3220/Written In Stone

Written In Stone
Date of Scene:	17 October 2015
Location:	Paragon City <CoH>
Synopsis:	Percy Winkley recruits magical heroes to investigate a mystical disturbance in Salamanca.
Cast of Characters:	606, 769, 774, 828

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Dr. Vahzilok (769) has posed:
    Salamanca is a lakeside resort town that has only recently opened back up for business. That means that they are pretty eager for tourists to come through, and with the reconnection to the Paragon Monorail, that's exactly what's happening! The 'Occult Studies Annex' of Paragon City University is under construction here, and that will probably be seeking enrollment eventually as well. Already, there's people in the area. One of them has requested a meeting with interested heroic types.

    After exitting the monorail and heading east, right down the street lined with tall, many-windowed houses, the university construction site will be reached. And standing nearby the construction site is the Contact the responders are supposed to meet. A red-haired young man in a black sweater with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, brown slacks, and brown dress shoes. He's the only person hanging around looking for someone here right now, with other civilians out and about on business or recreation. Halloween decorations are already up all around the town, including lots of pumpkins.

    This is a town that loves this season (and the money that comes with it. It seems like there's a candy store on every street).

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
     The monorail ride is an experience for Jimmy--but it beats walking with the Bel Air on the fritz. After a few minutes of selfishly spreading himself across the bench, he stands and stretches, oblivious to the disapproving glances of a few young college students. As the door whooshes open at the station, he clicks his tongue and points charismatically at a superhero, who promptly roles her eyes.

     Checking his watch (rather, tapping it insistently out of a hard-ingrained belief it will make the device work) he finds he's made good time. There is thusly enough time for him to make a stop by a gas station and buy himself a soda, which he sips casually on his way to meet the contact. Perhaps 'heroic' is a bit generous, but 'interested' is definitely an appropriate adjective for Jimmy. When he arrives, he raises his soda bottle in a greeting.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Dorian hasn't quite figured out this 'Halloween' thing. He has, however, figured out that disguises won't be needed in this particularly world. Really, even at the best of times they're not, but that goes doubly near at Halloween it seems. He can just say he's in costume!

    He's actually here to investigate this world's apparent lack of a solstice. That sounds like something that would happen in Thedas because of the Breach. Though he sincerely hopes it doesn't. Anyway, to the annex in construction!

    Dorian will be recognized easily, with the serpent-headed staff he carries. And he's not in costume, either, at least not for him -- it's his typical light leeather armor with the white cloak over it. Won't be too hard to tell it's him from the fact that he trips magical senses, too.

    He approaches the red-haired man, who he hopes is the contact. "Greetings," he offers pleasantly, to both the contact and Jimmy (who he doesn't know). "Dorian Pavus," he introduces, with a polite bow. He doesn't have a codename here, so he must be an offworld hero. To the contact, "I hope you don't mind, but I've taken the liberty of contacting someone I've worked with in the past. Just in case something goes awry."

Geralt of Rivia (828) has posed:
     And that someone is about five paces behind Dorian. It's none other than Geralt of Rivia - broad-shouldered, tall, grizzled, white hair and glowing cat-eyes. The monorail ride was certainly an... experience for the Witcher, who has shown up in Salamanca in full monster hunting gear. Even without the gear (which could be considered a very detailed costume), though, his unique mutations would probably cause him to stand out.

     Still, he's not sure about the pumpkins. It sounds like some ritual that he should know about - something to do with monsters? - but not one he's ever seen. So, he eyes some of the pumpkins, and then the candy stores. Hmm. Maybe he should get something for-

     Might be worth looking into that 'Sally'-

     Later. He's got a job to do. "Geralt of Rivia," he says to the trio of Dorian, Jimmy and the other young man. "Heard you've got a bit of a problem I can help with."

Dr. Vahzilok (769) has posed:
    Percy Winkley grins and returns Jimmy's salute, sans soda, and replies to Dorian with. "Not at all. More help is always welcome. Especially for something like this." He nods at Geralt's introduction. "Nice to meet you. And I sure hope you can help! I'm Percy Winkley, a member of a sort of... Mystical club known as the Midnight Squad."

    Percy looks over those gathered before him, hands on his hips, and says, "Basically, the stars in the sky have changed. That's a side-effect of Unification into the Multiverse, and that's understood, even if the chaos in the scientific and magical community due to all the astronomy shifts and astrological changes is still kind of major. But according to various calculations by the people who know about this sort of thing, as our local time synchronizes with the worlds and lands around us we should be seeing a synchronization of major celestial events as well." He gestures at the sky which still seems rather light for for autumn, even at this hour.

    "That means the Autumn Equinox, or Solstice, should have already happened, even if it would have taken place on a Wednesday instead of a Tuesday. We're not sure why it hasn't, but there's been increased supernatural activity of late. And some people out in the woods found something odd recently." He looks around casually, and then starts heading down an alley between a house and the construction site. Those who follow him discover a large stone tablet with a strange, crude symbol on it.

    "We're not sure what it is, or at least I'm not. But this isn't the only one. And researching the history of this area has revealed no sign so far that this belongs here, even though it's clearly ancient. What we DID find?" Percy turns and grins at the trio. "There's a mysterious organization that used to be set up in this area. Possibly magic users. They were called 'The Cabal'. We don't know much else about them right now, but there's lots of records to look over. Some people out there looking for evidence of supernatural disturbances could speed things up a bit. So how about it? Will you search for signs of the supernatural around Salamanca?"

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
     "Jimmy Wen, White Council of Wizards." The empty bottle is thrown deftly into a nearby trash can. He wipes his hands promptly, adjusting his sunglasses, then follows behind Percy. He rubs his chin, taking a peek at the tablet and examining it. While Jimmy doesn't have the brute strength other wizards might, what he does have is a strong grasp of supernatural lore.

     He examines the symbol on the tablet and mentally cross-references it with other arcane symbols he's encountered, looking for any resemblance. "Wish I had my library with me, but, eh." He lets out a low whistle. "Sure, I'm game."

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    "Pleased to meet you," Dorian replies to Percy's introduction. Also a nod to Jimmy at the introduction. And to Geralt a relieved smile. "Glad you could make it."

    He listens to Percy's account of what's been going on -- as well as what HASN'T gone on yet that should have already done. And increased supernatural activity too? "Would that have anything to do with harvest-time rituals?" Dorian inquires. "Not just the thanks to various deities, but just the natural wax and wane of the Veil?" He knows it as 'the Veil', that thing that separates the spirit world from that of the living. Of course there may not be anything like that here, but he does need to know.

    He also follows Percy down the alley to find the large stone. "Hmm... I hope there's no plans to move this?" he asks. "If this was placed here long enough ago that you're referring to it as 'ancient', it probably does belong here, yes."

    As for looking for clues? Dorian nods. "That sounds like a good idea," he replies. "People who know what they're looking for are always a better idea."

    He too looks at the tablet. It's another world's lore, though, so he's fairly certain there won't be anything in Thedas's libraries about it. Instead, he's looking through another eye -- his magical senses. If he can get a sense of what the thing does, he might be able to tell what it's for.

Geralt of Rivia (828) has posed:
     Geralt follows and listens along. "Good to see you," he says to Dorian. Otherwise, he doesn't say anything just yet, given that he doesn't speak unless he has something to say, and he doesn't have anything to say about things just yet. The tablet, however, immediately draws his attention.

     The Witcher glances briefly towards the medallion around his neck. If it's vibrating, that means there's magic in the air. It might not work in the Multiverse, of course, but it's always good to check the familiar tools.

     "The Cabal," Geralt murmurs. "Hardly a reassuring name. I'll take a look around for your monsters, of course - gonna want payment, though."

Dr. Vahzilok (769) has posed:
    "There's definitely an impact on the boundary between the spirit realm and the physical realm around this time of year." he confirms to Dorian. "And the ley lines have been weird for a bit now. The recent discovery of an underground city below this one might have something to do with it. The devastation caused by the Rikti Invasion has also been blamed. Some say the ley lines are 'sluggish', and others say they're 'in shock'. Unification has just further complicated things. People whose job it is to know what's going on with local mystical energies are being stumped because there's so many variables being introduced all at once."

    He umms a bit sheepishly at Dorian after the mention of hoping the tablet hadn't been moved, and says, "Well, this was already moved... From the woods it was found in. There's been a few, and since the Midnight Squad looks into these things, examining them was turned over to us. The tablet is ancient. But it didn't use to be where it was found. It was placed recently, but the actual material is from somewhere else. Salamanca is centuries old. No one has seen these things around here in all that time. It's possible for ancient things to be unearthed in unusual places, but for them to just be lying out in the woods? And several to be found in the same time frame? That's a bit too coincidental."

    He shrugs. "At least there's been no sign that moving them has changed anything. I wish I could have been there to look at them before they were excavated, but sometimes people who don't know what they're doing will mess with stuff before the experts even hear about it."

    At Geralt's insistence of payment, the young scholar smiles and says, "Well, I'm glad you're all willing to help out. And I'm sure we can work out payment. Even if you don't find anything, you'll get something for your time. If you don't take Influence, I have some Arcane Salvage I can spare. And if you don't take THAT... Well, we have a treasury. I can ask around about getting you some gold or something."

    Percy turn to Jimmy and says, "And yeah, if you wind up identifying the symbol before we do, that's also great. We have a minerologist coming down to see what they're made out of beyond 'rock'. Check if there's somewhere they come from other than here. It could narrow things down for us once we know that."

    Geralt's medallion vibrates slightly... Not a lot, but enough to indicate the tablet has been handled by or exposed to magical creatures or spiritual influences.

Jimmy Wen (606) has posed:
     "The giant tablet thing is more fertile crescent than continental America in my experience, but that's just my first impression. I'll come back with some stuff from home and we'll see what this symbol is."

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    As he refocuses his attention on his surroundings Dorian agrees to Geralt's words, "It does sound rather shady, doesn't it?" He's from Tevinter, he definitely knows when something sounds shady. He emits a 'hmmm' of thought at the mention of all the variables being introduced. "That does sound like a huge problem, and it's going to be difficult to investigate all of them. But every little bit helps."

    And then he finds out the tablet's been moved. "...Ah." A sigh. But yes, that is a very strange coincidence. "Another variable to introduce, I'm afraid. It's possible that this was a 'cap' of sorts, on a leyline," he suggests. "If that's the case, there could be a 'backup' of sorts."

    He nods to Jimmy's words of determining what the symbol is. "Also a good idea," he notes. "If we know WHO made it, we might get a clue of WHY. And then we can find out if this has anything to do with the problem."