[Blind] ((Thank you all for comming, lets get this show on the road shall we?))
The evening has set in, it's starting to get dark, the suns going down earlier and earlier now as winter closes in, the air also has a fair bite to it tonight, the wind has picked up and is trying to get inside whatever clothing it can as though even the wind is trying to find some shelter, and stealing yours in the process. The streets are bustling but everyone is rushing, there seems to be that extra ammount of haste to everyone's step, there is a chill to the air. Even with the biting cold though this corner of Bronzeville has an almost suffocating feeling to it, an aura that something has happened here, something that should not have happened, something bad, something negative, and perhaps, if you were looking closley enough, something magical, but the trail of the magic is stale, if that was even what drew them to the slums tonight.
The collection of streets is strewen with broken glass, beer bottles, from the night before, and probably several nights prior on top, there's a dive bar off the road, as well as some convinience stores. The windows to one store has been broken, and there are boards across it. Two cars on the street also have busted in windows. It is obviously a hostile unplesant area, the grafite tells you who's turf it is if you know how to read it, but even without such knowledge the decay and soul destroying nature of the area is apparent.
[Ashley McGowen] The broken bottles and windows, the graffiti, the windows that gape like empty eye sockets in the shell of derelict buildings, the boarded windows, are as far from the Mile as Chicago gets. They're full of people this Tytalus thinks of as at the bottom of the social ladder, scraping out what meager existence they can and hoping for better days they will probably never see.
Ashley normally would not be in the slums, and yet here she is.
A trail of unfamiliar magic, even stale magic, is just too interesting to let alone. Her curiosity may well get her killed one day, and it may be here: small as ever, in her heavy wool jacket and wishing she'd worn heavier shoes than Chuck Taylors, Ashley doesn't exactly blend into the neighborhood. But something about her, perhaps that air of relentless hunger, the predatory glance she occasionally directs at Sleepers, is enough to make them give her a wide berth as she makes her way down the sidewalk.
[Jarod Nightingale] There was one person in Bronzeville tonight who stuck out like a sore thumb. He'd just stepped out of a black BMW parked at the curb, shutting the door behind him and hitting the alarm system. The car's headlights flickered, and it made a pleasant chirping sound. One had to wonder if it was a terribly good idea to trust such a beautiful piece of machinery in this particular part of town. Likely, Adam had the right idea in keeping a junker around for these particular occasions, but Jarod Nightingale wouldn't be caught dead driving anything that wasn't up to his rather exacting standards.
He was here for the reasons that one might expect: drugs. Not for himself, but for the stash he regularly kept in his penthouse. A good host always provides, after all. Giving a look around, Jarod contemplated the state of the neighborhood with a slight frown. Something wasn't right. Even moreso than usual. And the last time he'd been out here, there had been undead monsters involved. Which bore the obvious question... perhaps he ought to find himself a different dealer.
[Blind] Jarod's car doesn't appear to have grabbed anyone's attention yet, or atleast nothing overt, but then he has only just stopped it.
People on the street occashionally brush near to ashley, but no one pays her any attention enough to notice she doesn't blend in really, certainly not as she doesn't not blend quite that much. Jarod on the other hand with the car and the snazzy dress got a glance or two from passers by, but people seem in a hurry to be out of the pervasive and intrusive wind, and out of the suffocating pressure of the area more than see what happens to the upper class guy who's stumbled into the wrong part of town.
[Jarod Nightingale] [Perception+Awareness]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 3, 7 (Failure at target 7)
[Jarod Nightingale] He was dressed casually tonight, if you could call what he had on "casual." The jeans on his lower half looked like they might have cost more than Adam's Pinto, and they fit him perfectly. On top, a black silk buttoned shirt, and a knee-length black mohair coat from Armani. The air was surprisingly cold here, and the wind bit into the skin like tiny daggers, but the elegant creature by the BMW looked as if he might have been right at home in the frigid temperatures of deep winter. Autumn wind chill was barely noticeable.
He was a cold-weather person. The wind ruffled through his hair, sending his coat billowing, as he turned and started walking down the sidewalk, heading in the direction of his dealer's apartment.
[Ashley McGowen] If they aren't paying attention to Ash, so much the better; she's entirely absorbed in observing the warping and swirling patterns of the Tellerium, trailing the wisps of magic. She tracks them down the road, from time to time glancing down alleyways as she passes them.
It's cold here but she keeps her hands tucked away into her pockets, mentally filing away what she can about the appearance and colors she can see in the streams.
[Blind] The patterns lead her to the same direction Jarod was walking, past the BMW and to a small shanty looking building, it has a condemned sign, not that it really needs one, the entire building looks like it could collapse if it rained to hard, or you stepped in the wrong place. Of course that doesn't mean it would. It's obviously old, and from the wood boarding the windows and doors it's been there a long while since it was condemned. So perhaps it will just remain an eye sore.
[Ashley McGowen] It's hardly unusual to see an abandoned house in a rust belt slum, and so Ash nearly passes it by - would not have noticed anything particularly unusual about the place at all had the trail of magic not led right here. She pauses in front of it; it's entirely possible that she is not the only person to have noticed the trail, and who knows who might have been here before her.
Her wandering eyes take her to Jarod; as open as she is to the swirls of magic around her right now, he'd be impossible for her not to notice even if he didn't stick out as badly as he does.
It takes Ash a moment, but she does recall seeing him. It was a long time ago, in another place a bit like this, maybe. "Hey," she says, cautiously, as he gets close enough to be within comfortable speaking distance.
[Jarod Nightingale] Some days, his senses just failed him. Maybe tonight he was simply too lost within his own head to be aware of what was going on around him. Regardless of the reason, he seemed about to walk right past the run-down building, when someone addressed him. Jarod paused and glanced over at Ashley, his indigo eyes focusing on her face. There was a moment as gears seemed to turn within his head, then click into place.
"Oh, hello. Fancy finding you here."
He rarely forgot a face. Especially not when that face had been attached to resonance. The slow smile that crept up onto his features was both beautiful and remarkably feline. Like a cheshire cat.
[Ashley McGowen] He recognizes her too, and the smile is mirrored ever so slightly - a quirk of the left side of her mouth and little more than that. It's evidently as pleased as she gets.
"Did you follow the trail out here?" she asks him, a little hard pressed to find a reason for why he would be out here otherwise. Then again, she did meet him in the south side of Chicago initially.
She takes a hand out of her pocket, letting the arm fall to her side in a manner that is distinctly more relaxed than she was when she was making her way through the streets. She jerks her chin toward the house in case there was any way he could have missed her implication.
[Jarod Nightingale] [Prime Sense - Coincidental, diff 4-1, focus - moonlight]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 4, 7, 10 (Success x 3 at target 3)
[Jarod Nightingale] On even the best of circumstances, Jarod could be a bit disinclined to disclose information to people he didn't know very well. So when Ashley asked him if he'd followed a trail out here, rather than explaining what he was actually doing, he looked up past her, towards the abandoned building just behind where they were located. The moonlight helped. He was always better able to see patterns at night, and suddenly now... the swirling mists of resonance shimmered into existence.
"No," he finally replied. "But I am now."
Better late than never.
[Blind] Jarod see's White and gold warpings twisted together in and around the building, and then off down the road the direction that ashley has come from, dipping into an alleyway and fading, they're fading al the while, already old and stale most of the trace to them is gone, onlt the warped changes to the telerium as it smooths itself back over, errasing the magic.
to Jarod Nightingale
[Ashley McGowen] He doesn't say what he was actually out here for, and Ash doesn't ask. Though herself inclined to nestle in with her library on most days, she's well aware that that isn't how many of her Awakened colleagues spend their time.
"Good," she says, taking a few steps toward the house in order to follow the trail to its source. "It'll save me a return trip with help if we end up finding something down there."
And, with those words in mind, she proceeds cautiously forward.
[Blind] The door is boarded up, as are the windows for the most part, but it's evident people have broken into here many a time, and the boards are not hard to remove.
[Ashley McGowen] [Perception + Alertness]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 4, 4, 6, 8 (Failure at target 8)
[Jarod Nightingale] There was a moment of slight hesitation on the part of the unusual Verbena, though it was for reasons that would likely make a girl like Ashley look at him sideways. Not fear. Not concern for their well-being. Something much more superficial.
Ultimately, though, he stepped forward after the Hermetic, reaching out to grab hold of the boards on the door and pull them aside, helping to create a big enough space for them to duck through. As he did so, he was careful not to let his expensive coat snag on any nails or splinters.
[Blind] Ashley steps in, it's dark and musty and there's dust smeared along the floor, it's evident from the smell that it's not a water tight area, the stench of rot is mixed in with the dust. there is very little light though and she struggles to see anything much of the hall, there's stairs leading up, the hallway, and of course doorways off, non of which seem to have doors in them.
[Blind] The magic seems to snake up the stairs, and it seems to be a little stronger as it does, perhaps where the spell was first cast, or where it's target now lies. it's hard to trace which end it might be at the moment, though it seems less faded, a little stronger though still it's slowly bleeding out of existance. whilst the core lines have spread in a deffinate way it seems to have tainted the entire place, and that is how it looks and feels, taineted, unplesant, uncomfortable in the extream. The suffocation that was outside amplified, and the temperature, that wind snapping seems a little worse in here aswell.
[Ashley McGowen] The clothing on Jarod's body probably cost more in total than what Ashley can expect to bring in over a month. He is leery of snags and the layer of dust and grime that coats the house. Ordinarily Ash might be too, but right now she's driven solely by her urge to consume whatever tidbits of information the house might have to offer.
She squirms easily into the small space Jarod opens up, blinking away the fine powder her foot sends up into the air as she steps through. She takes a moment to gain her bearings, waiting for Jarod to step through before she moves toward the stairs.
"I'm blind in one eye," she informs Jarod. "Keep a look out, if you would."
[Jarod Nightingale] [Better Body - Perception - Coincidental Life 3 effect, diff 6 -1focus -1practiced rote, spending WP]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 8, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 4) [WP]
[Jarod Nightingale] [Perception+Alertness]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 4, 6, 6, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Blind] Jarod notices the dust on the ground, he can see where it's been disturbed recently, he can see footprints, or what would be footprints, they're not quite, but they're getting there, probably a mans footprint, considering they look a little large to be a woman's, there's also another smell, hidden under the dust, a metalic smell, a living smell, the smell of blood. Blood has been spilt here, not freshly, but recently.
to Jarod Nightingale
[Jarod Nightingale] The tall Chinese-American halfbreed stepped inside the house shortly behind Ashley, having to duck to do so, and straightening as he got inside. It was dark. Musty. And the smell made his nose crinkle slightly in distaste. Ashley asked him to keep an eye out and he nodded.
"Give me a moment, I need to adjust to the light."
And given the circumstances, there wasn't any harm in helping his senses along a bit. Jarod closed his eyes and focused, and his hands went up to touch his face, tracing fingertips over his eyelids and sweeping down over his ears and neck. When the effect settled into place, he opened his eyes again, and it was if someone had flipped on a light switch. Details were much easier to make out, and he looked around the room to take in the state of the place before moving forward again.
"I can smell blood," he whispered quietly. "And there's footprints in the dust."
[Ashley McGowen] Ashley nods, willing to let him do whatever he needs to do. She waits, arms hanging at her sides, as his fingertips trace over his eyes and his ears. She has to learn to do that someday.
"Footprints? Do they go upstairs? The trail does," Ash says, pausing in her trek toward them. It's like walking on the moon in here: as she goes she leaves small prints, dust mounded around the imprint of her shoe.
"I don't think there's anything up there," she says after a moment, "but you may want to go ahead of me."
[Jarod Nightingale] [Because we're having so much fun with magic today - Life Sense on the next floor up - Coincidental, diff 4 -1focus]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 1, 5, 8 (Success x 1 at target 3)
[Blind] The magic sweeps up through the house and sings back to him all the life that's there, which is a very quiet song because the only life that remains in this building outside his companion and him are insects.
to Jarod Nightingale
[Jarod Nightingale] "Other way. They go down the stairs and out."
He relaxed slightly and moved forward, content for the moment to let Ashley keep the lead.
"No one is here but us. Nothing alive, at any rate."
Which, given his last unpleasant encounter? Didn't necessarily mean that they were alone. If Ashley moved up the stairs, he'd follow. If not, he would go up them of his own accord, stepping quietly despite his profession that there wasn't anyone there to hear them.
[Ashley McGowen] The footsteps go down, but the trail goes up. Well, the supernatural was what drew her here in the first place.
"Okay. Thanks," the Hermetic says, as she begins her ascent. Her footsteps are not as quiet as Jarod's, but she's small and she does try to be careful about where she puts her feet. She peers up over the stairs as she reaches the top, reluctant to step into full view just yet.
[Blind] The smell of blood trickles down to Jarod, stronger, sweeter, that metalic tang to the air that eludes Ashley, who to her credit is watching the strings of the effect they've followed here, they can both see where the trail filters up, into the attick the hole in the ceiling is open, though there's nothing to assist getting up to it, not without dragging something from another room or else where. There's a three legged stool in one of the near rooms, it evidently was once a four legged one and thus is a little unstable, there's also a few boxes, though they'd need to be stacked two to be high enough for either to reach the hole, and three to be easy to climb in, which may then make it awkward to climb onto them to begin. stool is two and a bot boxes high, and so will still probably wobble with two under it, but less so. that's if they bother looking at all and aren't just going to do boost ups
[Jarod Nightingale] Once they reached the second floor, Jarod looked around, taking stock of the situation. The place was empty, but for one wobbly stool and some boxes. And from the direction of the trail, they were going to have to get up to the attic somehow. The verbena walked over to stand beneath the opening that led to the attic, gazing up at it.
"Come here, I'll lift you up."
[Better Body - Strength this time - Same deal, diff 6 -1 -1, spending WP again]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 7, 8, 10 (Success x 4 at target 4) [WP]
[Ashley McGowen] Ash nods, walking over to stand just underneath the hole that leads up to the attic. Small and slight as she is, Jarod probably isn't going to have a lot of trouble lifting her, especially with the effect.
"Ready when you are," she says, prepared to bear the indignity of being lifted into the air like a child trying to get at a jar on the top shelf. It's all for discovery.
[Blind] Ashley gets lifted up and can see into the attaic, but barley, there's no direct light up there, a few streaks of light escape in from the outside but she can't actually see much of anything up there, and what she can is indistinct. The thing however she can do, is she can smell, when jarod said he could smell blood, well she can aswell now, faintly, indistinctly, but she can smell it.
[Ashley McGowen] Ashley grabs on to the nearest beam and pulls herself up into the attic so she can get a better look around, remaining crouched down both for balance and to provide a small target, should something be up here.
"I can smell the blood now," she says softly, looking down out of the hole and back at Jarod. Then she looks up and around again, still trying to follow the trail.
She offers a hand down for Jarod to grab onto in the event he wants to try to hoist himself up, keeping her other hand tightly wrapped around the beam.
[Jarod Nightingale] Better than the indignity of having to crawl atop a pile of wobbly boxes, at least. Jarod took a moment to focus again and cast another effect, and as the surge of strength flowed through him, he reached down and lifted the small woman up to the opening, boosting her up until she was able to climb through.
This left him standing alone down below, waiting to see what Ashley might find. Now she could smell the blood too. She reached a hand down to him and he contemplated it for a moment before shaking his head.
"Probably not a good idea. Just get back, and I'll try to jump."
[Blind] The effect deffinatly took place up there, at the sight it's visibly the sight of it being cast, the trail then, leading away. though the exact effect nature is hard to pin down up there, it's old, perhaps a day or so old, but it was a potent effect she can see that, one that took alot of time and preperation. And one that makes her spine shiver even now, the room is colder than it should be, it feels dead up there. There's no sign of anything that looks like it would especially belong to any high, or low ritual magic up there any longer though, and in the dark she can't see anything that looks like where the blood might be.
[Ashley McGowen] Her handicaps mean Ash does not trust her balance. She shuffles sideways on the beam to give Jarod enough room to jump up, keeping purchase with both hands gripped around it. It's lucky she doesn't have a dust allergy.
Then she raises her head to give another look around, her breathing becoming a little shallow in the dead, stale air. Crawling into the attic of a derelict house would be creepy enough on its own without the chilling resonance added as a factor.
"...Can't see anything up here, but it was a strong effect that happened, whatever it was. Someone took care with it. Probably happened a few days ago."
[Jarod Nightingale] It was a fair distance to jump. Under normal circumstances, he might not have been able to manage it. But the increased strength in his muscles would be a boon, here. Before making the attempt, he slid his arms out of his coat and draped it carefully over the banister by the stairwell. Then he unbuttoned and rolled up his sleeves, crouched down, and sprung up, reaching out to grab hold of the ledge and hoist himself up.
Dust. It was everywhere. Getting on his arms and legs now as he pulled himself in and stood up. The stuff was distracting, and he reached down to try and brush some of it off before giving the attic a good look.
[Jarod Nightingale] "It's a draining effect of some kind," he nodded in agreement, adding that last note as he looked around, taking in what he saw and sensed.
After a moment, out of curiosity, he decided to try something new.
[Spirit Sight - Coincidental Spirit 1 effect, diff 4, -1practiced rote]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 7, 8, 8 (Success x 3 at target 3)
[Blind] There's nothing there, though the spiritual reflection that leaks into the world with spirit sight seems greyer, a little darker, less plesant. Almost empty, or atleast colder, darker, warey.
to Jarod Nightingale
[Ashley McGowen] Ashley nods, digesting this information as she stays crouched on the beam. She reaches up and shoves some of her dark hair out of her eyes, not bothering to concern herself with the grime.
Jarod is having his look around, and Ash is a bit lost, as her skills do not lie along the lines of investigation. What she can do, though, is sense the presence of other minds, other Wills; beings in their purest state. So, reaching up to close her fingers around the link of iron at her neck, she extends her own Will outward to probe, while Jarod does the same across the umbra.
[Coincidental Mind 1 effect, diff 4]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 2, 3, 4 (Success x 2 at target 4) [WP]
[Jarod Nightingale] [Perception+Alertness]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Blind] Jarod's enhanced senses find the stench of blood in the room rather pervasive ,though he still can't pinpoint where in the room the blood is. The room has a chain that's padlocked round one of the bars overhead, some insulation, some holes in the roof, and some old chests and that's all that's really there to be seen.
to Jarod Nightingale
[Jarod Nightingale] "There's nothing here," he finally replied with an irritated snort. As if perhaps he felt he'd wasted his time. The smell of blood was starting to become rather pervasive, but it didn't bother him as much as it might have some others. Blood was something he was used to, after all.
The floor creaked slightly as he moved around, inspecting the room for anything that might be some sort of clue. When he got the one of the chests, he paused and reached down to open it.
[Blind] The shest disperses some dust, inside are some old VHS's, some photos, an old camera and some books. mostly paper backs.
[Ashley McGowen] "I'm not sensing any other Wills here, either," Ashley says. Her voice, too, carries a note of frustration. She casts about for something else that might be up here, something else that might tell her what happened.
Jarod reaches the chests, though; well, she can't see the chests, but Ash can see that he paused to look at something. She begins to skitter her way along the beam, trying to come up next to Jarod and peer at whatever he's looking at.
"Anything?"
[Jarod Nightingale] "I'm not sure yet," he pondered aloud, sorting through the chest's contents. The photos caught his attention first, and he picked them out and started flipping through them. In the darkness, he might not have been able to see anything at all, but the enhanced sensitivity of his eyes might help, where that was concerned.
"There's a few chests here. See if you can find anything in the others."
[Blind] They can search through all the chests, mostly it just looks like the kind of thing that a family probably left behind, someone forgot about, the odd trophies that were put into storage, old books and videos, photographs from holodays to the beach and abroad. Nothing that really catches the eye or the attention.
[Ashley McGowen] The chests are searched, and at the end, they have not discovered anything new about the effect that took place up here in the attic. Ashley finally casts the pictures back into the chest, her face creasing into a deep frown.
"I don't think we're going to find anything up here. We could try searching the rest of the house, I guess." She frowns into the chest. "Whoever cast that spell probably doesn't have anything to do with these people."
[Jarod Nightingale] Nothing of use. Once again.
With a little sigh, Jarod dropped the photos in his hand back into the chest and let the lid snap shut. He glanced around the room again, then paced over to where a chain had been locked in place around one of the support beams. Slightly odd, that was. He couldn't quite get a feel for what it might have been used for.
"I imagine you're right."
[Blind] There's a few scratches on the chain, and it looks newer than everything else there. What's more whilst he inspects the chain and finds no blood on it there are a few blotches of blood beneath it, but it's very few, a smattering, quite spread out though. As he's over by it the smell of blood is almost over whealming with his senses as heightened as they are.
[Jarod Nightingale] "Whatever happened, I think this was where it was."
He crouched down for a moment to inspect the drops of blood on the floor, but ultimately they wouldn't tell him anything. Just further proof that someone had been hurt.
"I'm going back down." Because it did seem like Ashley was right. There wasn't anything else there for them to find. Not without different spheres, at any rate. He walked over to the attic portal and climbed back down through it, holding on with his hands and swinging down before dropping back to the floor below.
[Ashley McGowen] Ashley hand-over-hands her way across the beam over to where Jarod is looking at the chain, and she has as close a look as she can get at it in the dim light through her single eye. It isn't much.
"...Yeah, I will too," she says, disappointment clear in her voice. The Hermetic is not one that likes to admit defeat, and she's been doing it a lot lately.
Ashley has a greater ordeal getting out of the attic than Jarod does, as jumping down is a recipe for a broken leg; she manages to slide off, dangle for a few seconds while she eyes the ground and prepares her feet for the landing before dropping the last few feet.
"Let's at least have a look at the basement before we throw in."
[Jarod Nightingale] "I don't think I saw one."
He reached out and grabbed his coat, dusting it off as he made for the stairs. They creaked as he made his way down, and once there, his suspicions were confirmed. No stairs in sight beyond the ones he'd just come down.
"Whatever happened here, I'm not going to be able to find out what it was. A cultist might help. I hear there's a few of them hanging around Chicago."
[Ashley McGowen] "Ah. Thought you mentioned that the footprints went that way." Ashley frowns and chews her lip as she straightens, and then looks ruefully at her palms, which are nearly black.
"I don't think I'll be able to figure out what it is either. I can check and see if anyone around here knows much about Ars Temporis. Or has a more involved understanding of Ars Vis. Either would be helpful right now."
Ashley rests a hand on her hip; an annoyed glance flickers around the room they landed in. "...I need a shower."
[Jarod Nightingale] "So do I," he muttered with renewed irritation, glancing down at his dirtied clothes.
"Do you need a ride anywhere? Suppose it's the least I can do."
He'd been too distracted by the situation at hand to really pay much attention to the hermetic until now, but now he paused to turn around and give her a long, steady gaze. As if he were sizing her up, to some degree. Then he turned and made his way back outside, through the front entrance. As the street lights hit him, he put a hand up to his eyes, wincing slightly. After peering around in the darkness, the change was a bit much to get used to.
Absently, he gave a little shake of his head, reaching the pocket of his coat to pull out a pair of sunglasses and slip them on. That was better.
[Ashley McGowen] Ash does her best to brush off the front of her coat and her jeans. "...Damn it, I just had this drycleaned," she says, frowning at the smear of dust down the front of it. "Ride home would be great. I walked down here when I picked up on the trail of magic."
He looks over at her, sizing her up. Ashley, well accustomed to this, fixes bright blue eyes on him in silence (well, the one remains slightly unfocused.) When he's done, she follows him out onto the street. A slight frown seems to be a nearly permanent fixture on the Hermetic's face normally; right now she is positively radiating ill humor.
"I'll try not to get anything on the inside of your car."
