AQ Grail Castle

GM: Mr. Terrific
Players: Adam, Gnosis
Synopsis: Adam and Gnosis go on an astral quest to learn spells, touching on Parsifal.
Date: Dec. 30, 2072


«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Please state your consent to this rules based astral quest, and then I will lay out my requirements for the pose of opening."
«Plot» Adam consents.
«Plot» Gnosis Consents.
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Your opening pose should have 1. where you all are located 2. what preparations you have made for your surroundings for the time you will be gone 3. what preparations you have made in spirit 4. what you are going for."
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "You should also put in plot the desired rating of the astral quest."

Adam, aka Aquis, is situated in his place at Haven. In the lower sections is a room with running water— several pools in which one can remain half submerged comfortably during a quest. Aquis sits at one of such pools with his ally, Lillian, taking watch over him both physically and spiritually. Fun with links. With that he projects to a threshold to meet with the Dweller and company, and work towards enlightment for a Stabilize formula he worked on recently (Spell Learning, Rating 5, Stabilize).

Gnosis is going with his friend, but he is strangely far away. He sits cross legged in his home in the woods, letting his astral vision drift over the verdant landscape outside. Nine knows what he's doing: she'll take care of him. He knows what he's doing… in theory. Things always get a little different on the astral plane, but… he takes another long breath, holding an image of a snowy scape in his head…. and then he leaps into the metaplanes. (Spell learning, rating 5, Shape Snow and Ice.)

It has been a long, strange journey for the both of you, but finally you have met upon the wet, icy, winding switchback trail up to the craggy, tower-laden castle hanging on the edge of the cliff at the top of the mountain. Both of you, you know, are knights upon a quest, and what you seek is within the castle. At the summit, though there are knights on the walls, they do not oppose you and in fact welcome you within to take the nightly meal with the King within. He sits on a throne, swathed in bandages from the waist down, and introduces himself. "In Logres, I am king. What brings you to my castle?"

Adam is dressed in heavy white furs for the expedition. Indeed the mage looks more like some mountain hunter than anything else. A heavy hood rests over his head, weighed down by snow. From a satchel the traveler produces a parchment with a seal upon it— it is the seal of Haven from the material world— but here it is just a symbol of affiliation or identity. "Research. We must see the library," he says— producing the scroll to a court squire to ferry up to the bandaged king.

Gnosis adjusts his armor as he stands in the king's presence. "Majesty," he says. "I am on a quest for knowledge most arcane, the secrets of snow and ice." The man is dressed in a suit of resplendent palte draped in white foxfur, and a long sword is sheathed at his side. "I beg your leave to join my companion in your library."

Fine foods are brought, fine viands are drunk, genteel ladies play music in the background, and some men and women dance in circles to the accompaniment. Jongleurs and acrobats perform their feats. Finally, fine antiquities are brought before you for your perusal - gemstones carved like tigers from the far east, a runed wand that glows with an inner fire, a wizard's staff. And finally is brought before you a spear, a bleeding spear. As in, while it is crafted of wood with a metal point, blood is slowly trickling from it, fresh red blood so salty you can taste it. "And what would you say of this marvel?" asks the king?

«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "If you can tell me the legend from your personal knowledge without googling, you will get your Int in successes."
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "If not, we will go to knowlege skills."
«Plot» Gnosis peers at it. Isn't that the spear that was used to pierce the side of christ?
«Plot» Adam says, "If we are talking OOC, yeah, the spear of what is it— Punchas Pilot?"
«Plot» Gnosis was thinking the bandaged king would be Avallach, the Fisher King, and we would be searching for the holy grail.
«Plot» Gnosis says, "Yes! The spear pierced him, and blood spilled into the cup."
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Yes. Do you know what you are supposed to say when the bloody spear is presented before you?"
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "That is the crucial test."
«Plot» Alas, they do not know so we go to the skills.
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) has the Knowledge Skill Artifact Lore with the value '4'.
«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) has the Knowledge Skill Artifact Lore with the value '6 (7)'.
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Okay, so if you don't actually know the exact thing to say, but you do have a skill that is very appropriate, you can roll it at TN 5. Because you guys twigged to the right thing and have an appropriate skill, I don't raise the difficulty like I would have if you were just going with 'magic background.'"
«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) rolls Artifact Lore + Task Pool: 2 vs TN 5 for "The phrase that goes with the legend.":
1 1 1 2 2 2 3 4 5 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) rolls Artifact Lore + Task Pool: 2 - 1 (Success) vs TN 5 for "The phrase that goes with the legend. KP: 1 Used.":
1 1 2 3 4 5 5 11 = 3 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls Artifact Lore + 4 (astral pool) vs TN 5 for "B":
3 3 4 4 5 5 11 17 = 4 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) rolls 6 (AP) vs TN 5:
2 2 3 3 3 3 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) rolls 6 (AP) vs TN 5:
1 5 5 5 7 7 = 5 Successes
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Both of you have plenty of fine successes, so you know: You are not supposed to respond at all. It's a sensitive topic and to say anything would be to insult your host. Instead, you should turn away as politely as possible, as if you've just come upon a woman in a state of deshabille."

Adam says nothing. His eyes go over the artifacts long enough to realize what this is a reference to. Once the gears click— the white-blue haired knight lowers his head in a solemn fashion. Prayer? Humility? All is still— as that is his response.

Gnosis watches the gemstones, admires the wand, makes appropriate comments about the staff. But when the spear is brought, his eyes widen briefly… and then he looks away, eyes tracking one of the serving girls as she ferries a jug of wine around.

The king of Logres steeples his fingers and the bearing of pain from his obvious wounds appears to ease. You are both magically acute, and in restrospect it is obvious that he was forced to present that spear to you as evidence of his shame and weakness. It might have been required of him by a priest, it might be his geas - they might be the same in this place. In response you were kind to him. He shall be sure to do what he can for you. "Now that you have been refreshed, you may wander my castle to find what you seek. I must warn you, however," and to Aquis he says, "For all your experience, you still fly off the handle at the smallest of things if you think you hold them dear, this will be your undoing." And to Gnosis he says, "You hide timidity with your scholarly nature - no one is fooled." And then the meal ends and he is borne away on a stretcher.

«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "let me quickly mention, Gnosis has 2 kp just for this quest, Adam has 4 kp just for this quest, you use those first."

Gnosis watches the king leave, and looks back at Adam, about to say something… then timidity wins out and he does not. He gestures for the more experienced mage to lead.

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls 1:
5
«Plot After The Fact» Place of Knowledge

And so, fairly obviously, the first place to go is the library, just as Aquis's document suggested. And it is fabulous. A full shelf of books, and two Bibles! (It's an authentic medieval library.) And the problem is that it is written in medieval calligraphy, Olde English, and Church Latin.

«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "So, if you have both English and Latin as languages, you can make the test to decipher the calligraphy without penalty to read the magical knowledge within. Magic Background is the skill, tn 5 if you have both, tn 9 with no latin. tn 13 with no latin or english."

Adam offers to the king a single nod. The white-blue haired man straightens out his white robes— waiting for the dinner host to have left before pushing out from the table. "So henceforth the timid knight and impulsive vet go onward," the man says with a smile towards his companion. He then leads on— going through many stone corridors until they reach the library. "How is your Latin," he asks— drawing out a book to decypher it for information.

Gnosis glances around the library. "Awful," he admits. "I can conjugate a little, but… I'm still working on my greek. Latin was going to be my next focus." He picks up a book. "Still, I have been working on my calligraphy… and I was always a fan of old english… bring me some vellum, I'll see what I can do."
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) has the Language Latin with the value '1'.
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) has the Language English with the value '5'.
«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) has the Language Latin with the value '1 (4)'.
«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) has the Language English with the value '4 (7)'.
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) has the Knowledge Skill Calligraphy with the value '2'.
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls Magic Background + Astral Pool: 4 vs TN 5 for "Let's Go!":
2 2 2 2 2 3 5 5 5 7 = 4 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) rolls Magic Background + Task Pool: 2 + Astral Pool: 8 vs TN 5 for "By the powers of magic and language, we are captain cryptopgraphy!":
1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 15 = 3 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls Magic Background + Astral Pool: 4 - 4 vs TN 5 for "Let's Go! bonus kp 1/2 not sure how many i need":
2 2 2 4 5 5 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) rolls Magic Background + Task Pool: 2 + Astral Pool: 8 - 3 (Successes) vs TN 5 for "By the powers of magic and language, we are captain cryptopgraphy! Temp KP Used: 1":
1 1 2 3 3 3 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 8 10 17 = 9 Successes
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Feel free to demonstrate your total awesomeness in defeating this, by having all the skills you could possibly need to decipher what the 'Red Salt' and the 'redintegration Of Spirit' and the 'Yellow King' of alchemy are and so forth."

Adam grabs several scribe's parchments, ink, and pens for the two of them. They are placed on a large wooden table as the two get to decyphering the literature. "Red Salt… Yellow King. Hmm, alchemy." Tapping his chin there is a nod, "Alchemy being very similar to medicine in these days— as well as a basis of transmutation."

Gnosis nods, studying some of the pages, his mouth moving without words for a moment as he remembers those classes at the university. He was always more interested in the field work… "They were trying to understand the basic nature of the universe," he murmurs. "A quest for purity, a quest for the essence of… essence… we walk in their footsteps, but there is so much they knew we didn't… ah, see, here's red salt again. How much of the stories we heard as boys are stories, and how much of them is a secret code?" He shakes his head again. "Brilliance. I could spend a lifetime in here."

Skilled or not, this is a process that takes many hours - while beautiful, the form of the letters intentionally run into one another and things like 'm' and 'in' look exactly the same, not to mention characters for the 'thorn' which no longer exists in standard alphabets. In your normal lives, people use fonts that are easy to read. Yet this is magical writing, and the study of its beauty as well as its text are crucial to the enlightenment it provides. When you have everything that the physicality of the text provides, the only thing to do is go on and hope that further experiences will make it 'click' in your head.

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls 2:
2 5
«Plot After The Fact> > Place of Fear.

What's that? A noise? it comes from below? Like someone crying out in pain.

Adam stretches out— hand over head after hours of this decyphering. "Pray that you don't," says the blue-white haired mage. It is then that he hears the sound. "Heh, maybe the king was right, then," he says to Gnosis as his feet begin to wander to stairs or whatever other passage leads him towards the noise.

Gnosis's eyes snap up at the sound, and then he nods, rising. The armor shimmers again as he stands, and his eyes begin to glow like stars. "Someone is in need," he murmurs, then nods to Adam. "Let's move."

The ground floor, and then to the basement, and then to a little-used door with two cruel-looking guardsmen who yet let you pass, unlocking the metal-banded, heavy oaken frame so as to permit you access into the dungeon. The smell hits you first, fecal matter, decay, humidity, mold, flesh in the process of rot. Of course, when you enter as you must, they lock and bar the door behind you. The bottom floor is flooded with icy water to the waist in places, and over the head in others, and those two voices, voices you know, calling you on with their fading pains. One, a female human of course hanging on the edge of life as someone might be after but an hour down here; and the second that of a spirit in torture, bound to a set of bone chimes to freeze and bang and chip against one another with every slosh of icy water. But you cannot even see them before the way is barred, literally - bars coming down, an inch apart, blocking the hallway. It was once a hallway door used for lockdown purposes like in a prison but the lock is frozen rigid in the water, and still the screaming.

Adam's nostrils are hit by the fetid smell first— causing him to draw out a linen from his robe and place it over his nose and mouth. As he presses forward he notices the way barred by— well— bars. The cold stings, but the furs keep him warm enough. "Fun place," he says as he looks for some options to get to the woman— not that it has some direct importance, but all things in these places happen for a reason.

«Plot to Adam» with 'The spirit you hear in the process of being tortured is of course a free spirit of your past long acquaintance, he said obviously. (Because he knows he is often not clear.)'.
«Plot to Gnosis» 'I am sure you know who the woman's voice you hear is. :)'.

Gnosis nods sharply, holding up his hands as he faces the bars, letting himself soak in the setting… it's terrible, it's awful, it's something out of a nightmare, but one must attune to the story in order to get to the end. "It's Sable's voice," he murmurs, his eyes glowing even more brightly. "I know it's not her… but… it's… I need to get to her, Aquis." His voice is growing in depth and power. He's not Aquis, but he is no longer a small force in the metaplanes. "She will not remain in pain."

«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "You stand in icy water to the waist. A door of metal bars with a high barrier rating is before you, although it is not water tight or air tight. It has a lock that is frozen and rusted. And you hear your compatriots being tortured to death and dying of exposure. Background count is 4, and you take a +1 tn from being waist deep in freezing water.

«Plot» Adam says, "Anything Engineering or Metallurgy would say for structural weakness?"
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "It would be a complementary effect to anything damaging you attempt to do."
«Plot After The Fact» We discuss tactics and rules. You can't just use Megakinesis to rip the place apart because Megakinesis moves stuff with a certain weight, and bars that are sunk ito rock don't have a weight and aren't movable like that. Gnosis asks about calling in elementals, and sometimes you can do that in a place if the rules of that place allow and sometimes you can't. They devise their plans.

"I understand— but let's focus on the barrier," Aquis states as he hears both screams and both are quite known to him. His body shivers through the water as he runs a hand over the material. All his knowledge of metal and structure comes to, "It is anchored into the ground— and although freezing temperatures normally render metal brittle— it looks like force alone wouldn't be enough to shatter it." A hand motions to the lock as he looks to that next, "Which leaves us just the lock mechanism."

Gnosis nods. "I could summon forth sandstone and smash it," he says, glancing down at the lock. "But that… will cost me." His hands still glow with power, but he's forcing himself to be calm. "I've never picked a lock before, but I could try."

«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Now, resist 5L stun with willpower or body, from cold."
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls Willpower + Astral Pool: 2 vs TN 5 for "cold cold cold":
1 2 2 3 4 4 5 11 = 2 Successes
«Plot» Adam has a TD and it eats it.

Adam taps the lock as he explains, "It's frozen. It's rusted. Tumblers don't work well in either condition."

You do get to listen to screaming pain, and you do get to stand in frozen water while you try to decide what action is best - as opposed to simply trying one and seeing how it works.

Gnosis dropped Summons.
========================> Contents of Summons (#8895) <========================

| 6 | 7 | Carried | Sandstone (F5 Earth Elemental) |
=============================== 6 Items Listed ================================
«Plot» Gnosis prepares to summon forth Sandstone…. AND CHANNEL!

Gnosis nods. "Brute force, then," he says, stepping back, his foot moving through the water in a circle as he turns widdershins. "Adopting the Stance of the Third Hell, Golden Demon Kata… time to channel up…"

Adam puts up a hand and wades back to Gnosis to push him enough to disrupt that, "If you do that you'll be the one howling in pain and I get to deliver you to Sable." He shakes his head, "Let me try this first and if it fails you can go crazy on it." With that he focuses on the area around him— first filtering out the impurities of the area and moving from there…

Gnosis Stops short. "Okay," he says, pulling the faceplate down on his helmet. "But one day, I will do that! And it will be for great justice!"

«Plot» Adam says, "So actions: First, Filter. Then Ice Sheet. Then cut it up with dikoted hand blade. Then Levitate to throw. Repeat the last three as necessary."
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Filter the BG of 4, with a TN penalty of 1 for your position in the freezing water."
«Plot» Adam will center off the +1, because the TN is already 8 dude.
«Plot» Mr.Terrific cheers!
«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) rolls Centering vs TN 2 for "Chanting in tongues, for great filtration.":
1 1 4 4 5 9 10 14 = 6 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) rolls Sorcery vs TN 8 for "Reducing the BG Count in the area.":
2 3 4 5 5 5 5 17 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) rolls Sorcery - 1 (Success) vs TN 8 for "Reducing the BG Count in the area. TKP Used: 2":
1 1 2 3 4 10 10 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 7 vs TN 5 for "Soaking 5D Stun":
1 1 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 8 11 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 7 - 2 (Successes) vs TN 5 for "Soaking 5D Stun. TKP Used: 3":
1 1 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 5 5 11 = 4 Successes
«Plot» Adam soaks the L Stun with TD.
«Plot» Adam says, "The BG is down to 3 from 4. I have to keep repeating this until it's lower."
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Okay, is it your desire to take it to 0 and based on these rolls, will you spend 2 KP each time?"
«Plot» Adam says, "TN lowers each time, but otherwise yes."
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "So yes, it would be easier. How about 2,1,1?"
«Plot» Adam says, "Sounds fair."
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Adam will continue with these rolls and spend 2kp to get the background count from 3 to 2, then 1 kp from 2 to 1, then 1 from 1 to 0. Now, ice sheet!"
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Pose your ice sheet, cutting, and zinging, because I know that without background count it is childishly easy."
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "You can also pose the cutting and zinging."

Adam takes several deep breaths. The 'lungs' of this place can be felt breathing in and out, through him. The thick air lessens somehow. The intensity and pain in the air— forgotten momentarily. "Alright," says the man with a cough, "next step." His hand sweeps across the water— entire sections of it crystalizing quickly into ice. His hand blade snaps out and he cuts it into sharp, jagged icicles. Finally he casts a last spell— hoping that one precise strike will get them out of this icy prison and onto those that are suffering.

Gnosis watches as Adam works the spell, watching carefully… the spell he's casting is very similar to the one Gnosis wishes to learn and master. He watches Aquis work, trying hard not to let the voices get deeply under his skin.

«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) rolls Sorcery vs TN 4 for "F:3 Lev. Zoom.":
1 1 2 4 4 5 5 11 = 5 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Adam (#1093) rolls Willpower vs TN 3 for "Soak":
1 2 3 3 5 7 7 = 5 Successes

It is not one precise strike. The metal is too thick, too powerful. But it IS rusted and it IS clearly damaged by the stroke. A second and a third will be required, both rashing clear all the rust to the bare, new-looking and now abraded metal, and finally shearing it clear through. Without the rusted lock in place making the whole barred wall and door configuration one solid piece, the door portion shakes somewhat. It's still frozen into the floor however, and only truly superhuman strength could possibly move it.

«Plot After The Fact» Over to Gnosis:

«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls Conjuring vs TN 6 for "force 5 x 2, - grade":
2 4 4 5 5 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls Conjuring vs TN 6 for "force 5 x 2, - grade kp 2/2":
3 3 5 5 11 = 1 Success
«Plot» Gnosis has him for 1 minute.
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) uses 1 of item 6: Sandstone (F5 Earth Elemental) from Summons (#8895).
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls Charisma + Astral Pool: 4 vs TN 5 for "D
drain":
1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 8 9 9 = 3 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls Charisma + Astral Pool: 4 - 3 vs TN 5
for "D drain kp 4/14":
1 1 2 2 2 4 5 7 16 = 3 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls Charisma + Astral Pool: 4 - 6 vs TN 5
for "D drain kp 6/14":
1 1 4 4 5 21 = 2 Successes
«Plot» Gnosis soaks down all the drain from the Channeling. He now has +5, the force of the spirit, to all his physical stats.
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls Strength + 5 (woo muscle!): "Move that door!"
2 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls Strength + 5 (woo muscle!) for "kp 1/14":
1 1 1 2 2 4 5 5 9
«Auto-Judge[]» Gnosis (#8121) rolls Strength + 5 (woo muscle!) for "kp 3/14":
1 1 1 1 2 4 4 8 9

Gnosis watches as the lock is shattered, but the gate is still shut. He frowns. "This will not do," he mutters, and steps back, finishing that circle, eyes glowing… and as he moves, his newest spirit comes forth… and then the two are one.
Here, on the astral, the effect is incredible. Gnosis visibly swells, his muscles exploding out of his armor, growing another two feet as his skin turns a deep sandy tan, a titanic figure seemingly ripped from the egyptian desert. He reaches towards the bars. "We shall pass," he says, his voice raspy and deep, like the sand rushing through an enormous hourglass. "WE. SHALL. PASS."
Bit by agonizing bit, the spirit-man begins to move the gate. Bit by bit, he makes it move… at first a little… and then faster, faster still, and then their way is clear.

Adam barrages the door with ice shard after shard. Finally it is enough that he can, with Gnosis' help, jarr the thing free. "Not as expeditious as we'd hope," he says as his teeth are chittering at this point, "but if we don't pace ourselves its going to be for naught."

«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls 2:
4 5
«Plot After The Fact» And that's it. Place of Knowledge, Place of Fear, The Citadel.
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls 5 for "Number of hours the quest took is:":
4 4 4 4 5
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "25 hours."

With that, you can half-stumble, half-swim through the frozen water and detritus towards the hapless captives. And yes, they are there - their cells much more fragile than the massive door, their bodies, literal in the case of Sable and figurative in the case of the bound free spirit, hanging on the edge of a permanent demise. And that is clearly what you were sent here to learn - that the knowledge you discovered in the library is unlocked when it is actively used in the real world. To a noble purpose, all the better.

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