Gloria Mundi Update
The characters bed down on the 3rd. Most of them, anyway. Jack wanders the city a while, doing his House of Ariadne thing. Knit stays up and casts Occlude Destiny on Tyrrhenus, trying to stop anybody from detecting or altering the "boy king's" fate. As it happens, this decision nearly kills him.
The next day, the cabal goes to the Temple of the Gryphon so that Tyrrhenus can learn about the Duel Arcane. Ferrum gives him a lesson in the Duel and the rules surrounding it, and advises him that if he challenges the Nemean, the Hierarch is likely to pick a duel that will give him the advantage, perhaps even something without magic (the "Duel Mundane," as it were). When the lesson ends, the cabal takes a meeting with Potestas, the head of the Mysterium in Boston, and definitely a critic of the Nemean's.
The conversation isn't as smooth as the others that Tyrrhenus has had while drumming up support. Potestas isn't convinced that Tyrrhenus is going to be a suitable Hierarch (not while he's around, anyway). The conversation turns to the Secret Concord and Potestas makes it clear that he wants to know about the particulars. But wouldn't that break the Concord? Maybe, but it's become a chokehold on the city, stifling the evolution of the Awakened here, or so Potestas believes. Jack uses the Prophecy spell to see what would happen if they told, and sees images of the Nemean, Chain Parris and the Gray Pope getting up in arms. Jack says to Potestas that if they reveal the third signatory (the Seers, remember) that Potestas must swear not to tell those three people...and Potestas, having an Intelligence of 6, figures it out.
A magical wave crashes toward the city. Potestas says "Brace yourself," and Jack rewinds time a turn to prevent himself from spilling the beans. A telepathic conversation later, Tyrrhenus decides that Potestas is right, that the Concord needs to fall, and Potestas presses the point, saying that the consequences will be worth it. Tyrrhenus reveals the Concord, the wave hits...and Potestas dies, his flesh burned away and his eyes falling into his skull. Tyrrhenus barely has time to recognize this when his own flesh starts to burn.
See, that "wave" inverted and perverted every spell in the city. I gave the characters a roll to see if they noticed it coming in enough time to cancel their spells, and they did (rather, the PCs did, but we'll talk casualties later). But Knit left her Occlude Destiny spell on, and it started to kill Tyrrhenus. She stopped it in enough time to save him, but Potestas was dead.
A few seconds later, the phone calls started coming in. Ranae of the Sanguine Laurel. Sophia and Magdalena of the White Putnams. Davey Jones. Tempest of the Ebon Noose. Agdos of the Brotherhood of the Ineffable Truth. All dead. The Seers were hit, too, as Tyrrhenus found when he called Dr. Kether - Dr. Imes had perished in the "wave."
The cabal left and headed home, except for Tyrrhenus, who went to see his brother (the priest). He told his brother what had happened, within reason, and they talked about war and about responsibility. Sebastien said that Tyrrhenus had a power and a courage that he did not - all he had was faith, but Tyrrhenus had the will to act, and that was important. Tyrrhenus left the church, but got a call from Anacona - the meeting had been moved to Cormant House, and it was taking place at the next midnight (that is, midnight on the 5th).
The cabal, meanwhile, was at home, making their own calls. The Gravediggers were unaffected, as were SMG and the Company, and the Illuminated Pentad. Ogma called the Shadow Chorus, and Februs called him back sounding excited and pleased. He once again pledged himself to Tyrrhenus, and said that they would be there that night.
That night, then, at Cormant House, every mage in the Consilium was there. Rogue Element sat in front of the Council's seats, and Tyrrhenus and the Nemean began their arguments against each other. Tyrrhenus pointed out the Nemean's proclivity for sitting by while bad things happened (notably the affair with the Thief); the Nemean pointed out that none of his inaction had killed seven people in a day. Tyrrhenus revealed to the Consilium that the third signatory was the Seers of the Throne, and that got a reaction, especially when Februs unmasked and confirmed it (by the way, under that mask he's Edward Strathairn, the Chief of the Bureau of Detectives).
Jack called a "vote of no confidence" against the Nemean, but since there's no provision for that in the Boston Consilium, the Nemean took the Councilors aside (with Aurem as an interim Councilor, since Postesas is dead) to decide how to proceed.
Next session, we'll wind things up.
The next day, the cabal goes to the Temple of the Gryphon so that Tyrrhenus can learn about the Duel Arcane. Ferrum gives him a lesson in the Duel and the rules surrounding it, and advises him that if he challenges the Nemean, the Hierarch is likely to pick a duel that will give him the advantage, perhaps even something without magic (the "Duel Mundane," as it were). When the lesson ends, the cabal takes a meeting with Potestas, the head of the Mysterium in Boston, and definitely a critic of the Nemean's.
The conversation isn't as smooth as the others that Tyrrhenus has had while drumming up support. Potestas isn't convinced that Tyrrhenus is going to be a suitable Hierarch (not while he's around, anyway). The conversation turns to the Secret Concord and Potestas makes it clear that he wants to know about the particulars. But wouldn't that break the Concord? Maybe, but it's become a chokehold on the city, stifling the evolution of the Awakened here, or so Potestas believes. Jack uses the Prophecy spell to see what would happen if they told, and sees images of the Nemean, Chain Parris and the Gray Pope getting up in arms. Jack says to Potestas that if they reveal the third signatory (the Seers, remember) that Potestas must swear not to tell those three people...and Potestas, having an Intelligence of 6, figures it out.
A magical wave crashes toward the city. Potestas says "Brace yourself," and Jack rewinds time a turn to prevent himself from spilling the beans. A telepathic conversation later, Tyrrhenus decides that Potestas is right, that the Concord needs to fall, and Potestas presses the point, saying that the consequences will be worth it. Tyrrhenus reveals the Concord, the wave hits...and Potestas dies, his flesh burned away and his eyes falling into his skull. Tyrrhenus barely has time to recognize this when his own flesh starts to burn.
See, that "wave" inverted and perverted every spell in the city. I gave the characters a roll to see if they noticed it coming in enough time to cancel their spells, and they did (rather, the PCs did, but we'll talk casualties later). But Knit left her Occlude Destiny spell on, and it started to kill Tyrrhenus. She stopped it in enough time to save him, but Potestas was dead.
A few seconds later, the phone calls started coming in. Ranae of the Sanguine Laurel. Sophia and Magdalena of the White Putnams. Davey Jones. Tempest of the Ebon Noose. Agdos of the Brotherhood of the Ineffable Truth. All dead. The Seers were hit, too, as Tyrrhenus found when he called Dr. Kether - Dr. Imes had perished in the "wave."
The cabal left and headed home, except for Tyrrhenus, who went to see his brother (the priest). He told his brother what had happened, within reason, and they talked about war and about responsibility. Sebastien said that Tyrrhenus had a power and a courage that he did not - all he had was faith, but Tyrrhenus had the will to act, and that was important. Tyrrhenus left the church, but got a call from Anacona - the meeting had been moved to Cormant House, and it was taking place at the next midnight (that is, midnight on the 5th).
The cabal, meanwhile, was at home, making their own calls. The Gravediggers were unaffected, as were SMG and the Company, and the Illuminated Pentad. Ogma called the Shadow Chorus, and Februs called him back sounding excited and pleased. He once again pledged himself to Tyrrhenus, and said that they would be there that night.
That night, then, at Cormant House, every mage in the Consilium was there. Rogue Element sat in front of the Council's seats, and Tyrrhenus and the Nemean began their arguments against each other. Tyrrhenus pointed out the Nemean's proclivity for sitting by while bad things happened (notably the affair with the Thief); the Nemean pointed out that none of his inaction had killed seven people in a day. Tyrrhenus revealed to the Consilium that the third signatory was the Seers of the Throne, and that got a reaction, especially when Februs unmasked and confirmed it (by the way, under that mask he's Edward Strathairn, the Chief of the Bureau of Detectives).
Jack called a "vote of no confidence" against the Nemean, but since there's no provision for that in the Boston Consilium, the Nemean took the Councilors aside (with Aurem as an interim Councilor, since Postesas is dead) to decide how to proceed.
Next session, we'll wind things up.