By Perilous Ways
7th of July 2006 A.D.
Thump... thump... the ball goes against the floor of the gym as you look past your latest opponent, a girl with messy black braids called Beverly or Britney or something, then you dart past keeping your hand on the ball and your eye on the hoop, using her own lurking teammates as a way to keep her hand off the ball. Alright so you are showing off a bit, you admit as you score your sixth three point throw, but you are not stupid...
"Of course you would never be stupid Majestic Soul of the World," Usum chimes in at his usual place.
You
have seen Teen Wolf and you would rather not bet on people being quite
that dumb. Part of you wonders now if that movie was made by someone in the know and it was some kind of inside joke on how much most people will ignore, like a boy starting to turn into a werewolf on the basketball court.
"Good job out there Carpenter," Mrs Henderson says with a wide smile. Surrounded as you are by the rest of your team you cannot get out of the way of her back pat without pushing someone. The smile dies the moment she touches your ice cold skin.
"Thanks," you say with an awkward smile balanced on the knife's edge between gratitude and embarrassment. "I should really get warmed up, I have bad circulation I know..."
Mom had suggested not to rush to explain things, but this felt a bit too big to leave up to her to assume. Thankfully it seems to work. "Yeah yeah, you get that looked at you hear. And you need a better diet as well, you kids need to more greens in you and gummy bears don't count you hear?"
And with that she is off to the races on the 'you kids need to eat healthier' spiel that everyone had heart at least a hundred times before. Seeing your classmates zone out you are quite sure your secret is safe for now.
***
When you are about halfway home your phone goes off to a ringtone it had never played since you programed it,
Black Sabbath's the Wizard. You feel your heart speeding up and you are very glad that you are relatively alone on the street. "Hi Harry," you reply.
"How did you know it was me?" he asks startled.
"Witchcraft," you joke... into dead silence. "Kidding, kidding, I have a ringtone."
"Ah...that's a phone thing right?" he sounds like you had taken a stone off his chest or something making you feel more than a little guilty. Maybe you could sit down with him one of these days and teach him about phones and computers the same way he taught you about magic. Ooh... maybe you could make him a magic cellphone.
"In the Wicked City there dwell many spirits with a love of mortal artifice and thence the hand of power reaches," Usum offers helpfully.
"Listen I got into contact with my old teacher Ebenezar McCoy, the one I told you about, but he doesn't have a lot of time to spare the war's heating out and the Council is about to get out of town so he said to meet him as he comes out of the Way at Fulton Market, do you know where that is...?"
While you are vaguely aware that it is some place west of the river you are not about to be late to the meeting with the busy senor wizard just to show off how good you are at finding your way around. You and Harry meet up not far from the where you are and then you follow his funny old Volkswagen Beetle up towards the Loop.
It's easy enough to find a parking spot, even on a Friday evening between the looming bulk of the old warehouses casting heavy shadows in the evening.
"They used to do a lot of meatpacking in here when I first moved in, but it's been wining down over the last few years, a lot of things have been like that," Harry says half to himself you think.
"Things change," you shrug, not sure why he sounds sad about it.
"So they do, but when the change leaves a lot of hollow places slowly rotting away like this things move in that love the dark and decay."
You nod, though the chill down the alleys does not trouble you nor the shadows make you jump. It seems like the thing to do as you wait for the elder wizard to come and decree your fate, or at least that he
thinks should be your fate. You certainly aren't going to be bending your head for any swords.
Prologue Complete
Triumphs
- Safely Escaped Arctis Tor 3 XP
- Dealt with the soulgaze and its aftermath 2 XP
- Kept the peace with Charity and did not scare your family 2 XP
- Kept up appearances at school 2 XP
- Helped deal with Detective Greene safely 2 XP
- Discovered Charity's secret 1 XP
Total XP 12
In your heart the spark of balefire grows, the shadows deepen and they twist along the corridors of your mind, to need it answers, by peril it ascends.
How does your power grow?
Plan Vote
[] +1 Essence Gives two more motes to cap; May spent 2 Essence in one round; unlocks Shintai form 8 XP
[] Lanka Charm: By Rage Recast (••): Gives you access to another Shintai Aspect in your human form 6 XP
[] Kakuri Charm: Bloodless Murk Evasion (•••): Allows Shadow teleportation including to reflexively avoid all but holy attacks 9 XP
[] Kakuri Charm: False Springs Beckckon (•••) Allows you to suspect the torments of those who serve you, including the derangement caused the use of by Black Magic 9 HP
[] Wicked City Charm: Tool-Transcending Constructs (•): Create Tools from Essence, work five times faster than normal 4 XP
[] Wicked City Charm: Hollow Mind Possession (••): Invest a dark spirit in a into a smart device within line of sight, awakening it into an AI subject of your power within the limits of the device. Can be permanent with enough successes 4 XP
[] The Hell of Boiling Oil Charms Charm: Charred Sinner Renewal (•) : Regain Essence and Heal much faster when immersed in toxic liquids; Immunity to the harmful effects of such liquids when immersed 4 XP
[] The Hell of Burrowing Maggots Charm: Demonic Primacy of Essence (•): Lesser Creatures of Darkness recognize your dread majesty making it easier to sway them. All social rolls with such beings reduced by 2. 4 XP
[] Ancient Sorcery Spell [Will be Gained when next you sleep] Calling the Calibration Gate: Opens a gate to the Nevernever, be it to the realms of the fey, the underworld or the Hells at the infernal command. Alternatively can be used to open a gate from any of these realms to the mortal world. No lesser power may bar the gate, though they can of course send their hosts to try and hold it more conventionally 10 XP
[] Ancient Sorcery Spell [Will be Gained when next you sleep] Disguise of the New Face: Perfectly transform the subject (which can be the caster) into the likeness of another used during the spell. This is not glamor that can be disbelieved or broken, but physical transformation including such elements as fingerprints, retinas and even DNA as long as the spell lasts 10 XP
[] Ancient Sorcery Spell [Will be Gained when next you sleep] Emerald Spirit Binding: Bind a spirit to your service for a year and a day, if a spirit has been recently defeated in battle it may not resist. A sorcerer may have spirits bound equal to her essence rating. 10 XP
[] Ancient Sorcery Spell [Will be Gained when next you sleep] Mists of Eventide: Conjure fog that brings forth enchanted slumber. Willpower difficulty 9 to resist 10 XP
[] Ancient Sorcery Spell [Will be Gained when next you sleep] Sapphire Ritual of Exorcism: Over the course of ten minutes banish
any possessing spirit or power from its victim/host. Not even the Fallen may resist the mandala of absolute reality 10 XP
[] Write in (Rules for XP spending can be found on the character sheet)
OOC: After some thinking I decided to let you guys close off the prologue before meeting with Ebenezer in case you wanted to show him your new charms or prepare in case you have to run etc...
