Gloria Mundi Update
The characters had just come to the realization that what Knit had seen when scrying for the Secret Concord was the Gray Pope, or something that looked a lot like him. The mages again wondered what it meant that the Seers were so involved with this, and they decided they needed more info. Tyrrhenus called the Illuminated Pentad and asked for a meeting; Thanatos agreed to meet the cabal the next morning. Since it was Sunday, they couldn't follow their other plan (going to Manray to see if there was a Seer in attendance) so they just crashed out for the night.
Tyrrhenus dreamed that a figure in front of him, backlit, with bloody hands, was reading from a scroll (perhaps the Concord). As it read, he heard a mechanical hum all around him. Then it lunged forward and stabbed a knife through the scroll into his chest.
Next day, they met with Faustina, Thanatos and Khumeia, the Illuminated Pentad. They explained their position - very not in favor of the Ebon Noose, but very in favor of a Silver Ladder being Hierarch. Khumeia promised not to stab Tyrrhenus in the back, but wasn't going to make a formal alliance (though she did say that after their conversation, some of the five principles of the cabal needed to be reevaluated). Thanatos also found Isis and told her that he would take her on as a pupil (to be an Uncrowned King) and told her to meet him at the forge where Ti Malice (who was Thanatos' ex, recall) was training Tyrrhenus.
At this point, the characters decided they needed to at least let the Seers lie to them, so they called Dr. Kether (whom they'd met here). She agreed to meet them later that night.
Training time! Tyrrhenus built his forge (you know, the one he gets into and sets himself on fire to join the Forge Masters), and Thanatos instructed Isis to grab a shovel and clear away the debris. The other mages did their own things for a while, and then it was time to meet the Seer!
They met in an used house near Harvard campus. Dr. Kether and the mages bargained for a while; first she asked for Clint's whereabouts, then Winter's, but the cabal was unwilling to give up another person. Finally, Tyrrhenus offered to make a magical item to the Seer's specifications once he became a Forge Master. Kether agreed, and revealed the truth of the Concord's location.
The Gray Pope didn't really have it. He had a replica, created to match the expectation of the Concord. That meant that anyone scrying for it, even if they could get past all of the wards and so on, would only find the replica (and the Gray Pope). The real Concord was in the basement of a disused church in South Boston.
The characters left and headed to the church. Tyrrhenus called his brother (a priest, remember) and found that the church had been sold off in the 1980s to pay off a lawsuit against the Church in Boston. Ogma noted that the building was warded, and Isis stepped into Twilight and walked through the door. The place wasn't just warded, it was wired - tripewire on the foyer with shaped charges. In the main part of the building, there were little alcoves with gunpowder and explosives (Isis couldn't see what was in them, just Detect Substance). She walked through the far wall and saw four people: An older gent, a young Italian man, an attractive woman and a skinny, nerdy-looking guy, sitting around a table. She had time to hear the nerd referred to as "Breaker" and the woman as "Prism" before leaving.
The characters decided to go around back and enter from there. Ogma created some duplicates (six, to be precise, and sent one of them home so he could disappear quickly if need be - Masters are scary!) and Isis was going to try to do a knockout-gas routine on the air inside the room...but by that time, the mages (having sensed Isis when she walked in), had circled the building and flanked the characters.
These Seers moved in eerie concert, never speaking but always acting together perfectly. Breaker threw a Supernal Dispellation spell on them, knocking out several of the characters' armor spells. Gentleman stabbed at Isis with a sword cane, but her armor (which hadn't been knocked out) protected her. Prism hurled a knife at her, which did penetrate, and John Law (the Italian guy, whom Tyrrhenus recognized as a former soldata) threw a ranged blow at Tyrrhenus.
Knit used Shatter Space on their general area, and Isis used Matter to create an explosion...and then time rewound itself, and the turn started again. This time, the tactics were focused more on Isis and Knit. Ogma suddenly realized he knew Prism - but he'd known her (and fancied her) as Jade, a Guardian, from when he'd been inducted into the order (this is why I like having character backstories).
He, or rather one of his duplicates, ran over to Prism and asked for a truce. She agreed to talk, and after some discussion, the Seers agreed to let the mages read the Concord, but not take it with them. When Prism expressed concern about how it could be read, since the last time someone tried her face melted, they responded that they had a Sphinx - Knit. Prism also revealed why she left the Guardians. "They're batshit insane," she said. "Did Februs get to you? What do you know about the Hieromagus? Learn about that, and you'll know why I left."
Down in the basement, Ogma used Augment the Mind on Knit. This was a major turning point.
You have to know, she's only got Intelligence 1 normally. Now, with Intelligence 5, she saw that she'd been used. She remembered being set up to murder the Hierarch of the Archipelago, and placed here in Boston to kill Tyrrhenus - but why?
The Concord revealed that, it seems. The third signatory on the Secret Concord was...the Seers of the Throne. The agreement was to keep a Silver Ladder mage in the Hierarch's seat, in return for which the Seers would keep Harvard. But why?
Because there are ley lines coming into the North America continent from the sea, and the Ladder is the only order that knows the spells to keep them running and powering the Hallows of this continent. Why won't they work on their own? The Concord doesn't mention that, but one theory is that the native mages (who weren't order mages, and who probably suffered the same fate as their Sleeper brethren) somehow shut down the Mana flows in this part of the world. The ley lines run from East Cost to West Coast, and the Ladder keeps the hearths warm, as it were.
Knit's mentor, Dexter, isn't really a Sphinx, but somehow managed to train Knit as one (even at Intelligent 5, she couldn't figure that one out). Dexter wants the ley line setup to fall...but why?
With these questions looming over them, the story ends. At the beginning of next story, Tyrrhenus is a Forge Master and Isis is an Uncrowned King. And we'll be entering the final story of Gloria Mundi.
Tyrrhenus dreamed that a figure in front of him, backlit, with bloody hands, was reading from a scroll (perhaps the Concord). As it read, he heard a mechanical hum all around him. Then it lunged forward and stabbed a knife through the scroll into his chest.
Next day, they met with Faustina, Thanatos and Khumeia, the Illuminated Pentad. They explained their position - very not in favor of the Ebon Noose, but very in favor of a Silver Ladder being Hierarch. Khumeia promised not to stab Tyrrhenus in the back, but wasn't going to make a formal alliance (though she did say that after their conversation, some of the five principles of the cabal needed to be reevaluated). Thanatos also found Isis and told her that he would take her on as a pupil (to be an Uncrowned King) and told her to meet him at the forge where Ti Malice (who was Thanatos' ex, recall) was training Tyrrhenus.
At this point, the characters decided they needed to at least let the Seers lie to them, so they called Dr. Kether (whom they'd met here). She agreed to meet them later that night.
Training time! Tyrrhenus built his forge (you know, the one he gets into and sets himself on fire to join the Forge Masters), and Thanatos instructed Isis to grab a shovel and clear away the debris. The other mages did their own things for a while, and then it was time to meet the Seer!
They met in an used house near Harvard campus. Dr. Kether and the mages bargained for a while; first she asked for Clint's whereabouts, then Winter's, but the cabal was unwilling to give up another person. Finally, Tyrrhenus offered to make a magical item to the Seer's specifications once he became a Forge Master. Kether agreed, and revealed the truth of the Concord's location.
The Gray Pope didn't really have it. He had a replica, created to match the expectation of the Concord. That meant that anyone scrying for it, even if they could get past all of the wards and so on, would only find the replica (and the Gray Pope). The real Concord was in the basement of a disused church in South Boston.
The characters left and headed to the church. Tyrrhenus called his brother (a priest, remember) and found that the church had been sold off in the 1980s to pay off a lawsuit against the Church in Boston. Ogma noted that the building was warded, and Isis stepped into Twilight and walked through the door. The place wasn't just warded, it was wired - tripewire on the foyer with shaped charges. In the main part of the building, there were little alcoves with gunpowder and explosives (Isis couldn't see what was in them, just Detect Substance). She walked through the far wall and saw four people: An older gent, a young Italian man, an attractive woman and a skinny, nerdy-looking guy, sitting around a table. She had time to hear the nerd referred to as "Breaker" and the woman as "Prism" before leaving.
The characters decided to go around back and enter from there. Ogma created some duplicates (six, to be precise, and sent one of them home so he could disappear quickly if need be - Masters are scary!) and Isis was going to try to do a knockout-gas routine on the air inside the room...but by that time, the mages (having sensed Isis when she walked in), had circled the building and flanked the characters.
These Seers moved in eerie concert, never speaking but always acting together perfectly. Breaker threw a Supernal Dispellation spell on them, knocking out several of the characters' armor spells. Gentleman stabbed at Isis with a sword cane, but her armor (which hadn't been knocked out) protected her. Prism hurled a knife at her, which did penetrate, and John Law (the Italian guy, whom Tyrrhenus recognized as a former soldata) threw a ranged blow at Tyrrhenus.
Knit used Shatter Space on their general area, and Isis used Matter to create an explosion...and then time rewound itself, and the turn started again. This time, the tactics were focused more on Isis and Knit. Ogma suddenly realized he knew Prism - but he'd known her (and fancied her) as Jade, a Guardian, from when he'd been inducted into the order (this is why I like having character backstories).
He, or rather one of his duplicates, ran over to Prism and asked for a truce. She agreed to talk, and after some discussion, the Seers agreed to let the mages read the Concord, but not take it with them. When Prism expressed concern about how it could be read, since the last time someone tried her face melted, they responded that they had a Sphinx - Knit. Prism also revealed why she left the Guardians. "They're batshit insane," she said. "Did Februs get to you? What do you know about the Hieromagus? Learn about that, and you'll know why I left."
Down in the basement, Ogma used Augment the Mind on Knit. This was a major turning point.
You have to know, she's only got Intelligence 1 normally. Now, with Intelligence 5, she saw that she'd been used. She remembered being set up to murder the Hierarch of the Archipelago, and placed here in Boston to kill Tyrrhenus - but why?
The Concord revealed that, it seems. The third signatory on the Secret Concord was...the Seers of the Throne. The agreement was to keep a Silver Ladder mage in the Hierarch's seat, in return for which the Seers would keep Harvard. But why?
Because there are ley lines coming into the North America continent from the sea, and the Ladder is the only order that knows the spells to keep them running and powering the Hallows of this continent. Why won't they work on their own? The Concord doesn't mention that, but one theory is that the native mages (who weren't order mages, and who probably suffered the same fate as their Sleeper brethren) somehow shut down the Mana flows in this part of the world. The ley lines run from East Cost to West Coast, and the Ladder keeps the hearths warm, as it were.
Knit's mentor, Dexter, isn't really a Sphinx, but somehow managed to train Knit as one (even at Intelligent 5, she couldn't figure that one out). Dexter wants the ley line setup to fall...but why?
With these questions looming over them, the story ends. At the beginning of next story, Tyrrhenus is a Forge Master and Isis is an Uncrowned King. And we'll be entering the final story of Gloria Mundi.