2020-03-10 Chaos at the Rez

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## Log

> **Janothar**Every so often, Tati gets a feeling that things are too quiet. Like the calm before a storm. But that isn't quite right, it feels more like the eye of a storm, but she hasn't seen the lead in...unless something has happened she missed. But there's just something off that she can't quite place her finger on with how quiet it is...with as many cousins as she has, and that's not even the full extended family, there's always more noise than this on a Tuesday right before dinner. And the current public health scare definitely doesn't cover it.**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**The health scare is a bit extra on the rez--a lot of Tati's kin have diabetes, and that's reason to be more concerned. But Tati? Tati has allowed a little nihilism to touch her soul, even if it doesn't sit well with her familal practices.
> The lack of noise is certainly disconcerting to her. There's family, and there's the constant din from across the Gauntlet that she usually contends with as well. SIgns stand out. She exits the house to walk around her grandmother's property and smoke a cigarette. She speaks a few choice words in Shinnecock, accessing her spirit eyes so that she might look across.
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> (Should I roll for that?)**Janothar**(eh, I normally would say yes, but not this time)
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> The spirits are a bit more normal on the other side, at least. Some familial ones are a bit agitated, though, and there's two odd clusters of them. One around a fairly close cousin's house, and one around the house of a woman who's distantly related enough that Tati knows she's family, but hasn't spent much time with her, except that she has a daughter about 5 years older than Tati, who hasn't been around in awhile**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**Family is family, even distant relations--and more importantly--potentially missing family is of specific concern to Tati.
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> "Alright, then," she mutters to herself, taking a deep drag of her cigarette before steeling herself to head through the trees to house of the more distant relation. She puts out her cigarette on her jeans, where several other burn marks indicate that this is a bad habit of hers, and breaks it in half. As she approaches she begins to twist each half, allowing tobacco to fall to the ground--an offering.
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> She speaks again, in Shinnecock, though this time it is more conversational. "Blessings, family. It's me. Tati, Irma's daughter, who is Silvi's daughter, who is Ronnie's daughter who rests among you."**Janothar**Most of the spirits stay focused on the house, but a couple of them turn to her. One speaks "Sandy's daughter is back." Another comments "And brought a child."**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**Tati nods slowly to that, first to the spirits, and then more to herself, working through various scenario's in her head. She finishes tearing up the cigarette, and the offering of tobacco to the spirits. She continues to speak to them as if that were just a completely normal thing for someone to do.
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> "It's good she's come home. It's good she's come home. Every baby is a blessing. I'm doing to be right back. Thank you, family." Tati turns on her heel then, heading back to her house--but now at a loose jog. She's not much of a runner, and she's a smoker, so she's huffing a bit by the time she hits her fridge, which she raids for leftovers. She finds a pot of stew and heads right back out to Sandy's house.
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> By the time she is knocking on the door, cradling a stew pot in her arms, she is breathing fairly heavily.**Janothar**She can hear the sounds of arguing from inside, and can't help but think her knock wasn't heard, until a minute later, when a 2 year old boy pushes the (not quite closed, as it turns out) door open. He's got short, straight blonde hair, blue eyes, and his thumb firmly planted in his mouth.
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> The voices inside are a bit clearer now "You come back, and not even an apology?! You just RAN OFF, after promising you were getting that degree to help, and not even a call, and I find out I'm a grandmother by you just SHOWING UP!"
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> "Things got a bit crazy, Mom, and I'm here now, isn't that what matters?" the second, younger voice has the frustration that every adult knows of their parent still treating them like a six year old in it. "Just listen, I have these documents..."
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> "What, you think PAPERS are going to help? They're worthless!"**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**"Knock knock," Tati calls--she is not completely dressed to the nines, but she does haver her aesthetic, and although she's not currently wearing much make-up, her nails are lacquered black and she swims in an oversized Bauhaus t-shirt. "It's Tati King. I brought some stew for everyone!"
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> She pretends well enough that she can't hear the arguing and beams a toothy smile down at the baby. "Hi, there, bud. What's your name? Do you like venison? If not, you're about to."
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> She calls out again, "Can I come in? It's open."**Janothar**The boy's thumb pops out of his mouth, and he looks like he's about to talk, but then he starts crying.
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> Jill, the younger woman, immediately comes over "Are you ok, Pascal? What's..." then it hits her that the door is open and Tati is standing there. "You're...Irma's girl...Tati, right?" she's wearing fairly conservative clothing, a suit that wouldn't be out of place in a boardroom. She turns back to her son "Shhsshhshh, it's ok. She's a cousin, she won't hurt you. You know how we talk to cousins?"
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> He just shakes his head and starts sucking his thumb again, but he does stop crying.
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> "Sorry about that, he's shy. And a little high strung." she picks him up. "Mom, Irma's daughter is here, looks like she brought food!"
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> Sandy, Jill's mother, is dressed a bit more casually, and sitting at the kitchen table "Tati, come in. Jill was JUST LEAVING." she glares at her daughter.**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**Tati looks between them but makes no comment on the obvious dismissal. Instead she steps inside, and winks at Pascal. "Hey, we're already friends--you just don't know it yet."
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> She heads toward the kitchen, setting the pot on the stove and briefly glances at Sandy with a questioning look, though she refuses to meet her eyes.
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> "That's too bad--I saw that you were home. It's been a long time, huh? I brought enough for everyone, and then some. "**Janothar**Jill nods "I came to make peace...I didn't leave on great terms..." she shrugs. "Maybe you'll want these." she goes over to the table and pats a manila envelope that's just stuffed full. "I got my hands on some documents that might be useful with that damn golf course."
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> Sandy just nods, the dismissal wasn't directed at Tati, and it's clearly more passive aggression than actual dismissal. "You're always welcome here, Tati, you know that."**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**Tati starts the stew on the stove, lighting the fire with a few clicks before lowering the flame. She removes the lid and searches through the kitchen for a stirring spoon. When she finds it, she turns around, glancing down toward the envelope before looking between the two. "Thank you, Auntie," she says at the welcoming, "What about the golf course?" Everyone knows what about the golf course, but she asks anyway**Janothar**Jill comes into the kitchen, and lets Pascal see into the pot. He seems to smile at the smell "I was doing some archival work for a client, and found some old land claim paperwork...will still take forever to move through the courts, but..." she manages a shrug while holding Pascal still "Might tip things in our favor, if we have old enough documents saying we own it."**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**Tati stirs the pot, loosening the stew up from where it had congealed. She smiles across at Pascal as she listens to Jill, focusing on stirring the pot. But she is listening intently. "Oh? That's--if that's legit then I'm sure the council will want to see them. How long have you been back?"**Janothar**"I just moved to the City, today's my first day home." she glances at Sandy, who is pointedly ignoring her "Not sure how much time I'll be spending here, but we've spent enough time with Pascal's father's family, thought he should meet his mother's."**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**Tati says nothing about Pascal's father. It's obvious he isn't from around here, and for all she knows that is contributing directly to Sandy's upset. The pot is coming along, after all, it's already been cooked and stew reheated is better than the first night--the kitchen is filling up with the scent of venison and spices. "You should spend as much time as you can here, Jill. This is your place."
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> Tati is fully aware that might not go over well, but she says it anyway. "Can you get the bowls?"**Janothar**Jill nods "Good to know I'm welcome, and will definitely try...we'll see if we can patch things up. I know I said some things not easily forgiven when I left." she goes directly to a cupboard and pulls down bowls, some things never change, and where mothers keep things in the kitchen tends to be one of them.
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> Sandy calls from the table "You're damn right you said things that aren't easily forgiven! And they aren't!"**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**Tati is hesitant to say anything corrective of Sandy's attitude, and actually feels she has a right to her anger--but this is for them to figure out. When the bowls come down, Tati sips the stew to make sure it's hot enough and then begins to serve it up once she sees that it is. "Do you want any extra pepper in yours, Auntie?" She clicks the fire off and picks up a pair of bowls to take to the table, glancing at the envelope again.**Janothar**Sandy nods "Always." to Tati, and for now, at least, the sniping seems to be settling into more of a silent treatment.
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> Jill watches as Tati's gaze goes to the envelope "You take it over, I think I'm going to take Pascal back home, it's been a day..." she sighs.
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> As Tati is bringing out bowls, there's a new wave of agitation in the spirits, but this time, combined with fear, as they seem to be fleeing, moving away from the other house that they were gathering around.**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**Tati sets the bowls down and pauses, shifting her gaze into the middle distance--or at least that's what it most likely looks like. She settles one hand on the envelope, "Yeah--I'll do that. I'll take it--can you excuse me? I'm really sorry. I think I left something on the stove. I'll be right back." And she takes the envelope and makes for the door, going to head back to her cousin's house.
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> On the way, if she passes any of the fleeing spirits, she asks in Shinnecock, "What is happening, family?"**Janothar**Jill and Sandy are both taken by surprise by Tati's quick escape, but neither moves to interrupt her. The spirits are definitely fleeing, they seem terrified of something. They're babbling about dreams and being eaten, and her cousin's name comes up. Tati gets a sinking feeling in her stomach that her cousin is not only not ok, but might be in serious danger.**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**Although she is running, Tati shifts her steps into something more rhythmic and fluid, something halfway between a jingle and halfway between something she would spin across the floor of the club--it's movement, movement through space, movement through the skein of distance, connecting points, mapping out the secrets of place with her body. She opens her senses, feeling in the direction of her cousin's house while she runs.
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> (Correspondence 1 sensory effect. Still no roll?)**Janothar**(for this, a roll, coincidental so diff 4, though)**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**/r 3d10>&61;4f1**SidekickBOT**@Uyôtowá (Tati King): 3d10>&61;4f1 &61; (9 5 9, 3 successes) &61; 3**Janothar**It seems like the people in the house haven't noticed anything wrong yet, they're in the usual places, not moving around too much, nothing seems obviously amiss except for the spirits are fleeing.**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**She doesn't wait to knock. Family is family, after all. When she gets to the door, she just tries to fling it open. In the meantime, she also fishes out another cigarette and crushes it in her hand.**Janothar**The door isn't locked, though her relatives look up surprised to see her. She sees her uncle has fallen asleep in his chair while watching TV, but otherwise, everyone is just...normal. And even that isn't too strange.**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**(And there's no spirit hanging around him doing fucky shit? :smile: )**Janothar**She isn't seeing anything obvious, at least**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**Tati looks between her awake cousins and says flatly, "I have a feeling okay?" She looks around the house for their abalone shell and nods toward it while opening her palms and revealing the remains of the cigarette--the tobacco--which she begins to sprinkle on the floor. "You should get that down," still dead serious, she approaches her uncle and crouches before him. She reaches into her jeans pocket and removes a drafting pencil and scrawls a pair of circles on the ground in front of him. Then, she shakes his knee with one hand. "Uncle, wake up."
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> ((Can I pull on Prime/Entropy senses at the same time, and just light it up?))**Janothar**((Go for it)) Her family frowns, but they know that Tati's feelings are usually worth listening to, and they start following her directions, suddenly looking worried about her uncle as she starts paying attention to him. He does not, however, wake up.**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**/r 3d10\>\&61;4f1**SidekickBOT**@Uyôtowá (Tati King): 3d10\>\&61;4f1 \&61; (10 2 3, 1 success) \&61; 1**Janothar**He's been weakened on a fundamental level...it's almost like some part of him has been stolen or, given the panic from the spirits, she can't help but picture it as a bite taken out of her Uncle in some truly fundamental way. She's not even sure if it will or can be healed.**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**(Can she look for Resonance with the Prime Sight up? Like any traces of what kind of magick might be responsible for this, how it tastes?)**Janothar**(Yes, Perception + Awareness, and thanks to the Prime sight, it's only difficulty 6)**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**/r 4d10\>\&61;6f1**SidekickBOT**@Uyôtowá (Tati King): 4d10\>\&61;6f1 \&61; (10 1 9 3, 1 success) \&61; 1**Janothar**It's a slippery resonance, but she manages to catch just the faintest whiff of a spirit here, but it came through and then left as soon as it got what it wanted, whatever that was. It isn't even a particularly horrific smell, it's not like the bad smells that she still needs to deal with at Mud Waters, but just...predatory, and clearly, it preys on humans.**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**"Oh, great," she groans to herself, rolling her eyes like a well-practiced baby goth. "Just f--" she stops herself from cursing in her cousins house, though, and instead just shakes her head, gnawing on her lower lip as she glances at them, to see what they're doing. "I'm--this isn't good. Keep smudging. I'm going to, uh...If he doesn't wake up, call an ambulance." The last is said firmly, and unhappily. She turns around and looks back to the still open door, closing her eyes and concentrating.
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> (I'd like to pitch a complicated spell, and if I can't do it, it's all good.)
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> (I'm imagining this is Prime 1, Entropy 1, Spirit 2, Correspondence 2. What I'd like to do is use this "taste" of Resonance as a link between Tati and this spirit, and try to locate it, or even Scry on it. Entropy is there to sort of, lead the direction--tilt the chances in her favour, since she isn't directly scrying on someone/thing she has seen before).**Janothar**(and describe how she's doing it, instrumentwise, a bit? The effect is possible, just need to know how specifically it's being done)**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**(Oh, no problem, I just wanted to check in to make sure I was on the right track with the spheres before that. I'll just pose her doing it and we'll see if it works.)**Janothar**(ah, on the same page, just roll when you're done, diff is 5, coincidental)**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**Tati walks toward the door, standing in the doorway, and puts one hand on the frame. With the other she begins penciling shapes--this time triangles, one within the other--on the door. While she does so she begins speaking quietly to herself. Naming things is a questionable practice, and she knows it--but she also knows it works. She names what the "taste" of the spirit's residue made her feel in her language, shifting through a few different words and combining them until she has the right one. She leans close to the triangles and whispers it into them.
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> Yeah, she's a fucking weirdo.
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> /r 3d10\>\&61;5f1**SidekickBOT**@Uyôtowá (Tati King): 3d10\>\&61;5f1 \&61; (3 4 1, -1 success) \&61; -1**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**(YAY)**Janothar**(And we have our first point of Paradox!) Tati does her best, but it really does just get away from her. The scent is gone, and she can feel everything pushing against her hard enough that if she keeps pushing back, it could end badly for her.**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**Oh, no. Tati shudders, closing her eyes, and presses her forehead against the doorframe. That is not her favourite feeling, but she has been willworking long enough that it's not the first time. "Fuck," she hisses beneath her breath, this time failing to catch herself before cursing in front of her family. But she steps outside immediately, so as not to catch any flack for it--but really because she's upset.
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> "Fuck!" she shouts this time, out in the yard. She kicks at a tire, laying on its side. "I need, I need..." she looks around, and then looks down at the dirt beneath her booted feet.**Janothar**Slowly the spirits are filtering back, but they're giving the house a bit of a berth. An overabundance of caution, perhaps? Either way, the answers that Tati needs don't seem to be here at the moment, but she doesn't have much of an idea about where they are. And she knows her family isn't going to have much luck rousing her Uncle.**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**That's the fun of not having a whole Chantry spilling over with clowns who shape reality like it's a cheap hobby. It's hard to get help when you need it. She walks up to one of the returning spirits and reaches into her pocket--she pauses--it's her last cigarette, "Unbelievable."
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> She takes it out, smashing it in her palm, and begins dropping the tobacco on the ground. "I need your help--you need to help me find who did that. At least tell me their name." Not like spirits give up names easily, but it's worth trying.**Janothar**The spirit is unusually forthcoming "I don't know it. It...is old. Older than I am."**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**"Well, that's knee-shaking," Tati responds. She sighs and looks up at the stars. "Okay. Well, there's one way to do this. Find an old one." Many Awakened interact with spirits in specific ways--and it is fairly common for those who lean into the Sphere she specializes in in such a way as to command the spirits and to call them before the wilworker--but Tati just doesn't work that way and instead, she tries to call herself to the spirits--and one in specific this time--one which has watched her for a long time. "This is gonna be fun if I fuck it up."
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> With practice and familiarity, she speaks its name in her language, firmly.
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> (So, instead of Spirit 2 Spirit Summoning, I'd like to try something that incorporates Correspondence and Entropy to summon herself to a specific spirit. Not a teleport, just Correspondence to help with getting there quickly and efficiently)**Janothar**(ok, which spirit?)**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**(Many Wet Rocks)**Janothar**(ok, I like the effect, so roll it and see if she can get herself quickly to a place where Many Wet Rocks will speak to her)**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**(I'd like to spend Willpower, because fuck Paradox)
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> (5?)**Janothar**(Yep)**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**/r 3d10\>\&61;5f1**SidekickBOT**@Uyôtowá (Tati King): 3d10\>\&61;5f1 \&61; (4 10 3, 1 success) \&61; 1**Janothar**Tati can feel the direction she needs to go in to find Many Wet Rocks. Today, it appears to be waiting for her at the bay, a bit of a walk to it, but she recognizes where she needs to go quickly, and...fittingly, it's a collection of rocks that at high tide is just below the water line.**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**Tati makes her way through the trees, picking her way over rocks, and then past the tree-line, where the biting ocean air nips at her--she is not dressed very warmly at the moment--just one layer. "Fuck," she says, wrapping her arms around herself and making her way down to where the ocean touches the land. "I need help!" she shouts in Shinnecock.**Janothar**Many Wet Rocks appears to her as a microcosm of the bay...in the bay. A collection of bubbles outlining exactly Shinnecock Bay in the water. Its voice can be heard in her head "What is it you need?"**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**"Something--someone just...I don't know. Ate my uncle?" She thinks for a moment, "Ate his dreams. The others that were nearby said it was old. Real old--and well, you're the oldest one I know. I need to help my uncle. Please." She's out of tobacco, or she'd be pouring it into the water.**Janothar**There's a long pause, before she hears Many Wet Rocks again "It is old...and yet new. And changing faster than I can see. He will not awaken, not until it is forced to release that which it has stolen."**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**There are tears in Tati's eyes--this thing hit her where she holds the most fear--her family. "Please. How do I find it? How do I make it release him? He doesn't deserve that. I don't want things like that in our land!"**Janothar**"It is everywhere. It spreads its influence beyond my borders, its center is in the Island of Many Hills. As for forcing it to release him." there's a pause "That task is beyond the Old, and lies with the New. And those who can stand between the two."**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**Tati is deeply upset. She gets the message. Tears are streaming down her face. "Thank you," she shouts into the bay, "thank you!" Then, with tears in her eyes, she begins to dance for Many Wet Rocks--she chooses an old dance, one the spirit would have seen many times over the years in its space. She is crying, and scared about the meaning of this and for her family, but she dances through the tears, because the spirit deserves to be honored.**Janothar**(and I think, unless there's something specific else, this is a good place to fade this scene)**Uyôtowá (Tati King)**(agree. Thank you!)