Muder in the Pines Update
Last session, the characters tracked down something that looked vaguely like a spirit that apparently made other folks very angry. At this start of this session, Freya and Midnight went to visit Ember. Freya looked into the House of Ariadne, while Midnight looked into some books on Celestial spirits. He couldn't really understand it, though, since he's not much on spirits. He tried to photograph the book, but his phone melted and scorched his hand (protective measures from the Censor - that'd be Ember). He scryed for Falstaff and asked some questions, but Ember countered the spell and asked him not to cast scrying windows out of her home without permission.
The other characters eventually showed up, and together with Ember they started puzzling through what happened. The creature might be a spirit, it might be a very powerful mage...who knows? The characters guessed that it might be an Obrimos with an ax to grind against the Consilium, and that led to them thinking about Silas (the former Hierarch), but there wasn't any real evidence there. The characters left (Bolg taking with him a book about the Tamers of Fire), and as the characters split up for the night, Echo mentioned to Freya that Crescendo had mentioned a secret society called the Golden Flame. They started thinking about that, and Freya had a Dream.
In her dream, she saw a ring of golden fire. Sleepers wearing expensive suits were walking straight through it, and from inside she could hear music and smell rich food and drink. Another man, though, wearing a necklace with an Atlantean rune, was trying to get in, but the flame kept burning him. Freya recognized the music - she'd heard it before at Midnight's club, the Vault. The two Acanthus went there and woke Midnight up, and got the rest of the cabal over there to talk it over.
The Golden Flame society is a labyrinth, Midnight knew, a place to put Sleeper wannabes and keep them ignorant. Crescendo had told Echo that someone had recently been expelled from it, and contacting Crescendo, Midnight learned that his name was Aaron Magnus. The nominal leader of the society was a lawyer named James Brinkley, so the characters figured they'd go find him in the morning. Freya, though, looked around Twilight for a spirit to talk to, and found a Gluttony-spirit sitting on a club member (who also happened to be a Golden Flame member).
The spirit talked with Freya in its disgusting way, and told her a little about the Golden Flame society - they were rich men with rich tastes, and the Glutton-spirit ate well. As Freya tried to leave, the spirit told her to wait, but she kept backing off, so it licked her, using the Drain Numen to siphon off her Willpower. Feeling rather violated, she wandered off to get some sleep.
That night, Echo had a Dream, too. In hers, she was looking down into a maze, in which men in expensive suits wandered happily and fluidly, but as there were no doors, they couldn't get out. Another man was trying to get in, but the maze was covered by a glass ceiling and he was standing above it. Finally, in a rage, he shot fire down into the maze and burned all the men to skeletons. Then he walked away, leaving behind his own burnt skeleton.
Next morning, Freya, impetuous as usual, went to Brinkley's downtown office. There, she learned that he'd been murdered the night before. Falstaff, already at his paper, found Brinkley's address and snuck to the crime scene, where he learned that Brinkley had died of collapsed lungs (like if you inhale too close to a big fire). He glanced into the spirit world and saw a swarm of wasps looking on, and went over to talk to this swarm-spirit. No sooner had he begun than a man, apparently who lived in the neighborhood, walked over and started questioning him. The man, named Blake, could obviously see the spirits, too, and took Falstaff back to his house to talk about it. There, Blake introduced Will, Em, Stoner and Mieke, the rest of his pack. He also squeezed Falstaff's hand until it crunched a bit (see Wasp, the Vengeful Builder - he's a pack totem I wrote for Territories).
The other mages arrived soon after, Freya first. She wound up chatting with Emory, who used Freya's insatiable curiosity to hit on her pretty much constantly. He took her into the spirit world and showed her his big, silver tattoo, and promised to tell her the story behind it at some point.
Falstaff, Echo and Fin entered the spirit world, too, along with the rest of the pack (which was concerned that this might be a problem for their neighborhood). They found Freya, who had discovered the spirit of the shed in Brinkley's backyard. Echo used Postcognition to look at the death of Brinkely, and confirmed that it was the golden, fiery "man" who did it.
Meanwhile, Bolg and Midnight had arrived. Bolg made them invisible and they went looking in Brinkley's house, finally finding a book detailing the "minutes" of the Golden Flame meetings. Aaron Magnus had been expelled for "practicing Solomonic magic more dangerous that the Society feels appropriate." At that point, the book vanished (because Falstaff, in the spirit world, had grabbed it).
The characters regrouped and talked with the pack a bit more. After hearing the story of Neil and his brothers, the pack decided to go to Kentucky and check things out. Emory asked Freya if she'd like to go out when they got back, and she pulled out a coin (which is how she makes a lot of her decisions). Emory caught the coin, and said that if she wanted to go out, they could, if not, she should just say that and not jerk him around, and stomped off. Mieke told Freya to let him cool off a bit, and then call him if she wanted.
Next session, the characters all have investigative bits to do and secrets to uncover. Legacies may be in the offing.
The other characters eventually showed up, and together with Ember they started puzzling through what happened. The creature might be a spirit, it might be a very powerful mage...who knows? The characters guessed that it might be an Obrimos with an ax to grind against the Consilium, and that led to them thinking about Silas (the former Hierarch), but there wasn't any real evidence there. The characters left (Bolg taking with him a book about the Tamers of Fire), and as the characters split up for the night, Echo mentioned to Freya that Crescendo had mentioned a secret society called the Golden Flame. They started thinking about that, and Freya had a Dream.
In her dream, she saw a ring of golden fire. Sleepers wearing expensive suits were walking straight through it, and from inside she could hear music and smell rich food and drink. Another man, though, wearing a necklace with an Atlantean rune, was trying to get in, but the flame kept burning him. Freya recognized the music - she'd heard it before at Midnight's club, the Vault. The two Acanthus went there and woke Midnight up, and got the rest of the cabal over there to talk it over.
The Golden Flame society is a labyrinth, Midnight knew, a place to put Sleeper wannabes and keep them ignorant. Crescendo had told Echo that someone had recently been expelled from it, and contacting Crescendo, Midnight learned that his name was Aaron Magnus. The nominal leader of the society was a lawyer named James Brinkley, so the characters figured they'd go find him in the morning. Freya, though, looked around Twilight for a spirit to talk to, and found a Gluttony-spirit sitting on a club member (who also happened to be a Golden Flame member).
The spirit talked with Freya in its disgusting way, and told her a little about the Golden Flame society - they were rich men with rich tastes, and the Glutton-spirit ate well. As Freya tried to leave, the spirit told her to wait, but she kept backing off, so it licked her, using the Drain Numen to siphon off her Willpower. Feeling rather violated, she wandered off to get some sleep.
That night, Echo had a Dream, too. In hers, she was looking down into a maze, in which men in expensive suits wandered happily and fluidly, but as there were no doors, they couldn't get out. Another man was trying to get in, but the maze was covered by a glass ceiling and he was standing above it. Finally, in a rage, he shot fire down into the maze and burned all the men to skeletons. Then he walked away, leaving behind his own burnt skeleton.
Next morning, Freya, impetuous as usual, went to Brinkley's downtown office. There, she learned that he'd been murdered the night before. Falstaff, already at his paper, found Brinkley's address and snuck to the crime scene, where he learned that Brinkley had died of collapsed lungs (like if you inhale too close to a big fire). He glanced into the spirit world and saw a swarm of wasps looking on, and went over to talk to this swarm-spirit. No sooner had he begun than a man, apparently who lived in the neighborhood, walked over and started questioning him. The man, named Blake, could obviously see the spirits, too, and took Falstaff back to his house to talk about it. There, Blake introduced Will, Em, Stoner and Mieke, the rest of his pack. He also squeezed Falstaff's hand until it crunched a bit (see Wasp, the Vengeful Builder - he's a pack totem I wrote for Territories).
The other mages arrived soon after, Freya first. She wound up chatting with Emory, who used Freya's insatiable curiosity to hit on her pretty much constantly. He took her into the spirit world and showed her his big, silver tattoo, and promised to tell her the story behind it at some point.
Falstaff, Echo and Fin entered the spirit world, too, along with the rest of the pack (which was concerned that this might be a problem for their neighborhood). They found Freya, who had discovered the spirit of the shed in Brinkley's backyard. Echo used Postcognition to look at the death of Brinkely, and confirmed that it was the golden, fiery "man" who did it.
Meanwhile, Bolg and Midnight had arrived. Bolg made them invisible and they went looking in Brinkley's house, finally finding a book detailing the "minutes" of the Golden Flame meetings. Aaron Magnus had been expelled for "practicing Solomonic magic more dangerous that the Society feels appropriate." At that point, the book vanished (because Falstaff, in the spirit world, had grabbed it).
The characters regrouped and talked with the pack a bit more. After hearing the story of Neil and his brothers, the pack decided to go to Kentucky and check things out. Emory asked Freya if she'd like to go out when they got back, and she pulled out a coin (which is how she makes a lot of her decisions). Emory caught the coin, and said that if she wanted to go out, they could, if not, she should just say that and not jerk him around, and stomped off. Mieke told Freya to let him cool off a bit, and then call him if she wanted.
Next session, the characters all have investigative bits to do and secrets to uncover. Legacies may be in the offing.