Ecalsneerg

DC 22 Reflex save for half, followed by DC 27 Toughness save (1d20+6=11, 1d20+11=24) She takes a Bruise. Standard Action: Roll to hit and to grapple using Telekinesis (1d20+11=28, 1d20+14=33) Move Action: Attempt to throw the machine directly upwards. I'm not sure how much it weighs, though, but her heavy load is 1600 tons.

Report month has wiped me out this month, so I've not posted and I'm not claiming Ref pp.

Scholar is The Doctor :P

Archived at player request.

AA is an awful influence on you all. Simply awful.

Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid series is pretty good. The first book is an immortal druid with cold iron bound into his aura fighting a Tuatha de Denaan who has opened a portal to Hell.

That is tired!

Equinox 2+1+6+1= 9 posts = 1pp An Evening With The Mercury Theater (2) Call, Raise Or Fold (1) The Illusion of Knowledge (6) Maybe Baby (1) Geckoman 1 post = 1pp, +1pp Ref = 2pp Interceptors: Eden (1)

Initiative? Equinox's initative; Hayley's initiative (1d20+1=8, 1d20+3=20) As per standard, Hayley will delay until Equinox's action, i.e. at 8

Unarchived at player request.

Siobhan eyed the crater warily, even as Hayley dropped off her shoulder and took a few cautious steps back. She whipped her wand about her, transmuting her costume into her... costume. Her hair unfurled from its pulled-up state to ripple downwards even as it turned from brunette to black. "Well, you don't see that every day..." she mumbled. The witch scanned around the crash site. If they came peacefully, well, they'd just crashed and she'd help if she could. If they came to fight... well, they were in a crater, and she reckoned she could close the earth around them if she tried hard enough.

Siobhan put the finishing touches to her costume as she hummed along to the radio, finishing by putting a large pointed hat covered in silver stars atop her head. She was wearing a big blue robe covered in similar stars, and a large bushy grey false beard. On the floor beside her, in front of a small make-up mirror propped up against the wall, Hayley the raccoon was adjusting a headband on her head, with pointed cat ears on it. <Meow,> she said experimentally. "You don't need to meow," said Siobhan, sipping from her glass of red wine. <I'm staying "in character", explained the raccoon with wide eyes. Siobhan sighed and pulled off her costume hat, leaving it on the table besides the door. "Well, I didn't think the works party was going to be that good..." She knelt down, and Hayley jumped up onto her arm. With a long sigh, she flicked her wand at the two of them, and they vanished in a flash of light, reappearing in the park with a sudden flash and crack of ozone, leaves being scattered around their arrival.

"Ah, that's a pretty common misconception. It's not helped by the fact that it's not exactly a word with a solidified definition..." Siobhan frowned and stared at the ceiling, pointing one finger skyward and wiggling it as she thought. "Basically, witchcraft is a form of magic which involves a form of magic often based upon fertility-based beliefs, often with am emphasis on healing and divination. Wicca's one religion whose practitioners are usually witches, but there's a few others. Worth noting, some people just don't work magic and are still Wiccan, there are Wiccan druids, and there are people who are Wiccans and druids and witches." She grabbed a book off her table, Wicca: A Guide For The Solitary Practitioner and handed it to Etain. "This is a pretty solid primer to the topic. And it also avoids much of the more eccentric thinking on matters." The witch leaned forwards, fingers steepled. "And by 'things done', I assume you refer to the witch hunting, but honestly... that predates pretty much every extant tradition. It's not worth anyone getting worked up over."

I would like to make it abundantly clear, this is not a coup organised by me.

Gotta say, I much like Someone's suggestion more than putting mithril into the setting, especially seeing as the military don't seem to be the sort to have mystic materials rather than super-science.

Unarchived at player request.

With Hayley's aid, Equinox began to progress back towards to the throne room, pausing only to fire lances of flame through doors, or rip apart tapestries with spirals of lashing hail. With stomps of her feet she shattered flagstones, and with withering glances filled hallways with ice and snow. Eventually, she returned to the throne room and the babies. "Right, I'm going to make preparations to take these children home," she told her familiar. "Which is why I'm going to ask," the witch turned around sharply as she spoke, and called, "Anyone left to try to stop me, bring it on!"

Siobhan shook her head and smiled a little. "No, you're not talking about belief there. Let's put it this way... I've met a lot of the Loa, a couple of Greek gods, a Norse deity, and a few more obscure things. I've never met my own Lord and Lady. Belief is not derived from proof. Maybe some people's is, but not everyone's." Siobhan glanced over her shoulder at the stacks of books. "Probably, depends on what you're looking for. You do realise what you're asking me here is to provide reference material for a ridiculously broad question, right? I could probably do a whole semester on what you're asking, and still not bother with much specifics. I could hand you my whole library, and not answer your question properly. You might want to ask for some more specifics. What kind of magic are you looking for?"

"Well," sighed Siobhan. "That's a... pretty broad question. And a bit of a nebulous distinction you're using there, especially in that the general practitioners you're speaking of, a lot of them believe their magic is from an outside source." She picked up a pencil and flipped it between her fingers a few times. "I suppose I can break it down into the big, rough categories to begin with. Your biggest modern one is probably voudoun, or voodoo if you want to call it that, and the closely related arts like hoodoo and Santeria. There's the more naturalistic ones people probably think of when they hear neo-pagan, like the modern schools of witchcraft, and druidism. I'd probably stick shamanism in there with them. You've got your more formalised practices, the so-called "High" magics, like hermetic study, or Thelema. There's a fair few others, but they're your big contenders." The teacher made some broad gestures with her hands. "Now, largely, most magic is ceremonial. It doesn't affect others directly, and you don't need magical potential to do them. Why do them? Well, why do Christians go to church, why do Jews have a lot of ceremonies in their lifestyles? Incidentally, they've got archaic, obscure forms of magic the larger governing bodies don't strictly approve of, but they survive into the modern era." Siobhan steepled her fingers and leaned forward. "Then, above that, you've got more potent rituals and you start getting into more direct effects. Seeing the future, what most people see as 'voodoo dolls'. They're a lot harder, and need a hell of a lot more work and study. This'll be why you perceive most people as getting magic from external sources... it beats the hell out of decades of study. Magic is work." Then, with a brief flick of her hand and a finger snap, she produced a small flame, and immediately dissipated it. "Then you get into what I call snap magic, or vulgar magic, or whatever. It's not ceremonial, and thus a lot of people who use it simply are not that religious. You just put will and magic into practice, and can do powerful effects. It's rare, and needs either a lot of study and training, or a lot of inborn aptitude."

"Not entirely. He turned out to have a bit of an aptitude for spirit walking into animals. Nifty skill, without the needing to shave problem." Siobhan settled herself down in a chair. And frowned a little at the girl's request for sound dampening. "Well, there're offices on either side, but I've never really heard much complaints about noise. Then again, I'm normally telling people no, they can't get further extensions on their work." But the witch shrugged her shoulders and leaned back. "But if it'd make you feel comfortable, feel free. Just don't knock out the phone, I might get work calls."

"Call me Siobhan, Ms Drake is my mother..." said Siobhan cheerily, opening her door and walking in, holding the door for Etain. The office was small and cosy, with little more than a desk, a computer, and several shelves and chairs stacked with books and papers. The witch pulled out her wand, and flicked a few stacks of papers atop one another, freeing up a couple of chairs, the cheap looking ones of wooden frames and fabric 'cushions' most schools favoured. "Well, not really, she's married," she said, removing her jacket and hanging it on a peg on the back of the door as she closed it. "It's been a pretty typical day, anyway. Taught a couple of classes on Abrahamic faiths, had to deal with a kid who thought he was a werewolf, and then I had a departmental meeting."

"Well, see, my underlying theory is that, ultimately, henotheism is going to supplant monotheism. There's too much evidence of there being deities, like Hades invading the city. That doesn't mean the individual need acknowledge them as creators, because there's no proof of that, but they are demonstrably gods." Two academic-looking people were walking down the corridor towards Etain. One was a tired-looking younger man in a blue jumper, his dark hair tousled and down to his shoulders. The other, the woman talking, was slightly taller and clad in a leather jacket and blue jeans, her long brown locks tied up in a ponytail. With one finger, she pushed a set of glasses back up her nose. To Etain's magical senses, however, she was much less unassuming, a silver pentacle around her neck radiating strong after-images of solid walls of force, and the woman herself seeming ablaze in a corona of power, radiating upwards from the ground and around her in images of fire and frost and wind and waves. "It's not a theory that'll go down well, Siobhan..." said the man uncertainly. "Then they can take it up with the resident gods in the city, can't they?" smiled the woman. "Anyway, David, I've got an appointment, so I'll see you in the pub later?" "We're meeting at six," waved the man, nodding curtly to Etain as he passed. Siobhan turned to Etain and clapped her hands. "Sorry, was just discussing my thesis. You'll be Etain?" She held out her hand for the girl to shake.

Geckoman Assign Ref pp Interceptors: Eden (2) Equinox Maybe Baby (1) Call, Raise or Fold (2)

Geckoman held the doubled over swordsman up by the handcuff loop, and leant down to speak to him. "You know, that was not the smartest thing I ever heard someone say. Let's play a fun game of shut the fark up." He slapped the man's cheek roughly with one palm before ceremoniously dumping him to the ground. "Alright, people, I want a simple handcuff and drop here," he pronounced. "Maybe stack their swords just out of reach? I dunno, I haven't really dealt with many swords before. Apart from this one time... hell, it's always Jack. He was there that time too." Geckoman spun and prodded one fallen swordsman with his foot. "Also," he stated dramatically, pointing at Dragonfly. "Ohmygod, that thing with the wings, and the disappearing sword, and the shooting things from the hand! So cool! How does it work? Is it a particulate thing, or do you just pour enough energy into things until stuff happens?"

Equinox wrinkled up her nose. "Well, Ghost Girl, the problem is we didn't beat them all. There's twenty-two major arcana, plus the minor arcana. Which is the size of a deck of playing cards. That's... potentially a lot of spirits, especially if we didn't stop the spirits and just drove them out of their hosts." She shrugged. "I can see why you'd imbue a Tarot deck though. As a symbolic object, it's got a lot of tenure even in the minds of those who don't do magic. That's got its own kind of power to it."