As long as she understood her own value she couldn’t be enslaved.

Her natural genius quickly rose her to the position of Administrator within Mammon’s hierarchy, where she oversaw the flow of arcane lore and immersed herself deeply within it. Knowledge became an utmost priority to her – the more knowledge she had the less she could be manipulated, and she was quickly becoming aware of just how many ways there were to be manipulated. In the great game of Awakening she was determined to better herself every step of the way – if that meant the Throne, then it meant the Throne. If it meant betraying the Throne that was fine too.

WAKING DREAMS

Mukuro continued to live with her brother in a shared apartment in a rich district of Hong Kong, where they collaborated on future manga projects. She kept her day job as a Seer separate, and relaxed by working on repairing junked cars in a small private garage she ran by herself. She still respected her brother and his intelligence as one of the few equals to hers, but increasingly wrote him off as being unable to understand what really mattered in the world.

But then, one day as she worked in her garage, reconfiguring and combining mechanical items for practise, someone asked her how she’d done that. She turned around in shock – if a Sleeper had been observing her cast magic she’d been risking a serious paradox. But in the eyes of the dirty street kid she saw no hint, not even a whisper of the Abyss. She wasn’t a Mage, but she sure as hell wasn’t a Sleeper.

That completely threw Mukuro’s philosophical position regarding Sleepers. She’d been told that the Abyss was a product of their own flawed souls and no magic could heal someone’s soul from it’s self-inflicted wounds. But here was an ordinary human untouched by the Abyss at all! The existence of Sleepwalkers lead to a whole deluge of complex thoughts – what if magic didn’t have to be secret? What if people could be made into Sleepwalkers? What if she didn’t have to rely on a select few Mages as conversation partners? She didn’t at any point buy into the idea of giving everyone magic – that was absurd, akin to giving everyone assault rifles – but everyone being able to appreciate magic? In particular she wanted to be able to inspire her brother to become a Sleepwalker so she could have meaningful conversations with him again.

She took on the street kid, a fifteen year old girl named Xi Maji, as a full time employee and apprentice in her garage. She started teaching her how her magic worked and how it worked along with ordinary craftsmanship. Maji was happy for the work, to get out of her orphanage and to be apprenticed to a ‘real life wizard’ and the two quickly formed a close bond.

[the_druid_droid]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

this was the feel I was going for, yes. How secure versus how large do we want it? Since we have to pay an extra dot I think that means we are rolling with a functional 3-dot merit.

Hmm, is this counting Hallow separately? If so, I favor Size 2 and Security 1 (effectively) mainly because two people potentially sharing it could get cramped at only Size 1, and by Space 3, Mara will have Ban to add a security measure on top of anything else we have.

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by the_druid_droid

Hmm, is this counting Hallow separately? If so, I favor Size 2 and Security 1 (effectively) mainly because two people potentially sharing it could get cramped at only Size 1, and by Space 3, Mara will have Ban to add a security measure on top of anything else we have.

I am pretty sure in Mage a hollow is measured strictly in it's mana output. Yeah, quick check says we have a maximum rank hollow (You remember Thanqol's chagrin at your mana factory, don't you? ) whic is five mana per day. What do we want it's resonant quality to be? It's either going to be the dominant feel of the club, or needs to be sequestered far from said club (I would personally prefer it was near the club). A size two sanctum is, even after the Hong Kong Real Estate penalty, the size of a family house. Two bedrooms, a bath, dining and kitchen, and lving room. That is pretty sweet, but all we lose by dropping a dot is one big room and one small room. I think we would need to know both what form the hollow takes, and what we want to do with the Sanctum as a secure space. We can fit like, six people safely in a single room through the magic of bunkbeds, if we need emergency housing, and we both have enough resources for an apartment or house elsewhere. The sanctum looks to be almost entirely for storage, planning, experimentation and emergency healing, rather than living spaces.

[Anarion]

Answering that question about rotes from earlier. RAW, you can't make rotes at all unless you're master of the arcana. I think that's silly, so I'm throwing that out. However, making a rote still costs a dot of willpower and requires you to cast the spell at least 10 times, so you have to be able to improvise the spell to be able to make the rote.

In the example SiuiS gave, it was two effects from the same arcana. That's not a conjunctional spell, but it is creative thaumaturgy and I would agree with him at valuing those two effects as one dot higher than either effect alone.


As regards sanctum, I'd prefer that you put at least one dot into size, even if it's then reduced to size 0. I'm also finalizing the ruling that resources are separate.

So what we're looking at is a nightclub (either in Macau or Hong Kong downtown, you get to pick) owned by resources. Within the nightclub, likely on top of it, is a strong hallow. Also within the nightclub, and near the hallow, is a sealed private section of some size and with some level of security measures.

Originally Posted by Thanqol

Vulcan now has backstory!

Spoiler

TWO GENIUSES

“Sumi Mukuro is very clever, but she does not apply herself” – this was the refrain of report cards that followed Vulcan all the way through her educational career. ‘Very clever’ was an understatement, though – Vulcan was a bona fide genius. She sailed through all of her courses without applying herself at all, instead relying on her natural genius – and getting better marks than almost all of her less-gifted fellow students. With academics so easy to her she devoted the majority of her actual effort and time into art, design and physical construction.

Mukuro’s father was a career politician and rather distant from his family; a man to be respected rather than loved. Her mother had never been able to keep up with two genius children, and did her best to discipline them even though they could run rings around her.

It was believed by some of her teachers that her slothful attitude came from her twin brother, who was a genuine layabout. But while Sumi Makoto was actually lazy, Mukuro was arrogant and considered study beneath her abilities. Makoto and Mukuro were equally intelligent and always very close. Makoto found language very interesting, and started to develop as an author, and Mukuro was a specialist in the visual arts. With these factors in place it was only natural that they decide to work together on a manga – and when they released it, it was a huge hit. Skydam North was a tragic story about a man who overthrew a democratic government and established a fascist dictatorship so he could mobilise an invasion of the Spirit world to rescue his kidnapped lover. The profits from the manga meant the duo would never have to work, so they instead decided to travel the world to look for more inspiration.

Europe was their first destination, and Germany in particular had inspired Skydam North, so a visit there was a priority. One night, after fighting off a strange fever, Mukuro went for a walk in the fields to clear her head. She ignored the warning signs, having never accepted limitations on herself before, and jumped the fence. She then stepped on a land mine.

AWAKENING

She was greeted in the underworld by the very apologetic German battlefield engineer named Egon who had laid that land mine back in the second world war. He patched her up – not that her ghostly form was bleeding very much, despite the loss of both legs – and decided it’d go a bit of the way towards making up for the whole thing if he showed her around. Egon carried Mukuro on his back on a tour of the trenches, explaining to her how the allies had pushed them back to this spot and that they were losing the war. Their division had been ordered to take Hill 468, a fortified artillery position. Egon was dimly aware that he was a ghost and that the first charge had failed, but the men here were bound to keep charging up that hill until they finally seized it. Their duty demanded no less.

Mukuro was horrified to see hundreds of men trapped in this eternal, hellish cycle by their ‘duty’. She was horrified at the falling shells, the maiming and screaming, the bayonets and gunfire, the stink and gangrene, the starvation and mud. Their ‘duty’ had lead them to sacrifice everything they possessed, and then sacrifice themselves. There was no artistry here, no creation – just two enormous machines grinding against each other, crushing gears lubricated with the blood of millions.

But when the next charge came, she demanded to go with them. A revelation had come to her – it wasn’t just the ideal that these people were dying over, they were also dying over that very real, very concrete spit of land. That muddy patch of dirt represented their duty. It had no worth, but their priorities had been so skewed by lies that they valued it more than themselves. She had to give it to them.

So a helmet was placed on her head and a pistol in her hands, and as the charge began she crawled behind the men, dragging herself by her hands. As the shells fall and men died all around her she crawled onwards. Over barbed wire and into the enemy trenches she crawled onwards. She shot a man with her pistol and kept crawling, soaked in mud and blood. She crawled all the way to the summit of the hill with only her hands, finally arriving below the flag pole. She scrawled her name onto it in blood and hoisted it high, one wretched tug at a time. Over that muddy, desolate battlefield, the flag flew, and for a moment there was quiet.

THE THRONE

Mukuro came to in hospital, alongside her brother. She’d lost both her legs. Makoto was distraught, but Mukuro was quietly fascinated by the strange new layer of vision that was overlying everything she saw. For the next few months from her hospital bed she practised her new magic, warping, bending, breaking and repairing the few objects she had access to. She gradually found some mobility in a wheelchair, but not nearly as much as she remembered.

Then a gentleman in a very nice suit walked in and told her that he represented the secret society of wizards that ran the world, he would very much like her to join his secret society, and he was prepared to offer her a set of prosthetic legs thirty years in advance of anything modern technology could provide. She would have had to be stupid to turn him down.

The official story was that she was trying a new prototype prosthesis, but it was generally downplayed as being many years off full completion – even though Vulcan had almost all her old mobility back. She was directed by the gentleman to Hong Kong where she’d receive further training.

At every stage since, service to the Throne has just made sense. There wasn’t anything wrong with serving a higher power, because all service was transactional. She just had to remain aware that she should never die over a spit of land, so to speak – anything she did had to benefit her more than it harmed her, otherwise she’d just be a pawn in someone else’s game. As long as she understood her own value she couldn’t be enslaved.

Her natural genius quickly rose her to the position of Administrator within Mammon’s hierarchy, where she oversaw the flow of arcane lore and immersed herself deeply within it. Knowledge became an utmost priority to her – the more knowledge she had the less she could be manipulated, and she was quickly becoming aware of just how many ways there were to be manipulated. In the great game of Awakening she was determined to better herself every step of the way – if that meant the Throne, then it meant the Throne. If it meant betraying the Throne that was fine too.

WAKING DREAMS

Mukuro continued to live with her brother in a shared apartment in a rich district of Hong Kong, where they collaborated on future manga projects. She kept her day job as a Seer separate, and relaxed by working on repairing junked cars in a small private garage she ran by herself. She still respected her brother and his intelligence as one of the few equals to hers, but increasingly wrote him off as being unable to understand what really mattered in the world.

But then, one day as she worked in her garage, reconfiguring and combining mechanical items for practise, someone asked her how she’d done that. She turned around in shock – if a Sleeper had been observing her cast magic she’d been risking a serious paradox. But in the eyes of the dirty street kid she saw no hint, not even a whisper of the Abyss. She wasn’t a Mage, but she sure as hell wasn’t a Sleeper.

That completely threw Mukuro’s philosophical position regarding Sleepers. She’d been told that the Abyss was a product of their own flawed souls and no magic could heal someone’s soul from it’s self-inflicted wounds. But here was an ordinary human untouched by the Abyss at all! The existence of Sleepwalkers lead to a whole deluge of complex thoughts – what if magic didn’t have to be secret? What if people could be made into Sleepwalkers? What if she didn’t have to rely on a select few Mages as conversation partners? She didn’t at any point buy into the idea of giving everyone magic – that was absurd, akin to giving everyone assault rifles – but everyone being able to appreciate magic? In particular she wanted to be able to inspire her brother to become a Sleepwalker so she could have meaningful conversations with him again.

She took on the street kid, a fifteen year old girl named Xi Maji, as a full time employee and apprentice in her garage. She started teaching her how her magic worked and how it worked along with ordinary craftsmanship. Maji was happy for the work, to get out of her orphanage and to be apprenticed to a ‘real life wizard’ and the two quickly formed a close bond.

Awesome.

[Thanqol]

Originally Posted by Anarion

Answering that question about rotes from earlier. RAW, you can't make rotes at all unless you're master of the arcana. I think that's silly, so I'm throwing that out. However, making a rote still costs a dot of willpower and requires you to cast the spell at least 10 times, so you have to be able to improvise the spell to be able to make the rote.

In the example SiuiS gave, it was two effects from the same arcana. That's not a conjunctional spell, but it is creative thaumaturgy and I would agree with him at valuing those two effects as one dot higher than either effect alone.

I'm generally for this - but I also want to underline that creating a rote involves decoding mystical signals hidden in the world - such as the Starbucks logo as part of a Telepathy rote or whatever. Creation of a rote should be an awesome research project with field trips, not studying in a basement.

[Anarion]

Originally Posted by Thanqol

I'm generally for this - but I also want to underline that creating a rote involves decoding mystical signals hidden in the world - such as the Starbucks logo as part of a Telepathy rote or whatever. Creation of a rote should be an awesome research project with field trips, not studying in a basement.

Ooh, I like that. Perhaps the 10 casts need to be done at places/times/with objects of significance to the rote you're trying to cast?

[the_druid_droid]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

I am pretty sure in Mage a hollow is measured strictly in it's mana output. Yeah, quick check says we have a maximum rank hollow (You remember Thanqol's chagrin at your mana factory, don't you? ) whic is five mana per day.

E'rry day I'm oblatin'?

No... not enough syllables. Hrm.

What do we want it's resonant quality to be? It's either going to be the dominant feel of the club, or needs to be sequestered far from said club (I would personally prefer it was near the club).

Yeah, I would prefer it to be near the club myself. My immediate instinct as far as resonance goes is something along the lines of anticipation or expectation, of a positive flavor.

A size two sanctum is, even after the Hong Kong Real Estate penalty, the size of a family house. Two bedrooms, a bath, dining and kitchen, and lving room. That is pretty sweet, but all we lose by dropping a dot is one big room and one small room. I think we would need to know both what form the hollow takes, and what we want to do with the Sanctum as a secure space. We can fit like, six people safely in a single room through the magic of bunkbeds, if we need emergency housing, and we both have enough resources for an apartment or house elsewhere. The sanctum looks to be almost entirely for storage, planning, experimentation and emergency healing, rather than living spaces.

Ok, well there is a non-zero chance that Mara may wind up as a Clavicularius, i.e. demon summoner, so that's something to consider, I suppose. Beyond that use, and the obvious general magical experiments/oblations, the only other thing is that I would like for Mara to get involved with some Astral exploration.

I'll need Anarion's input on this though, because I can't seem to figure out how the initial bit goes - there are lots of Mind spell relating to Astral transit, but I want to say that I'm under the impression that you need a demense? Unless enough dots in Mind negates that...

Anyway, the to-do list for Mara is: general magery/oblations/Astral travel and possibly demons. So whatever security and size seem appropriate to that.

Originally Posted by Anarion

So what we're looking at is a nightclub (either in Macau or Hong Kong downtown, you get to pick) owned by resources. Within the nightclub, likely on top of it, is a strong hallow. Also within the nightclub, and near the hallow, is a sealed private section of some size and with some level of security measures.

I think you said Macau was more of a Vegas feel? I don't really have a strong preference here, as Mara will be happy anywhere there's a club vibe. If Fluoresce has strong preferences I'm happy to go along, or we can just choose arbitrarily.

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Anarion

Answering that question about rotes from earlier. RAW, you can't make rotes at all unless you're master of the arcana. I think that's silly, so I'm throwing that out. However, making a rote still costs a dot of willpower and requires you to cast the spell at least 10 times, so you have to be able to improvise the spell to be able to make the rote.

In the example SiuiS gave, it was two effects from the same arcana. That's not a conjunctional spell, but it is creative thaumaturgy and I would agree with him at valuing those two effects as one dot higher than either effect alone.

Okay. Where did you find that? I couldn't locate anything on it.

I also should point out after looking that a combined spell seemingly requires Gnosis 3. Which I also think is silly, but whatevs.

As regards sanctum, I'd prefer that you put at least one dot into size, even if it's then reduced to size 0. I'm also finalizing the ruling that resources are separate.

So what we're looking at is a nightclub (either in Macau or Hong Kong downtown, you get to pick) owned by resources. Within the nightclub, likely on top of it, is a strong hallow. Also within the nightclub, and near the hallow, is a sealed private section of some size and with some level of security measures.

Hm. I would prefer the sanctum be underground, but I think being on the roof would indeed be better. Thoughts, Mara?

Originally Posted by Thanqol

I'm generally for this - but I also want to underline that creating a rote involves decoding mystical signals hidden in the world - such as the Starbucks logo as part of a Telepathy rote or whatever. Creation of a rote should be an awesome research project with field trips, not studying in a basement.

Well, I was thinking not of making a rote so much as starting with a non-book rote. If the distinction has any meaning to you.

-

Anarion, I hate to ask you to possibly read ahead, but what do you think of the Power Ban numina, in chapter four of book of spirits? It allows a sprit to accept a secondary ban in order to receive two numina - essentially +1 numen for +1 ban.

Night's-Neon-Rhythm is an abstract spirit of cultural significance expressed through modern youth culture; Traditional korean values as seen through the lens of people who find release and expression through music and dance. He is a Ryong dragon writ in neon, pink-red lines and deep electric blue in the form of a dragon, a spirit of ecstatic expression. His ban is being unable to harm a person singing or dancing, and his breath is the shattering of a thousand thousand neon tubes, spraying hot glass and incandescant, burning gas upon his target. He also will develop the ability to urge people to dance, free in the moment. This may actualy be his prime Numen though I'd like him to have some combat prowess out the gate.

[Anarion]

Originally Posted by the_druid_droid

I'll need Anarion's input on this though, because I can't seem to figure out how the initial bit goes - there are lots of Mind spell relating to Astral transit, but I want to say that I'm under the impression that you need a demense? Unless enough dots in Mind negates that...

Anyway, the to-do list for Mara is: general magery/oblations/Astral travel and possibly demons. So whatever security and size seem appropriate to that.

Astral realms is on my to-read list. I'm running this game sort of like a new teacher. I'm about a chapter ahead of all the students. This is made more difficult by the fact that Thanqol is the Hermione Granger of Mage rules.

I think you said Macau was more of a Vegas feel? I don't really have a strong preference here, as Mara will be happy anywhere there's a club vibe. If Fluoresce has strong preferences I'm happy to go along, or we can just choose arbitrarily.

Yeah, Macau is basically Asian Vegas, Hong Kong is more like downtown New York.

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by the_druid_droid

E'rry day I'm oblatin'?

No... not enough syllables. Hrm.

Depends on how you do oblatin'. O-Bley-tin works.

Yeah, I would prefer it to be near the club myself. My immediate instinct as far as resonance goes is something along the lines of anticipation or expectation, of a positive flavor.

I would suggest ectstatic release, although I am hestitant, because I've used Primal and Ectstatic a lot recently.

Ok, well there is a non-zero chance that Mara may wind up as a Clavicularius, i.e. demon summoner, so that's something to consider, I suppose. Beyond that use, and the obvious general magical experiments/oblations, the only other thing is that I would like for Mara to get involved with some Astral exploration.

I'll need Anarion's input on this though, because I can't seem to figure out how the initial bit goes - there are lots of Mind spell relating to Astral transit, but I want to say that I'm under the impression that you need a demense? Unless enough dots in Mind negates that...

Anyway, the to-do list for Mara is: general magery/oblations/Astral travel and possibly demons. So whatever security and size seem appropriate to that.

Size 2 works for me. I think a rank 5 hallow also allows astral travel, so you're good there though.

I think you said Macau was more of a Vegas feel? I don't really have a strong preference here, as Mara will be happy anywhere there's a club vibe. If Fluoresce has strong preferences I'm happy to go along, or we can just choose arbitrarily.

No idea yet, gimme a bit to fully sober up. All hallows oblations and all.

[the_druid_droid]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Hm. I would prefer the sanctum be underground, but I think being on the roof would indeed be better. Thoughts, Mara?

I actually kind of like the idea of it being underground. Little trickles of Mana leaking down into the Earth.

Night's-Neon-Rhythm is an abstract spirit of cultural significance expressed through modern youth culture; Traditional korean values as seen through the lens of people who find release and expression through music and dance. He is a Ryong dragon writ in neon, pink-red lines and deep electric blue in the form of a dragon, a spirit of ecstatic expression. His ban is being unable to harm a person singing or dancing, and his breath is the shattering of a thousand thousand neon tubes, spraying hot glass and incandescant, burning gas upon his target. He also will develop the ability to urge people to dance, free in the moment. This may actualy be his prime Numen though I'd like him to have some combat prowess out the gate.

Ooh, I'm liking this familiar...

Originally Posted by Anarion

Astral realms is on my to-read list. I'm running this game sort of like a new teacher. I'm about a chapter ahead of all the students. This is made more difficult by the fact that Thanqol is the Hermione Granger of Mage rules.

Hee!

Yeah, Macau is basically Asian Vegas, Hong Kong is more like downtown New York.

Hm. Actually the phrase Asian Vegas by itself kind of makes me want to be there...

Originally Posted by SiuiS

I would suggest ectstatic release, although I am hestitant, because I've used Primal and Ectstatic a lot recently.

I could also see this working.

Size 2 works for me. I think a rank 5 hallow also allows astral travel, so you're good there though.

Oh, come to think of it, that may be so. I may actually have this Astral thing down multiple ways.

And then the Cabal has dream-walking sleepovers.

[Thanqol]

I'm going to mark down important pieces of Vulcan's gear because she is a Matter Mage and this is important:

Spoiler

Network Collar:

Vulcan's collar is an extremely expensive piece of computer hardware and the direct interface between her spine and her prosthetic legs. It also has vast un-used hardware and storage space, and due to it's direct line to her brain Vulcan tends to use it as the focus for the majority of her Mind spells; her 'second brain'. It deliberately doesn't have wireless capabilities as a security measure - wouldn't want someone to turn off her legs or hack her thoughts - but if cabled into an internet port or a wireless enabled computer Vulcan can convert binary information into distinct mental images. The collar is also a wireless phone and accepts voice commands in lieu of buttons.

Sharing the enhancement bonus from her enchanted prosthetics, the collar is also virtually indestructible (durability 6)

Vulcan's actual piece of computer tech is a very expensive tablet, primarily used for on-the-fly graphical design and sketching, but also with many of the abilities of other tablets. This is kept inside her briefcase as it's also a fair bit heavier than an Apple product due to it's enhanced functions.

Bulletproof Clothing: Cost 3 (Armoury Reloaded p142)
Rating 1/2 Strength 0 Defence 0

Vulcan's suit is actually a very fine kevlar weave, capable of blunting the impact of direct bullet fire. If she pops her collar she can draw a concealed hood over her face to disguise her identity and protect her head.

Automotive Tools: Cost 4 (WoD 140)

Vulcan's machine shop has some quite complex and elaborate manufacturing tools that wouldn't be out of place in a much larger garage. She regards them as hobby tools and enjoys programming and upgrading them, even more than she likes building things with them.

Pepper Spray: Cost 0 (WoD 140)

A Matter Mage can turn pepper spray into a lot of devastating things. She keeps three cans - one in a concealed cavity in her leg, one in her briefcase, one on her belt designed to look like a lighter.

First Aid Kit: Cost 2 (WoD 140)

Vulcan keeps a compact first aid kit in her briefcase, with a slightly wider range of restricted drugs than is standard issue.

Miranetam: Cost 2 (Armoury Reloaded p143)

A performance and memory enhancing drug, Miranetam is mostly harmless and not physiologically addictive, though it is a controlled substance. One tablet gives +1 to all mental skills and +3 to perception for four hours. However, if more than four tablets are taken in one 24 hour period, or they're used habitually throughout the week, the user develops the Paranoia Flaw until the drug flushes from their system (12 hours). Vulcan tends to take a tablet whenever she encounters a problem that she finds genuinely interesting.

Biohazard Suit: Cost 4 (Armoury p170)

A full hazmat suit with gas mask, Vulcan's training taught her that no one - NO ONE - screws around with someone wearing radiation gear. It's for dire emergencies only, of course, or for when dealing with unknown magical crap in her lab. She keeps a few cheaper NBC suits in case she needs to protect anyone else. These are all locked up in a very secure cabinet - she could answer questions about why she has biohazard suits in her house to the local police but she'd really rather not.

She also has a few private security company uniforms just in case she needs them.

Security System, Intermediate: Cost 3 (Armoury p181)

The silent alarm that covers her house and to her garage doesn't go out to the police - it goes out to a private security company operated by the Seers of the Throne who are both far quicker to respond, far more brutal, and far less likely to have to answer questions about their behaviour than the police.

Vulcan is also a computer expert and aware of the existence of Forces magic, so she worked in conjunction with a rookie Seer Obrimos to develop a subroutine to surprise anyone who thinks they can use Transmission to breach the place. When one alarm is turned off then five more alarms power up and go out simultaneously and in different directions. A clever and powerful Obrimos could still catch all the signals but it wouldn't be nearly as trivial as a normal alarm.

Off Road SUV: Cost 3 (Armoury p138)
Durability: 3
Size: 15
Structure: 18
Acceleration: 12(17mph/turn)
Safe: 96 (65mph)
Max: 154 (105mph)
Handling: 0
Occupants: 1+4

Yes, Vulcan is one of those people who drives an off-road SUV on the streets of Hong Kong. The good news is that she rarely uses it, preferring to walk or use public transport. What she uses a car for isn't transport - it's as a mobile siege platform. She's modified the car so that it's one spell away from being able to crush through traffic like a monster truck. It's also stocked with various supplies and backups, magical and mundane, for when she has to make field trips - or on the off chance she ever needs to break from the city and run for the hills.

The car's spirit is more like a tank than a passenger vehicle. A persistent rumour amongst the Throne is that she used it to run over a full grown werewolf.

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Thanqol

. A persistent rumour amongst the Throne is that she used it to run over a full grown werewolf.

Is it bad that my first thought was to how to be sure to inflict sufficient lethal damage to keep a werewolf down? I'd suggest a high undercarriage and some innocuous hooks. Instead of a ram and run, you drag the regenerating bastard along for a sandpaper scrub.


Honest question, that I've hinted at before. How far will being in a cabal go to get me imbued items without experience cost? Though ideally it would be a project as much as just Item Get!. Ah, and I never asked; what rank of matter would it be to have a can of never ending, color-you-want-at-the-time spray paint? A quick scan of the matter arcana only shows me I'm not comfortable enough with the practices to be sure.

[Thanqol]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Is it bad that my first thought was to how to be sure to inflict sufficient lethal damage to keep a werewolf down? I'd suggest a high undercarriage and some innocuous hooks. Instead of a ram and run, you drag the regenerating bastard along for a sandpaper scrub.


Honest question, that I've hinted at before. How far will being in a cabal go to get me imbued items without experience cost? Though ideally it would be a project as much as just Item Get!. Ah, and I never asked; what rank of matter would it be to have a can of never ending, color-you-want-at-the-time spray paint? A quick scan of the matter arcana only shows me I'm not comfortable enough with the practices to be sure.

"Never ending" involves creating matter from nothing, that's 5. Changing water to spray paint is 2, but it is Vulgar. Changing spray paint colour is 2 and covert. Spray paint is cheap, I'll give you the money to buy some rather than expending a portion of my arcane will on making such a triviality permanent.

[Thanqol]

I really don't know if I like the colour design or not but here's a provisional Vulcanpony.

Spoiler

[Anarion]

Originally Posted by Thanqol

I'm going to mark down important pieces of Vulcan's gear because she is a Matter Mage and this is important:

Spoiler

Network Collar:

Vulcan's collar is an extremely expensive piece of computer hardware and the direct interface between her spine and her prosthetic legs. It also has vast un-used hardware and storage space, and due to it's direct line to her brain Vulcan tends to use it as the focus for the majority of her Mind spells; her 'second brain'. It deliberately doesn't have wireless capabilities as a security measure - wouldn't want someone to turn off her legs or hack her thoughts - but if cabled into an internet port or a wireless enabled computer Vulcan can convert binary information into distinct mental images. The collar is also a wireless phone and accepts voice commands in lieu of buttons.

Sharing the enhancement bonus from her enchanted prosthetics, the collar is also virtually indestructible (durability 6)

Vulcan's actual piece of computer tech is a very expensive tablet, primarily used for on-the-fly graphical design and sketching, but also with many of the abilities of other tablets. This is kept inside her briefcase as it's also a fair bit heavier than an Apple product due to it's enhanced functions.

Bulletproof Clothing: Cost 3 (Armoury Reloaded p142)
Rating 1/2 Strength 0 Defence 0

Vulcan's suit is actually a very fine kevlar weave, capable of blunting the impact of direct bullet fire. If she pops her collar she can draw a concealed hood over her face to disguise her identity and protect her head.

Automotive Tools: Cost 4 (WoD 140)

Vulcan's machine shop has some quite complex and elaborate manufacturing tools that wouldn't be out of place in a much larger garage. She regards them as hobby tools and enjoys programming and upgrading them, even more than she likes building things with them.

Pepper Spray: Cost 0 (WoD 140)

A Matter Mage can turn pepper spray into a lot of devastating things. She keeps three cans - one in a concealed cavity in her leg, one in her briefcase, one on her belt designed to look like a lighter.

First Aid Kit: Cost 2 (WoD 140)

Vulcan keeps a compact first aid kit in her briefcase, with a slightly wider range of restricted drugs than is standard issue.

Miranetam: Cost 2 (Armoury Reloaded p143)

A performance and memory enhancing drug, Miranetam is mostly harmless and not physiologically addictive, though it is a controlled substance. One tablet gives +1 to all mental skills and +3 to perception for four hours. However, if more than four tablets are taken in one 24 hour period, or they're used habitually throughout the week, the user develops the Paranoia Flaw until the drug flushes from their system (12 hours). Vulcan tends to take a tablet whenever she encounters a problem that she finds genuinely interesting.

Biohazard Suit: Cost 4 (Armoury p170)

A full hazmat suit with gas mask, Vulcan's training taught her that no one - NO ONE - screws around with someone wearing radiation gear. It's for dire emergencies only, of course, or for when dealing with unknown magical crap in her lab. She keeps a few cheaper NBC suits in case she needs to protect anyone else. These are all locked up in a very secure cabinet - she could answer questions about why she has biohazard suits in her house to the local police but she'd really rather not.

She also has a few private security company uniforms just in case she needs them.

Security System, Intermediate: Cost 3 (Armoury p181)

The silent alarm that covers her house and to her garage doesn't go out to the police - it goes out to a private security company operated by the Seers of the Throne who are both far quicker to respond, far more brutal, and far less likely to have to answer questions about their behaviour than the police.

Vulcan is also a computer expert and aware of the existence of Forces magic, so she worked in conjunction with a rookie Seer Obrimos to develop a subroutine to surprise anyone who thinks they can use Transmission to breach the place. When one alarm is turned off then five more alarms power up and go out simultaneously and in different directions. A clever and powerful Obrimos could still catch all the signals but it wouldn't be nearly as trivial as a normal alarm.

Off Road SUV: Cost 3 (Armoury p138)
Durability: 3
Size: 15
Structure: 18
Acceleration: 12(17mph/turn)
Safe: 96 (65mph)
Max: 154 (105mph)
Handling: 0
Occupants: 1+4

Yes, Vulcan is one of those people who drives an off-road SUV on the streets of Hong Kong. The good news is that she rarely uses it, preferring to walk or use public transport. What she uses a car for isn't transport - it's as a mobile siege platform. She's modified the car so that it's one spell away from being able to crush through traffic like a monster truck. It's also stocked with various supplies and backups, magical and mundane, for when she has to make field trips - or on the off chance she ever needs to break from the city and run for the hills.

The car's spirit is more like a tank than a passenger vehicle. A persistent rumour amongst the Throne is that she used it to run over a full grown werewolf.

This is like a clinic in how to make badass mages.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Honest question, that I've hinted at before. How far will being in a cabal go to get me imbued items without experience cost? Though ideally it would be a project as much as just Item Get!. Ah, and I never asked; what rank of matter would it be to have a can of never ending, color-you-want-at-the-time spray paint? A quick scan of the matter arcana only shows me I'm not comfortable enough with the practices to be sure.

If you have the prime magic to do it, you can do whatever your magic lets you do. If you don't, you'll need to trade or buy whatever you want, and that is usually with XP, though I suppose you could license out your hallow for some lesser trinkets if you wanted.

I agree with Thanqol's evaluation of the spray paint. Just buy some cans. I'm not even sure why you'd want to imbue them, since making it yourself takes up one of your active spell slots, which are limited to gnosis+3. You could just cast the covert color-change at the time of spraying.

Originally Posted by Thanqol

I really don't know if I like the colour design or not but here's a provisional Vulcanpony.

Spoiler

Hmm, I think she's good, but I also see what you mean about the colors being not quite right. The eyes are really well-done though, lots of personality there.

[the_druid_droid]

Originally Posted by Thanqol

I really don't know if I like the colour design or not but here's a provisional Vulcanpony.

Spoiler

Good, good... *steeples actuators*

Re: color, I rather like the firey hair, so if you revise the color scheme my vote would be focusing on the body.

Originally Posted by Anarion

I agree with Thanqol's evaluation of the spray paint. Just buy some cans. I'm not even sure why you'd want to imbue them, since making it yourself takes up one of your active spell slots, which are limited to gnosis+3. You could just cast the covert color-change at the time of spraying.

"You want how many cans of black again?"

[Anarion]

Originally Posted by the_druid_droid

"You want how many cans of black again?"

"My Seer friend owns a car shop, we need your industrial size. Just ship a couple crates over. She'll cover the bill, don't worry about it."

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Anarion

If you have the prime magic to do it, you can do whatever your magic lets you do. If you don't, you'll need to trade or buy whatever you want, and that is usually with XP, though I suppose you could license out your hallow for some lesser trinkets if you wanted.

As expected. Okay.

I agree with Thanqol's evaluation of the spray paint. Just buy some cans. I'm not even sure why you'd want to imbue them, since making it yourself takes up one of your active spell slots, which are limited to gnosis+3. You could just cast the covert color-change at the time of spraying.

A permanent one wouldn't take up any of my limit. Mostly I was asking though because the effect would definitely be easier to acquire than matter 5. It is a look at granularity. Matter 5 makes paint for pictures. Matter 3 makes whole pictures. A 1-dot fetish achieves this end so long as I can catch the appropriate spirit. If I want to make, not start with, said fetish, I'm back up to 4 dots (Spirit this time).

It would be a ritual tool, as well. The creation of the image would be the casting of the spell. Carrying a spectrum of paint on a bandolier while trying not to get caught for graffiti is silly. But this is the future, ne? The same size spraycan could be rigged with an internal mechanism that generates aerosol pressure, and an adjustable base allows for the movement of internal mechanisms, bringing condensed capsules of pigment into place, along with an empty, clear one for cleaning the works in between colors.

Thoughts? Available in the timeframe, and requisition requirements?

Hmm, I think she's good, but I also see what you mean about the colors being not quite right. The eyes are really well-done though, lots of personality there.

My contention is, this is a beautiful color scheme. It just doesn't feel like Vulcan's. It fits the name, the theme, but less so the person. But I don't know what she would look like really. I see a burgundy or mulberry coat, darker mane rather than lighter. A Celestia-esque collar with cables down her back would be neat too. Still, gorgeous pony.

Well, no. That's not correct. The color scheme does fit, but it's off. Vulcan's colors and feel are chocolate and charcoal and wine, but I don't know which colors are ascendant.

Originally Posted by Anarion

"My Seer friend owns a car shop, we need your industrial size. Just ship a couple crates over. She'll cover the bill, don't worry about it."

that might actually work, all things considered. aside from the eventual visit by scary men with something to prove.

Tangent: in previous statement, I assumed 1/20th given that the free council had two cabals, and my default cabal number is 4. So 8 mages in cabals, about as many without, puts us just over 15, and I prefer to overshoot. Eight members of the Pentacle total was my first thought, but that barely leaves enough room for each order to have a cabal. Which is totally not a requirement, I just didn't think that line through.