Zeitgeist Blue

Ask all the questions you want. But take an HP as I compel A Dream of Comfort for Adrianna to accept the plea for help.

GM "The glamor charm is only lifted for us," Vicente says, clearly speaking from memory. "It has something to do with beliefs or something similar. The specific mechanics escape me." The introductions are brief - an exchange of names, an acknowledgement by the dwarf then the lady with the caat features. Your dreams provoke a few questions born from their curiosity but they do not gawk as most civilians likely would have in the presence of powers. "So are they, like, alive?" Angel asks as she reaches out to pet a bird. "They're kinda cute but also kinda sad if they're alive only as long as you dream them, don't you think?" After the introductions, Vicente and Daria lead you to the front porch of a trailer home. They sit down by a patio table. Daria motions for you to join them as Vicente places his folder on the table, taking out several other documents. "We need your help," he finally says. "You'll have to forgive us for the rush introductions. Usually we'd ease someone into our community, but we are pressed for time. Have been pressed for time for about a month now, and I hope you believe that we are who we say we are." "A bunch of fairy tale characters, non-humans, and genetically modified humans," Daria says. "Sharing a community to provide security and comfort, and all that." Vicente slides forward a printed internet news article. There is a picture of a middle-aged man of Hindu ethnicity staring . The title of the article is, "Man, 57, Murdered in Apartment. Murderer Still at Large." Vicente continues. "You may have heard about this in the news. About a month ago, Yatin Basu was found dead in his apartment, shot in the head, with signs of struggle in the apartment. What the article doesn't mention is that the ECPD know the identity of the killer, a Advay Upal, who was considered a friend of Yatin, and are on the lookout for someone like him. It's a small-scale manhunt. The crime isn't so public, the murder typical, the victim a mild-mannered immigrant." Vicente slides a picture forward. It shows a different middle-aged man of Indian ethnicity. He taps the picture. "This is Advay. Now what neither the ECPD or the media know is that both Yatin and Advay are Naga in disguise, half-human and half-serpent people from Hindu myths. They were both members of the Forest Clan and so we take this crime much more seriously than Emerald City does. We've been searching for Advay for weeks now and have placed his location in Sub-Terra, right under Emerald City." He slides another document. This one is a photocopy of an old, weathered page. "There are vast caverns and hollow spaces under the Earth's surface and maybe it's a little hard to wrap your head around but I've been told by smarter minds that it has much to do with interdimensional faults and magic. Of course, the dwarfs and other-dimensional aliens in the Forest Clan exists so perhaps it can't be too far-fetched now can it?" Vicente takes a deep breath and Daria takes up the slack, placing a large paw on his arm. "You'd think, 'So why not go in there and apprehend the criminal?' right?" She looks at you with her beady bear eyes. "Thing is another clan claims Sub-Terra and the Undercity as part of their domain. The Rock Clan has always played fast and hard with the rules to seem like the strongest of clans and this ain't no different. They've risked exposing us to the humans for the sake of territory and they'll risk letting a murder of a Forest Clan member by a Forest Clan member go unanswered just so they can get their hands on Advay first!" A small growl escapes her throat but she visibly cools down quickly. "They think Advay and Yatin has knowledge of dangerous and powerful magic, you see. And knowing Finnegal and his council, they probably want to unlock those magic so they can lord it over the rest of the clans." "Which is where you come in, with your consent of course," Vicente says as Daria finishes. "You aren't a member of the Forest Clan. You aren't one of our allies in Emerald City. You're new, someone the clans do not know. And in my opinion that is your greatest asset, but more than that I've read your files. I know you are a exceptional young woman. What you've done in the defense of Earth S-Omega-1 is both sad yet inspiring." He looks you in the eyes. "War is all you've known. We won't drag you into another conflict unless you say yes."

GM You have surmised four things from your investigation. First, Yatin was no Naga. He was a Lemurian, disguising himself as a Naga, who in turn disguised himself as a Indian national who had moved to the US several decades back. The Forest Clan had found his body and in their own investigation revealed the Yatin's true nature. Such a fact immediately cast a new light on Yatin and Advay's Lemurian studies. From academic curiosity of magical pre-history, already an dangerous avenue of research, to a first-hand knowledge of Lemurian civilization. The axiom, "Older is better" makes itself evident here for nothing is older in magic than Lemuria itself. Crumbling ruins full of secret monsters and experiments, artifacts that promise power to those who wield them, rituals that can call forth on Nameless Ones used as deterrents like magical WMDs. The uses and dangers of Lemuria are dangerous indeed. Secondly, the knowledge of Yatin as an actual Lemurian spread from the Forest Clan into the other Clan authorities but has yet to reach the Cryptid population. For most of them, a Naga had been murdered and the murderer is still at large. Thirdly, besides scraps and pieces, the Clans leaders do not have in their possession Advay and Yatin's work. Most of it has disappeared, along with Yatin, and the few that had been left behind had burned down in a timed ritual. Perhaps Advay himself was responsible. It fits with his belief of the Clans' greed in the face of naked Lemurian studies. Fourth, Yatin had attacked Advay and Advay, had killed his partner out of self-defence. The reason remains unknown. Perhaps you could ask Advay once you find him. *** The Undercity, Emerald City, Washington Sunday, May 17, 2020 10:16:39AM The Undercity is a dark, dank place. Outside the tourist attraction of the Maze there are only the detritus of society. Huddled in thick clothes around dumpster fires or cloaked in shadows, they watch you. They see a stranger, not desperate or poor like them. They are the homeless and the criminal but none accost you. Then, more hidden than the entrances to the Undercity, you arrive at a crack in the basement of some forgotten library in the Underdark. The tunnel is long and man-made concrete soon turns into carved stone, then natural rock. Ever down, down, down you walk. The transition from the Undercity to Sub-Terra is not always so clear but the blackness is all-consuming wherever you are. After what seems like an hour or two, you reach the end of the tunnel and a pit that drops straight down. A ladder is set on the side of the pit, one which you take. You descend. It isn't long before you hear a rumble behind you as you descend the ladder. Rocks and dirt shift until you see two inky black eyes staring at you from the surface of the pit. Lips made of rock move, grinding against each other, and it speaks to you in a low, gravelly voice. You recognize a Rock Clan elemental. "I can sense the magic in you, Human. State your purpose." Slowly its arms appear and it pushes itself from the rock of the pit. "Sub-Terra is off-limits by the order of Finnegal the Dwarf while the search for the murder Advay Upal continues. Turn back if you are here for any non-essential reasons." Beside you, you here the telltale rumble of rock and dirt. Another elemental appears. Just your luck this entrance was guarded.

GM "You thinking of going public now? With your dreams being unable to hide and everythin'?" Daria says as you walk to the care. She throws you a smile to show she's teasing you. "What'll the news call you? Dreaming Girl?" "She'll do what she wants and I'm sure she could give them her own name," Vicente says as he walks beside his partner. You can almost hear him suppress a sigh. The three of you are nearing a parking lot now. A few cars litter other parts of the parking lot but for the most part you have the space to yourselves and are quickly approaching their old black van. *** Vicente has a thoughtful frown as you answer his queries. "I can sympathize at least," he says as he returns to his seat. "It's been-- oh-- about two decades since I got thrown into this dimension. I'm sure you'll have it figured out soon, Adrianna." The car pulls over and Daria turns the key, letting the engine purr to a stop. "Okay. We're here," she says with finality. Where 'Here' is is a bit more confusing. You aren't far from the city but you are in a side-road not well-travelled, facing an even less travelled dirt path. Daria and Vicente get out of the van, and while Vicente pulls aside a old wooden barricade, Daria opens the door for you. "Yeah, so I meant to say we'll have to trek for a bit," she tells you. "Not yet here." And so the three of you do for a few minutes until you reach a seemingly empty clearing in the woods. A lone oak tree stands tall in the middle of the clearing but aside from the birds in its branches and the three of you, nothing else living stirs. Vicente approaches the oak tree and rests a hand on its trunk. A moment later, you see a slight shimmer around the tree. Visibly, it spreads outward and things appear in the clearing in its wake. You see trailer homes and satellite dishes, a radio playing the Saturday noontime program. A grill is on, its burger patties sizzling. But among the very normal appliances is a very abnormal group. What looks to be a dwarf, beard decorated with bells and all, flips a burger patty as he listens to the radio program. A door opens and someone walks out, a mobile phone in her hand. She could be mistaken as human but you see the cat feature's on her face, the whiskers and cat eyes that glow a slight green tinge. She waves at Vicente before walking away, phone held high. "Obviously, this isn't all of the Forest Clan," says Vicente as he walks back towards you, now in his alien-looking orange form. "This is kind of like an outpost for those who go into Emerald City regularly." "We'll say hi to Ermdum, Erm for short, and Angel." Daria places a hand on the arm of you wheelchair and slides a bracelet away. Her transformation is similar to the shimmer of the clearing and soon a grizzly bead in office attire towers over you on two legs. "Then we need to show you something. It's important."

Doktor'd! Salvo Changed Height of armor Bellios Device: Weapons Suite Array AP: Stun 7 (Energy Vent; Extras: Area [Targeted, Burst] [5 Feet per Power Rank], Affects Objects [+1], Selective Attack; Feats: Accurate 3, Attack Focus [Ranged]) {38/40} (Additional Descriptors: Electricity) Removed DC Block: Containment Foam

Salvo Salvo landed heavily as electric energy ran through her. Sizzling and crackling, even protected by her armor she could tell this was far more than what a taser could bring out. It was lightning unleashed in a small package, enough to strike grown women dead. Electrical current and dark purple energy both ran across the surface of her armor, sparking constantly against one another and into the surrounding hallway. She had to wrest control of the currents and she did in her mind's eye, fingers flying on her keyboard, as she strode towards Doors. Doors disappeared but she continued her approach. "Your tricks won't work," Salvo's visor tracked Doors movements. "You can't stop me. You can't hide. You can't run so give up now before you hurt yourself." The electric currents across her armor turned a dark purple then and once again she directed the energy into Doors. Electricity ran through the walls, the floor, and jumped into the ceiling, all reaching to Doors. "Or before I hurt you."

GM You take the tome from the lectern then move on towards the laptop. It was locked, kept on sleep mode, and needed a password to login. For most, obtaining a password would require careful setup, a keen mind for computers or the use of social engineering. Absent the owner, an ad hoc hack was your only option. So you do so, bypassing the user-friendly interface to go deeper into the laptop's code. A few unsuccessful tries here, a few more attempts made there. It was like breaking any other code or puzzle, except you were doing so in a basement full of animated corpses and needing to keep cognizant of Abracadaver returning. The laptop open would be a too big tip-off something was going on. The minutes ticked by yet Abracadaver had not returned and you steadily continue with your work on his laptop. 00:40:00 AM Until you push on the 'Enter' button and find yourself in his desktop. It is messy, a morass of files and desktop applications. Then you hear footsteps from where you had come from. You have less than a minute to hide your traces though that is plenty enough time. Abracadaver has returned, but he is not alone. You hear a whole group approaching. With the corpses around you deathly silent, each footstep cracks in the confines of the basement. "Apologies on the intrusion once again, Abracadaver," a woman's voice rings out. "But Koschei likes to be well-informed about his projects, even if it interferes with their efficiency. Rest assured, you will be compensated on this delay. Would treatises on the Voodoo loa would be to your liking?" "Of course! Why even ask?" Abracadaver's voice is unmistakable and even from your position you can hear his scoff in contempt. "I am the great dead magician. I only deal with arcane secrets which promise danger and knowledge at every turn. Make sure your men find the proper sources for I don't truck with the primers of amateurs and laypersons." At last, the speakers enter into the room. You see Abracadaver. It is the first time you get a good look at him. Sans his cape and top hat, there is less hiding his skin to observers. His flesh is dead and rotting, a jigsaw puzzle of differing skin tones and degrees of freshness. There is mold on one patch of his cheek. On his scalp, you see tuffs of white hair and fresh blood. Only his eyes and his voice seem to be his own, everything else is stolen. A frankenstein. Beside him is a middle-aged woman of East Asian descent. She has the bearing of a matron, a successful business owner. Hair cut short, expensive jewelry, a pearl ring. Her clothes are tailored to fit and provide a splash of color in this dim basement. Lady Mingzhu you imagine. Behind them are two men and two women, who look the spitting-image of a bodyguard detail. Black-and-white suits, sunglasses even here, and an earpiece each. Lady Minghzu suddenly stops at the edge of the room, her head raised in the air, as if sniffing for something, and her bodyguards stop behind her. Then Abracadaver rushes to the lectern, his eyes wide. Wordlessly, he gropes around as if searching for something. "My-- my-- where is it?" He bends down, his eyes roaming around the floor as he continues to mutter. "Where is it?"

FYI, the thing on the lectern is a black tome with notes on its pages.

GM Vicente smiled, clearly enjoying haven taken your attention. "In English, you can call us the Forest Clan. It's an inconspicuous term for a people who want to be left alone." Slowly, he begins to transform into his human guise again. "Perhaps more than a name you would like to see for yourself? It'd be quick, less than half an hour's drive from here." Behind him, Daria takes out a car key from her pocket and jangles it. Vicente gathers his documents and stands up, waving a hand at the doorway. "You don't need to hide your dreams there, Adrianna. It's something we're very much used to." *** Soon, you find yourself in their car, a black van that has seen better days. Daria is behind the wheel while Vicente talks to you from the shotgun seat. You are seated behind them in a space specifically designed for persons with disabilities. "Let me be honest with you," Vicente says as he locks eyes with you through the rear-view mirror. "While we like to talk a lot about being independent and hidden, the truth of the matter is we still need friends and allies among the citizens of Emerald City. Even if you don't want to be a part of the Clans per se, participating in our society, someone who understands what it is like is a someone I can rest easy entrusting our secrets to and exchanging favors with." "Seatbelts, Vicente," Daria says and her partner buckles on a seatbelt without a second thought. "Like, can I ask you a question?" Vicente twists in his seat to look back at you. Outside the van, you have definitely passed Emerald City and are now in the surrounding wilderness and you feel the well-paved asphalt give way to rough gravel. "Do you consider this Earth to be your home? Is there anything you need to make your transition easier?" Smoothly, the car pulls to a stop on the side of the road where a small path begins and snakes deeper into the forest. Still, Vicente waits for your answer.

Trip Power Check: 1d20+11 = 14 And that's a nope there. Also, Salvo has 1 HP left. I used the first one to reroll her Notice check.

Toughness Save: 1d20+15 = 33 Move: Demoralize. -5 penalty. Action: Fire Stun 6 (Energy Vent; Extras: Area [Targeted, Burst] [5 Feet per Power Rank], Selective Attack; Flaws: Additional Save [Reflex]; Feats: Accurate 3, Attack Focus [Ranged]) {23} + Trip 6 (Extras: Area [Targeted, Burst] [5 Feet per Power Rank], Selective Attack; Flaws: Additional Save [Reflex]; Feats: Accurate 4, Attack Focus [Ranged]) {17} = {40/40} (Additional Descriptors: Electricity) Use All-Out Attack + Power Attack = +5 DC / -5 Attack Bonus Demoralize: 1d20+12-5 = 17, using Skill Mastery on Intimidate. Energy Vent: 1d20+11 = 23

Yeah, they all sound good! Give me an IC about Blackstaff preparing and asking questions. He assumes he's successful in all of them.

Actually, can you clarify if Rebellion is taking the notes on the table off to the side or the black tome on the lectern in the middle of the space?

And you have a magic bracelet that hides you from magic. I'll say that will keep for the whole thread unless it gets broken or lost or something. And knowing people who'd be able to smuggle someone out of the city would be under the purview of Streetwise, yeah. DC 20 to find someone who you'd think would be willing with this kind of heat on the goods to be smuggled. Convincing them is a whole other matter. Alternitavely, you can spend one HP to auto-succeed at a Connected Diplomacy roll. Or you can eat a failed roll, which won't necessarily mean you fail at what your goal for the Connected feat (unless it's a horrible roll like less than five). It would mean there'd be a cost to your success.

No worries! I've been busy with things myself so the wait wasn't so bad. If anything, I should have chimed in about the creation of the magical item. But it looks good. Staged DC 25 for both Connected checks. There'll be varying levels of successes, failures, and complications here depending on the roll. It will take a day to setup each check, amounting to two days.

OOC for this, @Kaede Kimura.

GM Emerald City Saturday, May 16, 2020 10:54:2APM "How are you liking Emerald City, Miss Adrianna?" Vicente Cruz sat beside your dining table, a folder full of official papers laid unopened on your table. You had heard a knock on the door and when you opened it, he had introduced himself and his partner, Daria Bell, as officials from the government agency handling your refugee status. He had flashed his badge and asked that you let him inside. "We heard about the commotion you caused a few days ago. Nothing too serious? Everything turn out alright?" Daria piped up from behind Vicente. She began to count with her fingers. "No one hospitalized? No charges for assault or disturbing the peace or--" Vicente, his eyebrows twitching in what you assume to be irritation, motions for her to stop. "That's enough, Daria." Then he returns his gaze to you. "But why we are here is somewhat because of that... incident, Miss Adrianna." From out of the folder he draws a document and slides it towards you, a primer of Emerald City University's Cryptozoology program. It boasts its curriculum and faculty, including among them some of the country's leading Sasquatch experts. "As you might know," Vicente continues after you finish reading. "Emerald City has a bit of a reputation for, how would you say it, weirdness? There's an undercurrent of the hidden and the odd in the city and its surroundings, even if most people could go about their lives not really seeing anything explicit to validate their beliefs." He gestures, palm up, at you. "You yourself is a prime example. A refugee from a world where dreams are made real, and who can dream up monsters and creatures from nightmares and fairy tales." "Oh, don't string her along, Vicente. Just say what you need to say to the poor girl." Vicente, for his part, ignores his partner's comments and continues as if she had said nothing. "So perhaps you would like to be part of a community made of beings like yourself? The flotsam of space or other dimensions. Humanity can never really understand us. They see us as a phenomenon to study, or bedtime stories to frighten. Sometimes, they hunt us, believing us a threat even when we have called this Emerald City home longer than any of them. Longer than this country even." Over his shoulder, Daria is beaming at you. "We're extending you an invitation. What do you say?" Daria says and this time Vicente is nodding thoughtfully. Then visibly his features begin to change, melting back into flesh that slowly turns a bright orange. Soon, his face is blank save for solid white eyes and a mouth, which opens as he speaks. "Don't be alarmed, Miss Adrianna. I just wanted to show you who I really am." He slides his hand, orange like his face, forward as if to reassure you. "Like you, this isn't the dimension where I was born. And even then I was from another planet in the galaxy, not that Earth."

OOC for this. @Spacefurry, please tell me how you'd like to prepare and roll me the relevant dice if you're using Ritualist. Then can you give me an IC that includes Blackstaff preparing, if ever he does want to. Of course, he can ignore the letter or investigate the murder himself.

GM Bridgepoint, Emerald City, Oregon Tuesday, May 12, 2020 05:31:06PM The letter sits opened at your desk, a torn-up page from some textbook. It is dirtied by grime and stained by liquid, but still the neat handwriting conveys its message clear enough. The bennu, an Egyptian phoenix with splendid red and gold feathers, sits at your windowsill, picking at its feathers. It does not care to notice you or what thoughts the letter has induced in you, if anything, but it is still a beautiful specimen to behold. Found tied to a leg, is the Lemurian key. It is a cylindrical object made of brass and glass, as small as a pocketwatch, with dials all around. You are sure you could make some use of this once you figure out how to use it. But for now, Advay's letter is the most pressing matter. You have heard the news going around the rumour mill of a Naga's death a month ago. It was a gruesome sight, hear tell. Blood splattered everywhere, his magical laboratory defiled in every manner. Priceless equipment and potions broken and spilled, his notes conspicuously missing. The psychopomps tell of Advay's hand to be the cause of murder and for sure there was struggle in Yatin's home. Curiously, enough you do not know of anyone to have actually seen the scene in question, to keep the magical away from the humans some had said. Yatin's work had required proximity to humanity and so he had, with great secrecy, found a place in the middle of the Hindu diaspora of Northern Shore, Emerald City, Washington. Yet that proximity has called the murder to the attention of the Emerald City Police Department, humans the very secretive Cryptid Clans would prefer not to get involved in. Now a manhunt from all kinds, even some of the new Ultio Suits from Marstech, has been going on for three weeks andnot all those who seek him have truly benevolent intentions in mind if Advay is to be believed. If you are to find Advay before the Clans do, then you must prepare. You have five days to gather equipment or perform the relevant rituals. And after, you venture into the blackness of Sub-Terra, where only the blind are comfortable and where only stone grow. No doubt the Clans would know the same thing you do, and perhaps you may find some of their number roaming the depths as well, most likely unfriendly to outsiders.

Free Action: Switch Sensory-Suite Array to AP: Super-Senses 9 (Direction Sense [+1], Distance Sense [+1], Radio [+1], Radar [+3]; Radar [Enhancements: Accurate (+0), Acute (+0), Extended 2 [1,000 ft] (+2), Radius (+1), Ranged (+1)]) {10/11} Move: Fly to Marjory Doors Action: Fire Stun 6 (Energy Vent; Extras: Area [Targeted, Burst] [5 Feet per Power Rank], Selective Attack; Flaws: Additional Save [Reflex]; Feats: Accurate 3, Attack Focus [Ranged]) {23} + Trip 6 (Extras: Area [Targeted, Burst] [5 Feet per Power Rank], Selective Attack; Flaws: Additional Save [Reflex]; Feats: Accurate 4, Attack Focus [Ranged]) {17} = {40/40} (Additional Descriptors: Electricity) Use All-Out Attack + Power Attack = +5 DC / -5 Attack Bonus Attack Roll: 1d20+11 = 16 DC 16 Reflex Save to avoid completely. Then Fortitude Save, for Stun, and Strength or Dexterity roll, whichever is better, for Trip.

Salvo Justice was gone and Salvo had just finished donning Bellios, when she had spied someone running outside the room. That someone looked very much like one Marjory Doors who Justice was supposedly chasing right now. It was enough to set off Salvo's alarm bells and as she burst out of the room, her sensory suite drew a thousand feet of the world around her into her mind's eye. She could see everything from a thousand different angles as if she were right in front of them. Justice was on the roof, looking down at a Marjory Doors sprinting like an athlete, holding the ray gun but with no papers. Simultaneously, another Marjory Doors was running through the Engineering building. One Doors for each hero then. Salvo rose, the backlash from her rockets stirring the air around her. Then with a boom, she rocketed forward, maneuvering around the hallways towards Doors. Salvo's form crackled as energy built up near the surface plates, ready to be unleashed at a moment's notice.

Abracadaver is a super-powered criminal with a magician gimmick, but nonetheless exhibits varied powers. Extremely dangerous. Dial 911 if you see him. Abracadaver's crimes and obsession usually revolve around corpses, dead things, other occultists and magicians, and what some superstitious people call the occult or magic. This is obviously related to his gimmick. Abracadaver's powers possibly originate from external sources, possibly psychic or alien artifacts, which he fashions as a magic black tome for example as part of his gimmick. If Rebellion knows about the existence of magic then it is safe to assume that all these 'possiblies' can be explained simply by magic. That or Abracadaver is posing as magical.

GM 00:22:00 AM Abracadaver shoves the mobile phone in his pocket and stomps out of sight. The corpses cease their singing as soon as he leaves and a ringing silence falls over you. Now alone, you take in your surroundings. The space is dimly-lit and intimate, a small clearing in the middle of Abracadaver's zombies. It is a mad scientist's cave, a place for experiments best done in the shadows. Four small columns of marble reach from floor to ceiling and are set at the edges of clearing. They look similar to architecture you'd find in Jadetown, except clearly upside-down. The dragon that reaches for the heavens now spirals downwards, its claws grasping at a round, headless creature with six legs and four wings. The other three columns are carved the same way. They do not feel right, like the song you had felt when you had opened the metal doors leading to this basement. However, the feeling is not as unpleasant or powerful. Something feels familiar about them, like knowing the feel of your own fingers, but you cannot put your tongue on it. A corpse lays on the operating table to the side, between two columns. It is bereft of clothes but chunks of its flesh have been carved off. The bloody tools set on the medical shelf beside the corpse speak of what was done to the corpse, though some of the flesh is nowhere to be seen. Opposite the corpse, is another table but this one is laden with scrolls, diagrams, books, and Abracadaver's handwritten scrawl. A quick browse prove the contents to be an indecipherable mess, with many a reference to what you'd imagine to be occult jargon and Chinese terminology. Things like metaphorically courting 'Four' and 'Death' through repetition stand out to you. You see the yin-yang symbol in a scroll, along with more notes scribbled in the side. Hanging from a chair beside table is a cape, black on one side and red on the other. A top hat is set on the corner of the table, away from the cluttered mess of paper. A laptop, its screen locked, sits beside the tophat. Perhaps more information can be gleaned in its databanks. Finally, in the middle of the clearing is a wooden lectern. On the slanted desk a book sits, bound in black leather. Its ancient paper is brittle and yellow with age. The symbols and glyphs written on its pages are utterly alien to you, unlike any language you know, and they slip and slide away from your vision as if you were reading while heavily drunk. More notes are written on the side, but there are two sets of handwritings. One looks to be the same as those in the other table but a more faded but more meticulous is written alongside Abracadaver's. The pages it was left open on reveals something that is set like a poem, with the strange glyphs set into a tight middle column. The handwritten notes give credence to the idea as they often make mention of a 'Song' or 'Poem' and 'transferring being'. There is also mention of petitioning of "outer beings", though of just who these outer beings are it fails to mention. You feel there is much here to take that could tell you of Abracadaver's ritual, if only you can decipher them. Perhaps in time, but definitely not here. Abracadaver will not be gone forever.

Notice: 1d20+4/8 = 5/9 Including the Notice bonus for Nicole/Salvo. Spending an HP to reroll. Notice: 1d20+4/8 = 12/16 +10 since the roll was 8, below 10. Result: 22/26

Nicole "These notes yours?" Nicole held the papers up, turning away from Ms. Doors. "Because I can barely rea-- guughhhhh." She fell like a log, all the muscles on her body tensed up, and the next thing she knew Justice was by her side. She took a moment to catch her breath as Justice checked her over, then shakily got to her feet, using a table to keep her stable. "Not a taser? Think it was a real weapon?" Her voice was still shaky from the shock. "I didn't get a look at what she was holding but... it means she's more than just a nosey bystander." Justice pressed down on her amulet and small portals appeared behind her. Armor pieces flew from the portals and fastened themselves around her until she was fully suited up. Nicole could see the magic flare up from the amulet and from there flowing to the rest of Justice's suit. Like liquid mercury but a brilliant purple. Flashy and convenient. She needed to find a way to copy it for her use but Bellios was way to camera-shy. "Slower than you," Nicole said as she waved Justice away. "Go after her. I'll catch up." As Justice left her, the moonlight in the room flickered, and Nicole could feel cold steel wrap around her. She snarls as a blood-red visor slid down against her face, looking forward to the chase. Wrong move Doors.