Posted by Eldaeros
Today’s session marked the start of another ‘episode’, if you will, of our ongoing mage campaign. A week after the events of the first episode, the mages have started to come to terms with their new abilities, and the world into which they have been abruptly thrown.
Episode 2: Along Came A Spider (Part 1)
Game Session 4The session began will a short meeting at the Ashfield Estate as Oghma (William) introduced Jessica (Anita) to the group, and discussed the potentiality of forming a cabal. Malphas (Michael W), Budai (Joseph) and Shiryo (Michael H) agreed that such an arrangement would be useful to have, a response which Oghma took as a tentative yes. Tanuwa (Hawk) and Taranis (Aidan) were unable to make the meeting, and so Oghma made a mental note to speak to them later.
After adjuring the meeting, Oghma took Shiryo aside and discussed with him the thought of hiring Shiryo as a bodyguard of sorts, but will a level of autonomy that would allow Shiryo to pursue his own goals at the same time. Shiryo agreed to the arrangement on a trial basis, and Oghma informed him he would start immediately – he was attending a charity function that evening at Taronga Zoo, and liked Shiryo to accompany him.
Meanwhile, the others had similar plans to be at the charity fundraiser, although for different reasons – Malphas had been invited by his colleague, Samuel Allan (from Session 1); Budai was meeting his black market contact, Mr Qin; and Jessica was going with her sister thanks to some free tickets she got from working at the zoo.
Mingling with the crowd and enjoying the ample food and drink on hand, the awakened caught sight of each other on occasion but didn’t make contact until later in the evening when a sudden cry erupted from somewhere near the Reptiles and Spiders Exhibit, accompanied by the triggering of their unseen senses. Spurred into action, Oghma, Malphas, Budai and Jessica descended on the scene whilst Shiryo kept back and acted as a lookout.
Once they pushed through the gathering crowd enough to see what was going on, they watched as a young man attempted to perform CPR on an unconscious woman, while another called an ambulance for assistance. Nearby four other young girls, most likely companions of the victim, watched on with shock at the unfolding scene. The EMTs attending the fundraiser were quickly on the scene and were able to take over from the young man performing CPR, restoring the woman’s heartbeat but leaving her in an unconscious state.
The crowd slowly dispersed as the woman was carted away on a stretcher, leaving the mages to consider what had just unfolded. Using her Time magic, Jessica was able to see a vision of the events that transpired. She watched the victim sit down at a nearby fountain and, as the girl spoke to her friends, Jessica noticed a small, unusual spider crawl up to and bite the victim, causing her to scream and fall back into the fountain with shock. With what strength she had left she was able to stumble out from the fountain before collapsing on the hard concrete. The spider was nowhere to be seen.
As she relied this information to the others, Oghma offered to go back to his grandfather’s archives to see if they held any information related to the spider Jess described, and suggested that someone speak with the victim’s friends, whilst the others see if they can speak to the victim at the hospital, or at least examine her unconscious form for any more clues. Jessica and Budai offered themselves for the first task, whilst Malphas, whose sister worked at the hospital in the emergency rooms as a doctor, went with Shiryo to the hospital.
Speaking to the victim’s rather distraught (and drunk) friends Jessica and Budai, with a little help from Budai’s luck magic, were able to learn that, right before Sally (the victim) collapsed, a strange man smelling heavily of vinegar and wearing the Taronga Zoo staff uniform had rudely bumped into them and continued walking without a word of apology. They didn’t get a very good look at him, but described him as maybe six foot tall, medium build, and wearing heavy glasses that made seeing his eyes difficult. Leaving their investigations at that, Jessica and Budai contacted and informed Oghma of what they had discovered.
Meanwhile at the hospital, Malphas and Shiryo spoke to Dr Williams, Malphas’ sister, and with some help from some Mind magic (rolling a 10 to influence her!) managed to get her to escort them down to the mortuary (after learning the victim had died on the trip over) and keep a lookout to make sure no one interrupted them. They found two bodies in body bags in the mortuary, and another empty bag off to one side, but no sign of the victim, to which Dr Williams angrily responded was the third body in the last fortnight to have gone missing under strange circumstances.
As Malphas continued to look around the room he smelt a heavy odour of death, accompanied by a cold, heavy pressing sensation on his shoulders, as if someone was pushing down on him with heavy hands. Turning around to look behind him the sensation vanished, leaving the mage a little rattled.
Meanwhile Shiryo used his Time magic to look back and see the victim brought in by the ambulance staff and prepared for autopsy by the coroner. The coroner then received a phone call which he walked outside to take, during which time the victim got up from the autopsy table and stumbled out awkwardly, all the while her eyes remained completely shut.
After Shiryo informed Malphas of this development, Malphas sent his sister back to work as the pair followed the victim’s path, with Shiryo once again using his Time magic to witness the victim walking from the emergency rooms, into the parking lot and stealing a car, her eyes still remaining closed tight. Unsure how to proceed, Shiryo contacted Oghma and informed him of the developments.
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