Awakened Quest
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You are currently reading a thread in /qst/ - Quests
You are currently reading a thread in /qst/ - Quests
You find yourself standing in a desolate field, filled with fog and lit only by a dim moonlight. You're realize that you're completely naked, and are overcome with a deep sense of dread.
Something is coming for you. You start running, as fast as you can. Wildly, savagely, you claw your way through the tall grass, running on pure instinct and adrenaline, driven entirely by impulse, like a cornered animal.
You reach a cliff, and you can't even see land below. With no other option, you turn to face whatever's been chasing you...
You wake up in a cold sweat. The air in your cramped apartment is stale and warm, despite the lazy rotation of your ceiling fan.
A quick check confirms that you're clothed, at least in the day-old cheap lingerie you typically sleep in. You wipe the sweat from your brow and back yourself up against the cold, metal frame of your dingy bed, still reeling from whatever nightmare had possessed you. Your head hurts like a sonofabitch. A glance over at your alarm clock indicates that it's presently 3:26 AM. You groan, and get up to relieve yourself in the bathroom.
You can hear a roach scurrying away as you flick on the light. You take a moment to look at yourself in the mirror.
Your silver hair is frazzled and damp, your sickly pale skin is flushed, and your pupils are dilated to shit. Then that same scene on the cliff flashes in front of your eyes and your head starts burning red hot, and you reel back from the mirror and slip on the bathroom rug. Luckily the room isn't that big, so you only have enough space to hit your head on the wall behind you and slide down into the shower/tub.
You retch, and immediately vomit the meager contents of your stomach into the bathtub. You groan, pitifully, and cry a bit, then loudly exclaim, "Fuck!"
You hear a dog start barking, through the window, and slam your fist into one of the clean bits of the tub floor. The pain in your head has receded from burning, sharp intensity to a dull kind of static. "What in the fuck is this?" you angrily think to yourself.
After a few moments of truly pathetic languishing in the tub, you pull yourself out and sigh as you confirm that your panties are now stained with vomit. You discard them in the hamper and relieve yourself, then head back into your studio apartment.
(Continued)
>>356649
"Could be Eduardo selling me bad shit again," you think, as you fish through your dresser for clean panties. No luck on that front, but opt to you settle for a pair not covered in vomit. An image of the flashy Puerto Rican drug dealer's smiling face crosses your mind.
For a moment you concentrate on remembering the details of the dream. Nudity, moonlight, an intense fear - a curse? You recall your meeting yesterday with your "friend" and mentor, Quentin. He dispatched you on a "simple book-hunting mission" (his words) that ended in a shootout with some cartel goons. "Might be some bad juju bullshit from that Jamaican bitch," you ponder, as you run your fingers over the fresh scar tissue on your left elbow.
You're not going to be able to sleep for the rest of tonight - that's clear - but before you can decide what your next move is, you need to take stock of yourself.
Your name is Nadia Bisceanu, and you are a second-generation Romanian-American immigrant. You live in Baltimore, Maryland, in a shitty apartment building on the east side. You're kind of addicted to heroin, but it's an on-again-off-again thing. It's currently on. Your rent is three weeks past due and you're technically unemployed. You have no real friends and your formal education ended after high school.
Oh, and you're a mage, one of the Awakened.
But more on that later. First, which of these categories are your best attributes?
>A. Physical
>B. Social
>C. Mental
>>356650
>B. Social
>>356650
>C. Mental
>>356650
>C. Mental
>>356650
>C. Mental
You have a good head on your shoulders, but what specifically is your best attribute?
>A. Perception (being aware of your surroundings)
>B. Intelligence (raw intellect and knowledge)
>C. Wits (thinking on your feet, split second decision making)
Furthermore, of the other two categories which is your worst set of attributes?
>A. Physical
>B. Social
>>356747
>C. Wits (thinking on your feet, split second decision making)
>B. Social
for worst
>>356747
>C. Wits (thinking on your feet, split second decision making)
>A. Physical
>>356747
>C. Wits (thinking on your feet, split second decision making)
>B. Social
>>356747
>>C. Wits (thinking on your feet, split second decision making)
>B. Social
>>356750
>Wits
You have a sharp mind and good focus - you can good make snap judgements pretty damn reliably.
>Social
You're not good with people. How specifically are you bad with people?
>A.Charisma (the art of charm and being likeable)
>B. Manipulation (telling lies and convincing people of something)
Furthermore, which of the following attributes is your best physical trait?
>A. Strength (raw physical might)
>B. Dexterity (nimbleness, flexibility, and grace)
>C. Stamina (keeping at arduous tasks and taking a punch)
>>356818
>A.Charisma (the art of charm and being likeable)
>B. Dexterity (nimbleness, flexibility, and grace)
>>356818
>B. Manipulation
>B. Dexterity
>>356818
>B. Manipulation (telling lies and convincing people of something)
>C. Stamina (keeping at arduous tasks and taking a punch)
>>356818
>Manipulation
It's easy for others to understand your intent, and you cannot lie to save your life (really, you've been in that exact situation several times before).
>Dexterity
You have great reflexes and you're very flexible.
Are you more of a
>A. talented person, who relies on innate abilities.
>B. skilled person, who relies on training and experience.
>C. knowledgeable person, who relies on information and procedure.
>>356943
>>A. talented person, who relies on innate abilities.
Damn, too late for stamina.
>>356943
C. Knowledgeable
>>356943
>B. skilled person, who relies on training and experience.
>>356943
>A. talented person, who relies on innate abilities.
>>356943
>You're a talented person, who relies on innate abilities.
You know and trust your body and your mind before training and procedure.
Specifically, you are most talented at:
>A. Alertness (awareness of all manner of mundane activity around you)
>B. Art (talent with creative endeavors)
>C. Athletics (running, jumping, swimming, and similar feats)
>D. Awareness (your ability to pick up on the supernatural)
>E. Brawl (fist fighting and wrestling)
>F. Empathy (ability to detect and interpret the emotions and intentions of others)
>G. Expression (ability to effectively deliver meaning in speech, writing, or other kinds of communication)
>H. Intimidation (capacity to threaten and bully others into submission)
>I. Leadership (recognizing and responding to the weaknesses and strengths of a group in order to more effectively manage and inspire them)
>J. Streetwise (special awareness of urban environments and the nuances of social, economic, and political life within them)
>K. Subterfuge (lying, misdirecting others, and manipulating speech)
[Pick two, roll 1d10 for tie-breaking purposes]
Rolled 3 (1d10)
>>357034
>Streetwise
>Awareness
>>357034
>D. Awareness (your ability to pick up on the supernatural)
>J. Streetwise (special awareness of urban environments and the nuances of social, economic, and political life within them)
Rolled 1 (1d10)
>>357049
forgot die roll
Rolled 5 (1d10)
>>357034
>D. Awareness (your ability to pick up on the supernatural)
>C. Athletics (running, jumping, swimming, and similar feats)
Rolled 8 (1d10)
>>357034
>I. Leadership (recognizing and responding to the weaknesses and strengths of a group in order to more effectively manage and inspire them)
>E. Brawl (fist fighting and wrestling)
Rolled 10 (1d10)
>>357034
E
I
>>357034
>Brawl and Leadership
You're pretty good at kicking ass, in fact you can throw down with the best of them. You've also got a knack for leadership; people tend to instinctively look to you for guidance when they're in trouble.
You're moderately skilled, but you have special proficiency with:
>A. Crafts (making things with your hands)
>B. Firearms (using all manner of guns)
>C. Melee (using melee weapons)
>D. Stealth (sneaking about)
[Pick one, roll 1d10 for tie-breakers]
Lastly, while you have limited knowledge, you do have one area of expertise:
>A. Academics (Knowledge pertaining to formal academic disciplines, such as history and economics)
>B. Computer (Knowledge of computers, specifically the software aspect)
>C. Cosmology (Knowledge of the astral planes and other dimensions)
>D. Enigmas (Knowledge of puzzles and mysteries)
>E. Investigation (Formal investigative procedure, finding things that you're looking for)
>F. Law (The law as it is, in addition to, practice and theory surrounding it)
>G. Medicine (Knowledge of medical practice and the art of making the sick and injured healthy again)
>O. Occult (Knowledge of the supernatural world)
>I. Politics (Knowledge and practice of politics in the formal system as well as in other contexts)
>J. Science (Understanding how to practically apply the scientific method)
[Pick one, roll 1d10 for tie-breakers]
>>357201
>Can't lie
>Good leader
hooooo boy
>D. Stealth (sneaking about)
>O. Occult (Knowledge of the supernatural world)
Rolled 7 (1d10)
>>357201
>A. Crafts (making things with your hands)
>D. Enigmas (Knowledge of puzzles and mysteries)
Rolled 7 (1d10)
>>357201
>C. Melee (using melee weapons)
>A. Academics (Knowledge pertaining to formal academic disciplines, such as history and economics)
Rolled 1 (1d10)
>>357222
>Melee and Academics
You know your way around a knife, and in spite of your lack of formal education you're still more knowledgeable than most in the liberal arts.
There's just a few questions left, and they pertain to your magical aptitude. You're what is known as an Orphan in the Awakened community - someone who Awakened on their own, outside of the formal groups of mages known as the Traditions, but you have recently received some genuine magickal tutoring, courtesy of your mentor, Quentin.
There are Nine Mystick Spheres, and with mastery over even one of them you can attain godlike powers. But you are pretty new to the magickal gig, and you've only got fairly limited aptitude.
[You have 6 points to distribute across the Spheres, you may raise a Sphere to a rank of 2 at most; refer to the image for a description of the Spheres]
The Spheres
----------------------------------
Correspondence
Entropy
Forces
Life
Matter
Mind
Prime
Spirit
Time
Rolled 8 (1d10)
>>357334
Life - 2
Correspondence - 1
Matter - 1
Entropy - 1
Prime - 1
Rolled 3 (1d10)
>>357334
Prime- 2
Life -1
time-1
entropy 1
Correspondence 1
Rolled 8 (1d10)
>>357334
Correspondence - 2
Life - 1
Spirit - 1
Time - 2
>>357334
Matter 2
Forces 2
Prime 2
>>357334
Prime - 3
>Metamagic ahoy!
time - 1
entropy - 1
spirit - 1
Rolled 3 (1d10)
>>357477
my bad
Time - 2
>>357334
>>357369
>Correspondence 2
>Life 1
>Spirit 1
>Time 2
You're comfortable with the basics of the Life and Spirit Spheres, and you've got a more advanced understanding of Time and Correspondence. In addition, you've picked up a few basic tricks - prepackaged "spells" known as Rotes. For now, at least, you need tools to pull off your magick, but what kind of tools do you use?
> A. High Ritual Magick - Wizardry in the traditional sense, using tomes, incantations, pentacles and the like - it usually involves preparation and a degree of precision in its execution.
> B. Chronomancy - You use time as your focus for spellcasting. Often involves clocks, counting, cycles, and the like.
> C. Craftwork - The magic of craftsmanship. Tools may include anything from chisels and hammers to needle and thread.
>>357608
>> B. Chronomancy - You use time as your focus for spellcasting. Often involves clocks, counting, cycles, and the like.
>>357608
>> C. Craftwork - The magic of craftsmanship. Tools may include anything from chisels and hammers to needle and thread.
>>357608
> B. Chronomancy - You use time as your focus for spellcasting. Often involves clocks, counting, cycles, and the like.
>>357608
>> A. High Ritual Magick - Wizardry in the traditional sense, using tomes, incantations, pentacles and the like - it usually involves preparation and a degree of precision in its execution.
>>357608
>Chronomancy
You primarily focus your magick through time, and expressions of time. Chronomancy is as much about the connections between things as it is about their place in the chronos, so you draw on it primarily for your Correspondence Sphere, in addition to the obvious Time Sphere.
CHARACTER CREATION OVER
In any case, you're still sitting in your shitty apartment, and it's roughly a quarter 'til 4:00 AM. You don't know what that nightmare bullshit was, but you suspect it is the result of A) a bad trip - Lord knows you've had plenty of those, but this one was definitely the worst; or B) supernatural in nature. After your initiation into the world of darkness a year ago, you know better than to chalk it up to meaningless coincidence.
The question is, how do you want to proceed?
>A. Try and figure out what's causing your symptoms with magick [Specify Spheres used and at what rank, higher ranks are more difficult to successfully cast]
>B. Get in touch with Quentin and see if he has any advice
>C. Try to find your friendly neighborhood drug dealer, Eduardo
>D. Other (Write-in, if you're using magick please indicate the purpose, the Spheres, and the ranks of the Spheres involved)
>>357833
>B. Get in touch with Quentin and see if he has any advice
Oh, I should probably mention this for those who aren't aware, but the way that Sphere ranks work is basically like this:
Rank 1 - Sense Pattern ; You can know things about whatever the Sphere is, if you use Life 1 you might be able to detect if there are living things nearby, for instance, while Time 1 can tell you precisely what time it is, and Matter 1 might tell you the material composition of an object, etc.
Rank 2 - Alter Pattern ; You can affect minor changes to things with this rank, but major effects are typically restricted to yourself. Life 2 may, for instance, be used to heal yourself, while Time 2 can effectively give you a speed boost, etc.
That's all the Sphere Ranks you have at the moment so I won't burden you with details of the higher ranks yet.
>>357873
>Spirit 1
>Probe self for weirdness
>B
>>357833
>B. Get in touch with Quentin and see if he has any advice
You opt to contact Quentin, your mentor; among your extremely small circle of friends he is the only one you think has a shot of helping you figure out what's wrong.
You rummage around on the coffee table near the center of the room, looking for your cellphone. A few crusty pizza boxes and a half a dozen old newspapers later, you pull out your cell - an old school flip phone.
Scrolling through your contacts down to Q, you note several missed calls. Probably the landlord.
You press the dial key, but it goes straight to voicemail, "This is Quentin. I'm busy. Hit me back later. *BEEP*"
You sigh and decide to leave him a message. "Quentin, I think your bullshit has yet again come back on and fucked me and I need you to un-fuck me. Call me so I can pick your brain."
Well, that's a no-go, though not entirely unexpected given the time. Quentin does tend to keep late nights, though.
"Whatever, I'll try to sort this bullshit myself," you resolve. For now you decide for a simple spiritual diagnostic, as you suspect this may be some kind of curse.
You can tackle this in a few different ways, though.
[Pick 1 and roll 2d10 - Your Arete score, what you roll for using magick, is 2, so that's what you're always going to roll if you're casting at this point]
>A. Chronomancy; (Spirit 1/Time 1); try to feel out exactly when things changed and put your karmic profile in perspective
>B. Shamanism; (Spirit 1); look for disruptions in the local spiritual realm
>C. High Ritual Magick; (Spirit 1/Correspondence 1); look for sympathetic connections
>D. Other (Write-in, including the Spheres used)
Rolled 8, 9 = 17 (2d10)
>>358259
>A
Rolled 3, 8 = 11 (2d10)
>>358259
>>A.
>>358259
>>358305
You clear off the coffee table in the center of your room and fetch your tool satchel from a corner. Chronomancy is your strong suit, but it's not exactly the best or easiest method to diagnose a problem like this. That said, you think the added clarity it will give you should be worth it.
You pull out your favorite timepiece, a silver pocket watch, and set it on the table. You then dash a pinch of salt - kind of a universal ingredient in magick - across the table and the watch. From here it's all in your arete - ancient Greek for "excellence" - which in the world of the Awakened directly translates into magickal ability.
You're technically fast-casting right now, that is, casting without ritual preparation or a rote, but this is a fairly simple bit of will-working and you're confident in your ability.
First, you enter into a meditative pose. For you, that generally means slouching. You lean back on your ratty sofa and relax your body. Next, you try to look around without opening your eyes. The clock, and its familiar, rhythmic ticking, makes this pretty easy.
>[Rolled 8, 9 vs difficulty 4; 2 successes; Good Success]
(Continued)
>>358529
You see, behind closed eyes, your apartment: silver and dark, except for little bubbles of blue flame floating around. Those are little baby zeitgeists, spirits of time. They're not even sentient, but they do keep excellent records, and you find them strangely cute.
Right now, though, you're after a specific objective - it's on the table in front of you. You can see your pocket watch and a bunch of golden little specks, the salt, all around it.
You want to access the past, after a fashion, and this setup is like crude CCTV playback. You focus on the events of earlier today, or rather, yesterday at this point. The flecks of gold shift and mirror the image in your mind, adopting slightly different hues and shades as your focus shifts.
You woke up at noon, as usual, and met with Quentin for lunch. He had called about a job and you needed money. You were supposed to hit up an occult bookstore on the west side and pick up a first edition of "Ten Thousand Broken Promises," a theological work, for Quentin, which he had assured you was already paid for. The flecks scramble a bit as you see his smug face expand into a grin several times over.
You shake off your irritation and get back to the sequence.
(Continued)
>>358529
>>358536
You get to the store, go inside, and find yourself in the middle of a hostage situation. The clerk was being threatened at gunpoint by two local thugs. With the element of surprise on your side, and a bit of really fast casting, you made quick work of them. But it turns out the locals weren't the only goons around, because the dreadlock-wearing bitch behind the counter took one look at you and whipped out a shotgun. Took a pretty good chunk of your elbow out in the first blast, too.
Feeling rather a lot like you didn't sign up for this shit, you vacated the premises, only to find yourself face to face with more goons, though these ones were clearly from out of town. Tattoos (and their choice of attire - seriously, who the fuck actually wears a black suit, driving gloves, and sunglasses in the west side projects, AT NIGHT?) gave them away as cartel. They didn't react well to your wound, probably assuming you were with the bitch that shot you, and proceeded to mag-dump both of their Glocks into the street, trying to peg your ass. Luckily you were already under the effects of a Time spell that enhanced your reflexes, and you were able to back the fuck into some cover. Then the dreadlocks bitch - she seemed Jamaican to you - busted through the door of the shop and laid out one of the suits. You dropped the other with a headshot before he could reload. Jamaica turned at you and seemed ready to pounce, but sirens started blaring at that point and she scrambled. You hobbled off into a corner and raised hell with Quentin, and he popped over and fixed you up.
Then you went home and crashed the fuck out.
And now you're here. You run back through it all again a few times, but nothing seems out of the ordinary on a spiritual level, and the zeitgeists don't seem to be reacting to any of it either. You can't help but feel as though you're missing something, though.
>A. Rely on your intuition (Perception+Awareness; 4d10)
>B. Modify the spell to highlight any anomalies (Arete; 2d10)
>C. That's enough spiritual spelunking for now, time to do something else (Write-in)
Rolled 9, 3, 8, 6 = 26 (4d10)
>>358547
>>A. Rely on your intuition
Rolled 5, 7, 6, 8 = 26 (4d10)
>>358547
>A. Rely on your intuition (Perception+Awareness; 4d10)
Rolled 4, 8, 5, 4 = 21 (4d10)
>>358547
>>A. Rely on your intuition (Perception+Awareness; 4d10)
>>358663
[Rolled 9, 3, 8, 6 vs difficulty 7; 2 successes; Good Success]
As you're poring over the events, you notice a very slight anomaly in the playback. After your meeting with Quentin, on your way into the shop, the frame stutters. You realize that when you went into the store, it was only around 2:30, and when you came out of the store, it was night out. There's a gap of missed time in your memory. For certain, it began after you entered the store, but based on the events you're seeing you can't see where it's supposed to have taken place. From your perspective, you went in and immediately tussled with the two block homies and got shot at, then left.
You know that with a decent mastery of the Mind Sphere it's possible to manipulate memory, but this is pretty fucking seamless. Besides, something like that shouldn't be responsible for your weird-ass nightmares or your migraines.
Well, you've figured out something, at least. You know for sure that you've been fucked with, now.
You collapse the spell and open your eyes. It's a quarter to 5:00 and you're still sitting in your underwear on the sofa. What's your next move?
[Roll Willpower, 5d10, and Write-in]
Rolled 5, 10, 3, 1, 10 = 29 (5d10)
>>359836
Get dressed and try to call Quentin again. Tell him about the gap in our memory.
Rolled 8, 5, 4, 7, 9 = 33 (5d10)
>>359873
Supporting
Rolled 8, 1, 3, 2, 3 = 17 (5d10)
>>359873
I'll back it too
is this oMage?
>>364927
Based on the rules, looks like a mix of old and new.
>>359836
>>359873
>Get dressed and try to call Quentin again. Tell him about the gap in our memory.
You decide to try Quentin's cell again, but again it goes to voicemail, so you start getting dressed. Despite your rather desperate living conditions, you make a point to dress yourself as a professional. You throw on the usual uniform; dark slacks, a white dress shirt, and a black vest. You grab your favorite timepiece from the coffee table and tuck it into the front pocket on your vest, then head back into the bathroom to make yourself somewhat presentable. It is at this point you realize that you haven't showered since yesterday night, and you're probably especially rank in light of the vomiting incident. You sigh, slip off all your clothes, and take a relaxing shower.
As you're searching for shampoo you feel a sudden, heavy drowsiness.
>Willpower Check: [Rolled 5, 10, 3, 1, 10 vs difficulty 7; 1 success; Minor Success]
You manage to resist the powerful compulsion to immediately fall unconscious, but still have to catch yourself to avoid falling into the tub.
This sensation seems familiar, but you can't quite place it. You turn off the shower and hastily wrap yourself with a towel, then head into your room. For a moment it seems totally normal, but then you realize how absolutely quiet it is. Your ceiling fan has stopped spinning, there's no sound of air circulating in the room, and the ambience of the city is absent. You strain your ears for anything unusual, but it's a wasted effort. The only sounds you can hear, and you begin to realize that you can hear them [i[quite clearly[/i], are the uneven inhaling and exhaling of your breathing, and the rhythmic thumping of your heart.
You run over to your window and glance out the blinds, revealing the familiar, dimly lit street of rowhouses. You breathe a sigh of relief, but it only lasts for a moment. Out of the darkness to the left of the closest streetlight, you can see a shadow, edging out into the light. It is not a human shadow.
It occurs to you that you're feeling the same sort of deep fear that you felt in your dream, but to a lesser degree. It's still enough that your instincts are screaming at you to
>"Arm yourself, go get the gun from your drawer right now!"
or
>"Flee immediately."
>>364927
It is based on Mage the Ascension V20 rules.
Speaking of which, in the future, when I call for dice rolls, I'm going to do what the Exalted Quest does, where everyone rolls a 2d10 and it all contributes to the pool until it's reached.
Also sorry for the long pause between updates, I had nipnong midterms.
>>368251
arm yourself
>>368251
>GTFO
>>368251
We could always grab the gun and flee. But yeah, lets grab our gun and get ready to fight.
>>368251
>"Arm yourself, go get the gun from your drawer right now!"
>Grab the gun.
>>368251
>Leg it
