Sam: The next evening, you meet a few miles away from the Voldemart warehouse. The Garou and the Verbena are waiting there for you. Bruce quickly takes charge of the situation. "The warehouse is closed for the night, so the only people in it are the Weaver guards. We believe there are either five or six, as there has not been enough time to stake out the warehouse in great detail. Numerous Banes occupy the children's toys on the warehouse floor. They will attack a Garou on sight, and will not suffer for their host fetishes to be damaged or destroyed. They have enough of a sense of cause and effect to recognize whether someone is, for example, planting explosives in the warehouse. We'll keep the spirits off your backs. You'll be on your own on this side of the veil, though, since the Gauntlet is virtually impenetrable in a Weaver fortress."
Bill: "Understood."
Sam: Moira removes a duffelbag from the boot of her car. "We've brought plenty of party favors and a remote detonator with a timed fuse as a back-up trigger, in case they jam the remote. The problem is, if the suits realize the place is rigged to blow, they'll likely find a way to defuse it before the fireworks start."
John: "They are annoying, that way. Yes."
Mary: "Meaning you need a distraction to keep the Technocrats from using their finely honed problem-solving skills on the explosives until it's too late, to prevent them from vaporizing you with their big guns, and to distract them from calling reinforcements."
Sam: Moira smiles. "Exactly."
Mary: "My vehicle's modifications make it ideal for the task, though I don't know how it will hold up against five Technocrats."
Nate: "If you drive, our cabal can reinforce any of its defenses that begin to fail. I offer Prime and Life."
Fanny: "Life, Correspondence, and Mind."
Bill: "Correspondence and Time."
Ed: "Forces and Prime."
John: "Entropy, Forces, and Prime."
Sam: Moira nods. "The task is yours. Buy us fifteen minutes."
Fanny: "Yes, mistress."
Sam: Bruce smiles grimly. "We will step sideways, now. Give us twenty minutes to reach our destination before initiating the distraction. We must walk, while you can drive." He and his Garou allies disappear.
Mary: Clara wishes the Verbena luck and gets into the van.
John: Homer takes shotgun and lights a cigarette. Setting up an Entropy Effect that makes incoming attacks less likely to succeed.
Fanny: Taking a seat. Bringing up a Mind shield around everyone as we drive.
Nate: Reinforcing the armor of the van with Quintessence.
Bill: Screening our approach with Correspondence and Time.
Ed: Gathering successes for a Forces and Prime Effect that makes it so anything the van rams will fly backward with more force than usual - not to the point of being Vulgar, but enough to make any door or wall we crash into turn into a nice hole.
Mary: That's not exactly what I had planned, but I can deal with that. Warming up the headlight lasers with a Forces Effect that converts the heat given off by the engine into coherent beams of destructive force at the flick of a switch. Once the Garou have a bit of a head start, driving casually toward the warehouse.
Sam: The warehouse isn't especially large, nor is it obviously well-defended, though its cargo door is closed.
Mary: "You got that spell ready, Allan?"
Ed: "All set." Twelve successes. All into damage and keyed for when we ram the door.
Mary: "How about the rest of you?"
John: Entropy 3. Thirteen successes. One into duration, eight to affect the the van and its occupants (seven Patterns, but one of them is larger than the others), four into effect to reduce the number of dice on incoming attacks by four (to a minimum of 1 die). Sound fair?
Sam: Yeah.
Fanny: Mind 3. Ten successes. Five into extra targets, one into duration, four into granting four extra dice on Willpower checks to resist Mind checks.
Bill: Nine successes, gathered earlier. One to duration, six to targets, two to effect. Countering the first two successes on Correspondence and Time Effects.
Nate: Twelve successes. One into duration, five enough to protect the van, I hope. The rest go to reducing the damage of incoming magical Effects by twelve and to counter six successes of magic-enhancements on attacks.
Mary: Nine successes on the lasers. Six into targets, three into damage. Basically, there is enough power to fire each of the lasers a total of six times, and they inflict 3 and 4 damage respectively on each hit - 7 damage if they hit the same target. They can only fire once per turn, rather than firing at six targets for 7 damage each. Unless you have a problem with any of that?
Sam: Not really, no.
Mary: Good. Then Clara lines the van up with the cargo door and stops for a moment. "Everyone buckle up." She waits until they are and then hits the gas to get to ramming speed on the doors.
Sam: As the van slams into the door, Allan's spell activates. The steel practically splinters with the force, and the shards imbed themselves in walls and floors everywhere within sight.
John: Drawing a knife and rolling down the window. Gathering successes on Entropy 2, Forces 2 spell to make my thrown knife fly exceptionally straight and true. Dif 5 for fast casting. Two successes so far.
Ed: Also gathering successes. There was probably a spark when we hit the steel, so I think a little smoulder and ignite is not out of the question. Forces 3, Prime 2. Dif 6. None. I'll start over next turn.
Nate: Gathering successes on a Life check to reduce lethal damage to bashing, in the event that they hit any of us through the defenses. Life 3. Dif 6. One so far.
Fanny: Gathering successes. Correspondence 1, Mind 3. Giving everyone a mental map of the surrounding area so we don't get blind-sided. Dif 6. Three successes.
Bill: Getting ready to suck the Paradox stick. Gathering successes. Time 3. Adding actions. Rote. Vulgar. Dif 7. One success. Time to sweat over the Arete checks.
Sam: Just as you finish that turn, six agents in three-piece suits come out onto the warehouse floor, take cover behind steel girders, and begin firing 9mm pistols at you.
Bill (ooc): Hey, now. That's not legal.
Sam: The windshield spiderwebs as two of the bullets rip through it. Clara, soak 3 lethal.
Mary: Very funny, Sam.
Sam: Homer, you too.
John: "Shit!" Grabbing a little more magic and then throwing the knife. Reducing the difficulty of my attacks. Two more successes. Reducing dif to 3, 1 success for duration. Minus two dice for wounds. Five successes.
Sam: No dodge. Damage?
John: Seven lethal.
Sam: The dagger catches one of them in the throat, and he goes down.
Ed: Throwing caution to the winds. Forces 3, Prime 2. The next time one of them fires his pistol, it will backfire - destroying the weapon and hopefully damaging him. Dif 6. Son of a... Scratch that idea, too.
Sam: Walter?
Nate: Dropping the current spell. Focusing on healing the driver. Willpower. Life 3. Vulgar. Dif 7. Two successes. Healing her for 2 lethal.
Sam: Christabel?
Fanny: Healing Homer. Willpower. Dif 7. Two successes. Heal two lethal.
Bill (ooc): Suck the Paradox stick. Doesn't it taste like Sweet Tarts?
Sam: Draw?
Bill: Three successes, that time. Still gathering.
Sam: Clara?
Mary: What do you think I'm doing? Firing the frickin' lasers at two of the frickin' Technocrats, throwing this thing into reverse, and peeling out of this place!
Sam: One of the suits is rather surprised to find herself on fire. The other is not amused by the fact that his cover has just melted away. Four of them open fire again. The fifth tends the incapacitated one. The dying suit has been stablized. Another bullet hits Homer. Soak two lethal.
John: Can I get another attack off before we're out of range?
Sam: Yes.
John: Doing so. Five successes again. If he doesn't dodge, that means eight damage for the guy who just shot me.
Sam: He doesn't, so you manage to kill him.
Ed: I'm no good at subtlety. Lifting up the wounded one's gun with telekinetic force and shooting the healer in the face. Vulgar as all hells. Dif 7. Willpower. Two successes.
Sam: I'll let you roll two dice on an attack with the gun against the medic.
Ed: One success.
Sam: Four dice for damage.
Ed: Three.
Sam: That certainly got his attention. Now they definitely know they're dealing with reality deviants. Walter?
Nate: Healing Homer. No successes. Bah.
Sam: Christabel?
Fanny: Healing Homer. One success. Gathering.
Sam: Draw?
Bill: One last time on the Paradox stick. Two successes. One into duration. Six into effect for four actions per turn. One left. Not going to do any good in effect, and it would be overkill in duration. Including Homer in the Effect.
John (ooc): Thanks, bro. We're twin cannons of destruction. Glass cannons, maybe, but cannons of destruction nonetheless.
Sam: Clara?
Mary: Firing the lasers at one specific Technocrat for seven lethal before throwing it into drive and peeling out.
Sam: They're down to three men, now, and only one of them actually hits the rear window, slamming into Draw.
Bill: I have extra actions. Can I dodge?
Sam: Yes.
Bill: Two successes do it.
Sam: Draw bullet times, tilting his head just in time to let the slug fly through the roof instead of through his skull.
Bill: "Guys, we might want to do something about all these bullets. We're running out of glass.
Sam: The techs realize you'll be out of range, soon, so they run over to a sleek black car and a motorcycle. Homer?
John: Gathering successes. Entropy 2, Forces 2. Going to make their aim wild so they can't shoot straight - in other words, increasing difficulty of enemy attacks. None. Damn.
Sam: Allan?
Ed: Doing more or less the same with Forces 2. Gathering successes. Two.
Sam: Walter?
Nate: Um, healing Homer? One success.
Sam: Christabel?
Fanny: Continuing to gather. Probably using the Effect, this turn. Three successes. Definitely. Healing the remainder of Homer's injuries.
Sam: Draw?
Bill: Grabbing one of Homer's extra knives. Cor 3. Gathering successes. Vulgar. One success.
John (ooc): I see where this is going, and I like it.
Sam: Clara?
Mary: Giving them ample chance to catch up. Weaving back and forth to increase the difficulty of incoming attacks. Entropy 2. Two successes. Affecting the next attack. Raising the dif by 2.
Sam: The Technocrats take off after you, the suit in shotgun firing at you. The bullet flies wide, though, thanks to Clara's evasive actions. Homer?
John: Gathering successes to slam the motorcycle's front wheel with Friction Curse and Slay Machine simultaneously. I'll wait until it hits a bump or gets too close to a stick or something in order to keep it coincidental. Dif 5 with rote. Three so far.
Sam: Allan?
Ed: Cursing the motorcyclist's gun to misfire. Forces 2. Coincidental fast cast. Dif 5. One success. Gathering successes.
Sam: Walter?
Nate: Prime-enchanting Draw's knife. 1 Quint. Two successes. One into duration, one into targets. Making it inflict agg.
Sam: Christabel?
Fanny: Life 3 to let Draw count lethal as bashing. Willpower. Two Quint to lower dif. Coincidental. Dif 6. Three successes. One into target, one into duration, one into effect.
Sam: Done. Draw?
Bill: Everyone else knows, and so should you, Sam. Willpower on this Cor Effect. Going to teleport to the back of the car for some stabbity action. Wow. Dice like this Effect a lot. Too bad I can't reroll all those 10s. Three more successes. Teleporting in as one action, stabbing twice as the next two actions, and telporting back as the final action.
Sam: That's two magical actions, though.
Bill (ooc): If you'd prefer, I could stab three times and risk the accident at a relatively low speed. They've had three seconds to accelerate, you know.
Sam: Sorry.
Bill: Okay. Porting and attacking. One success, three successes, and three successes. Can they dodge this?
Sam: No.
Bill: Three agg on the passenger, three agg on the driver, and three more agg on the passenger.
Sam: Both are incapped by the damage, since they got shot up by the lasers earlier. The car, of course, carreens out of control.
Bill: Can I catch it before it crashes? I have four actions a turn, after all.
Sam: You'll get a chance, yes. Clara?
Mary: Making a 180 as quickly as possible.
John (ooc): In a minivan? That's actually rather comical.
Fanny (ooc): Wouldn't it tip, first?
Mary: Which is why I'm using Entropy 2 and Forces 2 to prevent it from doing so. Willpower. Coincidental. Fast casting. Dif 6. Two successes enough, given that I have Daredevil and a Wits + Drive pool of 8?
Sam: Um, yeah.
Mary: Firing the lasers as soon as possible.
Sam: Wait until next turn. The motorcyclist realizes he is now playing chicken with a motionless minivan and hits the hand brake. Homer?
John: Here's my chance. Causing the handbrake to work a little too well, flipping it forward and slamming the biker into the asphalt. Two more successes. One into target, four into damage. Eat a little bit of nine lethal, bitch!
Sam: His head collapses like a rotten mellon. Allan?
Ed: Dropping the misfire spell. Forces 3. Using telekinesis to slow down the oncoming car before it hits us. Basically, the dead man's foot will slip off the gas and onto the brake. It won't be a hard stop, but it will buy Draw some time.
Sam: Coincidental. Dif 7 as fast cast.
Ed: Two successes.
Sam: The car slows down, but it will still run into the minivan by the end of the turn. Walter?
Nate: Some guy's head just exploded in front of me. Walter is getting sick all over the back seat.
Sam: Christabel?
Fanny: Cor 1 to do a quick scan of the area to see if reinforcements are on the way. Three successes.
Sam: The Verbena have barely started setting up charges around the warehouse. You can't detect the werewolves without Spirit, since they're in the Umbra, but the Banes don't appear to be messing with your mentor's allies.
Fanny: Any black helicopters and HIT marks?
Sam: Not yet.
Bill: If it's okay with you, I'd like to stop the car, now.
Sam: Ah yes. With four times your usual speed, you have no trouble stopping the car in the nick of time.
John: Homer will get out of the van before the Time Effect wears off and quickly slit the throats of any surviving Technocrats marked for death.
Sam: That would be all of them.
John (ooc): Six down and five to go. Four of those are in America, and the last is in Rome.
Sam: Having bought more than enough time for the Verbena to set the charges, smoke soon fills the sky above when a warehouse on the outskirts of London explodes in an act later blamed first on the IRA, then on Al Queda, and eventually on Tony Blair.
Nate (ooc): No more politician buttsex for G.W.
Bill (ooc): Nate, no political humor at the gaming table.
Nate (ooc): Aww. You're no fun.
Sam: It's almost dawn, but I think we have enough time for a wrap segment.
Mary (ooc): The game is ending?
Sam (ooc): I'm running out of ideas for plots, thanks to the Grasmere incident, and with John leaving...
Bill (ooc): It's probably for the best. I have a couple ideas for a new game I'd like to run.
Sam (ooc): Let's wrap, then. I'll give you a few minutes to decide how the story ends, and then we'll stop.
ST (Sam) - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Clara (Mary) - Mary Shelley
Christabel (Fanny) - Fanny Brawne
Draw (Bill) - William Blake
Homer (John) - John Keats
Walter (Nate) - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Allan (Ed) - Edgar Allan Poe