Mage the Ascension: Rule of Shade

[Cynical Cat]

"The Void Engineer is not a problem," said Arkady. "He is ally. Killers are enemy. Keep that in mind." Tasha climbed back onto his shoulder. [Russian]"And those who threaten my familiar may live just long enough to regret it,"[/Russian] he whispered. "Let us go."

[B4UTRUST]

Phyber was in. He began to send commands at the remote system, searching through files and folders to find what he wanted.

The latest murder files were still there which matched up with the coroner's report they had downstairs. It didn't appear to have been altered in its current file form, but it could have been a very good job. Without further proof either way it would do nothing but drive him crazy paranoid about another Technocracy plot to fuck with him. Not that there wasn't probably one to do so, he just didn't believe it was this particular one. They didn't know he was here, they had no clue. Of course that being said there was a 'former' Technocrat living down the hall from him who had more influence and power then was healthy for any Techno-goon to have. Who could have easily dropped the dime to his boys in black back home. Which--
'Stop it,' he thought angrily to himself. 'This has nothing to do with you, this isn't a plot to get you, to fuck you over. Stop it. Just fucking stop it. Concentrate on the matter at hand.'

He pulled down the digital copy of the coroner's report and the associated files. As he went through them his system informed him of an associated file. It turned out to be a map of the quad with notes referencing the locations of the murders in relation to the layout. Other files were indicated to be connected. Grabbing a copy of the quad map he moved onto the next bunch. The murder previous to this one. Coroner's report and associated files. Another girl, physically similar to the latest murder. More missing organs. Associated images. More downloads.

He tried to access files on the first murder going off the associated file links from the quad map. Nothing. No files. Or deeply hidden where he couldn't get to them. It didn't matter. He checked his time. The alloted amount he gave himself for the hack was running out. He'd either have to come back from them later for find another way to obtain them. He removed the log files showing his access and dropped the remote connection.

He sent the new information to the printer queue. He'd grab it later. For the time being he leaned back and sipped his coffee. A few key strokes brought back up the double-helix. He went back to work.

[LadyTevar]

Supiyaw started walking, following the boundary of the node, staying outside it. "I suggest staying to my right, gentlemen. Two feet to my left is a very watchful dragon." She didn't know for sure he was there... but it would get the point across to the magi. "I would rather he go after me than one of you."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Indeed there is... " russell followed, keeping about 2 meters between himself and the Were-panther, plenty of girth in case she was off on the border distance

"So what do they look like if they are not manifesting as students or voices in your head?"

[Cynical Cat]

"Intelligeo Vis" Arkady whispered, waving a hand. He was specifically scanning for Infernal and Jhor Quintessence resonances.

[LadyTevar]

"Whatever they chose," Supiyaw answered with a slight shrug, carefully pacing around the boundary of the node. "If I'm right and the other two sites are inside the boundary, then we might find out what he thinks a dragon should look like."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"That's...lovely..." he said "Here is to hoping he thinks a dragon should look like a nice, non-assuming bunny... as opposed to one with sharp stabby teeth. In any case, one moment.

Russell let an equation move through his mind, one that described light, specifically radio waves, and their passage through the lens of his eye. If the spell worked, his vision would switch into radio waves instead of visible light, and then transmute into hearing, leaving his vision normal, but his hearing able to be slide along FM frequencies and AM bands.

forces 1 and 2, 1 to see, 2 to transmute
4d10 = 1403694395

[LadyTevar]

"Anything that looks like a harmless bunny will be so weak Tasha could bite it in half," Supiyaw answered, giving Russell a knowing look. "Or be hiding itself so it can bite -you- in half. The chaya are capricious."

[Dark Silver]

Russell's concentration broke for a moment as he attempted to weave his spell, instead of a stream of constant chatter and music, instead a loud, "earsplitting" screech and white noise filled his mind for a a few precious seconds, then faded into nothingness.

His spell had failed.

Meanwhile, as they skittered the node, the mages and their feline companions could feel the eyes of the Guardian upon them. It was only luck that the Node did not encompass the entire Quad, only a significant portion of it. They nearly hugged the wall to stay out of the range, and not upset the Guardian. On occassion, Supiyaw could glimpse the dark haired boy, watching her from the students passing along.

The Quad itself was a large, expansive area between the four original university nearly a full acre in dimensions, crisscrossing with sidewalks which divided the great expanse into fours. At it's center was a flowing, ornate fountain which looked to be crafted from granite and obsidian. Water flowed freely from fountain, glistening in the noon time sunlight.

Flowers were abundant in the quad, the area closest to the fountain was converted in a large garden, housing flowers of extraordinary vibrancy and color, benches were placed along the walkway, allowing for students or visitors to sit and relax within it. A hill rose gently in the north-western corner or the quad, and a group of students sat upon it, talking gaily.

Arkady's vision showed still, this time not so brillantly, the swirling colors that depicted the Primal flow of the node. Golden shimmers floated around the area just outside of the Node, Primal energies flowing into it. Should he look at the fountain itself, a large showering overflow of golden energy streamed into the sky, going higher then arching away from the university grounds, and in the direction of the Chantry.

As Sipuyaw led them on the border, they came near one of the sites. It was immediately visible to them, a small monument had been errected in the place she body was found, a simple white column with a plaque denoting the name of the girl, and the day she was found. The air at this one spot felt different than the rest of the Quad they had been on. Here a feeling of outrage filled the air, along with solemnity. But underneath that, a undercurrent of darkness. Not the same as when the Guardian had addressed them - that had been outrage and anger and protectiveness - but this was a feeling of something completely unsettling here.

Arkady, with his vision swirling with colors, noticed it best. The area surrounding the small pedistal, for nearly two meters in diameter, was swirling with a faint, black color. Occassionally a small thread of deep, baleful red and darkly tinged green swirling within the black blob, but the unmistakable Death Taint was there, if not entirely concentrated, as if it was residual taint. Certainly not strong enough to have been the site of a horrific murder.

[LadyTevar]

"Am I the only one seeing the young dark-haired student following us ... the one that spoke to me earlier?" Supiyaw asked in a tone that an outsider might take as off-handed. She also noted the profuse blossoms in the garden around the fountain. The node was well-cared for; whether it was the dragon or another's hand was unknown.

[Charon]

Jason's eyes wandered the crowd briefly, looking for the person Supiyaw was describing. He'd noticed the first memorial though, he noted the day that the body was found and compared it to when this body was found, looking for some connection in time. If the third body had been found here as well it would narrow the search even more.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Russell was still trying to clear his ears of that horrible sound when he also noticed the Dragon, watching

"Oh I notice him. There is just nothing we can do... but god damn does this place feel... wrong. Very conflicting emotions... this isnt like where we were a few minutes ago." then he had an idea

"Is it possible to talk to the...guardian without entering its space? It might be more willing to speak if we are not invading its territory"

[Charon]

Jason rolled his eyes.

"Can we please stop considering taunting the thing that can, will, and wants to eat us? It doesn't want to talk, it wants us to leave and us hanging around just outside its territory is probably pissing it off even more."

[Comrade Tortoise]

Jason rolled his eyes.

"Can we please stop considering taunting the thing that can, will, and wants to eat us? It doesn't want to talk, it wants us to leave and us hanging around just outside its territory is probably pissing it off even more."

"Look, if you want to go home, you can. Do you have an alternative? As it stands... I may be able to pull memories from this place..."

[LadyTevar]

"Jason is right about the Dragon's intentions. He's watching and just waiting for us to cross over," Supiyaw replied. "Let us do this and do it quickly. I do not think he will cross the border, but if he does the fight will attract far too much attention." Mainly, it meant she would have to go Warform to protect the magi from it, which would mean the majority of the students would run in panic. It might help the magi use their powers, but it would be nasty for her. Especially if the cops not far away were the 'gah! shoot it!' type of panicky.

[Cynical Cat]

"We want to check that out," said Arkady pointing at the pedestal. "And dragon is definitely not friendly."

[LadyTevar]

"This one is just barely outside the boundary, I believe," Supiyaw said, eying the display and what she felt of the boundary. "I will check, please stay back for a moment..."

And if I get bit, I am going to be pissed.


She approached the pedestal carefully, feeling the node no more than a meter away from her. The pedestal was brand-new, the date on it was only two weeks past. The deceased girl was named Ashley Lambert. No age or birthdate was listed on the pedestal, just a simple poem about 'taken before her time'. The grass around the pedestal was yellowed, unhealthy, and the only thing still growing nearby. Even the birds seemed subdued, or avoided the area entirely.

She walked back to the mages, deliberately scraping her shoe into the sod to mark a safe distance, half a meter from the node's boundary. "Do not cross the line," she murmured as she rejoined them. "This one was found two weeks past. Something has poisoned the grass, but I can't sense anything."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Alright... But I will need to put on a bit of a ruse for the sleepers..." Russell said as he stood near the Pedestal, his hands folded as if in prayer.

"If this works, I will be able to tap into the strong emotions here, and maybe, just maybe, pull out some of what happened. Strong memories leave traces that I can pick up"

He started something that sounded like an Ohm or near silent prayer, but was in reality, him chanting emotional pathways that link to setting down memories, and perceiving emotions in the brain, very slowly. He channeled a portion of the quintessence he had stored to make the effect somewhat easier and felt outward with his mind, gathering together the strong emotions left behind at this place, and tried to form them into a coherent memory about what caused them. He would go back through the log of memories stored here, until he came to the one he wanted, if it was there. He might not be able to get detail, a face for example, but he should be able to get what transpired, what type of person or thing did it, and why it was performed if that part was revealed in the memory

Mind 2 to use what is basically psychometry, 1 point of quintessence spent to reduce the difficulty
4d10 = 2007854543

[Dark Silver]

Russell's mind stretched out into the dark mass that was the Jhor tainted spot surrounding the small cement pedestal.

The emotions were strong alright, a heavy malais settled over Russell's mind, a dark sense of foreboding. Memories slowly came, twisted in in taint of the small site, shadowed and darkened.

The setting of the pedestal, surronded by several people, including a darkhaired young man. Further back, people, students it would seem through the dark haze. A memory came quickly, a male figure standing over the body of a girl. There one moment, then gone. Unfortunatly the memory was old, it was to faded to see any details clearly.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Russell opened his eyes with a gasp, his eyes slowly readjusting to seeing in the real world, instead of the world of memory

"The memories are too old, faded. There was one man I saw, standing over her body, but I couldnt make out detail. I would need to see either the body itself, or go to one of the more recent murder scenes to get more use out of this ability... neither of which I think is possible" but Russell did have another idea. One he suspected could potentially work... but he needed to work out the details.

[Charon]

Jason looked around the quad. "There've been three murders right? Lets see if we can find that last one. Maybe we can start fitting some more pieces together."

[LadyTevar]

As she had planned, Supiyaw was attempting to triangulate the murder sites based on her innate sense of where 'home' was... in this case her DenRealm on the Chantry grounds. Between that and the position of the sun, a realization struck her.

"We're due South. Compass South," she said, frowning slightly. She looked back in the direction they had come from the most recent murder, and felt a little cold when she realized it was just barely in view across the Quad... and it was a straight line of sight from one drop site to the other. "It's a straight line..." she muttered, her head turning to the magi around her. "They're in a straight line."

With that, she stepped to the safe side of the pedestal, using it as a sight to start looking to the opposite side of the Quad, her minor Occult knowledge pointing out one of the simplest symbols was the triangle. If she was right, the first body and it's memorial would be there....

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Yeah, but this is a quad, you can draw straight lines to anything in it... Now, if they form a triangle with equal sides... that would be significant"

[frigidmagi]

Boxer stood up and stretched.

"Besl go check on our computer expert," he muttered and headed over to James room. He knocked on the door.

"Yo, still alive?" He asked.

[Cynical Cat]

"Let us go to the next site and see if there are other clues," said Arkady.