Gloria Mundi Update
The lost member is Winter. Her player, after sitting at the table doing nothing, never taking it upon herself to learn how the game works, and telling me she wasn't going to quit after I suggested that she should if she wasn't having fun, and then hemming and hawing over it, quit. And y'know, I don't really miss her, for all the reasons described. She apparently doesn't dig Mage as much as she digs Vampire, and that's fine, but she knew what we were playing when she came in.
It does mean that I have to find a way to move her character out of the action, but the other characters didn't seem to notice her absence much, so I might just be able to call their attention to her absence at some point. I can probably make it work for me.
Anyway, last session ended with a 3-3 vote to do something about the thing killing mages, which the characters had just fought. That vote meant nothing, as the Consilium requires a 2/3rds vote to force the Nemean to take action. The characters went after the Sentinels and tried to suss out who voted against them.
Niamh and Morrigan talked to Anacona, and she was less than helpful. Her basic attitude seemed to mirror the Nemean's; that is, if it's not affecting the power-players in the city, who cares? Tyrrhenus talked to Nebuchadnezzar and Tiamat. Neb told Tyrrhenus (telepathically) that he had voted for the characters, but Tiamat made it pretty clear that she didn't have any time for this nonsense...until she learned a little more. The notion that this thing was alive and potentially trying to reproduce captured her attention (read her write-up in Boston Unveiled; she's not only hip with unpleasant Life Arcanum experiments, but she's ex-Mysterium, so naturally curious anyway) and she asked to see the site of the battle.
Ogma talked to Eve and Hades, but mostly they just drank and commiserated. And then Tiamat's request to go to the battle-site surfaced, and Ogma opened a portal to the parking lot where Ishmael died. Shortly thereafter, Tyrrhenus got a phone call apparently from Anacona, stating that the Nemean wanted to meet with him and Ogma back at the house. Tiamat, Morrigan and Niamh went on to investigate, while Ogma and Tyrrhenus went back.
The three female mages found the remnants of blood where Ishmael had died, and Tiamat considered what the creature's fighting and hunting style meant. They climbed to the rooftop from where it had ambushed Morrigan and poked around.
Meanwhile, Tyrrhenus and Ogma found Hades at Cormant House, who told them that the Nemean and Anancona had gone down the road to an orchard where the Nemean took sensitive meetings. Off they went.
Back on the rooftop, Morrigan and Niamh felt their armor spells vanish. From nowhere, the creature appeared against and attacked...but this was a different creature. It looked like the Clint-creature, but it was unquestionably a spirit, and fought like one (using Numina instead of weapons). Fortunately, that meant that Niamh and Tiamat could fight it as well.
But Morrigan, in trying to reestablish her armor spell, looked up and saw a scrying window. Someone was deliberately screwing with her magic. She called Ogma, who tried to scry her, but found himself blocked by a ward. By then, the spirit had been dispatched, but the mages were wounded again. Ogma co-located out to the site and looked for the scyring window, but it had been dispelled and erased with Prime magic.
Tyrrhenus called back to the house and got Ferrum, who told him to get the hell out of that orchard. The Nemean never took meetings there, he said - there was a powerful spiritual danger. Tyrrhenus, who knows better than to screw with spirits, wheeled the car around and nearly hit a "man" in the road...just then the car froze up, the windows started to frost...but Ogma used Labyrinth to compress the distance out of the orchard.
Tyrrhenus, now livid over being jerked around, headed back. Ogma opened a portal for Morrigan, Niamh and Tiamat. Tiamat expressed interest in the creature. It was clearly smart enough to know to use Morrigan as a hostage (last session), and therefore it knew that people would rather risk a murder later to prevent one now. It was eating, and thus it had something to gain by doing so. Could it reproduce? Would its offspring be immune to magic? These questions made Tyrrhenus twitch.
The Ebon Noose convened a meeting Hades was nowhere to be found. Eve had gone home in a huff. Ferrum was around, as was Chain. Chain confided in Tyrrhenus that he'd dreamed of the City of Broken Eyes, but wasn't sure what it all meant. Morrigan pulled Tyrrhenus aside and voiced her suspicion - that the Shadow Chorus was the invisible player here, trying to prevent the characters from catching and stopping the creature. But why?
Chain invited Rogue Element to his home the next day for brunch and discussion. We'll see if they make any decisions then. But they suspect that Hades and possibly Anacona led them astray tonight.
It does mean that I have to find a way to move her character out of the action, but the other characters didn't seem to notice her absence much, so I might just be able to call their attention to her absence at some point. I can probably make it work for me.
Anyway, last session ended with a 3-3 vote to do something about the thing killing mages, which the characters had just fought. That vote meant nothing, as the Consilium requires a 2/3rds vote to force the Nemean to take action. The characters went after the Sentinels and tried to suss out who voted against them.
Niamh and Morrigan talked to Anacona, and she was less than helpful. Her basic attitude seemed to mirror the Nemean's; that is, if it's not affecting the power-players in the city, who cares? Tyrrhenus talked to Nebuchadnezzar and Tiamat. Neb told Tyrrhenus (telepathically) that he had voted for the characters, but Tiamat made it pretty clear that she didn't have any time for this nonsense...until she learned a little more. The notion that this thing was alive and potentially trying to reproduce captured her attention (read her write-up in Boston Unveiled; she's not only hip with unpleasant Life Arcanum experiments, but she's ex-Mysterium, so naturally curious anyway) and she asked to see the site of the battle.
Ogma talked to Eve and Hades, but mostly they just drank and commiserated. And then Tiamat's request to go to the battle-site surfaced, and Ogma opened a portal to the parking lot where Ishmael died. Shortly thereafter, Tyrrhenus got a phone call apparently from Anacona, stating that the Nemean wanted to meet with him and Ogma back at the house. Tiamat, Morrigan and Niamh went on to investigate, while Ogma and Tyrrhenus went back.
The three female mages found the remnants of blood where Ishmael had died, and Tiamat considered what the creature's fighting and hunting style meant. They climbed to the rooftop from where it had ambushed Morrigan and poked around.
Meanwhile, Tyrrhenus and Ogma found Hades at Cormant House, who told them that the Nemean and Anancona had gone down the road to an orchard where the Nemean took sensitive meetings. Off they went.
Back on the rooftop, Morrigan and Niamh felt their armor spells vanish. From nowhere, the creature appeared against and attacked...but this was a different creature. It looked like the Clint-creature, but it was unquestionably a spirit, and fought like one (using Numina instead of weapons). Fortunately, that meant that Niamh and Tiamat could fight it as well.
But Morrigan, in trying to reestablish her armor spell, looked up and saw a scrying window. Someone was deliberately screwing with her magic. She called Ogma, who tried to scry her, but found himself blocked by a ward. By then, the spirit had been dispatched, but the mages were wounded again. Ogma co-located out to the site and looked for the scyring window, but it had been dispelled and erased with Prime magic.
Tyrrhenus called back to the house and got Ferrum, who told him to get the hell out of that orchard. The Nemean never took meetings there, he said - there was a powerful spiritual danger. Tyrrhenus, who knows better than to screw with spirits, wheeled the car around and nearly hit a "man" in the road...just then the car froze up, the windows started to frost...but Ogma used Labyrinth to compress the distance out of the orchard.
Tyrrhenus, now livid over being jerked around, headed back. Ogma opened a portal for Morrigan, Niamh and Tiamat. Tiamat expressed interest in the creature. It was clearly smart enough to know to use Morrigan as a hostage (last session), and therefore it knew that people would rather risk a murder later to prevent one now. It was eating, and thus it had something to gain by doing so. Could it reproduce? Would its offspring be immune to magic? These questions made Tyrrhenus twitch.
The Ebon Noose convened a meeting Hades was nowhere to be found. Eve had gone home in a huff. Ferrum was around, as was Chain. Chain confided in Tyrrhenus that he'd dreamed of the City of Broken Eyes, but wasn't sure what it all meant. Morrigan pulled Tyrrhenus aside and voiced her suspicion - that the Shadow Chorus was the invisible player here, trying to prevent the characters from catching and stopping the creature. But why?
Chain invited Rogue Element to his home the next day for brunch and discussion. We'll see if they make any decisions then. But they suspect that Hades and possibly Anacona led them astray tonight.