| Health 7 / 7 | Willpower 3 / 6 | Mana 5 / 10 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Whatever Baba Qiyamət had really on his mind with this half-smile, Pekaku could only guess. Perhaps later when they left his Master could spell it for him, but in the meantime, all he had were belief and ideas, that he tried to organize quickly. It was getting hard, after such a busy day, but he tried nonetheless. Focus now, get the job done, crash down later. He got silent for several seconds, trying to come up with something coherent. "(English) I understand that it is a tall order of first magnitude, but certainly plenty of Mages before me have already worked on that issue. I am no fool to think I am spearheading a new venue to deal with the Abyss, but perhaps I can find a new use for what Knowledge is already available, or contribute to making progress in that direction. And I am young, I have plenty of time ahead of me if that's a good direction, obviously. I just have to trust my elders to give me proper education so that I wouldn't waste it. (/English)" and he bowed his head slowly, a mute request of endorsement toward the Moros.

Ehnola Ghaye (Lola Montez) Sheet: Gender: Female Race: Human Height: 5'8" Weight: 135 lbs Age: 22 Date of birth: 01/01/2000 (1 minute past midnight) Place of birth: Cannock, Staffordshire UK Ehnola pondered this question and replied "I think so, I have had some training with resonances and aura's which I believe is what you are asking me. I have training in Occult and I think my mental skill is a reasonable standard, is that what you are asking me"? The marmalade was good and the bread was better than she was used to, money was a whole new level here which meant that Grazia came from a well funded family. OoC - I think the roll would be Int + Occult yes? War is Dumb, sex is great, we should have more sex and less war - Me, lol.

As his key turns in the lock, a torrent of chaotic power thunders forth and slams through the key, into his hand, up his arm, and into his head. His mind erupts in a cascade of vision, true vision, as the wash of power surges over, through, and into Lucas. Wonders and the sight of the True Face of Reality were revealed to him and in their glory, Lucas' mortal mind quivered and fell to cool, comforting darkness. The first thing Lucas noticed as he came back to himself was that his mouth was dry, and his tongue felt like sandpaper. A faint, steady beeping peeped from somewhere nearby, but his eyelids seemed practically sealed shut. As feeling of his body returns, he can tell that he is laying on something fairly firm, and the air has a odd, chemical hint to it. A faint pressure bore down on his left index finger and something was stuck to his chest. His skin tingled, and he could feel goosebumps retreating from full prominence on his arms and legs. He moved his right hand up and felt something pull oddly at his elbow, but he nevertheless reaches his eyes and rubs. The worst crusty coat of rheum he ever had in his life had glued his eyes shut. Blinking even in the relatively low light of the room, Lucas looked around. It was obvious that he was in a hospital room. A white divider sheet was pulled around the bed he lay in, sequestering himself and the narrow dresser and roughly half a window in a little private bubble. A device was mounted on a pole to the right of his bed, the source of the steady beeping. Lucas could trace wires from it to the pulse/ox clamp on his finger and a heart rate monitor stuck to his chest. Other than the disorientation of suddenly waking up here after whatever that ... vision... was, Lucas was surprised by a faint pinkish halo that seemed to suffuse everything he could see except for himself.

"Well," Baba Qiyamət said slowly, obviously taking a moment to put together exactly how he wanted to respond, "The Abyss did manifest during the fall in the tear left behind when the Celestial Ladder fell. So it would make sense that if something similar to the Celestial Ladder could be reconstructed that it might resecure the Abyss, however how the Celestial Ladder was constructed, if it was at all, was a miracle of the absolute peak of Atlantean power and is knowledge long, long lost. Perhaps that would be something worth some research? But who would have time?" Nepungan looks from Baba Qiyamət to Pekaku and back again, a half-smile on her lips.

Garrison said, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure Spence has his home phone records. He should be able to pull out any matches." A quick trip to Spencer's desk and an even quicker spreadsheet lookup revealed that there were two calls to Professor Yargee's home number from numbers of interest. The first were two calls nearly a week before the murder from none other than Kingdom Acquisitions. And then of particular note for Emma was a single call the day of the private patron exhibit from a private number registered to Scepter Mutual Management, the company that pays Sebastian Goldwater's rent.

Grazia accepted Margay's hug with stern grace and met Ehnola's nod with a steady gaze. As Ehnola started to eat her toast, Grazia remained standing, settling her hands on the back of the chair at the head of the table. "I have taken time to investigate the stone you stole. I believe that it may be soul stone. I think it is likely that the ransacking of your home was not a coincidence. Have you skills in reading the past of a place?" The old woman asked.

No worry Anthr4xus, it's fine, RL happens from time to time of course.

Just a heads up, I will be away from 16/5 - 27/5, I should have internet access but posting will be less regular.

Sorry for the delay in responses everyone. I should have something up for everyone by tomorrow evening at the lastest.

I'll be on holiday from tomorrow until next saturday. I'll normally have internet access (the hotel should have Wifi), but I might be slower to respond

Lucas' natural curiosity took over as he approached the locks mounted in the wall. When he was within arms length of it he focused on a couple close to it, trying to force the names into clarity. His reward was a painful jolt of electricity that ran up his key and caused him to stagger a few steps, along with the sense that those names were none of his damned business. To his horror, the key he had fashioned began to melt away, forcing Lucas to ignore his now numb arm. He took the hint and returned his concentration to maintaining the key's form, inserting it into his own lock.

| Health 7 / 7 | Willpower 3 / 6 | Mana 5 / 10 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The talk was getting very interesting, and Pekaku eagerly wished he could have more to brought to bear beyond his beliefs. He knew very well that he really had nothing to back him so far, but he eagerly played along the thinking game with Baba Qiyamət. "(English) Now, I had never thought of it like that. Chaos on the fringes of the Abyss, caused by interaction between nothing and something... It is very intriguing, and interesting I must say. Do you know if that notion has been explored ? I understand also the idea that the Abyss - being nothingness - can perhaps never cease to be. But perhaps then it can be contained, right ? ? what if the rift that occured eons ago during the Fall was just that, the Abyss, or the proto-Abyss perhaps, gaining an edge it had never had before, and expanding in areas that had previously been filled with Something. In that case, we just need to regain the areas we lost to restore the previous status quo... (/English)" If such a theory happened to be true, what would they find in the areas regained on the Abyss ? Just a new ground, blank of any previous influence or meaning ? or would they recover what had been there in the past ? Like Atlantis... It was all merely a thought experiment, but it was not a direction in which Pekaku's thoughts had gone, and it was one more proof that he really needed to start studying the topic for real.

The churning chaos around him made it hard to focus and control himself, yet even with that Lucas held on to his humor and himself with a firm grip. It was impossible to tell how long it took, but piece by piece he built his will into a shining golden key that stretched through the flexing distance between himself and lock on the great tower. With a gasp the key turned and suddenly the seizing tumult around him vanished, to be replaced by a calm, cool stone antechamber. A golden lock bearing his name was set in the stone wall before him. Similar golden locks were set in the wall around, yet the names on them were blurred and illegible. Lucas's focus was drawn to HIS lock again, and the golden key in his hands was practically burning his fingers.

"I would say that the Abyss itself is not chaotic, as non-existance by definition must be quite empty and still. It is the interplay of that nothingness with the somethingness of the Fallen World that causes chaos. I agree that it could be a proper view to see the Abyss as a flaw in the Tapestry, but given that the Tapestry is merely a metaphor for the totality of reality, how could one cause nothingness to cease when you only have somethingness to work with to do so?" he asks.

Emma Henderson, FBI agent "Not really," Emma asked, "I think the one that owned that van that hit me is also on the list, but everything else was - if not clean, at least clean in this regard. The only one that might be more tricky is the one that Aiyana told about, the one that was leaning on the professor. But we'll need to find that one from the professor's telephone contacts. All the othes probably have a few skeletons in their closet, but there's a difference between a few shady deals and murder." OOC from a previous post (and she had asked to get a team to his house): Aiyana took the card mutely, but nodded in understanding. Emma was more than half-way back to her car, when a hand caught her elbow. Turning she sees Aiyana there, breathing rapidly as she was obviously moving quickly to catch up to the taller and longer-legged agent. "I don't know who, because he always referred to them as just sponsors, but he mentioned that a sponsor had been going to extreme lengths to try to arrange a meeting or something about buying some of the Matinecock artifacts. We had dinner the other night and it must have been a lot for him to bring it up them."

Ehnola Ghaye (Lola Montez) Sheet: Gender: Female Race: Human Height: 5'8" Weight: 135 lbs Age: 22 Date of birth: 01/01/2000 (1 minute past midnight) Place of birth: Cannock, Staffordshire UK Ehnola was on cloud 9 and nothing was going to bring her down, the knock broke her reverie and she slipped out of bed and into the shower which was another well-deserved treat. Once dried and dressed the two women slid down to the breakfast table and tried to hide their euphoria, Marygay hugged Grazia but Ehnola just gave her a respectful nod. Taking her place at the table, Ehnola poured coffee for all three of them and buttered a slice of toast for herself. Marmalade had always been a favourite but due to the sugar content a rare treat, thus one slice was all she allowed herself as Grazia began to speak. War is Dumb, sex is great, we should have more sex and less war - Me, lol.

Arriving at the Plaza del Torio, Ehnola was greeted at the door by the butler/manservant that had carried Marygay from her townhouse. He escorted her into a foyer where Grazia was waiting for her. The old woman's steely gaze bore into Ehnola's eyes for a long moment and she said, "We will speak in the morning. Your rash actions may have turned up something useful after all." Gaeloraxus only hissed suspiciously in her mind. The next morning was pleasant, waking up next to Marygay. They even had a few quiet moments to enjoy each other before a loud knock on the door broke the mood. The butler called through the door, "The mistress awaits you both at breakfast." Marygay's eyes went wide and she said, "We shouldn't keep her waiting."

Lisa and her concerned cries were quickly forgotten about when Lucas was faced with the tower. When the tendrils of power passed through him, he flinched, expecting the pain of an electric shock or worse. Instead, he somehow knew that it had simply made him more. A quick look told Lucas that there was no convenient mat, rock or garden gnome with a key hidden beneath it. With no other option presenting itself, he reached out towards the keyhole and, without knowing where the thought came from, willed some of the energy within him into the lock.

Garrison nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I think that is the only motive we really have to look at. You were doing the sponsor calls for people that were at the event, did any of them jump out at you as odd?"

| Health 7 / 7 | Willpower 3 / 6 | Mana 5 / 10 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - All of this, William had already heard about from some book, or some talk with Nepungan. It held more weight when told by someone like the Moros Elder, obviously, but even then though, it was always toward the same denial, the same rebuke that William's heart leaned. "(English) I understand that being unnatural and utterly chaotic, the behaviour of the Abyss cannot be predicted, and that it generates a great risk of contagion and taint toward those exposed to it. Such as a disease. But it has not always existed, has it ? By its very nature as I understand it, the Abyss is a flaw in the Tapestry, a rupture created by the Hubris of Mages of yore. I can't believe, I can't accept that what we could once do, we cannot undo. Hard as it may be. And likewise, do we know for sure if the Abyss dissolves what it touches, or if it merely hides it from us, whisking it away perhaps, but not irremediably ? And if it can be likened to a disease, can't we find a cure for it ? I don't want to give up on the very notion before having at least made up my own mind. Carefully. (/English)" he added nearly as an afterthought. There was probably no point emphasizing his own interest in finding Atlantis again, the lure of this chase. He was extremely determined, and with access to a Library such as this one, he could probably learn a lot in the months to come. Pekaku was brimming with determination and confidence.

Ehnola Ghaye (Lola Montez) Sheet: Gender: Female Race: Human Height: 5'8" Weight: 135 lbs Age: 22 Date of birth: 01/01/2000 (1 minute past midnight) Place of birth: Cannock, Staffordshire UK Ehnola suddenly felt like all this pain was worth it, she had quite forgotten about Rhodes and now had a night with her love. Talking things over with Marygay had brought out her feelings, she not only had someone whom she could sleep with, but she also had someone she could talk to. Having a friend at a time like this was worth its weight in gold, Grazia was another kettle of fish entirely. Ehnola wanted to ask about the item but dared not, she figured Grazia would have cooled down a little by now but all the same she would still be pissed at Ehnola for damn near killing her charge. The following morning, Ehnola called in sick, her employer was understanding about it so she had a day to organise all the work. There were decorators, painters, glaziers and a locksmith. Ehnola did not want to stop Marygay from doing her normal work so she returned home and got out her books to continue her study, which would please a certain spirit that dwelled within her. War is Dumb, sex is great, we should have more sex and less war - Me, lol.

"The very quote!" he said with a nod. Nepungan leaned forward slightly and said, "I'm sure you recall the pentacle that Alcide showed you back at the start of your apprenticeship?" She murmured something and spun up something very similar, although in shimmering blue light instead of gold. "The space between each of the Realms represents the Abyss. It is the darkness of void and entropic loss." Baba Qiyamət nodded in agreement. He said, "The Abyss stands as a lingering remembrance of the Celestial Ladder through which the Exarchs were able to ascend during the First Wizard’s War. When the Ivory Tower of Atlantis was sundered, something went horribly wrong. A tear in the Tapesty cut off the homeland of the Mages from the Realms Supernal, and the city of Atlantis disappeared. What replaced it was the Lie, which made all but a few oblivious to the truths of magic. The effect of this event is known as quiescence and is one of the main reasons Awakenings are so rare these days. It is, in effect, a multiverse utterly devoid of Supernal truth; in layman's terms, things that cannot, and should not, be." He continued, "The Abyss is incomprehensible for the mortal mind (logic, after all, is an element of Supernal truth) and the main enforcer of the Lie. Only the Watchtowers pierce through it and bring forth some of the lost knowledge of Atlantis. All other efforts to break through the Abyss have been proven futile. Every time a mage uses the forces from the Realms Supernal, his magic runs the risk of ushering a bit of the Abyss into the Fallen World, creating what mages call Paradox. Some scholars of the Guardians of the Veil have theorized that the Abyss grows whenever a mage unleashes Paradox. It should be noted that the Abyss does not cause Paradox, it is Paradox. There is even a rare, but tragic, disease brought on by contact with the Abyss that manifests as a growing intuitive knowledge of the Abyss pair with a loss of the ability to communicate. This are the kinds of risks that one runs when experimenting with these kind of forces."

The police showed up with better-than-average response time, but still well after Ehnola had finished taking pictures as requested by her insurance company. As she was surveying the damage, which was pretty extensive even before she broke all the windows. At Gaeloraxus' suggestion she swept the house with her Sight as well. Other than the patina of disrespect, anger and bitterness that was splattered like a layer of emotional graffiti over all the damage she couldn't see anything, but Gaeloraxus hmmed and hawed in her mind. Eventually she teased out that he thought he saw signs that someone had been using magic to scan her space, obviously looking for something. The police took their report and the insurance company said an adjuster would be out tomorrow afternoon for their version. During her call with Margay, she was invited to come spend the night at the Plaza. Marygay speculated that Rhodes, or his organization, could be looking for her as well. Both Gaeloraxus and Marygay oddly echoed each other in saying, "Maybe it's a good thing that you didn't keep the stone."

Lucas stood, his chair shooting out behind him, completely unnoticed. He heard Lisa, a freelance UI Designer that had been one of the first other renters of the shared space he had met, call out in alarm, but her words were lost by the sound of the storm that seemed to swirl and twist not only the air around him, but the very ground and walls themselves. His arm raised and his mind open, his surroundings seemed to wash away in the rush of the storm. A resonant chorus of divine power swelled behind the sound of endless rolling thunder and crackling lightning. Lucas did not feel the floor fall away with the rest, but suddenly he was alone, suspended in endless void. The storm was still there, but invisible. He could feel the crackle of power still swirling about him, but something in the void seemed to sap at it, pulling it further from him. While Lucas could see nothing in the void around him, he could feel things, terrible and unfathomable, moving there. Or was he moving and they were still? In the nothing he turned and twisted with each motion, and just as suddenly as he noticed that there was something else there in the void with him. And as soon as he realized that, it seemed to sunder the void and fill it with a cataclysm of elemental forces. The storm that drew him into whatever this is was nothing, nothing compared the power that surged around him. A grand fiery landscape expanded around him in all directions, rent with lightning and force and motion. Nothing was still. Everything was chaos. Power, raw and ethereal, yet somehow more real that anything he had ever experienced wove connections through the tumult. Strands of it shot around and through him as he continued to plunge on and on through incomprehensible forces. A voice that spoke not in words for his ears, but a thrumming surge of understanding deep within his soul. The very essence of the divine spoke to Lucas, taking on forms of his own religious and philosophical understanding. What he somehow knew was the very fundamental units of power fell like rain through the chaos around him and Lucas felt more alive and enervated than he ever, ever had. Suddenly there was something else of Substance here with him. A great tower, shining with a golden holy and divine radiance of it's own emerged from the fire and stir, its solid existence the most fundamentally Real thing he had ever seen. More real than New York, more real than his work, more real even than he himself perhaps. Lucas reached out and he could feel pure creative power and energy coalesce around his hands. Impossibly given the scale, yet evidently real, he saw a small keyhole in the grand edifice of the tower. It beckoned to Lucas and to the power that gathered around him, practically calling to be unlocked. Lucas knew with the same sure reality as the Watchtower itself that his name belonged within. OOC Sorry for the delay on this post. I got severely blocked on it and it took me a little bit to work around. Hope you like. You have approached the Watchtower, what do you do?