All Roads/Session 27

ST: Neb returns home to the sanctum first to find the place empty, as they had left it when the cabal had set out earlier in the morning.

Nebuchadnezzar: He checks the wards and verifies the place is empty, gathering a few things before heading out again.

ST: Evidentially the others were held for more intensive questioning.

Nebuchadnezzar: He scribbles a note and once he is sure no one is about heads back out again flagging down a taxi

Nebuchadnezzar: is only gone about an hour when he returns to the Sanctum, deep in thought.

quickly peers around and finding no one about, goes downstairs to further study the golem.

Meanwhile at the sentinels' interrogation place:

ST: Isis is led into the waiting room upstairs by Gemini, the woman who she left with in the first place. Kenan is already sitting there as they move to pass through, towards the kitchen.

Kenan: "hi, how are you feeling?" Kenan asks as he sees Isis and Gemini approaching

Isis: "Annoyed, uncomfortable, and a little tired," Isis says lightly. "These people claimed you had betrayed my confidence. I called them liars, of course."

Kenan: "they may have been partially right, I'm afraid. Since it already came to this, I did not deem it" Kenan hesitates "prudent to withhold information. Not when our efforts were to undergo a careful scrutiny anyway"

ST: Gemini has pause din place. The look on her face makes it evident she's debating allowing the two of you to talk.

debating the wisdom of allowing the two of you to talk.**

Isis: "... oh." The look of shock on Isis face somewhat disrupts Isis' dignified poise. She pauses for a long minute, just looking at Kenan. "We can talk about that later," she finally manages. "For now, please don't do that again?"

Kenan: "of course. I am sorry if I caused you grief" Kenan turns to Gemini "can Isis now return with me home?"

ST: The woman shakes her head. "Sorry. Isis needs to stay until we can examine her properly. Should just be an hour or two."

Isis: "I said they could take a look at my soul, so long as they kept to an appropriate imago," Isis nods. "I thought, if it makes them happier ..."

Kenan: "it won't hurt, I guess. Would you like me to wait for you here?"

Isis: "If it does they would certainly not be using the right imago," Isis agrees. "I don't know where 'here' is, but it probably would make Neb happier. Thought I don't really understand why."

Kenan: "All right. I'll wait until you're ready to go"

ST: "Do you want anything to drink?" Gemini asks Kenan, almost as an afterthought as she had made to move towards the kitchen.

Kenan: "I'm good, thank you"

ST: Gesturing to Isis she heads off.

ST: It is a while later when Rictus comes up, nods to Kenan, then moves to speak to the other two. "We're ready for you."

Isis: just nods, still playing with the small, twisted arrangement of metal

ST: "Isis, come with me."

With Isis:

Pete: Rictus leads you away to what appears to be some kind of medical treatment room. Though it doesn't look any more sterile than the rest of the place it smells of antiseptic, and mundane medical equipment is scattered about. Ritualistic preparations seem to have been made, and Olemba (the man who Neb was led off by) seems busy with an arcane mantra. "Sit here, on the bed please."

Dakkareth: Isis looks over the ritual preparation curiously before following the instruction. With her mage sight still active she will follow the construction of the ritual closely, to make sure they don't do anything but what was agreed on. And of course because it's interesting.

Pete: Every mage practices in their own way, and the differences are more starkly pronounced between orders. Olemba is a Free Council member and though the ritual is recognisible as the spell you consented to it is being constructed in an alternate way to your own practices.

It is another thirty minutes or so when the imago is finally released and you can feel the man's eyes staring into your soul quite literally.

He mutters to himself, though seems lost in the examination.

Dakkareth: For a bit Isis is almost happy watching the magic coalesce. If only the situation hadn't come up in such an unhappy way.

Her mind shielded and hidden, her psyche sealed off against intrusion Isis submits to the evaluation readily.

Pete: It takes some time and the scrutiny is intense. The snaking bloodvessels in the man's eyes seem grotesquely pronounced as he looks. Perhaps an effect of the spell.

Finally he blinks and looks away.

Dakkareth: (how powerful an imago does he construct? ie, potency?)

Pete: (Moderately. More than an instant cast, but a lot less than a ritual taken to it's full potential.)

"Nothing." He shakes his head a little, and Rictus (who had been reading a book until now) chews on the inside of his cheek then nods a bit.

Dakkareth: Halting her unceasingly switching of the puzzle from one configuration to the next Isis stands. "I did say 'eradicated entirely'," she points out. "I was quite thorough."

Pete: "We can't force you, but would you stay for more tests?" Rictus asks, a question perhaps more optimistic than he realised. "So we can be sure."

Dakkareth: "What tests are you thinking about?" Isis inquires curiously, though she is clearly not inclined to agree.

Pete: "Resonance, aura. Some mental tests, if you would allow them. To check if your memories haven't been altered."

Dakkareth: Isis considers this for a moment, then shakes her head. "No, thank you," she says pleasantly. "I can and regularly do evaluate the integrity and completeness of my memory, and the other tests were not helpful in detecting the poison in the first place."

"If you want I could show you what it would look like under Soul Marks, though. So you can check any others who might have been attacked or affected at Brewer's Hall."

Pete: "That would be appreciated." He concedes, his dissatisfaction tempered somewhat by the offer.

Dakkareth: "To whom may I give the memory?"

Pete: "I'll recieve it."

Dakkareth: Isis takes her time constructing the imago, giving the others opportunity to confirm that it is indeed nothing but a telepathic transfer of information, then sends her impression of the influence affecting a living soul.

Pete: He takes it gratefully, evaluating the memory in silence before nodding.

"Thank you. You are free to go, if you wish. We will be in contact shortly."

Dakkareth: "I would have showed that to you before, but that might have biased the evaluation," she says seriously.

"Alright, I will be going then."