Deus Machina - The Last Grimoire (Inactive)

Game Master Rednal

"And with everything that's happening in here, why would anywhere on campus be safe?" With that, Walter pops out again and fires another burst of glowing missiles at the creature.

Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
recharge: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

"Is this thing ever going to die?"

Denton peers out at their adversary. "You sure it's even alive in the first place?"

Recharge: 1 round left

"I think it's almost there." the girl mused, peeking into the hall again. "As for why the dorm's safe, that should be obvious. I'll be there." her book crackled with power as it neared the completion of its recharge. "Whoever did this tonight was probably an amateur, and there's no way they'll be able to get through my wards when I'm ready for them. I mentioned before that I was told to come here, didn't I? My boss pretty much runs the magic studies in this area, and part of our job is to clean up messes like this." She thought for a moment, then frowned. "Just to make it clear, we are not a creepy magic cabal, okay? Aren't your grimoires done charging yet?"

Guess I'm still getting used to this.

Aiden launches another spell at the beast.

Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Recharge: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

The creature within the hall staggered under the continued barrage, badly frayed now - it seemed that it was on the verge of completely coming apart, and it wouldn't take much more energy at all to finish blowing it apart.

Denton shrugs. "Dunno, only used it a few times so far. I'm still trying to figure it... um... we're both still figuring each other out."

He places one hand on the book, palm flat, fingers splayed. "Whatcha say girl, you ready to go 'round again?"

After a quiet moment he says, "My fingertips are tingling. That must mean yes." He somewhat tentatively winds up and pitches again.

SR Check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17
Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 Bah.
General Recharge (Highest): 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

As the last magic missile shot through the air and struck the creature, several things happened at once. Its outer shell simply disintegrated, like fabric coming completely apart, and the missile continued on to pierce straight through a dark sphere that had been concealed within. The sphere cracked, then exploded outwards. Instead of crystal fragments, though, two pieces of paper drifted down to the floor. The girl took one look and immediately turned white. Well, whiter, anyway. She didn't really look like she got out in the sun that much.

Two Pages have appeared! Alarm and Unprepared Combatant can now be added to one Grimoire each - though it's up to the group to decide who gets what! At this point, each Grimoire can only absorb one additional spell, so characters cannot choose both...

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

Denton catches the woman's reaction. "What?"

Knowledge Arcana: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
"And I thought I had an ego. I don't mean to come across as antagonistic, but if you're so powerful, why did it seem like you were using the same spells that we are? I would assume that there were plenty of other options at your disposal which would have obliterated that thing much more efficiently. And speaking of, it looks like we're about to learn something new. Walter reaches down towards the page containing the knowledge of Alarm, mumbling to himself, "The gold calls to us... Ello poppet."

"I'd ask why pages popped out of him but honestly I don't really care right now." Aiden grabs Unprepared Combatant and starts heading for an exit. "Let's get out of here before something else tries to kill us."

Both Aiden and Walter's books seem so strain somewhat, trying to get closer to the held pages as quickly as they could.

The girl stared at them for a few moments, then rubbed her eyes. "Okay, I was wrong." she said. "That monster wasn't a byproduct, it was created from the powers of a Grimoire's pages. What the hell?" she tapped her foot, irritated. "Okay, those pages? They're sort of like computer programs that a Grimoire can run, but here's the thing: a Grimoire that loses a page with a spell on it can't use that spell anymore. Somebody deliberately took a few pages out of a book to create that monster, but it was incredibly weak... that makes no sense at all. That's way too much power to give up for something as wrong as that, and amateurs can't create that kind of... aaaaaagh!" She raised one foot and kicked the wall a few times. "It is way too late in the day to be dealing with crap like this! Look, you want answers? I'll give them to you in the morning. Allison Hazel. That's my name. If you care about living, do what I said. If not, I'm not taking any responsibility for whatever happens."

And with that, the girl booted open the nearby doors and walked out, as grumpy when she left as when she'd arrived. There were far too many questions here... but as always, those who wanted answers would have to seek them out. Still, considering the flames that continued to grow through the building, perhaps it was time to leave...

Denton silently watches her leave, then looks down at his book.

"If a page torn out is forever lost to that book, then maybe the professor didn't do it herself. Or if she did, the situation must have been desperate beyond belief."

He looks at Walter and Aiden. "I'm not sure about her, but either we go our own way -- and I dunno about you two, but I'm clueless -- or we presume she knows something about this and trust her enough to head to the dorm. In any case, we sure can't stay here."

"Whatever we do, I'd like to swing by my place and grab my hanbo on the way..."

"Sure but let's make it quick Sal. Any opposition Walter." Aiden will follow Denton.

"None. After everything that's happened, even knowing beforehand what has been said about this place, I need some time to restructure my priorities," Walter says the last part with a small chuckle. "I brought everything I thought I'd need, though I should probably put in a phone call to my aunt and ask her advice. She's a practicing Wiccan, but I've never really talked to her about what that entails. F+$! it, even she'd probably call me crazy if I tell her about some of this stuff."

Sorry about the delay. Work schedule is getting the better of me again. I'm really starting to dislike my new boss.

As you finally leave the building, a burst of red flares up behind you - yet despite the fires that are still burning, and the major damage to the outside of the library, there is nobody else within view. Indeed, the entire university seems quiet, and only a few old lamps exist to light the way down the paths to wherever you choose to go. The dormitory Allison mentioned is probably the closest place to rest, but it is possible to head back to where you spent the night before...

I'm fine with going to Ally's dorm; Denny just wants to make a quick stop to grab his stick (the hand-waving of which is fine by me).

"Somebody should've noticed all the weird stuff going down by now. You think that girl's 'warding' is keeping all this under wraps somehow?"

Denton looks at Walter. "I'm not into the whole Wicca deal but an open, unassuming mind is critical to good science. So, I don't dismiss things out of hand. And at this point I'm thinking calling your aunt would be a good idea. Got a cell on you? There's probably a phone in the dorm if not."

I have to apologize for being "uninvolved" lately as well; this last week was nuts, and then a Windows update messed up my machine. Still dealing with the carnage but at least I can remote in to post from work again.

"I don't. Haven't needed one until now; I use Skype or Facebook for everything. Maybe something to look into tomorrow, assuming nothing like this happens again. My laptop is back in the old room. If we're going to grab your hanbo, I'll make a pit stop to grab my evac bag and send her a message when we stop for the night. Let's get a move on, though. To your place first. A weapon is more useful at this point than my laptop."

"To be brutally honest I don't think a stick will be much of a weapon against what we've been seeing. I'll just feel more comfortable with it in my hands, is all. I guess it's my woobie," Denton says with a lopsided smile as they hustle onward.

You're able to reach your destination without incident - the night remains quiet, and eventually the flickers of red from behind you seem to die away entirely.

If you'd like, you can choose to roleplay gathering your things. If not, we can move on to the next destination. It's your choice. ^^

I'm okay either way, so long as Walter has a chance to grab his stuff. And if Aiden wants/needs anything too.

"Let's get some rest before anything else crazy happens. Once I've rested I'm going to want to discuss all this for hours haha."

I'm good, at most Aiden would grab a change of clothes. Edit: I meant for Aiden to be saying this at the dorms were staying at.

Okay, I suggest we move things forward then, so we can get our new player(s) on board! :o)

Dooo it! I'm just grabbing the laptop from my room and the pentacle she gave me as a gift when I first left home (assuming it's not too late to add that to my list. I can tell you the shop in Old Sac that she got it from if that helps lmao).

You're able to retrieve a number of basic items from your rooms (including a certain hanbo, clothes, and certain mentioned electronics...) before making your way to the dormitory that Allison had mentioned. The rooms are ready and waiting for you, though they have the distinctive sense of being intended mainly for guests, and not proper residents... a little bit odd for a student dormitory. Once there, you're able to rest...

It is now Monday morning, the first day of school for Miskatonic University, and a familiar face is waiting for you in one of the rooms on the first floor. Judging by the smell, breakfast is complimentary, and neither Allison nor the others within the room have waited to begin eating.

Mouth full of waffles, syrup dripping from his chin, Rory looks up as Walter, Denny, and Aiden enter the room where breakfast is being served.

"Hello there," he says through his food-stuffed face, "good thing you guys decided to show," swallow, "I was about to go back for thirds!" Not waiting for a response, he continues, "So, Allison here tells me you lot are crack magical fighters from Awesometown."

Wiping his face clean, he says more soberly, "Seriously though, I'm sorry I didn't get in sooner, but this whole magic-is-real-and-you-can-use-it-with-your-awesome-new-book thing is still a little fresh..."

"I don't know awesome we really are friend. I'm Aiden, I'll allow the others to introduce themselves." Aiden looks slightly distressed.

To Walter and Denton, he says, "It occurred to me once the adrenaline and awe wore off, we lost someone else down and we didn't even notice. We should speak with Allison and try to figure out the whole story on what happened in that building. I suppose we should eat, as well. Learning on an empty stomach is no fun."

Aiden grabs a plate and loads up. As he begins his mood improves and you can see excitement at what they may learn.

Walter responds to Aiden first, while filling a plate and beginning to eat. "Indeed. Loss of manpower is, unfortunately, inevitible in conflict, but that we didn't notice it happen is what disturbs me. Don't beat yourselves up over it. There was a lot going on that we didn't have the greatest grasp of. Looking out for each other is just going to become something that we all need to focus on a bit more. Assuming that last night's events were not a fluke, Allison?"

"Learning on an empty stomach is no fun."

More seriously before heading to the buffet, he adds, "Yeah, Val... she acted kinda ditzy but I think that's all it was, an act. She seemed pretty sharp, and a nice person, too. I didn't even see what happened. And losing the professor like that... that's just... wrong."

He shoots a look at Rory. "So you're clued in on the books and what's going down around this place? Man, I feel totally out of sync."

Rory wipes his hand on his BabyMetal T-Shirt, and shakes Sal's hand, "Rory Dunne, friends call me Rory, or just R if they're feeling lazy." Switching gears with Sal, "I wouldn't call it being 'clued in' exactly, but from what Allison tells me, the grimoire is the source of magic, each page is a spell, more pages=more spells and vice versa...am I missing something?"

"Rory Dunne, friends call me Rory, or just R if they're feeling lazy."

"Missing something? Well, you missed a whole heapin' helpin' of bizarre monster madness last night. Be glad you did, it was like living inside a 'B' movie!"

"About that..." Allison said, coughing as an embarrassed flush crossed her face. "Last night was a little bit stressful, and I may have been a bit more upset than I should have been. None of you deserved me acting like that, and I wanted to apologize." she quickly began putting more food into her mouth, swapping it with the occasional drink of water.

"Well I hope 'Original Recipe' is more pleasant than 'Extra B!†¢╫y', but you can kinda be excused, considering. I don't think any of us were at our best last night. How about we all just wipe the slate and start fresh?"

"Besides," Denton says with a grin as he takes a bite of food, "you're too damn cute for me to stay mad at. Unless you really cheese me off."

"Lol yeah, pirates," Rory chuckled, distracted by the phone in his hand, as he brought his cup of tea to his lips.

A tall auburn-haired freckled Asian guy with wild eyes walks up with a tray overloaded with random foods, a gym bag hanging from his shoulder.

"Awrite. Ye main be th' other new troaps lil' Allie tauld me abit. Can ye believe Ah thooght thes was a basebaa scholarship?"he says, laughing.

"But seriously, thes whole book and magic thing's pretty cool, yeah? I'm Michael Sato, but you can call meh Mike, or Sato if ya prefer."

He sets his tray down heavily on the table and holds out his left hand to the others, smiling widely.

"Don't get me wrong, I always want to learn but I enjoy it the most when not distracted by silly things like hunger or being attacked by monsters. Allison, do you know why weren't told the truth when we met for the ritual? Also, we never really performed the ritual but we seem to have to gained its benefits."

The girl shrugged. "Dunno. I mean, it's obvious that something weird was going on... I'd never felt my book so scared. At a guess, they might have decided to link with you all on their own." Despite her greater experience, it wasn't like she knew everything about how magic worked, and she might well be just as lost as they were on the subject. She did give a glance to Michael, though. "...Repeat after me: Grimoires are not toys." she said, a bit wary. Who knew what bizarre things might happen if people decided to do something crazy? And they couldn't really pick who got the things, either; the sample pool was limited to what the books thought, and that was more than a little frustrating for any researcher.

With his mouth full of some kind of meat, he smiles and repeats in a solemn tone: "Grimoires ar bot doys."

He swallows, then adds "Karera wa tada atarashī tsūrudesu yo ne?" in a cheerful tone.

After his "basebaa scholarship" comment, Rory leans over to Sal and

Walter continues eating, not planning on adding anything more to the discussion unless asked directly. Instead, he turns his efforts towards taking stock of the newcomers; measuring up their attitudes and where they're likely to fit best in the event of another combat situation.

Rory's a bit of a slob, I'm going to have to try and instill some dignity in the man before long, or else take my meals seperately. Walter's gaze swept over to "Mike" and immediately noted two things, Left-handed and should be decent in close quarters with a weapon. Between him and Denton, we'll have front and rear security covered. Never rely on him for anything requiring exact pronunciation.

Allison was a bit harder to peg, despite having spent more time in her company than that of the other two. More knowledgeable than the rest of us, at the moment. A little bit of a temper, but not enough to impair judgement - do our emotions affect the power or consistency of the spells we cast? Worth looking into. Keep her nearby. Test her leadership abilities for the event of my incapacitation. She mentioned that she worked for someone. Assume that she will be unreliable in the long-term, but we all can learn from her while she's around.

Satisfied with his initial assessments, Walter returns his attention to the breakfast that he had been pushing around his plate and picks up the rest of the conversations.

Denton likewise leans towards Rory...

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

... but can't make out what's whispered over the general background noise.

He mouths "What?" with a quizzical look on his face, but Rory just chuckles and gives a "Never mind" shake of his head.

Denton nods once at the newcomer. "Hey," he says around a mouthful of food.

"My book was scared too," he says to Allison. "But it calmed down completely when we saw that last weirdity stuck in the floor. Like, 'Oh, is that all,' or something."

I was whispering to Sal, he can hear me, the perception was for those trying to eavesdrop...my b for non-explanation

Oh, haha... I was wondering why you were giving me a DC for something you intended Denny to hear! Now I feel silly. Well, sillier than usual, I mean.

"Yeah, I'd noticed that." Allison agreed, nodding towards Denton. "You saw how weak it was, right? I don't think the grimoires would be scared of something like that... at least, I've never known mine to be wrong about judging threats. I think it's more likely that whatever created it was in the area until you saw the thing, and they relaxed because the real threat was already gone." she flipped her fork around and stabbed it into a piece of pancake. "Anyway, you'd better finish eating. We do have classes today, after all."

Rory put a second apple in his mouth, took his empty plate, and went around collecting those of the others who had finished. Once he'd returned them to the tray from which they'd been gathered, he returned to ask Allison something that was on his mind, "Should I be worried? The most I've gotten out of my grimoire emotion-wise has been boredom."

"I don't mean to intrude, but it would seem you should be opposite of worried if all you have gotten is boredom. Speaking of emotions, mine is still chomping at the bit to get at this new page. Allison, is there anything we should know about adding pages or would you say its best just let them have the ones we've found?"

Michael finishes his food quickly, straightening up at the mention of classes. As the others start to talk about their grimoires, his gaze starts to wander.

"Mine, I think, is at peace, or perhaps just quiet." he says as his eyes refocus. "Ah meen, th' book seems tae want tae help at leest."

As he says this last part, a big, goofy grin returns to his face.

"Hey, thanks dude," Denton says to Rory as he hands over his plate.

"Maybe there's some range limit? Anyway, getting terror vibes from a book... be glad you missed it. Seriously."

He looks over at Michael. "Yeah, I got a very strong feeling of mine wanting me to succeed, too. We kind of reached an agreement, I think; I promised to get it out of there and try to keep it safe, and I guess it's helping me learn how to use it."

"So, classes," he says to Allison. "What happened... was that just, like, par for the course around here? Extra-dimensional creepy-crawlies pop up, earthquakes, fires, people die, and the next morning it's class as usual? Or did you do some Jedi mind trick so nobody else even knows what's going on?"

"You're not fooling anyone." Allison muttered in Michael's direction. "For adding the pages, go ahead. The Grimoires seem awfully hard to spoof, and if they want it, then there's probably a good reason for that. As for how things normally are... nnnnno. Look, I'll admit that we get into some really weird research here, mostly because nobody else can notice magic itself no matter how hard they try. That was way worse than what we've seen before, though, and you can bet we're going to get to the bottom of it." she finished off the last bit of food from her plate, dabbed at her mouth with a napkin, and stood up. "Anyway, I'm heading to class. You can leave the plates there; the staff takes care of them." It wasn't uncommon for members of the school to spend practically every waking moment studying and researching, so they'd long since decided to avoid forcing them to deal with some of the more mundane concerns... dirty plates being one of them. With that, the girl stood up and began heading towards the door, pausing for just a moment when she reached it. She resumed moving, though, apparently thinking better of what she'd been about to say.

"Alright then, thanks." Aiden takes his Grimoire out of his bag, opens it, pulls the page from a separate section of his page and places the page in the book.

"I suppose we should get to class, as well." Aiden stands up and looks at his plate, looking as if he wants to pick up the plate and take it away but he resists. "Should we all meet here later to discuss plans on investigating what happened last night?"