Mage the Ascension: Rule of Shade

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Alright. Dont get yourselves killed" Russell replied.

"As for us" he said speaking to the other two in his group

"We need a concrete plan for getting in the door. I am capable of illusions, and mind-bending if necessary. We can even get permission to enter with my talents, if you can pull up information on next of kin for family members"

[Charon]

Jason simply smirked "Right, which dorm was she in again? We'll want the name of a few other girls in the dorm too. Then I can get us in easy as pie. Won't even need magic."

Jason paused then, looking back at the much older mage. "Well, you might need some to look a bit younger..."

[LadyTevar]

Supiyaw followed Arkady, once again hoping it won't come to a fight. As she caught up to the Russian Mage, she felt the need to reassure him again. "If it comes to a fight ... try to remember I'm on your side, no matter what I look like."

[Comrade Tortoise]

Jason simply smirked "Right, which dorm was she in again? We'll want the name of a few other girls in the dorm too. Then I can get us in easy as pie. Won't even need magic."

Jason paused then, looking back at the much older mage. "Well, you might need some to look a bit younger..."

"Do I look that old? Open the trunk... I dont want to change appearance in front of everyone... that would be interesting and lead to the universe kicking me in the teeth"

[Dark Silver]

Gren didn't wait for the others to play catch-up. If someone was dicking around the Node, he wanted to talk to Trang and get the skinny. The dragon wouldn't have co=operated with the others, he didn't know them, though if it was acting that way to even Jason....

Near Arkady, Stark, Sipuyaw and Boxer, Gren appeared, just behind their little group, "Ya'll coming along or what?" He waited a second, before answering the unasked question, "Co-locality, a useful process to run when you need to be two places at once. I'll wait for you in the Quad before I talk to Trang."

And with that, Gren's duplicate was gone, even as his other self stepped into the Quad.

The Elder mage waited for the others to catch up, before begining to speak, "What we have here is a Node powered by untapped imagination and human will. One of Steele's crazier notions that apparently panned out when they built the college. He redirected from of the Inherent Mageto-lines of the planet, and channeled enough quintessence into this spot, to jumpstart the cycle. and Trang the Dragon, was brought here to guard it. This Node is the most powerful one we control, it provide us with enough Quint to keep the gateway to the Horizon Realm open, and lets us conduct our research. The Mirrorshades would love to get their hands on this place....or the Rote Steele used to make it."

The Virtual Adept pulled several pairs of glasses, most in the form of sunglasses, from a inner coat pocket, and handed it to his charges, "Slide these on...you'll be able to see the Node for what it is..and see Trang."

Gren looked to Arkady, and motioned him to go off on point, and did likewise to Boxer, sending him in a oppisite direction. "Stark, Sipuyaw, back up Stark and Arkady just in case Trang gets froggy."

With that, Gren stepped into the Node's pulsing source, and called for the Dragon.

[frigidmagi]

Boxer slid on the glasses and did what he was told. He stayed quiet and waited to see what would happen.

[LadyTevar]

Supiyaw took the sunglasses and slide them on, sliding behind Arkady to back him up, letting Stark back up Boxer.

[Cynical Cat]

"Sunglasses, force field, magick, all is missing is leather jacket," said Arkady. "Next time." He walked ahead.

[LadyTevar]

" 'Next time', I don't plan on following you into a node to talk to a dragon," Supiyaw retorted to Arkady, trying to keep her voice light and teasing.

[Cynical Cat]

"Is good," said Arkady. "Confidence boost from jacket worth at least shapechanger back up. Maybe two shapechanger back up. Also, first time is hardest rule applies."

[LadyTevar]

"Sorry, felines don't run in packs," she replied, getting a little courage back herself just from the teasing. "After this, would you like to join me for a soak in the hottub?"

[Cynical Cat]

"Lions do," said Arkady. "May not want anything to do with hot after this."

[LadyTevar]

"True. But Lady Rowen demands bathing suits be worn in the swimming pool." There was definite laughter in her voice now. "No such rules for the hot tub."

[SirNitram]

"I will never get the attraction of leather jackets." Remarked the Technocrat as he flipped out his mirrorshades and donned them. Decked out with his signature shades and three piece powersuit, the Void Engineer nodded to the others. "Let's rock."

[Dark Silver]

As the others got into position, Gren allowed the Node to suffuse him with it's energies. He always felt better, more refreshed when he visited a Node as it's power flowed naturally through his Pattern, energizing his Avatar.

It felt different this time, and when he opened his eyes, he could see the thin tendrils of darkness which had begun to spread through the Node's lines. Performing a quick calculation in his mind, his vision shifted and pulled back, the point of reference changing to look down on the entire Quad. He picked out his points of reference easily, the remnants of the crime scene, the pedestals which marked the other two sites, and the students which still milled about in the afternoon. The Quad was unusually empty for the time of day, but Gren attributed that to the fact there was multiple murders here and none of the students - except the most macabre - wanted to be near them.

Having the quick look he required, he terminated the Rote, his vision restoring to normal, and he called out, his voice shifting only slightly, a slight reverb in it as he called out in both the Physical and Umbral planes - "Trangfalgulf," when he spoke the name, it almost sounded like a proper human one, "Lord of the Searing Flames, Keeper of the Secret Place, Eminence of the High Born Sons, I seek audience."

Gren waited, a quick skewed vision peek back let him know the others were still where he told them to be.

It took a few minutes, but the signs appeared, colors seemed to darken, as if the sun had left the sky, and the air became almost oppressively still.

"Speak quickly, Gren Grimnod," the Dragon said as he appeared, this time in the guise of a middle aged man of Eastern descent. "Your kind try my patience, assaulting my children..."

Gren puzzled this for only a second, Trang never had children - that Gren could recall. Infact ,he was pretty sure the Spirit couldn't reproduce - but only Steele or Rowin could answer with any certainty on it. Spirits were not his area of expertise.

"I come to speak to you concerning what has occured in this Place," Gren spoke, using his words carefully, "I was informed someone has been tampering with the lines of power, murdering innocents to corrupt this Holy site."

The man-dragon's eyes narrowed, "They killed my children!" the spirit turned man shouted, "They killed my children and ripped them from their wombs! And spread the carcass of to assault my senses!"

Gren almost took a step back from the viciousness in the dragon's voice, he could feel the rage as it crawled over him, like dragonfire seeking to consume his body.

"None of the Chan.." Gren began

"It was a Namer!" Trangfalgulf exclaimed again, the middle eastern man seemed to be looming over Gren by now, the anger and rage reflected in his eyes and face. The man looked like he was getting ready to attack the Elder Mage, but was holding back.

"Not. One. Of. Mines." Gren said again, speaking the words slowly, and enunciating each one clearly. Unlike Steele or Rowin, Gren had little patience and low standing when dealing with Umbral Beings. Steele usually handled these things. "Now...who is doing this Trang?"

"A Namer. A Demon in Mortal Guise. The smallness of it's stature belies depth of the darkness within. It looks like this."

And with that, Trang shifted forms, turning into a Asiatic man, barely five feet tall, with shaggy, unkempt black hair and striking green eyes. A scar ran down his face on the right side, in a star pattern. Trang shifted after a few moments, back to his previous form.

Gren nodded, and without offering the appropriate partings, walked out of the Node. Trang's stare would have killed a lesser being, with the venom and rage shown in his eyes.



"You got all that?" he asked as he approached Stark and Sipuyaw.

[LadyTevar]

"Yes.. I have gotten it all," Supiyaw answered, watching the angery dragon carefully. "And I believe him when he says his children were taken."

Her mind was working furiously. It was very possible to mate with a willing Spirit, although usually done in the Umbra. Those spirits that knew how to make a body on this side could mate just as easily. "He can take a human shape. He's on a campus of beautiful young women, for the past several decades." Her golden eyes went to the dragon, looking at him with new understanding. "We need to find the rest of his girlfriends... Now."

[Dark Silver]

"Considering I wasn't in very high standing with him before....and I more than likely just pissed him the fuck off by snubbing him without the proper departing protocols.....," Gren mused, casting a over the shoulder glance at the man-dragon even as it began to disappear again, "I doubt we'll get many answers out of him."

Gren mulled it over for a minute, "Honestly...I'm stuck with what else to do with him. Steele or Ro' usually handles the spirit stuff...I'm not good with this mystical mumbo jumbo. I'm the Code guy, not the Merlin."

[SirNitram]

"Great. Potential Class 3 Incursion/Hybridization. Personally, Gren, I blame you." Stark shook his head and cleaned his glasses fastidiously. "And me with no backup capable of sterilizing. Okay, time to do this the hard way. Anyone got any way to detect the likely... Partners?" The thought made even his inhuman insides twist. Disgusting. "Otherwise I say we just keep the shades active and watch for someone who looks odd."

[Cynical Cat]

"Wait," said Arkady. "Dragon is thaumavore, yes? And child of dragon would have much Quintessence? Girls being killed are pregnant, pregnant with fetus with much Prime. I'm no good with Ars Vitae, but Vis, Vis I can do. Find concentrations of Prime force and eliminate those who aren't pregnant girls."

[LadyTevar]

"Dont eliminate those not pregnant so quickly," Supiyaw answered Arkady, ignoring Starks' revulsion for a moment. "He's been here long enough to have bred with a generation or two. Some of those you see might be literal spirit-children."

Only then did she turn to glare at Stark. "If you and your former companions did less sterilizing, Gaia might have more strength to fight off infections."

[SirNitram]

"Should a supreme being exist, I would wager it would've stopped the Union from being there to do the cleansing if it didn't want us doing this." Stark said bluntly. "This planet needs us even more than the rest of the rocks. But I will explain what stands outside of Gaia's reach another time."

A nod is given to Arkady. "Switching to Prime Force scan." He reported. If the shades hadn't been there, the two could've seen his eyes becoming like telescopic scopes for a moment.

[Dark Silver]

Much in the same way, earlier that day Arkady turned on his Primal sense, so did Stark.

And in much the same fashion, Stark was assaulted by the auras of the Node. Ribbons of color, more great and bountiful than could exsist in the real world (except for the Horsehead Nebula) exploded around him, though the occassional tendril of black interrupted the colors. The tendrils reached into the sky, and suffused the ground - until the boundry of the Node.

It was not unlike Synesthesia, only with less heard colors.

At the thin boundry of the Node, colors were more subdued, and only thin tappering trails of Prime energy floated about. Those few people close enough to be seen, only barely glowed with the normal levels of Quintessential energies within them.

Gren shook his head as the others put their theories, still unsure of the ability of the Node's guardian to impregnant and breed without the Elder's knowing. "Be careful, stay out of the Node. I'll get in touch with the other Elders. Stark, fuck you, and you have my cell number. Call if you need help."

With that, Gren handed Sipuyaw the keys to his car, and started walking off, intending to teleport back to the Chantry as soon as he was by himself.

"Stay out of the Node for now...

[Charon]

Finding out what dorm the victim had been staying was a simple enough procedure. As Jason walked with a smile on his face towards the door, he slowed his stroll just a little bit, keeping his eye out for others that were walking into or out of the building and trying to time his movement towards it as best he could, taking out his cellphone and opening it.

"Hey hon, yeah I'm maybe a minute away." He paused for a few seconds. "Uhhh, main entrance." He paused again. "Yeah. Ok. See you in a bit. Love you."

Jason stepped up to the door as a girl was opening it herself and grabbed the edge to hold it for her as she stepped in.

[Comrade Tortoise]

OOC: Minor retcon for the sake of continuity

Russell got into the trunk and stayed bent over looking through it long enough for anyone around who may have noticed an older man go in to be gone or to have forgotten said older man. He went over the mathematical models for light refraction and the nm scale for light frequency in his head.

He came out with his gray hairs gone, wrinkles smoothed over, and generally looking like he was in his early to mid 20s rather than 20 years anyone else's senior. He looked it, but it was only an illusion and he certainly didnt feel it.

When jason approached the door, Russell was right behind him, looking for all the world to be one of the younger man's buddies.

[frigidmagi]

Boxer stayed quiet during all of this, they didn't need him to point out the noses on their face after all. He made a mental note to hit someone up for lessons on this spirit stuff. If a dragon could be sitting around watching stuff for decades then... Well later for that.

He didn't grasp Stark's problem at all, but later for that. There were alot of laters lately.

"Someone should go looking for the murderer. I think we can be sure that if he looks so recognizable while doing this... sick shit, that he can't have a less noticeable face. Where would a scarred half-Asian, half white man with some rather sick hang ups hang out here? Any ideas where to start?" Boxer asked.