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GM: Kensai
Players: Kensai, Lotus
Synopsis: Lotus's contact has been robbed! Kensai and lotus go to solve the issue. They must problem solve until they discover where to go, and when they arrive they discover their quarry is a haunted man… in more ways than one!
Date: February 10th, 2084
Morning in Asiatown. The skies are clear today, although the temperature still hovers around -15 celsius. There's been some trouble in the night, and someone needs help. It's Lord Pei - he's had something stolen, and he wants lotus to come see him to talk about it. Kensai gets the call, too - some of his local 'friends' like to hire him out to locals in asiatown. It suits him, and it suits their purposes.
He is already in the shop, looking at some portraits of the late Elizabeth II.
Pema is not a morning person. After 28 long days of laboratory work, she's finally enjoying some proper sleep without having to be vigilant of various eldritch chemicals bubbling away at some lab. She's basically a huge ball of blankets on top of a couch, and when she receives a message she nearly falls on the floor. Rubbing her eyes and setting up her huge mass of black hair in a bun, she reads the message. Lord Wei, that old weirdo, it's been a while since she saw him. She goes through the lazy mage routine, casting a number of cleansing spells on herself instead of showering and applying makeup with a Makeover spell. Finally, she gets dressed in layer upon layer and begins to head down to Asiatown, taking the public transport along with all the other morning commuters - throngs of sleepy Japanacorp students in uniform and salarimen in dark suits. She blends right in.
Once she gets off at the closest Chinatown spot she can find to Lord Wei's antiques store, she stops at a street stall selling freshly steamed Baozi and fried bread sticks, buying one of each and a cup of warm soymilk to help keep her skinny frame warm. Once she makes it to the store, she finishes the final bite of youtiao and tosses the wrapper, washing it all down properly before heading inside.
You say "Pema!" With some surprise. "I have not seen you in so long! I feared you had left town." He offers her a small bow, and is about to say something when Lord Pei appears out of the backroom. He is wearing an english-cut suit, but decorated in gleaming mystical wujen symbols in glowing gold wire.
"My friend!" He says to Lotus. "It has been such a long time! How are you? Been anywhere amazing lately?"
He looks at Kensai, then Lotus, and adds "I suppose we should talk," he adds to her. "I swear by the late queen anne that I have never had something like this happen. Or at least not since spring. Come, come - into my office. Hao Lao should keep any thieves at bay."
Pema offers a Tibetan-style bow, a nice compromise between the Japanese and Chinese traditional ones. Because of course Lord Wei greets in the most Chinese manner possible, like he was the reincarnation of some ancient Wuxia hero. "I've considered leaving town," she says, "But I don't know where I'd go. And I'd like to believe I can do more good here." She leaves the question about going amazing places unanswered, but it be clear from her words she's not someone with wanderlust. "What has happened?" She asks, but slowly tags along past rows of antique 20th-century wooden furniture and porcelain vases into the eccentric Englishman's office.
Pei leads them to the office, gesturing for them to sit. "It's an antique," he nearly wails. "The last of its kind, maybe. Three hundred years old! Likely, I dare not test the pages. It was stolen! In the middle of the night! A travesty! A crime! How despicable - would you like some tea you look like you're freezing to death! I want it back. I -need- it back. I can't afford to be out of that much money!"
"You do," Kensai says, assuring lotus, and follows into the back, sitting uncomfortably into a chair meant for much smaller bodies. "What… kind of book is it!"
"Occult!" the man blusters. "Enchantments, focus designs, the secrets of the stars and the univerese! From the time of a shogunate. It's priceless! It cost me a small cornish dock!"
Pema takes a seat, crossing her legs and putting her hands on her lap with care, since she insists on wearing tiny skirts even in such cold. "I can think of several people in this part of town making malicious use of such a book," she states. "Have you got any CCTV footage of the crime?" She narrows her eyes, "…you do have cameras, right? Or at least some astral Watchers?" She wouldn't really trust this old luddite to have century-old tech like cameras. "If they stole it with the aim of fencing it for money, there are only so many channels that would accept such an item. And those who steal it aiming to study it… those ought to be even fewer still."
"Yes, you could speak to Hao Lao," he says. "He is my great great great grandfather. He lived in Hong Kong, can you believe it? He tends to watch the store at night. He woke me, but by the time I was down here, it was gone! Can you believe it! I will call him in here, or you can walk into the store and speak to him yourself."
"Interesting," Pema says with a hint of a smile. "The Hong Kong that he knew must be quite different from the one I grew up with. But I can speak with him." She gets up from her seat and walks out of the office, carefully closing the door behind her. After that, she wanders into the room and goes to look for the ancestral shrine dedicated to Hao Lao, which she expects to be in here somewhere. Once she finds it, she bows to it, lights some incense and kneels down. A moment later, her physical body slumps over unconsciously as she allows herself to slip past her mortal frame and onto the astral plane.
As Pema slips her gaze into the astral, she can see an old man dressed in an english-style business suit, albiet a few centuries out of date, watching her with folded hands. He bows, and then raises an eyebrow in inquiry.
Kensai follows her out after a moment, and he reaches down to grab the small bag he carries in a pocket and opens his third eye.
Pema's astral form looks much like herself, except her preppy quasi-schoolgirl outfit is replaced with a much more conservative long robe, with longer hair floating as if she was underwater. She greets the Englishman with a bow, and draws an auspicious symbol in the air with two fingers, leaving a glowing trail in the air behind her as if dipped in magical ink. "A greeting across time, old grandfather Hao Lao," she says, speaking in Cantonese with all the proper honorifics attached to address someone older. "Lord Wei has asked me to assist him in finding his lost book, and you are the only one who can help us solve this crime."
Kensai's aura features rich blooms and indigos - with the image of an elderly man with long white hair and a white beard, wearing traditional court garb of the 13th century - the dawn of the samurai- super imposed over his own form. The beauty and simplicity of the aura is marred, however, by the spiderwebs cracks of nullspace running through his body, along his neural network.
The ancestor spirit regards Pema carefully, and lifts a hand. Here in the astral a scene plays out like a trideo - a japanese man with nervous eyes picking the old-fashioned lock to the store, and creeping into the store. He goes immediately to the antique books, looking through them with a purpose. He finds the one he wants, and takes it out, tucking it under his arm. He looks around again, his movements… frenetic, anxious, driven. He bats at something in the air that isn't there, and he hurries out of the store at a rapid pace.
Pema's astral form slowly floats over to inspect the scene up closer, taking note of the exact spot in the shelf where the book stood, and the man in question. She studies it carefully, putting the details to her enhanced memory. "Clearly someone who knew he was looking for," she notes. "Doesn't look like a typical burglar either."
Kensai looks at the theft, pondering, and then looks back at the Ancestor. "Did you get the aura?" He asks.
The spirit nods again, and the imagery disappears, replaced by the man alone. He has an aura tainted by violence and fear, and there is something on him. Ghostly chains, seemingly springing from the coat on his shoulders, and on his back the hideous visage of a ghost, its face burned off, its limbs impossibly long and skeletal,sinking long fingernails into the man at random intervals and locations.
The bookcase is an antique itself, made of finely polished mahogany, and there's a very basic preservation spell on it to protect its contents.
The unexpected appearance of the ghostly figure riding piggyback on the poor man causes Pema to vince, her body retreating but her hair floating in place. "Merciful Buddha," she says, a long, heavy sleeve rising to cover her mouth. "Now what sort of cursed creature do we have here? A wretched spirit holding the man under his control, like a puppet on string?" She eyes the ghostly figure with great care. "I have seen men being controlled in this fashion before. His poor mind must be shaking in its torment."
«OOC» Kensai says, "would you like to roll occultism?"
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Occultism:
1 2 3 4 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Necromancy for "Perhaps this one too?":
2 4 4
«Plot» Kensai says, "it's not in the usual way you see them - it's possibly being affected by the ancestor spirit's world view - but you think it may be a spectre."
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Magic Rumors for "what?":
3 5
Kensai studies it carefully, too, but no look of recognition crosses his face. Instead her turns toward the front door and walks over to it, examining the lock and the frame. "Warded, of course, he murmured. "But the open door would allow passage. Fascinating."
Having supposedly seen enough of the astral shapes, Pema's incorporeal form begins to fade, and a moment later her lifeless body twitches. She has managed to remain seated on her knees - likely a technique she has practiced to drop unconscious in a dignified manner - and slowly rises up again once awake. She runs a hand through her hair and gets up, walking over to the bookshelf. "The victim of this apparition's influence would pass through it with ease, but what confounds me is rather how it would managed to pass through." She raises a hand, letting it hover across the length of tomes on display there until she comes to that most conspicuous gap. "It is possible to bypass wards but it does take some rather powerful magic to do that."
"Perhaps it…hid in something?" Kensai asks. "I've heard of stranger things." He still looks thoughtful. "Any ideas on how to… find them? You are right about limited places for them to be. I could ask around a bit, see if anyone in chiba has been acting kind of crazy. That's about all I got. I suppose I could ask Bekeneko Sable to looked around, too."
Pema stands to look at the books in the shelf but eventually turns around and walks back to the centre of the room, her gaze going from the ancestral altar and over to Kensai. "Heaven's Net is ineffable and wide, and nothing slips though," she says, quoting the Dao De Jing. "I haven't heard of anything accomplish such as task but you are right." She idly adjusts her tie, which she never wears properly tied up close. "I could send watcher spirits out, but it feels like a needle in a haystack. Perhaps it'd be easier to look for the victim? It's not like he was meticulous to cover his tracks." She ponders, and begins to dig into her shoulder bag, taking out a small notebook.
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) has the Knowledge Skill Drawing with the value '3 (4)'.
«Plot» Lotus will attempt to make a composite image of the man's face from what she saw in the vision
«Plot» Lotus does have ME3 so her memory's fairly impeccable, it all depends on the clarity of the spirit's vision
«OOC» Kensai says, "open tn, the higher you get the more accurate the picture."
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Drawing:
1 1 3 5
«Plot» Kensai says, "five is certainly recognizable."
«Plot» Lotus stays with a 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Asiatown Rumors:
5
Kensai studies the sketch, too, and then his eyes open wide. "I know him. He was one of elder brother's minions, kind of a street-level tough, working with the protection rackets. I even had to pay him off once. He disappeared a few months back." He reaches back in his memory. "I think I know where he lived. Or lives. I do not know which."
Pema goes to sit down while sketching, resting the notebook on her thigh as she sketches. It is not a particularly artistic drawing, more akin to the composite image that police used in the past. In any case, it is quite effective and the resemblance is uncanny. She does, however, look quite surprised at the Japanese man's response. "You do? Are you sure?" She pouts her lips and puts the notebook away. "If he has been under the spirit's influence for months, his mental state must be quite tarnished by now. The damage to his sanity may be irreparable. But if we are lucky, we can perhaps save both him and Lord Wei's precious tome." She gets up, and straightens out her skirt. "I assume he lives over in J-Town?"
Kensai nods once. "Hai," he says. "Do you have transportation? I brought my car. There is only one more matter to discuss."
As if on cue, Lord Pei appears out of his office, having added a scarlet tie with a ying-yang tiepin on it to his outfit.
"Any luck?" He asks.
"Hai. I believe so." He glances back. "I assume you want us to retrieve it for you?"
"Yes of course, as if that's obvious."
"Well…" He bows. "There is a final consideration to speak on. Renumeration."
"Ah yes," the man says, looking shifty. "I am not as… liquid as I would like to be. I am sure you could tell by being the only people here, at the moment. "I can offer twenty thousand…" He sweeps his hand around the room. "And reagents, or other interesting tidbits. This -is- an antiques shop."
Kensai gives Lotus a look, as if to say 'I will follow your lead.'
"No need to discuss that now," Pema says and waves her hand dismissively at the Englishman. "Let us find your book first. We've got some leads already." She smiles a little, "Though that old wabi-sabi tea set over there does look quite nice," she says and gestures a bit to a pair of Japanese rustic cups and a teapot. She tightens her long scarf around herself and heads to the door, "I don't have a car. Never driven in my entire life. Do you mind driving us?"
You say "Not at all. It's big enough." He looks suitably embarassed/mortified for even asking about money, but a man's got to eat. Or pay for expensive upgrades. He leads Pema out to a blue-grey mustang, the hundreth-anniversay edition from 2067, modeled after the 1967 fastback. He sends a signal to it as they walk out, and as they walk the block to it the engine starts and the heat kicks on. "I am about done with this winter," he tells Pema as they get close to it. "When will spring come?" He slips inside, reaching across to open Pema's door for her."
Pema gives one final bow in farewell before leaving the shop, bracing herself for the intense cold outside before opening the door. She doesn't look dressed for the cold weather, but she doesn't complain. "It is easily the harshest winter I've experienced," she says, looking up at the clear sky above, appearing blue for the first time in a long while. "Winters in Hong Kong don't come anywhere close to this. But there's something about this cold that gives mental clarity, as if it purifies us with a cold flame." She draws a deep breath then steps into the shotgun seat of the car, adjusting it to accomodate her legs. "Spring will eventually come, when it is ready. Hopefully, we will be, too."
Kensai sets the autonav for an address in the less-opulent portions of little chiba and slowly glides out into traffic. He maintains a moderate speed, not taking any chances with hidden ice. "So," he asks as he drives. "Ghosts. I assume you know how to deal with them?
The Tibetan girl sits with her bag in her lap, her hands tapping on it idly like a drum. "Dealing with ghosts is one of the most fundamental skills of traditional Asian arts. To be honest though, I'm not an expert on spirit magic in general, neither to commune or exorcise spirits. But we'll have to see what we're dealing with, perhaps I might need to pick up some special 'help' with it." She lowers her head, until her bangs cover her eyes. "I was once possessed in such a manner, by a malevolent blood spirit. Having escaped from an Aztechnology transport, it brought terror to the people of Asiatown. And to me."
Kensai gives her a sympathetic look. "If it is like a spirit, I can provide some help. I'm not as strong as, say, Walker. But I a competent. I am very sorry that happened to you. It sounds like a nightmare."
The drive is about half an hour, and Kensai finds a spot in a badly-maintained parking garage. He climbs out. "He has a duplex not far from here," he says. "Just a block over." He opens his trunk, and pulls out a satchel sized object with a red cross painted on it, and a wakizashi which he tucks under his long coat… after second thought, he replaces it and takes out the katana. "It is less subtle, but the local… protection won't cause trouble with me. I may need the extra oomph, hai?"
The walk is, as promised, short, and soon they are standing next to a stoop leading to a black door, with boarded-up windows. "A hovel," he mutters. "We should do better."
"I've had thoughts of creating myself a weapon to deal with malevolent spirits," Pema says and looks up again, her gaze catching some trideo billboard on a distant skyscraper. "Perhaps this will provide useful inspiration to pursue this goal. Perhaps I should've done it sooner, but hindsight is 20/20, as they say." She gets out of the car and looks around the place, then catches glimpse of the long sword being taken out. "Does that weapon have some sort of enchantment, that it may cause damage to spiritual beings as well? I trust it's not the first time you've fought such things, hai? Asiatown is brimming with spirits, even more than I know of." She does not pull out any weapon, if she has one at all, so she just tags along towards the door with hands in her pockets. "Did they close the place up after he disappeared and eventually failed to pay the rent?"
Kensai shakes his head. "It is simply sharp enough, and long enough to lend me leverage - to get me to enough raw power to harm some middle-grade spirits and smaller. It's not a magic bullet, so to speak, but it can work." He examines the windows. "I believe I remember someone breaking in his windows some time ago. Maybe he did it himself for insulation in this weather." He reaches for the door, grasping it with his un-gloved cyberhand, and twists. "Locked. Are you capable of handling that, or should I apply force?"
«Plot» Lotus says, "What kind of door is it? Wooden, metal, plasteel? Typical maglock?"
«Plot» Kensai says, "it's a wood composite of some kind. typical maglock, yes."
Pema steps back from the door, looking around at the alleyway and especially the windows. "I don't have any particular spells that I think would assist with its opening, save for a lightning bolt. At least that is likely to destroy the maglock, though I'm not sure if most models simply get stuck if they are shut down?" She shrugs. "I suppose pulling out the boards from some of these windows could help too."
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Pentjak-Silat vs TN 2 for "using martial art to boost power of attack.":
2 2 5 5 = 4 Successes
«OOC» Kensai says, "boosts kensai's power to 9, enough to breach the r4 barrier."
Kensai eyes the door. "Well," he says. "I can try the door, at least," says, looking down at the steps. He goes down a step, measuring distance, and he charges forward, dropping his shoulder to focus his center of gravity in one of the ways he's trained his kenjitsu. The barrier snaps open, the maglock not enough to stop the main force of the strike. They are greeted by darkness, though not impenetrable- the main room is decorated only candlelight. The figure seen in the scene before is there, his gaze focused on a broad book, and his frenzied eyes snap up as the door is broken into.
Aside from the neatly arranged candles, the floor is like a warzone. Heaped with refuse like fast food wrappers, plastics, broken guns, it is a trash heap in the making. Flies buzz from every corner of the room - and there is both a hallway and a stair upward at the far end.
It looks as if Pema honestly did not expect the door to come down that easy. She spots the relative darkness in there and takes out a pocket flashlight from her bag, turning around to face the doorway, her beam of light falling right onto the crazed man as he sits on the floor. The sheer squalor in there combined with his twisted, demon-possessed visage is enough to startle her, and she steps back. "The book," she shouts nonetheless, in Japanese. "Give back what you have stolen!"
"What… the book?" He looks down at it, and shakes his head wildly. "No!" He says in a strangled shout. "I need it! It's the only way! The only way I can be free!" He still wears the tattered coat he wore in the burglary, and his hair is wildly unkempt. In addition to the reek of the trash, the room also reeks of mavelonce, a sort of living hatred as foul as sewage. Kensai pales, but he straightens up to a proud posture.
"You must give it, Toshiro," he says. "It is not for you. This is not for you. You were always neat - what has happened?"
"Kitigawa-san…" the man says. "No! You must leave before it takes you, too! You don't understand!"
He looks down at his book, and his eyes light up. "Here it is!" He says, exhultation in his voice. "The banishing ritual of hannurabi! Yes!" His words rushing together, he starts chanting…
«Plot» Kensai says, "is your aura masked right now?"
«Plot» Lotus says, "Always"
«Plot» Kensai says, "okay, good."
Pema bites her lip at the sight of someone taking random spells out of a grimoire and beginning to chant. That -never- ends well. She raises her hand, "Don't!" And then her voice changes as she begins to chant some apotropaic Dharani in Sanskrit, raising her free hand in a sword mudra, clearly preparing a spell.
«OOC» Kensai says, "roll conjuring, as well?"
«Plot» Lotus is going to do a quick astral perception first, to see if the man is possessed at the moment
«Plot» Kensai says, "ah, of course."
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Intelligence vs TN 4 for "Assensing":
1 1 1 1 4 5 5 10 = 4 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Aura Reading vs TN 4 for "Compdice":
1 3 3 4 9 = 2 Successes
«Plot» Kensai says, "he is not possessed. the 'thing' is still there, but in person it is clearly part of his own aura… perhaps illustrating what he has been through"
«Plot» Kensai says, "this test is more of a knowledge roll, so not foci. tn is 4."
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Conjuring vs TN 4:
1 2 2 10 = 1 Success
«Plot» Kensai says, "what the man thinks is a banishing spell is in fact a summoning spell, for something decidely unpleasant."
«Plot» Kensai says, "and you can cast your spell when ready."
«Plot» Lotus will cast a Stunball to knock him out and stop the spell
«Plot» Lotus says, "What's his Willpower?"
«Plot» Kensai says, "3."
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Centering + 6 (Focus) vs TN 2 for "Shoo shoo penalties":
1 1 1 1 3 3 3 4 4 5 8 13 = 8 Successes
«Plot» Kensai says, "excuse me, 2. his mind is pretty broken now."
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Sorcery + 6 (Power Focus) vs TN 2 for "F5 Stunball":
1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 5 5 8 9 29 = 11 Successes
«OOC» Lotus says, "Dayum, 29"
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Willpower + Spell Pool: 6 vs TN 3 for "Soaking D Stun":
1 1 1 2 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 = 8 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls 2 vs TN 5 for "ow my brain":
2 3 = 0 Successes
«Plot» Lotus says, "Fully soaked. That will definitely knock him out cold. And no, she'll make sure to cast it in the far end of the room to eliminate the risk of collateral knockout"
«Plot» Kensai says, "excellent. pose the casting of the spell, i'll pose results. we are at the climax and nearly there!"
Pema's chanting stops and she points her fingers forward towards the darkened room. Immediately, the air ripples, as if reality itself recoils at the energy released, and the dark room in which Toshiro sits seems to be engulfed in these ripples, as if it got splashed with infinite amounts of immaterial, dry water. The burst of energy washes over the seated man and he immediately stops chanting, toppling over and landing flat on his face. He's down, but not dead.
Even as the man falls, there's a twisting on the astral plane, and something emerges from the man's coat as he collapses into trash. It is the mirror image of the monster on his aura, a thing of strength and hideous power, here in its space, in its home turf - and after a moment witnessing the scene it carves a whole in the astral and crawls through, materializing onto this plane.
Kensai sees it, a look of horror passing his face, and in an instant his sword is in his hands.
«OOC» Kensai says, "initiative!"
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Initiative with a result of 12.
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls 1 for "+17":
8
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Initiative with a result of 19.
«OOC» Kensai did, too! and so did the spirit. Wierd.
«Plot» Kensai says, "specter 23, kensa 19, pema 12, specter 13, kensai 9, pema 2, specter 3"
«Plot» Kensai says, "spectre uses paralyizing howl."
«Plot» Kensai says, "what's your willpower?"
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) has the Attribute Willpower with the value '6'.
«OOC» Lotus should've put some dice into spell protection ,_, getting rusty playing magic girl
«OOC» Kensai should have, too. same reason.
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) has the Attribute Willpower with the value '5'.
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls 6 vs TN 5:
1 2 5 5 8 10 = 4 Successes
«Plot» Kensai says, "pema, willpower, tn 6. kensai same."
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Willpower + Karma Pool: 1 vs TN 6 for "this is real bad!":
2 2 2 4 4 8 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Willpower + Karma Pool: 1 - 1 vs TN 6 for "this is real bad! kp 7/19":
3 4 4 5 11 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Willpower + Karma Pool: 1 - 2 vs TN 6 for "this is real bad! kp 9/19":
1 1 4 4 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Willpower + Karma Pool: 1 - 2 vs TN 6 for "this is real bad! kp 12/19":
1 1 2 11 = 1 Success
«OOC» Kensai wavers.
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Willpower + Karma Pool: 1 - 3 vs TN 6 for "this is real bad! kp 16/19":
2 3 7 = 1 Success
«OOC» Kensai says, "4 successes. kensai resists,though it takes a huge amount of willpower."
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Willpower vs TN 6 for "Eeek!":
1 1 2 3 4 8 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Willpower - 1 vs TN 6 for "KP1":
2 2 2 3 7 = 1 Success
«OOC» Kensai says, "you resist!"
The creature's first action is to unleash a terrible, haunting wail, the kind that chills right down into the bone, the kind that freezes you too the spot. It reverbates off the walls like a thing alive, eating away at sanity…
Kensai is almost lost to it. He is almost rooted to the ground - almost rendered powerless. But somehow, he reaches deep into his will - past the buisnessman, past the detective, past even the samurai - to the core of his being. A shaman of the warrior. He focuses his will, and starts a chant of his own - raising his left hand in a closed fist and reaching for power.
«OOC» Kensai casts laser @ S. +1 tn for background. Of his 4 spell pool, he throws 1 spell defense on him, 1 on lotus.
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Sorcery + Spell Pool: 1 + Karma Pool: 1 vs TN 4 for "kp 17/19. SHOOM!":
1 2 2 3 7 = 1 Success
«OOC» Kensai says, "tn was actually 5, but that's still a success."
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Sorcery + Spell Pool: 1 + Karma Pool: 1 - 1 vs TN 4 for "kp 18/19. SHOOM!":
2 2 4 5 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Combat Pool: 4 vs TN 4 for "specter tries to dodge!":
1 3 5 9 = 2 Successes
«OOC» Lotus says, "TN5 means two successes? Or?"
«OOC» Kensai Grumps, you're right. thank you.
«OOC» Lotus says, "Sorry :P"
«OOC» Lotus says, "3 successes wouldn't necessarily do any more damage anyway"
«OOC» Kensai says, "1=0 net success to kensai, but attacker wins tie on ranged test. Spirit must soak 4s."
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls 6 vs TN 4:
2 4 5 5 5 5 = 5 Successes
«OOC» Kensai says, "spirit takes a light. but this is the first spell kensai has ever cast in combat!"
«OOC» Kensai says, "lotus!"
Kensai reaches deep into himself - and out to the sky, and the plane of death, and to the light that still dwells even the darkest of places, and a white light appears around his fist, with a chant of victory he throws that fist forward, and a lance-like beam of pure light slams into the ghost. It is spry, trying to yank itself out of the way, but the spell is on target, and the light plays along the spirit's body.
«OOC» Lotus will attempt a Banish. What's its Force?
«OOC» Kensai is nearly out of time for now. let's get this action complete, and maybe we get into more tomorrow, if you're awake before your evening shift.
«OOC» Kensai says, "6"
«OOC» Kensai says, "bg count here is one"
«OOC» Kensai says, "oh my drain"
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Willpower + Spell Pool: 1 vs TN 3:
2 3 3 5 5 5 = 5 Successes
«OOC» Kensai says, "the drain is + level, so 5 sux is enough to drop me to moderate stun. whee!"
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Conjuring + 4 (Power Focus) vs TN 7 for "Shoo shoo bad spirit!":
1 3 3 3 3 5 10 17 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Conjuring + 4 (Power Focus) - 2 vs TN 7 for "KP2":
1 1 3 5 5 5 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Conjuring + 4 (Power Focus) - 2 vs TN 7 for "KP4":
1 1 2 5 7 9 = 2 Successes
«Plot» Lotus stands at 4 successes.
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) has the Attribute Magic with the value '12 (11)'.
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls 6 vs TN 13 for "+1 for wounds":
1 1 1 3 3 3 = 0 Successes
«Plot» Kensai says, "lotus reduces its force to 3."
«Plot» Kensai says, "2. reduces it to 2."
«OOC» Kensai says, "pose it and we'll pause here."
Pema's outstretched two-finger sword mudra withdraws as the powerful spell's energies has dissipated. Then, the apparation's horrific shriek comes out, causing her to tense up and steps back in fear. She drops her flashlight, which bounces on the floor and rolls off into a corner, casting the beam of light across the floor that only manages to illuminate the ghost's physical form in the slightest sense. With her other hand now free, Pema joins them together into a complex mudra, her voice going deep as the recites the mantra "Om Benza Wigi Bitana Soha!". She quivers, throws out her hands and joins them together again into a thunderbolt mudra, channeling her energy to dissipate that of the spectre. The thing hisses with hatred, lashing out in the air, but her concentration seems to be sapping energy from its shriek, severing the power that binds it to this world.
«Plot» Kensai says, "leaving combat time. the haunted man is unconscious on the floor. the ghost is banished."
Kensai's outstretched hand slowly drops. "You are incredible," he tells her, panting. "You made that look so easy." He looks around. "This place, it's….. well it's awful. Is that it? Is it done?"
Pema squats down to pick up the book that the man was reading books from, carefully brushing dust off its cover. "Few creatures of the Yin realm can resist the power of the Nine Cuts," she says, referencing to the nine syllables that she banished it with. It is a spell nearly everyone in Japan is well familiar with, but it is rare to see the actual spell used as opposed to seeing it imitated in pop culture.
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Biotech for "Does Toshiro seem hurt?":
2 4 5
You say "The nine cuts?" He asks, his third eye still open. "Was that what that was? It's amazing. I have heard sakura mention it, but have… not yet tried it myself. I think I know how it is done. Mostly."
The book is old beyond reckoning. It looks old, it feels old, it smells old. The pages are all from a variety ancient texts, carefully copied over. Some are actually functional spells in today's world, some less so. In some pages the ink is actually gold.
Kensai looks around. "Will it come back?""
«Plot» Kensai says, "toshiro isn't physically harmed, right now. There are small cuts all over his body, and he's badly malnourished and dehydrated."
On the astral plane, the calligraphic writing that Pema put on the walls still lingers, although their red glow is slowly fading and the lines are turning invisible. On the physical plane, it's as if nothing supernatural ever happened here. The Tibetan girl cannot help but look into the book a bit, carefully flipping between pages, but eventually she realises there are things to do here still. She closes it up and puts it into her bag, then goes over to squat down over by Toshiro, eyeing him over, touching his wrist with the same two fingers she used to destroy the spirit. "He is weak but he will survive. He looks dehydrated. We should take him some place to nurse him back to health, feed him some congee."
«Plot» Kensai says, "bonus! because you're pema. a number of those spells involve necromancy and possession."
«Plot» Kensai says, "if you're looking more closely on him on the astral, give me an astral perception + aura reading roll."
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Intelligence vs TN 5 for "Assensing +1 BGC":
1 2 2 3 3 3 10 14 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Aura Reading vs TN 5 for "Compdice":
1 3 9 9 17 = 3 Successes
«Plot» Kensai says, "unconcious though he is, it looks like he has deep psychological trauma. He looks like he has magic, though repeated trauma has dimmed it. Even with the ghost banished, it still lingers on his aura, the very coat around him wrapping around him and crushing the hope out, chaining his arms and legs."
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Sorcery + 6 (Focus) vs TN 5 for "Casting Cleanse F6 on Toshiro's body and clothing":
1 1 2 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 10 = 6 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Willpower vs TN 3 for "L Drain":
3 3 4 5 5 11 = 6 Successes
After checking the man's vitals, Pema closes her eyes and casts a spell of purification on the man's filthy body and clothing, but only then does she notice. "…oh dear." The spell works, and the filth on his clothes and his person disappear, as if he was instantly dry-cleaned. Pema gets up and pokes her cheek with a finger in thought. "I thought he was merely trying out reading spells in desperation, but it does seem he has some latent magical ability. At least vestiges of it, but the possession seems to have sapped his energy. It's still not entirely gone. I'm frankly not entirely sure if it can be exorcised permanently." She looks a little disturbed by all this, a mix of pity and confusion over this previously unknown predicament.
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Intelligence vs TN 7 for "aura reading, penalties for stun and bg":
1 2 2 15 = 1 Success
Kensai frowns. "That sounds… terrifying," he says. "Is it like a… unfinished business sort of thing? How do you get rid of ghosts?" He sweeps his gaze around, looking for any kind of answer. "Does the coat have something to do with it? It has… an aura."
"We could put some spells on that sword of yours and it could destroy spirits quite effectively," she says and nods her head towards Kensai's katana. "Some offensive spells may do the trick also. Otherwise, you may have to travel down to the Yin realm where its home is, and destroy it there. I think it goes without saying, though, that you don't want to go there without a very good reason." She notices the coat, seemingly having failed to distinguish it from his aura at a whole, and begins to tug at it, pulling him out of one sleeve. As powerful as she may be spiritually, however, her physical form is not a strong one. "Help me get it off him."
You say "The laser spell seemed to work some. It did some, at least." He joins her, lifting the man up to help Lotus pull it off. "I only noticed it because i looked right at," he adds. "Looking for curses. I had thought the book itself, but… we will see." He peers at her. "What is the realm of yin like? It sounds distinctly unpleasant.""
With a bit of help, Pema tugs the sleeves off Toshiro's arms, and once the coat comes off she neatly folds it up before putting it down, as if carelessly tossing clothes was unthinkable to her, even shaggy old garments with dread curses on them. "Yes, I've seen many mages here learn that spell for use against spirits. As for me, my knowledge of these sort of offensive spells is limited. I was taught a spell for channeling electrical discharges in college, but even that spell only makes me think of my mother telling me the story of Milarepa." She closes her eyes again, taking a closer look at the coat. "I don't know about the Yin realm, you usually don't go there unless you're dead. It is the Underworld, Hades, Hell. Whatever you want to call it."
«OOC» Kensai says, "assensing roll!"
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Intelligence vs TN 5:
1 1 2 3 3 4 4 5 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Intelligence - 1 vs TN 5 for "KP5":
1 1 3 4 5 5 11 = 3 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Aura Reading vs TN 5 for "Compdice":
1 3 4 11 22 = 2 Successes
«Plot» Kensai says, "the item is non-magical, in most senses of the world, but it stinks of yin and brimstone. You focus, and it's almost like you're trying to pierce a veil - but there's a small seed of something in there, the after image of… a chain, trailing off into nowhere."
«OOC» Lotus has just the spell for that
«Plot» Lotus will just quickly check its pockets before burning it
«OOC» Kensai says, "oh… interesting."
«Plot» Kensai says, "you find lockpicks, a crumpled up fast food wrapper that still hasss a little burger in it, twinkies, a certified cred stick, and some heavy pistol ammo."
«Plot» Kensai says, "you should also make a will test v6!"
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Willpower vs TN 6:
1 1 2 3 4 10 = 1 Success
«Plot» Kensai says, "you feel something try to hook on to you, a chain wrapping around your wrist, but you are able to resist."
"There's something weird about this coat…" Pema says and unfolds it again, reaching in to rummage through its pockets. She takes out a credstick, a magazine of bullets, and when she comes to the twinkie she looks at it. "What even is this, some sort of pastry?" She shrugs, and puts it back into the coat, then suddenly winces and drops it, stepping back. "Okay, that does it." She grabs the coat and walks out of the room, tossing it out onto the snow-covered ground outside. Then, she begins to mumble another mantra under her breath, clearly preparing another spell.
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Centering + 6 (Focus) vs TN 2 for "Shoo shoo penalties":
1 1 1 2 3 4 4 5 5 7 10 10 = 9 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Sorcery + 6 (Focus) vs TN 4 for "Casting F5 Ignite on the coat":
1 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 5 5 10 10 20 = 6 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Lotus (#7659) rolls Willpower + Spell Pool: 6 vs TN 2 for "Resisting D Drain":
1 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 8 13 = 11 Successes
Kensai watches. "I could perhaps work on a spell that targets spirits specifically," he says thoughtfully. "And that sounds sort of like… where my mentor-kami comes from. When it's not a more pleasant afterlife , a kind of world that never was." His eyes narrow. "Are you all right?" He asks when she jerks out her hand.
«Plot» Lotus says, "Ignite has a threshold of half the target's Body or Barrier rating. Not sure what a coat would have there but it shouldn't be above 12"
«Plot» Lotus says, "Unless it's made out of pure asbestos or something. :P"
«Plot» Kensai says, "it's like 1 or 2 at most. think like basic trench coat."
«OOC» Kensai says, "in your pose, the coat starts to twist and writhe like a thing alive, and there's a death-scream that sounds like a woman's."
After Pema tosses the coat onto the snow, she stares onto it and a moment later the garment suddenly bursts into flames, as if it had been saturated in gasoline and she struck a spark. The fabric quickly blackens and shrivels up, the cheap synthetic fibres used in the coat melting in the heat.
And then it begins to shriek, a piercing banshee's howl which catches Pema by surprise. She winces, and would've probably fallen backwards if she wouldn't hit a wall behind her. The coat, which was just an empty garment, begins to wobble around and move as if it was still being worn by a body. Pema steps back a little further, reaching up with a hand to cover her eyes, gazing upon the artefact on the astral plane with a bit of trepidation.
The fire burns, and despite the coat's resistance, it is too much, overwhelming for the poor coat. In the astral, the remains of the banshed ghost appears, hauled in by that chain. It wails, too, as it begins to smoke… and then it eruptss in flame, and in an instant that lasts for years they are both gone. Kenssai look on with wonder in his eyes, and when lotus stumbles he reflexively reaches for her- sstopping when he sees her use the wall for support, merely leaving his big hand out if she needs it to steady.
Silence follows in the vacuum left by the ghosts perishing, only broken by the sound of freezing rain beginning to fall.
Once the flames go out, Pema opens her eyes, looking up at the sky above, pierced by dark towers from the Asiatown business districts that still haven't lit up. "I had no idea a ghost was capable of that," she muses, looking down at the smoldering, smoking remains of the coat. "Hiding inside a garment like that. That explains how Toshiro fell victim to its influence, but not how it got inside the coat in the first place." She takes her hand off the wall and looks over to Kensai. "Guess I just burnt all the evidence so we'll perhaps never know, but our work here should now be done."
You say "Neither did i. Trapped into an item… I doubt it chose to be there." He shakes his head. "Perhaps all the evidence there is gone, but I will… make inquiries." He looks back at the house. "Should we get toshiro somewhere he can recover, or… leave him to it, now that his tormentor has been dispelled from existence."
Pema pouts her lips and looks over towards the door leading to his hovel of a hideout. "I mean… we shouldn't just leave him. Let's buy him some food and water and painkillers, at the very least. He will probably wake up within and hour, with a terrible headache. I think he'll need it." She looks over to Kensai, her head tilted to the side. "He probably won't even remember us barging in. Perhaps that is preferable, in the end."
You say "Just wake free from his chains," with a nod. "Yes, I think that is elegant." He looks at the sky. "Come," he adds, standing there, looking up at the rain, his eyes closed as he sits in its cleansing shower. "Let us be done with this."
«Plot» Kensai says, "success!"
«Plot» Kensai says, "reward is 10k + 1k from the credstick, and 10k worth of magical supplies from lord pei."
"There's a Konbini around the corner I saw on our drive here," Pema notes and gestures towards the road, "Let's get him some stuff to help him recover, and then we can return the book."
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