Render Unto Moloch v2 (MtAW)
- Thread starter Maugan Ra
- Start date
- Location
- On the coast of Portugal
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Nicely put @TenfoldShields. I think this is an interesting path.
[X] TenfoldShields
[X] TenfoldShields
- Location
- London, England
A shitty little one in a not-great part of town paid for by a combination of government grants and support from back home (more than just his parents chipping in there). City of eight million, not everything is ruinously expensive.
(The rent is still more than James likes to think about and goes some way towards explaining why he feels like he can barely afford anything else)
I'll note a couple of important factors on top:
Man for all that he's putting on a good show, Barnabas is somewhere between desperate, reckless, enterprising, stupid, and pprrrrrooobably starving honestly. Mages are not exactly known for having a ton of chill and even newborn Mages are kinda...I mean the baby snake analogy is a good one if a bit cliched. They have no idea on how to control their power initially so they blow their metaphorical venom on the first bite and then the back hand of Paradox comes to re-arrange their face. 'Cause it's not like Awakening comes with an instruction manual or shit like that. Point is: there's probably way less risky prey available to him, so foxy-boy's is one of a two positions I think: he can't get it or he's gambling that he'll be able to get some Good Shit off this baby Mage. And the way his kinda posh affectation falls away when he gets aggravated makes me think it's probably...mostly option a with shades of b?
He's clever and attentive enough to notice the silver plated food cart rolling through downtown all by itself and hungry enough to give it a shot even though it's been wired up with enough C4 to level a city block.
Plus he doesn't seem to be consciously trying to fuck us over, probably because he knows that's not really a winning long-term option with Awakened unless you're some kind of super big shot with friends to call upon, and he's currently crashing in our crappy apartment. Ssssooo...hrm.
[X] Who are you? What are you? No I know you're a spirit, I mean you personally. In particular.
[X] ...W-what am I? No I know you said "Magi," what does that mean? Are there more?
It's sorta a rephrasing/repackaging of what people said for a more...idk what the right word would be: organic exchange? Back and forth? Part of the issue I think is that the voters, like, know the broad-strokes-if-not-fine-details of Mage. Which means that there's a pretty strong temptation to get the Exposition NPC to basically just sit James down and read him the corebook and just speaking from the perspective of, like, someone who's taken a fumbling stab at my own nWoD quest that shit's kinda...a drag ngl. Since you're basically just rephrasing official gameline stuff and that's not really narrative so much as copy work.
I like Barnabas. I want to know more about him, what his deal is, how he ended up here and why. Also I, like, transparently want him as a familiar for James and actually showing interest, unprompted, in the guy himself is a solid start for that. Similarly I kinda want to see the "What am I?" moment played out. Right now James is taking it all pretty well, he's gotten back into his routine, he's coasting on momentum, unearned confidence, and denial. I want to have that "Wile E. Coyote looks down" moment where James is kinda confronted with the fact that he's, in a real metaphysical sense, out of step with the rest of humanity.
That the changes extend beyond seeing spirits and fucked up dreams.
-Paradox bites relatively lightly on Spirit mages working on Spirits(not having to deal with being blatantly magic in front of muggles is a small but significant aid). Most Paradox tends to slam onto a Spirit mage for overreaching...which means that unlike the Forces or Matter guys getting slapped for hubris early on by Sleeper backlash, a Spirit mage without outside guidance tends to fuck up not at all until they grossly overreach and fuck up a great deal.
-Spirits don't have a whole lot of human logic. Going by the appearance, this is a middle scale Spirit(due to being actually coherent enough to have initiative), a Fox spirit(and hence cunning, tricky and prone to getting in deeper trouble than it meant to) and what looks like a mobster/businessman/lawyer spirit(what with the pinstripe suit, and thus always looking out for loopholes and a Deal)...which is to say it might not be able to say no to trying even when it thinks it might get fucked good.
-It followed us all the way from school. It has a Plan. Most Kunning. Nothing can go wrong. Whats the worst that could happen?
He mentioned rules maybe we should ask for a code of conduct before we step on toes or make an insult that can't be forgiven. Asking about what he is and we are are the next most important things I agree but I would hate to piss of the spirit of our building or any transport by accident
My take is that, when confronted with a spirit seeking a bargain, the most reasonable reaction is to be as cagey as possible. Add in that James is a law student.
[X] Some clarification before we deal: we're discussing the one time transfer of mana from me to you in exchange for answers. What is the exchange rate, and what are the penalties for breach of contract?
We're a law student. Agreeing to a vague contract in circumstances like this should be about as appealing as driving bamboo slivers under your own fingernails.
[X] You mentioned etiquette. Any significant departures from human etiquette I should be aware of?
"How do I avoid getting my face eaten by fairies?"
[X] I want to understand who I'm dealing with. What sort of spirit are you? What are you the spirit of, and is that a meaningful question?
[X] What are the broad implications of me being a magi? Is the term specific or catchall? Are magi rare? Solitary or social with each other?
[X] Some clarification before we deal: we're discussing the one time transfer of mana from me to you in exchange for answers. What is the exchange rate, and what are the penalties for breach of contract?
We're a law student. Agreeing to a vague contract in circumstances like this should be about as appealing as driving bamboo slivers under your own fingernails.
[X] You mentioned etiquette. Any significant departures from human etiquette I should be aware of?
"How do I avoid getting my face eaten by fairies?"
[X] I want to understand who I'm dealing with. What sort of spirit are you? What are you the spirit of, and is that a meaningful question?
[X] What are the broad implications of me being a magi? Is the term specific or catchall? Are magi rare? Solitary or social with each other?
BadAtScreenNames
Killed a man in Reno just to watch him die
- Location
- the (currently) United Kingdom
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Fair enough. I seriously empathise about the rent.
[X] TenfoldShields
[x] thamuzz
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
It is morbidly amusing to contemplate just how close the rent on his flat is to my mortgage.
[X] TenfoldShields
[X] TenfoldShields
[X] TenfoldShields
Man I gotta say that the scene of climbing the throne was really damn compelling. You've got some real evocative prose @Maugan Ra I really hope this one keeps going for awhile.
I suppose I will support
[X] TenfoldShields
as well
I suppose I will support
[X] TenfoldShields
as well