Chapter 1: __________ is Magic

Magic is Real.

We fly over oceans, hold the sum of all recorded knowledge in our hands, and speak with relatives halfway across the world without leaving our chairs. Magic isn't just flying on broomsticks or calling down fire from the Heavens. Magic is limited only by your Imagination, and your Will to make it manifest. There's a battle going on over the nature of Reality and Mankind itself. Pretend it isn't there, or get involved and forge the Future you envision.

Welcome to the Ascension War.

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Re: Chapter 1: __________ is Magic

Post by ManWithDoor » Mon Jun 15, 2020 4:27 am

Glimmer's hologram hovers above her phone, his pixie-like features pinched in concern. She reaches her hand out as though to cup Pixel's cheek in an attempt to comfort her hurting friend. "I ... don't know what it is. I feel a Power across the Gauntlet, but I don't know what it is. It might even be disguised somehow, but I can't fight it. I'm not sure anyone can ..."

Geyser for one isn't up for listening to nay-saying like that! The smell of salty spray blasts through your noses as his resonance manifests, far more obvious than anyone else's. His magic is bold in its manifestations, perhaps a mirror of portions of his personality. The Gauntlet is almost non-existent as he strikes through it, and he feels only a gauzy resistance as it shifts from reality to the Umbra. His strike hits ... and he feels like he punched a stone wall. He knows he hit, but if he did any damage he doesn't see it.

Dexter tries to describe his visions of the snarled Time Stream, the smooth flow of cause and effect tumbling over itself, pooling, swirling back, and otherwise hurting the mind of the Romani as he tries to understand what has been / is happening. Mortal Magi can manipulate causality to a certain extent without the universe crushing them. Speeding it up, slowing it down, skipping ahead, and even rewinding a few seconds, are all within known lore. Whether this thing can do more than that ... is unknown, and a very scary thought to contemplate.

Ulrich takes a different tack, trying to place himself in harms way. He prays to his God, pleading for the strength to protect this poor, wounded soul, interposing himself between the unknown Assailer and Jade Dragon. He draws upon himself the very stuff of magic, weaving the pattern of creation around himself, putting on the whole Armor of God. He girts his loins with true, dons the breastplate of righteousness, shods his feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, puts on the helmet of salvation, and above all, takes the shield of faith that he may quench all of fiery darts of the wicked. The sword of the Spirit stays sheathed as he takes on the mantle of the protector, manifesting his soul alongside Jade Dragon's.

Immediately he feels as though a waterfall of pain and manipulation is pouring squarely on his shoulders. An unprotected soul would be instantly washed away, but he is strengthened by the light of the Lord Almighty, and is able to stand tall against the power of the Adversary.
Geyser: Spirit 3, TN 6: 2,3,9 = 1 Success.

Ulrich: Prime 3 / Spirit 2, TN 6 - 3 Quintessence is TN 3 = 2,5,5 = 2 Successes + 1 WP = 3 Successes.
- Interesting idea on trying to draw its Attack to you by interposing yourself between it and her. Also thinking about your prayer, especially raising the 'shield of faith' part. I hope that my Post does justice to your idea.

Quintessence and Willpower are powerful things! You have Quintessence equal to your Avatar to spend, and WP points equal to your Willpower. I've been doing an alright job marking off the WP points, so keeping track there. Mostly.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Re: Chapter 1: __________ is Magic

Post by Muskrat » Tue Jun 16, 2020 5:11 pm

ManWithDoor wrote:
Mon Jun 15, 2020 4:27 am
Glimmer's hologram hovers above her phone, his pixie-like features pinched in concern. She reaches her hand out as though to cup Pixel's cheek in an attempt to comfort her hurting friend. "I ... don't know what it is. I feel a Power across the Gauntlet, but I don't know what it is. It might even be disguised somehow, but I can't fight it. I'm not sure anyone can ..."
Pixel's blood runs cold at Glimmer's words. She takes a deep breath and says, "Well, maybe not, but we still have to try."

Unsteadily, she gets up and goes over to Jade Dragon. She tells the others, "I'm not sure what I can do to fight that ... thing, but I might be able to at least protect us." She begins taking several of her toys out of her backpack and setting them up as a circle around Jade Dragon and those working to help her. She then flips down her VR goggles so she can read everyone's brainwaves and takes our her cell phone and begins tapping into it. Her plan is to harmonize and amplify the power of everyone's minds to create a shield to help protect them all--the prostrate Jade Dragon in particular--but all of them as much as she can from psychic attacks by ... whatever that thing on the other side of the gauntlet was.
Arete 3, Mind 3

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Re: Chapter 1: __________ is Magic

Post by RorytheRomulan » Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:45 am

What kind of being has the power to distort time like this? Are we in the past? Is Jade Dragon already dead? Is that why she's crying? Question after question come in semi-solid states, becoming more and more difficult to form in the mind as the tension in the room starts to regain lost momentum.

"Um, okay," he answers the lady with the headset. It was better to just accept that no matter how they talk, a mage could do what they say they can, they've proved it many times before. He huffs and adds, "I tried telling it to buzz off, but it felt like shouting in a cement room. Shielding her might be the right idea, maybe weakening their connection enough to separate them and get it to cross over physically."

He takes a quick reading of Jade Dragon's lifesigns and eyes Ulrich. Whatever these rituals he's doing, they must be working. Right? He turns to him, trying to find the words that they could both connect with, hoping that he'll have time outside of all this to sit down and get to know these people. "I'm going to channel my spirit through yours. Two or three cords bound tight are stronger than one, after all."

And with that, he sits down on the ground next to Ulrich in a prayer position, and begins to meditate. It looked like whatever Ulrich did really hurt him. Nothing for it now but to dismiss petty impulses and devote everything to the confrontation.
Bubbles float up. /What are you planning?/
Geyser pauses. No plan. I'm leaving the plan up to the priest. And you're going to help.
Even more bubbles. /You know I don't like to do that. But it seems wise. He has some skills that you don't./
Geyser: I just want us to win this.
Levy: /You may not survive./
Geyser reaches for a fatherly nugget of wisdom. Well, nothing ever worth doing is easy. Like sharing my existence with you.
He hears the drawn-out breath of a delighted sigh, and by the tingle on the back of his neck, he knows that this made the big fish smile.
/How lovely.That will go somewhere special. Goodbye, Geyser./
Despite his best efforts to focus, Geyser's eyes begin to well up.
Aid Another
Ulrich gets a boost in Spirit 3, Arete 3, and three points of Willpower if it can function in the same way. For whatever Ulrich wants to do, he has access to 2 additional Quintessence.

What Geyser just said is a proverb from the Old Testament. Something that might be apt to use for Ulrich: there's a verse that goes something like "where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am also", spoken by Jesus in the Bible. There's definitely enough overlap between Geyser and Ulrich in their views of magic. For differences, Geyser merely grew up in a Protestant home.

Geyser really feels like he could die, and he doesn't feel ready.

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Re: Chapter 1: __________ is Magic

Post by Hermit » Tue Jun 23, 2020 4:30 am

Pixel looks up with alarm at Dexter's warning. "The distortions in time must be being caused by .... whatever it is that's trying to break through." She shudders at the memory. "Can it ... time travel to undo what we've done in the last few minutes?" How much the idea disturbs her is clear in her voice.

“I... I don’t know.” replied Dexter apprehensively. Before he could even elaborate on his response the Adept had already begun unsteadily making her way over to the epicenter of what was shaping up to be a massive deadlock between several members of the Council and what Pixel had so eloquently referred to as "The love child of Cthulhu and Jehovah".

In her absence, Dexter couldn't help but experience a sense of déjà vu as he began to observe and reflect on the series of events leading up to this this present crisis. It was then that he remembered his reading from earlier this evening, and with it came a dawning realization, followed by feelings of abject failure and self-loathing. You shortsighted, dimwitted, incompetent dilo*! All this time you've been focusing solely on this trial when you should have been keeping an eye out for the signs! And you call yourself a fortune teller! Despite these misgivings and the fact that there was a chance that this hunch of his could still be absolutely wrong, Dexter was now positive that this was the foreshadowed calamity revealed to him by his divination reading at the Belmont House.

Armed with this newfound perspective and insight, the Orphan knew that now was the time to act decisively. Quelling the trepidation roiling through his gut and tingling up his spine, Dexter rose from his chair as he briskly made his way towards the dais where his associates and the senior Council members were gathered, hastily riffling through his Tarot deck all the while.

His finger tips danced lightly across the surface of his cards, tactile memory linked by the latent power of his Avatar guiding his hand to the card best suited for this perilous endeavor. An almost comically nonplussed look flickered across Dexter’s face at the card his questing fingers finally settled upon and drew forth, but in an uncommon gesture of blind faith he would place his absolute trust in this unexpected choice and puzzle over the deeper meaning behind its selection at a later date. If we live that is.

Time 2, Thicken the Walls of Time as an Extended Action, spending 1 Willpower and 1 Quintessence this round.
*Dilo(pronounced DEE-loh)- The Romany term for a fool or imbecile.
''At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.'' - Lao-Tzu

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Re: Chapter 1: __________ is Magic

Post by ManWithDoor » Mon Jun 29, 2020 6:59 am

The Virtual Adept has an idea, a most excellent one. Some of the most effective attacks are not obvious, but are invisible and insidious. This Enemy has shown the ability to at least rewrite memories, which is no mean feat, and it might be able to do so again now. She sets loose her RC cars to help her create a circle of power around the group, spraying down a glittering line of metallic liquid which you swear somehow has circuitry integrated in it. She begins tuning her VR goggles to the frequencies that mortal brain-meat operate on, scanning brainwave patterns and setting up reinforcement algorithms to strengthen existing patterns against outside alteration. As she finishes the setup she is very confident that her calculations are precise and effective. Totally perfect, no flaws. Definitely. 100%. No issues whatsoever, for sure. Couldn't possibly be otherwise.

The sole non-Traditionalist has an extended internal dialogue beating himself up for missing or misinterpreting the Signs he has received. His last divination looking at the consequences of their actions drew the Tarot Card of the Tower, standing firmly upright. A portent of sudden and unexpected change, upheaval, revelation, and ruin. It has been a millstone around his neck, an unknown doom dragging him down. Not it is no longer unknown, the disaster foreseen is now in front of them. Pulling himself together he strides forward towards the ritual the Council members are performing, shuffling his Deck as he goes. Magic is within his blood, part of the legacy and fate of the Rom. Part of himself from the beginning, despite his internal conflict about it.

Dexter sets himself a hopefully safe distance from the empowered ritual circle, and begins one of his own. He blindly pulls a Card, trusting to Fate, and draws forth the Tower yet again. As he begins speaking in Romani, the Tower begins to glow a pure white light and floats in midair in front of his face. It begins twirling and twisting chaotically as he tries to counter the manipulation and assault on Time itself. Chaos descends upon the room as a fight is begun upon control of causality. An overturned chair rights itself. A wooden table collapses with dry rot. Bruises disappear. People disappear and reappear in different locations. Concentrating with all his might, he begins to wrest control from the strange, hostile Being. The Tower stops its blurred spinning, coming to a hard stop midair - Inverted. A sign of prolonged and continued upheaval, difficulties, disruptions, loss ... but milder. Mitigated. The best made of a disastrous situation, with hope of recovery in the far distance.

Geyser sees the heroic protection that Ulrich is performing, placing himself between Jade Dragon and the unseen but clearly manifested danger, and decides to empower the priest's efforts. They have very different views on magic, religion, Ascension, and a multitude of other topics. The way they think is different, which makes it difficult to work together on a metaphysical level. But the Akashic is a deeply spiritual man, and makes best efforts to align himself with the monotheistic cleric. He remembers his best a lecture that the Christ gave to his disciples when they began debating who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. As part of a wide-ranging lecture, on statement is remembered as quite topical - For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. He consults with his Avatar as well, sitting and meditating next to Ulrich, willing him to receive aide and empowerment for the task of his discretion.

The Celestial Chorister thinks back to his first envisioning of their surroundings, the terror of seeing the Gauntlet so thin that is barely keeps back the Umbra from bleeding into Reality. As he stands strong against the Enemy, he feels strange but beneficent power flowing through him from a new Friend. He takes a leap of faith and trusts his intuition, changing from his actions of a Protector to a Banisher. He channels the aiding magical power along with his own Will, thickening and strengthening the veil separating mortal life from the realm of the spirits. Reinforcement of that barrier is palpable to all present, even those not sensitive to powers of Spirit. A barely perceptible roar of rage can be felt more than physically heard by all, as the Being's influence is being directly challenged.

Master Robertson glances away from his ritual with a conflicted glance of admiration and annoyance at Ulrich, then resumes his concentration on his own work. He alters some of the Enochian symbols, perhaps as some sort of compensation to account for the priest's work, and the space inside his ritual circle catches on fire. None of the ritualists appear to be harmed as the flames brighten and intensify, the cleansing fire increasing in power with every passing moment.

Clarification on Willpower and Quintessence.
- Spending a point of Willpower gets you 1 auto-success on a roll. You can spend 1 point per Round. CAN BE USED ON ANY ROLL (as long as it makes sense to, like you're not totally surprised so you can dedicate your willpower to your action). You have WP points equal to your Willpower Rating.
- You have points of Quintessence equal to your Avatar Rating. You can also suck out Quint from a Node using Prime, or consuming Tass, etc., to go higher than that. You can spend points of Quintessence equal to your Avatar Rating per turn (ONLY ON MAGIC ROLLS). So you declare how many points you spend on that roll. Quintessence lowers the magical TN (can't go lower than TN 4 though).


Pixel - Mind 3 (Mind Shield on Group), TN 6: 1,4,4 = -1 Successes, BOTCH. Ooh boy. That's not ideal. The dice don't love you lately. You'll see the consequences later. ;)

Dexter - Time 2 (effectively Time Counterspell), TN 5. 1 Quint spent to reduce to TN 4. 1 WP for 1 auto-success: 2,5,9 = 2 Successes + 1 auto = 3 Successes.

Geyser - Spirit 3 (Aid Another). TN 6 base, +1 for different Traditions/Paradigms (only +1 because I think that was good RP in attempting to find common ground between your magical practices). Spending 2 Quintessence to lower TN to 5. Spending 1 WP point for 1 auto-success: 1,5,6 = 1 Success + 1 auto = 2 Successes. Adding 2 dice to whatever Spirit stuff Ulrich is doing.
- And well-remembered Quote. Matthew 18:20.

(GM CHOOSING) Ulrich - Spirit 2 (Thicken the Gauntlet). The Gauntlet is the veil separating Reality from the Umbra. It is currently crazy thin, and he's trying to thicken it. Makes it harder for Spirits or whatever to reach across and affect Reality. Going to volunteer him to spend 1 WP & 1 Quint too. TN 4: 1,2,9,0,0 (0 explodes to 2, no extra success, other explodes to 7, a success) = 3 Successes + 1 auto = 4 Successes!!!

Accounting:
Pixel = 6 Willpower Points & 3 Quintessence remaining.
Dexter = 6 Willpower Points & 1 Quintessence remaining.
Geyser = 5 Willpower Points & 0 Quintessence remaining.
Ulrich = 2 Willpower Points & 0 Quintessence remaining.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Re: Chapter 1: __________ is Magic

Post by RorytheRomulan » Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:19 pm

After the channel forms from his energy to Ulrich's, Geyser blinks hard and peeps at the scene, and lights upon the change in the Gauntlet. Of course! Strengthen the Veil! It was so simple! He cringes at the curmudgeonly huff from Robertson as the Master adjusts his ritualistic layout. Maybe it'll be funny in hindsight, he thinks - although from what he'd been told about the wizard types, not for Robertson.

"That's it! Obviously! Focus on the Gauntlet."

With newfound hope, the student places his hands on the ground inside Ulrich's circle-within-circles and starts to channel directly into the Gauntlet as well. He starts to breathe in...and out, a steady rhythm, as like a diver deep in the ocean.
Spirit: Thicken the Gauntlet. Willpower for +1 success.

Thank you DM, I will remember that. Man, that really paid off though. I sure hope Tentacle Jesus doesn't decide to wrap his noodles around somebody's mind...

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Re: Chapter 1: __________ is Magic

Post by Muskrat » Mon Jun 29, 2020 6:43 pm

Shielded by the mental barrier she has created (or so she assumes), Pixel decides to see if she can find out more information about Cthul-hovah. She closes her eyes and breaths meditatively to steady herself for a few moments, then begins entering complex code into her souped up smart phone. She is trying to hack the data underlying reality, to reach across the Gauntlet and try to get more information on the entity possessing Jade Dragon and attacking them.
Data 3, Arete 3. Data is my affinity sphere and I'm using my personal instrument, computers and IT gear.
I'll spend a Willpower point for one success on this. Obviously, I'm hoping to find out something more specific than there's something really scary out there.

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Re: Chapter 1: __________ is Magic

Post by Hermit » Thu Jul 16, 2020 5:07 am

The words spilling forth in an uninterrupted stream from Dexter's lips were not prayers, nor were they recitations from some obscure occult tome. Instead, the words spoken in his late mother’s tongue were simply simply words of self-encouragement. “I can do this. I will not fail. You will not succeed.” Over and over the Orphan repeated these words to himself, drowning out everything else lest his concentration slip and whatever purchase made through his efforts be lost in the face of this eldritch incursion.

Maintaining the Extended Action enacted earlier in the previous round, spending another point of Willpower and the last point of Dexter's Quintessence during this round.
''At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.'' - Lao-Tzu

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Re: Chapter 1: __________ is Magic

Post by Karstil » Sat Jul 18, 2020 7:04 pm

After reinforcing the Gauntlet Ulrich has enough breathing space to get some mind capacity to think: Of course she WAS under attack, not getting attacked, IDIOT. She was bleeding energy! he kicks himself. Then he searches for the sender of the strange, helpful power, he nods to Geyser and can't resist to try to lighten the mood by saying: "Thanks, for the support, the chorus always welcomes a new voice."

Still holding the shield against the attack. He looks around to see what's going on with the others and hopes that whatever the head of the council is doing will bear fruit soon, he never thought he would stand so long, against that forceful attack, even with help...

As his gaze falls on Jade Dragon, he smiles, first happy for that he could help her. Then, just for a second it twists more into the direction of mischievous. "Please, wait a moment." he says to Geyser, "I have an idea that might work, but at least should get her back on her feet."

Next he speaks to Jade Dragon, with all the calm and intensity he can muster: "Jade Dragon, listen. I assume that at the moment you feel some sort of self-pity and hurt because you've been manipulated, used and your mind and self violated. But the others and I, especially your brother, KNOW that you can overcome that. And you start with a counterattack!" His hand takes the hilt of the Sword of Spirit, and pulls it from the sheath. At first it looks, suitable to his Armor of God, like a western style knight sword. But as he plunges it in to the ground beside her, it is changing the form still flickering between Katana and Chinese style Tempelsword. "Take up the Righteous Sword and confront your Enemy. Let him and all of us hear JADE DRAGON'S ROAR!"
Empathy to get Jade Dragon back on her feet and maybe attack the enemy. He thinks that defiance is the first step to healing.
The Sword is a manifestation of Ulrich's subconscious, so it changes form as he transfers it to an Asian person, after she has taken it, it should stabilize in a form suitable to her.

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Re: Chapter 1: __________ is Magic

Post by ManWithDoor » Sun Jul 19, 2020 8:58 am

Geyser recognizes a good idea when he sees it. The inspired actions of the Chorister to ward away the influence of the spiritual realm seem to be working, thickening the Gauntlet between yourselves and the hostile Entity. He continues in that vein in his own way, using the sacred geometry of circles to control and focus his magic. He feels the Veil react to his Will, further distancing reality from the other realms.

Pixel takes another tack, attempting further Enlightenment into the qualities or characteristics of "Cthul-hovah". Her affinity for Data, the reality of Space itself, is admirable and sometimes unsettling. Should she need to she can ward out others by denying access, or move herself instantly from one place to another by copy-pasting herself in reality. Outside of physical and metaphysical Space it has little ability for insight, but this is a strange time. Time itself is skipping and smearing, the barrier between Reality and the Umbra just beginning to be shored up, and some Being is reaching across with some unknown power. Her VR goggles fill with swirling static at she tries to make sense of her readings. The crazy causality problems visible are seen in the fabric of space as well, with tears in locality similarly disorienting her. But through the chaos and static her magic is able to reach beyond or beneath or above (?) mundanity and measure some sort of reading from beyond the Umbra. The Entity beyond is vaguely defined by her trinary computer, the hardware straining and software bugging out attempting an analysis. Through the errors and fuzz she does get a couple pieces of information. The manifestation of this creature feels uncertain and shifting, existing in one place and then another, skipping back and forth. Another ... is that the figure appears to have the dimensions of a Human rather than some other exotic categorization. Just a person. Responsible for all this.

The Inverted Tower still stands, strained and cracked but unbroken. The Romani speaks his mother tongue with strength and determination in the face of chaos and madness. Unlike the arcane language of Enochian, inherently speaking words of metaphysical power, the language here has none of that. It is a human tongue, humble in its mundanity, but proud in heritage and history. It is a tool he uses to reinforce the foundations of his will, for connection with his Blood. As he continues to Work, the breaks in Time begin to recover and heal. The disappearing and relocating of people slows, bruises come back, and fewer breaks in causality reoccur. It appears progress is being made.

Ulrich leaves the path that he has trailblazed to the competent hands of Geyser to forge stronger. The manifestation of his Spirit attempts to reach out to Jade Dragon, speaking from and to her soul. His words hold little weight and power to the stricken woman, reverberations of air transmitted to sensitive auditory organs having no motivational power. Seeing this, he imbues his words with supernal Power to carry deep and true. In the realm of the soul, white wings erupt from the Cleric's back, circling and enfolding Jade Dragon, energizing and motivating her to action. Ulrich hands her the Sword of the Spirit, which transforms according to her traditions. Her eyes regain their clarity, and her Soul reaches out and grasps it with her right hand. Her physical body, holding nothing visible, points in the air and she lets loose a violent battle cry. An eruption of blue-green energy blasts into the air, disappearing into the realms Beyond. Her eyes go blank once again and she collapses back onto the ground.

Simultaneously the Ritual set up by Master Robertson reaches its culmination, the energy built and focused finally being unleashed! The circle bursts into uproarious flame, the figures inside barely visible through the fire. The symbols in the air intensify the conflagration into a beam of pure red disintegration blasting through the air along with the strike originating from Jade Dragon.

The Museum rocks violently in response, the warded curtains separating the Council from the rest of the building tearing into shreds, Exhibits overturning. A scream of pain and thwarted purpose can be heard in the Ear and the Mind. Random cracks in reality form in the air, visible to the naked eye. Small blasts of lightning and fire erupt all around, scorching wooden sculptures and shattering light bulbs. The Ritual continues to pump destructive force into the realms beyond, the assault not letting up an inch.
Geyser: Thicken the Gauntlet (Spirit 2), TN 5. 6,6,9 = 3 Successes + 1 WP Auto = 4 Successes!

Pixel: Data Sight (normally Data/Correspondence has no ability to look into the Umbra without also mixing in Spirit, but this isn't a normal situation so I'll allow it upgrading from TN 4 to TN 6). 1,7,9 = 1 Success + 1 WP Auto = 2 Successes.

Dexter: Time Counterspell (TN 5 reduced to 4 by Affinity, the lowest it goes, so saving the Quint point). 2,5,7 = 2 Successes + 1 WP Auto = 3 Successes.

Ulrich: Empathy/Manipulation, TN ?: 2,7,7,7,7. 4 Successes. He can tell that her mind is too shattered for mundane methods to get her to act. If this was a Tabletop I'd then say he has to do a Spirit roll to have any Effect. I'll take the initiative here since I think he would choose to go that far. Weaving magic into his words to have more power.
- Spirit Roll (TN 5 reduced to 4 by Affinity / Unique Foci - the lowest it goes): 3,3,6 = 1 Success. It works ... but there might be Consequences. ;)
--- Jade Dragon casts something with Spirit/Prime, TN ???: 3,4,8,9,10 (explodes to a 6). Yeah, that'll do something.
Rory: I need to know what Sphere that Geyser has chosen to have Affinity in. Normally Akashic's go with Mind, but since you didn't take any in that (you deviant!), which is your Affinity? I'm assuming either Spirit or Life, looking at your Spheres.

Affinity + Unique Foci: Alright guys, I've got to cop that I've been forgetting to give your Affinity Bonuses, i.e. you don't need to use Foci to use your Affinity Sphere. But if you still use Foci, you get -1 on Difficulty. My bad, I need to do better there. Also forgot that Ulrich's Bible is a Unique Foci (giving him another -1 specifically using the Spirit Sphere). The balance is that he can't use Spirit without the Bible, so if it gets nicked or something, he's screwed until he either gets it back, or fully Retrains.
--- So refunding the point of Quintessence I had Ulrich use last turn.
--- My understanding is that no other PC has taken a Unique Foci. You have your various tools of course, but if Pixel's VR goggles got disintegrated she could just create another and be fine. They aren't special unique ones that can't be replaced, that sort of thing.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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