10-01-2015, 09:43 PM
It was starting to become habit. Ritual, almost. Once a month, almost like clockwork, her effects begin to fray and fade. Reality begins to reassert itself and restore things to how it things they should be. It affords her some small protection, in the way that it masks her from memory. Her presence may be remembered, but the specifics? Her distinguishing features she tries to keep hidden, through clothing or a little makeup. But the general features? She’s just some youngish, average height woman with... hair?
The ritual begins as it has in the past couple of months. First, the painting on the wall. The crudely painted eye – it’s not like she’d spent a lot of time studying art, but it’s there for function more than aesthetics – is redrawn. The same pot of paint, about half used now, opened up and daubed along familiar lines. She pushes her will against reality as she paints, bringing them into conflict. Always, always conflict. Because isn’t this always a battle? She has her wishes and demands, consensus opposes them. There’s no other way.
Paint can and worn, almost solid brush set to one side on the worn floor, she looks at her handiwork and finishes the effect. She looks down at her paint-flecked hands, looks into the open eyes painted onto her palms. Bringing the effect to a climax, forcing her will into the pattern of reality for another month, she balls up her hands into fists. The eyes close. The ward reforms.
She sits back down on the worn couch. A little something cheap to make the place a little more liveable. Not home. What the hell is home? No, it’s a little something for comfort. Something that she really should get around to improving and repairing, but until she’s sure this is where she’ll be staying? It’s not really worth the effort. She grabs an open bottle of warm beer and takes a swig before starting on the next part of the routine.
Reality’s little favour helps hide her from notice, but there are those around who would spot her for what she is as soon as she walked through the door. So she works, once again, to mask her resonance from attention. She forces the piercing shadows that follow her around further out of perception. There’s no paintwork this time, simply her looking back at herself in the eyes on her palms.
The fight begins once again, somewhere in her mind there is the image of a dance. Two figures circling each other, just waiting for the right opening. Only this time, she stumbles and falls. And there’s the opening for the other figure to move in and attack. The effect is more than in her mind, though. She feels the blow in her body as well as her mind, twisting and falling from the couch as if someone had just connected with a perfect right hook. The world spins for a moment, a ringing in her ears from the blow. There’s the taste of blood. And there’s more.
She can feel it. What she was attempting to dampen down radiates from her more than it had before she’d started masking it. It feels as if the whole building has just gotten darker. Shadows deepen and lengthen. Every corner becomes a hiding place for something. Hell, the building itself becomes a less hospitable place as the shadows pierce the walls and imbue them with an impression of her radiance.
“Fuck!” Steel spits blood, running her tongue around the inside of her mouth to check whether her teeth were all still where they were meant to be. She’d have a shiner of a black eye in the morning. But right now? Right now she would be way too obvious if she went out, risked contact with any Awakened or anyone – anything – else sensitive to their kind. For now? She needs to hide. This place has some degree of protection now – the ward – but it’s not the most comfortable of places to be. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d been stuck somewhere she wanted to be away from would it? Hell, it wasn’t likely to be the last either. Life sucks that way sometimes.
---
“Is this where I say ‘I told you so’?” The man perches on a windowsill, illuminated by the warm light streaming by him.
“Oh, fuck off.” The light only reached so far. The window should have illuminated the room that she found herself in, once again. It wasn’t real. Or, rather, it wasn’t physical. Aspects of it were real, though: her and the man she idly throws insults at.
He rolls his eyes, looking back out of the window. “That’s it, exercise those debating muscles. But I did, you know. Tell you so. About how many times now?”
“Too many. And I still don’t care.” Inside the room, leaning against a wall where the light doesn’t quite illuminate, Steel flexes her jaw and probes the bruising with one hand. Oh yes, some things were real enough.
The man gives a sigh and watches something outside of the window, content to let it drop for now.
---
Night swings back into day, and the effects of the botched fight have left a mark. One of her eyes is swollen, the darkness of the promise of a bruise showing itself on the left side of her face. The room, though, is lit by sunlight. The windows have moth-eaten curtains covering them to some degree, but the warm light of the morning sun passes through the gaps and wakes Steel from a fitful sleep. She remembers the conversation, though. It’s not like she can get rid of him after all.
The shadows have returned to their former selves, no longer enhanced and empowered by the affect gone awry. And Steel? Well, her resonance is still open for all to sense. And that, still, is something she isn’t happy to allow. So once again the fight begins, the two figures circling. And this time? This time she pushes and fights and damned well gets what she fucking wants.
---
Effects now up:
Resonance mask. 8 successes: 3 to duration (month), 3 to subtlety, 2 to effect.
Ward over home. 8 successes: 3 to duration (month), 5 to effect.
Rolls:
Steel
[Refreshing Ward. Corr 2, coincidental: TN5. -1 Resonance, -1 Taking Time]
Dice: 2 d10 TN3 (2, 5) ( success x 1 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (3, 4) ( success x 1 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (2, 5) ( success x 1 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (5, 9) ( success x 2 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (1, 5) ( success x 1 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (7, 10) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Steel
[Cap at 8 successes]
Steel
[Refreshing resonance masking. Mind 2, coincidental: TN5. -1 Resonance, -1 Taking Time]
Dice: 2 d10 TN3 (4, 5) ( success x 2 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (1, 3) ( botch x 1 )
Steel
[Well, bugger.]
the devil
HDub witnessing!
Steel
Paradox: 2 dice, I think?
Dice: 2 d10 TN6 (2, 6) ( success x 1 )
Steel
Soak?
Dice: 2 d10 TN6 (1, 2) ( botch x 1 )
Steel
o.O
the devil
Ow.
Steel
Le sigh. Will write a post around all this, but would like to get all the rolling out of the way. Will say she just hides out for a day while the paradox effects fade and she tries again the day after?
the devil
Sounds reasonable to me!
Steel
Casting the third, trying the resonance mask again. Same difficulty as before. *sacrifices cookies to the dice roller*
Dice: 2 d10 TN3 (2, 7) ( success x 1 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (3, 4) ( success x 1 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (3, 4) ( success x 2 ) [WP]
Steel
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (4, 8) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Steel
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (8, 8) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Steel
And we have 8 again.
the devil
Woohooo!
The ritual begins as it has in the past couple of months. First, the painting on the wall. The crudely painted eye – it’s not like she’d spent a lot of time studying art, but it’s there for function more than aesthetics – is redrawn. The same pot of paint, about half used now, opened up and daubed along familiar lines. She pushes her will against reality as she paints, bringing them into conflict. Always, always conflict. Because isn’t this always a battle? She has her wishes and demands, consensus opposes them. There’s no other way.
Paint can and worn, almost solid brush set to one side on the worn floor, she looks at her handiwork and finishes the effect. She looks down at her paint-flecked hands, looks into the open eyes painted onto her palms. Bringing the effect to a climax, forcing her will into the pattern of reality for another month, she balls up her hands into fists. The eyes close. The ward reforms.
She sits back down on the worn couch. A little something cheap to make the place a little more liveable. Not home. What the hell is home? No, it’s a little something for comfort. Something that she really should get around to improving and repairing, but until she’s sure this is where she’ll be staying? It’s not really worth the effort. She grabs an open bottle of warm beer and takes a swig before starting on the next part of the routine.
Reality’s little favour helps hide her from notice, but there are those around who would spot her for what she is as soon as she walked through the door. So she works, once again, to mask her resonance from attention. She forces the piercing shadows that follow her around further out of perception. There’s no paintwork this time, simply her looking back at herself in the eyes on her palms.
The fight begins once again, somewhere in her mind there is the image of a dance. Two figures circling each other, just waiting for the right opening. Only this time, she stumbles and falls. And there’s the opening for the other figure to move in and attack. The effect is more than in her mind, though. She feels the blow in her body as well as her mind, twisting and falling from the couch as if someone had just connected with a perfect right hook. The world spins for a moment, a ringing in her ears from the blow. There’s the taste of blood. And there’s more.
She can feel it. What she was attempting to dampen down radiates from her more than it had before she’d started masking it. It feels as if the whole building has just gotten darker. Shadows deepen and lengthen. Every corner becomes a hiding place for something. Hell, the building itself becomes a less hospitable place as the shadows pierce the walls and imbue them with an impression of her radiance.
“Fuck!” Steel spits blood, running her tongue around the inside of her mouth to check whether her teeth were all still where they were meant to be. She’d have a shiner of a black eye in the morning. But right now? Right now she would be way too obvious if she went out, risked contact with any Awakened or anyone – anything – else sensitive to their kind. For now? She needs to hide. This place has some degree of protection now – the ward – but it’s not the most comfortable of places to be. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d been stuck somewhere she wanted to be away from would it? Hell, it wasn’t likely to be the last either. Life sucks that way sometimes.
---
“Is this where I say ‘I told you so’?” The man perches on a windowsill, illuminated by the warm light streaming by him.
“Oh, fuck off.” The light only reached so far. The window should have illuminated the room that she found herself in, once again. It wasn’t real. Or, rather, it wasn’t physical. Aspects of it were real, though: her and the man she idly throws insults at.
He rolls his eyes, looking back out of the window. “That’s it, exercise those debating muscles. But I did, you know. Tell you so. About how many times now?”
“Too many. And I still don’t care.” Inside the room, leaning against a wall where the light doesn’t quite illuminate, Steel flexes her jaw and probes the bruising with one hand. Oh yes, some things were real enough.
The man gives a sigh and watches something outside of the window, content to let it drop for now.
---
Night swings back into day, and the effects of the botched fight have left a mark. One of her eyes is swollen, the darkness of the promise of a bruise showing itself on the left side of her face. The room, though, is lit by sunlight. The windows have moth-eaten curtains covering them to some degree, but the warm light of the morning sun passes through the gaps and wakes Steel from a fitful sleep. She remembers the conversation, though. It’s not like she can get rid of him after all.
The shadows have returned to their former selves, no longer enhanced and empowered by the affect gone awry. And Steel? Well, her resonance is still open for all to sense. And that, still, is something she isn’t happy to allow. So once again the fight begins, the two figures circling. And this time? This time she pushes and fights and damned well gets what she fucking wants.
---
Effects now up:
Resonance mask. 8 successes: 3 to duration (month), 3 to subtlety, 2 to effect.
Ward over home. 8 successes: 3 to duration (month), 5 to effect.
Rolls:
Steel
[Refreshing Ward. Corr 2, coincidental: TN5. -1 Resonance, -1 Taking Time]
Dice: 2 d10 TN3 (2, 5) ( success x 1 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (3, 4) ( success x 1 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (2, 5) ( success x 1 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (5, 9) ( success x 2 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (1, 5) ( success x 1 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (7, 10) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Steel
[Cap at 8 successes]
Steel
[Refreshing resonance masking. Mind 2, coincidental: TN5. -1 Resonance, -1 Taking Time]
Dice: 2 d10 TN3 (4, 5) ( success x 2 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (1, 3) ( botch x 1 )
Steel
[Well, bugger.]
the devil
HDub witnessing!
Steel
Paradox: 2 dice, I think?
Dice: 2 d10 TN6 (2, 6) ( success x 1 )
Steel
Soak?
Dice: 2 d10 TN6 (1, 2) ( botch x 1 )
Steel
o.O
the devil
Ow.
Steel
Le sigh. Will write a post around all this, but would like to get all the rolling out of the way. Will say she just hides out for a day while the paradox effects fade and she tries again the day after?
the devil
Sounds reasonable to me!
Steel
Casting the third, trying the resonance mask again. Same difficulty as before. *sacrifices cookies to the dice roller*
Dice: 2 d10 TN3 (2, 7) ( success x 1 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (3, 4) ( success x 1 )
Steel
[Extending]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (3, 4) ( success x 2 ) [WP]
Steel
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (4, 8) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Steel
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (8, 8) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Steel
And we have 8 again.
the devil
Woohooo!