I rarely drive myself. Its not that I am a bad driver, its just that I usually have better things to focus my attention on. Tonight I didnt bring my driver simply because this is something he wouldnt understand and I have no patience for his questions.

I have been driving for an hour in my Lexus coupe. Following geometric patterns on my GPS. I dont trust technology as a foci, just a tool. The GPS enhances my true focus, a golden scale delicately balanced on the center console.

2009-01-20 12:18:38 Aurora Golden rolls 4 dice to Arete[Spirit:1, coincidental, Foci] (Diff 3) 10,7,4,10 (4 successes)

I seek out a place where the gauntlet beetween our world and the next is weak. Leonard needs to be shown the truth, in all his years with the tradition he has never gone from being a mere Mercenary Killer to one who brings the good death.

Tonight I plan to show him.

I roll to a stop when the scale with a tiny white feather on one side and a tarnished, faceless coin on the other suddenly tips dramatically and forms a perfect balance. The viel here is weak, this will be the perfect place to kill Leonard; just for a night or two.  

--Last edited by Aurora Golden on 2009-01-20 12:28:12 --

I punch the address of this place into my cell-phone and send it off to Leonard with the simple attachment- 'ASAP'.

I arm the security of my car and slip out, pulling on a three-quarter length leather coat. It has been oddly cold as of late and the sun is just minutes away from setting. I jog across the street and head right through the blasted down doors of the theatre.

My senses are heightened, I can feel the thinness of the veil here. I expect to find ghosts, and i expect to add to their numbers. I dont hesitate in the doorway. Crackheads and gang-bangers are not a concern for me. If neccessary, they can be put out of thier self-induced misery quite easily.

I walk down the aisle past all the broken chairs. My boots crunch over wood and glass alike. I glance down to check the display on my phone and see if Leonard has replied. All i can do now is wait...

 As she enters our hallowed ground, I know she is not here by accident. She is here not by chance, but by fate. I was called here by the marks that flicker upon the soul, by the dappling of portends. I can read such signs if they are given to me. I am versed in their ways. I only hope that none of the others feel her presence, they are not so kind and would seek her expulsion. She is not welcomed here and whatever her reason her trespass shall not go unpunished.

Here she is but a slight shadow, a faint image. I can see her marks though. They are strong indeed, perhaps that is why I have been guided here. I stare at them in fascination, trying to discern their meaning...

2009-01-20 21:36:00 Anna rolls 6 dice to Kismet (Per+Fatalism) 9,3,1,6,6, 6 (3 successes)

I can see that she has stepped beyond before, she is a maker of chance. Her marks are confusing, they say too much but hint at power, Why? I can not say, I have never seen such things before. They are an enigma to me, but I shall watch, I can see that our fates converge and shortly by the webs that draw us near.

Of course, Leonard is late as usual.  It is hard for him to be on time when he doesn't have a car and walks everywhere.  When he arrives he sends a short "I'm here" back to Aurora, wondering why she called him to such a bad part of town.

He enters the building with his sax slung over his shoulder, uncased and ready to go. Looking around, he notices how run down the decrepid building has become.  It would make a wonderful stage, he thinks to himself, if it wasn't destroyed.

I adjust my senses as I wait for Leonard. The scales allowed me to find the weak points in the shroud between worlds. I speak a mantra and peer through an ankh, one of many necklaces I am wearing tucked into my shirt tonight.

2009-01-21 19:51:37 Aurora Golden rolls 4 dice to Arete [Spirit:1,+3 diff coincidental, -1diff foci: Mantra=(Diff 3) 4,9,4,1 (2 successes) [Spirit Sight allows Aurora to actually see ghosts and spirits in the area.]

Some spirits can get uncomfortable when you suddenly start staring at them. I am practiced in my gaze, I use my peripherals to track any potentially interfering spirits. I am quite capable of hopping right across the shroud and delivering a beating to make the already dead cringe.

I pace around the base of the stage and wont ackowledge anything until Leonard arrives. My phones single blip notifies me of his arrival as he comes through the door. I will stop my pacing and raise an arm, the hand signal I show is one he knows well: Follow.

I dont give him any time to ask why or to where, I just break into a run across the stage and deeper into the dark hallways of this forsaken place.

 Looking about you perceive a few faint glimpses of others here. Most are but hollow shadows, almost unseen.

An older man, with a long beard and black eyes mumbles in a corner, grieving over something only he seems to see. A refined woman appears to be infused into the building, her perception far away. An older black woman that is dressed in clothes that predate the civil war seems to be staring at you. Her vision is strong, her corpus toughened through many great maelstroms. She stands out to you, she knows you are here and has been observing you. In your vision you can sense that she bears the marks of a oracle, brought here by your alteration of the threads of fate. She appears to be awaiting whatever will happen, unable to resist your pull.

Percept and Aware
2009-01-23 15:46:55 Leonard West rolls 5 dice to awareness 7,1,5,4,1 (failure)
=================================================================
The place is creepy, but nothing special.  There have been worse places Leonard has been to, seedier parts of town.  He nods over to Aurora, walking down the isle slowly twoard the stage.  He has no idea why he has been called to this place, perhapse she has found those errant mages she was looking for.  The theater would do well for their graves, perfect for his method and style.

2009-01-24 08:39:07 Aurora rolls 7 dice to Dex+Ath 3,6,4,7,1, 8,2 (2 successes)

The deeper into this building we go the worse in repair it gets. I run through hallways with kicked down walls and duck under hanging plumbing. I circle past graffiti and find what I was looking for. Stairs to the basement. I click on a small but intensely bright flashlight in my left hand and keep moving.

Through a ruined door and down missing steps I easily jump over the missing ones to land in the knee deep, stagnant water that fills the decaying basement. The smell of rot is everywhere. I wouldnt be at all suprised to find a bloated corpse given the smell.

I trudge forward as fast as I can without tripping in this sludge, Leonard shouldnt be far behind me so I have to search fast for what I need...

2009-01-24 08:46:32 Aurora rolls 7 dice to Perception+Alertness [+1 diff bad light, -1 diff flashlight] 8,4,6,2,7, 6,9 (5 successes)

2009-01-24 09:02:27 Aurora rolls 4 dice to ['Where Am I? Where is He?'] (Correspondence: 1, Mind: 1, Coincidental+3) Arete (Diff 4) 1,9,6,4 (2 successes)

When Leonard makes it down the stairs he will hear the sloshing of the water and see the bright light from the flashlight far off in the basement...

Sometimes, the only thing worse then hunting errant mages is working for 'sane' ones.  Leonard continues to follow Aurora, doing his best to keep up, following her deeper into what ever rabbit hole she found now.  It wasn't his prefferance to be doing such 'following', not exaclty why he was hired.  But she must have called him here for a reason, he just hopes they get to where they are going soon.

2009-01-27 12:34:35 Aurora Golden rolls 4 dice to Arete 'Beginners luck' [Entropy:2, coincidental+3, Foci: weapon] (Diff 5) 5,2,5,2 (2 successes)

Leonard wont know it, but walking towards the light he passes within a foot of me in the dark. In my right hand is a 250,000 volt tazer. In Leonards neck is the biggest cluster of nerves on a persons body.

[Suprise action]
2009-01-27 12:36:43 Aurora Golden rolls 3 dice to Dex+Melee [+3 diff target:neck] (Diff 9) 9,1,8 (failure) +2 auto successes from Beginners luck. [Aurora has 0 Melee, so this effect applies here.]
2009-01-27 12:38:58 Aurora Golden rolls [2 successes, +5 tazer, +2 neck] 9 dice to Tazer Damage 3,4,1,4,5, 5,3,5,6 (failure)

The prongs connect, digging into Leonards skin but nothing happens. No jolt, no stunning electricity. I must have gotten the tazer wet. This leaves me with little recourse except to violently drown Leonard. This is unfortunate, I wanted to make his crossing over as painless as possible.

[Normal Action]
2009-01-27 12:48:27 Aurora Golden rolls 4 dice to Str+Brawl [Clinch] (used willpower) 2,4,3,6 (2 successes)
2009-01-27 12:48:42 Aurora Golden rolls 4 dice to Clinch Damage 1,6,4,9 (1 success) 1 bashing damage Leonard can soak.

I release the tazer from my grip and string my arm around Leonards neck. My other arm entraps one of his as I pull him back into a chokehold.

'Spontaneity is your weakness. You are limited by your tools my friend. To fix you we must first break you.'

2009-01-27 12:52:43 Aurora Golden rolls 1 die for Initiative 4 (initiative roll) 4+7= 11.  

--Last edited by Aurora Golden on 2009-01-27 12:55:40 --

2009-01-27 17:49:01 Leonard rolls 1 die for Initiative 2 (initiative roll)  +6=8
===================================
Getting caught off gaurd is no good for him, he has no time to start playing to defend himself magically.

2009-01-27 18:08:15 Aurora Golden rolls 4 dice to Str+Brawl [Clinch] 3,10,10,8 (3 successes)
2009-01-27 18:08:38 Aurora Golden rolls [3 successes+2 strength] 5 dice to Clinch Damage 5,5,10,7,10 (3 successes) 3 Bashing damage Leonard can soak.

'I do this because I care Leonard. Im doing this to set you free from what holds you back.'

I whisper into his ear before I slam a fist into his kidneys, when he buckles I take us both down into the black, knee deep water. Keeping my chokehold on his neck I force his head under and put all my weight on his back.

2009-01-27 19:00:57 Leonard rolls 2 dice to soak 5,6 (1 success)
Leonard takes 2 bashing (incliding the the one I forgot to roll for soak, he is at 3 bashing)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Originally I rolled this but after re-reading I realized it was impossible to do, so I am doing a different action but am posting the results just because...

dex and brawl dif 8 due to grapple move

2009-01-27 19:04:48 Leonard rolls 6 dice to arm lock (Diff 8) 3,6,9,9,2, 6 (2 successes)

2009-01-27 19:05:07 leonard rolls 3 dice to damage 1,9,7 (1 success)
1 bashing
-----------------------------------------------------------------
instead Leon will try to turn himself over with Aurora still ontop of him, for that I am rolling str and brawl since her weight is on him.

2009-01-27 19:41:52 Leonard rolls 4 dice to turn over 3,7,5,4 (1 success)
=================================================================
He has to turn the table on her if he doesn't want to drown.  With her weight all on his back and not on her legs, it would be easy to turn over and put her in his situation.  He shoves against the ground with his right leg arm, fliping himself over with Aurora now under him.  ((if 1 suxx isn't enough let me know.  also, his sax will be unusable for the scene due to the water now probably in it.  shoulda had a harmonica backup))

[Im going to assume since no damage was rolled Leonard was just trying to break her clinch, not actually inflict any damage. If he wants to inflict damage its the same roll, damage= successes+ strength and he doesnt have to beat her clinch successes to do this.]

2009-01-29 08:03:24 Aurora rolls 4 dice to Str+Brawl [Clinch] 3,5,7,10 (2 successes)
2009-01-29 08:03:40 Aurora rolls [2 successes +2 strength] 4 dice to drown leonard damage 6,2,6,1 (1 success) 1 bashing damage

When Leonard struggles and flips himself over I remain on top. Having lost my choke hold I press my hand across his adams apple and press down, forcing him under the murky water backwards and using my free hand to defend from any blows he might throw.

I begin to chant in a forgotten language. Preparing to call the spirits to us and cast Leonard into the shadowlands when he is on the cusp of going there naturally.

2009-01-30 15:36:17 Leonard rolls 2 dice to soak 1,3 (BOTCH x 1)

since it is a botch while drowning I guess he takes an extra level of bash putting him at 5.  also, since it is a botch I would suppose he drowns from taking on water from the extra bash damage and to keep thing from taking forever.
=================================================================
The situation was pretty bad for him, he was underwater and had yet the chance to take a real breath.  His body betraying him, he accidently takes a large gulp of water, drowning from Aurora's supposed tretchery.  If he made it out of, he would need to have a long talk with her about his employment contract.

When this is all over Leonard will be thanking me. Either that or he will never be seen again. Theres really no middle ground for what im about to do. I feel Leonard finally stop struggling as he sucks water into his lungs, I have to act fast before he dies naturally and irreversibly.

2009-01-30 15:51:43 Aurora Golden rolls 4 dice to Arete [Spirit:2, coincidental, Foci: Chanting] (Diff 5, used willpower) 5,3,1,10 (2 successes)

I drag Leonards head back above the black, oily water as my chant reaches its crescendo. There will be a pulse of energy released from me into the umbra, like a flash of light guarunteed to draw the attention of spirits and wraiths in the area.

 As the water fills your lungs, you begin to die. Your consciousness separating from your physical shell, you begin to feel cold, the feeling of detachment growing. Slowly your soul becomes cold, it seems to shift, becoming lost as it were from your mortal coil. All around you is ice, not in temperature, but in a apathetic sense. Only your own regrets and things that have given your life hope matter anymore. You can feel their tug, their pulling. Outside of those things lie nothingness, oblivion and it is strong. It offers a release, a completion of the wheel, an escape from the pain that is life. There you can become nothing, feel nothing, are nothing and you know it is inevitable. You will never escape it, it eats all eventually. It always hungers for more, it is never satisfied, it will always be there.

You are not in your body any longer, but you have not moved. you are curled tightly into a ball. Your fetal position meant to avoid the chill of oblivion, but it is pointless. A simple idea you have because you were once alive, a throwback to a time when you were warm.

In the chill and haze a voice thin and soft at first calls to you, beckons you. You try your best to ignore it as if your mothers call to school. It is insistent and strong eventually drawing open your eyes. The lids flutter as if in life, you have hope it might have been a hellish nightmare from which you'll awake. The darkened skeletal face you are greeted with does not dismiss your fears. She looks like a native of Africa, the dark color of her face like coal, her skin taught upon the skull. Darkened lines mar its surface, lines that you recognize, but are unfamiliar with. They are fate intertwined.

"Child, picks yerself up. We hav's ta be goin'. The reepers will be headed this way an I donna even know 'bout the master o' this place 'ere. If ya favor not bein' smelted then ya best be followin'," in a thick creole accent heavy with french influence.

Glancing around you see the room that you had been in, but it is far from that room. It is as it had been, in days long past. Its walls still filthy, but they are as those whom remember were. It seems crazy, you can not see Aurora nor your body, they are not here. It is as if you had never been, what was your life before? Had it been nothing but a strange dream? You hold on to your memories tightly hoping this was not some strange dream that you will forget in the span of an hour, never again able to recall. The woman's insistence and shaking are the only things that seem to move you at all.  

This was certainly not the sewers he was just in.  Aurora must have put him here. A long talk with her when he comes back indeed.  Was he dead? Maybe she just knocked him out.  Realizing the position he is in, he picks himself up.  This was weird, first she attacks him, and now she just ditches him in some tunnel?  Checking himself, he does not feel any cuts, nor any broken bones.  He examines his surroundings, barely listening to the visage, he doesn't even register yet the woman's face.  Something isn't right.

"Reapers, what are reapers, where am I?" he asks her, still barely listening.

 "You are dead child, though your danger has certainly not passed. We must leave now," in a hurried voice full of knowing.

The place appears very different indeed and also feels comfortable. The walls and building feel as if an extension of your body. There is no longer any hurt or pain in your form, yet the cold and chill remain. Your vision that once perceived a myriad of colors is now darkened as if looking through a sepia lens. Black and white are stark, but all other colors are muted, deadened to the senses. There is no smell here, nothing. You begin to realize that you have not breathed in some time and as a reaction you start quickly hoping that you can draw in breath.

Water pours out your mouth, you can not get all of it out. You choke and cough more of the liquid oozing out. Even after a minute the water continues to slowly ooze out of your mouth, congesting your lungs.

(for the rest of your stay here the effect will continue)

You can see the older lady now, she is dressed in clothing reminiscent of a slave well before the civil war. She is dressed in cast off scraps of clothing barely held together with thread. Her feet are bare, her head covered in a handkerchief of the darkest gossamer. Upon her hands are the darkened stains that appear as blood, long dried. It stains her hands and nails making them black as the shadows themselves. You also notice that she is not nearly as solid here as you, she has some faintness as if she were but a memory that is slowly fading from your mind.

She looks at you with cold and deadly eyes, making certain you understand her severity before she whispers,

"They are in the building now, I am leaving. If you do not follow you will be no more."

This water coming out of him, learning of his death...it was a bit too much to chew off right way.  Why would she kill him? Maybe a loved one of an ex-client hired her?  He would have to find out some time.

"I will follow you spirit."  He barely mutters as he coughs up yet more water.

He does his best to move his legs to follow her, barely able to move them.  "I must know, how can I escape this place...is that even possible?"