Scene 1: Spirits

Ernst finds that David has been moved to solitary by the Executioner. Ernst puts Mage Sight up and prepares a Soul Jar. Ernst has the guard chain him to the rack, and then leave. David: "You're going to have more sport with me?" E: "No. We extended an olive branch, tried to make you an offer, show you what you are, rehabilitate you." D: "I have a plan for my escape." E takes out the jar. "I have a plan as well. But you'll be under my observation." D: "What's that for." E: "It's for you." D: "I don't understand." E: "You will." Ernst approaches, a Spirit 5 effect sparking his aura.

As Ernst begins to rip David's soul from his body, David oddly offers little resistance. Ernst's Wisdom is now a 6. No Derangement. Ernst feels his soul shaking loose, and it does appear that he is trying to slip loose of the Soul Jar trap and leave his body quickly. His body warps, changes, and it is obvious that David's body has been inhabited by the Torture Demon. (0 - 19)

Scene 2: Rituals

Lóránt pulls out regional maps to use in his blood ritual to find Zalmoxis. It is an Auspex 5 effect, and Lóránt drops a drop of Vitae onto the map in the hopes it will lead him to his Sire. The droplet coheres, and acts as an indicator of where his soul is. Lóránt expects to head southeast to Cachtice, but instead he heads due south, and has no idea where he is headed.

Meanwhile, Salih is using a ritual to find Santiago under the Pacific night skies at the Devil's Tower. Salih scries the Caleuche wreckage. It hasn't moved! It should be following the current, but it's bumping against the fog wall. Salih takes a snapshot of the night sky. Salih wants to use Destined Postcognition on the wall itself to see the most important moment in its existence. He pushes past layer after layer of Temporal Sympathy resistance. There is also some kind of cloaking magic in place. This is at least two thousand years ago. But Salih does see an island, about 20 miles wide. A city in a bay. A rolling fog is being created. Many many Mages are channeling their energies into a permanent effect. With star chart in hand, he goes to Lóránt's haven, and sees the map and the blood droplet and his Mage Sight shows that his spirit is out of his body. (19 - 30)

Scene 3: Shadows

Matthieu. He is trying to push forth his various Labyrinths. One of these would be getting the Llull-Bruno Machine and getting it into the Earth Labyrinth. As Matthieu cloaks himself in shadows and heads to the Klementinum, he finds the Machine still there. These cells were off-limits to the Jesuits, so it's not too surprising that it's still here. Matthieu uses Matter magic to disassemble and lighten the load. Non-Awakened magic items go to the Salamander. But Matthieu plans to ask the Consilium for a vault to store all the Awakened items. With Makovsky gone, Matthieu can move up in the Guardian hierarchy. (30 - 38)

Scene 4: Fight

The beast's eyes stayed the same, and Ernst falls into his eyes. Ernst begin to feel the soul-destroying effect of hours, days, weeks of torture. Any sign of anyone being physically tortured or any physical cruelty. Anytime he sees the trigger, he will go into a trance-like state if he fails a Resolve + Composure roll. Ernst tries to blind him with his zweihander. He cannot due to the possessed's defense. The spirit tries to rip out Ernst's soul. He doesn't get a whole lot of traction or grip, but he does manage to dislodge it a little bit.  (38 - 49)

Scene 5: Travel

Lóránt is flying due south, through Austria, right by Venice, Croatia, and the Adriatic Sea. He's moving faster than he should be, and he finds that he's not fully in control. This ley line is the one that feeds the Hallow at Benatky. The energy is coming from the end of the line. Salih ponders the idea of bringing the sky chart to Tycho or Kepler. As the sun comes up over Austria, Lóránt's veil comes up but not before he sees a group of orb-like sunlight spirits converging on him. Lóránt uses his new Slayer abilities to find out their weakness as he tries to fly faster and outrun them. All of a sudden, after his analysis, spirit-form versions of his swords appear. This completes the Seeking for his new Devotion, and he continues to speed south. (49 - 55)

Scene 6: Machine

Matthieu has the entire machine. It is added to the lead box collection. Matthieu goes to meet with Typotius. He notices his frailty, doing sketches for his book of imprese. T: "To what do I owe this pleasure?" M: "I've been hard at work, and I think it's time to bring this first to the Guardians and then to the Consilium." Respiratory issues; not an infectious disease. "Pardon me. I have not been feeling well of late. When you say the Guardians you mean me and… Petras? Because Herr Makovsky has disappeared. He got his knighthood and one for his brother, and then left. This is not behavior of the Guardians." M: "I'm sure he will let us know the reasons for his departure." T: "There is a certain protocol here, and he should've been in contact with me. You speak of being in us together but for what end?" M: "As we've all seen, Prague is on a precipice. The influence of the Papacy is trickling in, and he have to obviously protect its riches. I have been working on several interconnected Labyrinths, also protect the true wonders that come through the Emperor;'s chambers. At the moment, I have a few such items. I do not want to secret them away in my chambers, they belong to the Consilium. I could take them to the Benatky but again they are not mine. They are not the Peregrini's. I came to you to see if there is somewhere we can use for storage of these items." T: "If I were to tell you I don't think they should be kept in Prague proper, would you be all right with that? There is a manor house outside of the city. The original builder was the Emperor's great-uncle, he constructed it according to what a Sleeper might believe are occult precepts. It lays unclaimed, and if we're able to use some of the political power of some of your cabal-mates, we could use it as a storage place and its reputation makes it a quasi-Labyrinth already." M: "I'd want to go and inspect the building. If we were able to lay claim, we could have the Consilium approve and lay down wards." T reminds him he'll need someone with Space. (55 - 74)

(metagame: another Haven for L? M buys all Security with the help of the Consilium.)

Scene 7: Coffee

Salih invites Tycho for coffee. Before he leaves, he sees L still in his trance. Salih sunproofs the room further. Mid-morning, Prague, Golden Lane Coffeehouse. Tycho says he's engaged in debate with Jiri. It's attracting a certain clientele. I daresay you know the reputation of Golden Lane, as a haven for fly-by-night alchemists, and now you are wiping the taste of that from everyone's mouths. Philosophical discussion. S: "I'm glad you're enjoying it?" T: "I don't know how anyone could not enjoy this brew. I am a man of the grape, but ever since that night you shared this with us while stargazing I have been a devotee of the brew. I didn't expect to hear from you, is it urgent?" "My friend Santiago said he would send back word, and his last missive is a month and a half overdue. In his notes I found word of where he would be going." "I'm not good with maps." "I have an astronomical chart that might be able to determine where in the world it would be." "Show me the data." "These are not planetary observations, this is an actual sky. When was it taken?" "A year ago." "I need the exact date." Tycho is being playful; he suspects something, that it has nothing to do with Santiago. "I believe it is very important that I find this location. But I do not have any more accurate information to give you."  (74 - 83)

Scene 8: Escape

David/Torture bursts free of the chains. His flesh begins to bubble, deform, and twist, and he makes his way down the drain and out of the torture chamber. Ernst makes a bruise on his head with Life, and stumbles out of the room, confused, asking where the prisoner went. "What do you mean, sir?" Ernst storms off. Back to his office. (83 - 88)

Scene 9: Croton

Lóránt has overcome the challenges of being in this state. Almost one full day in torpor, and he sees land as the sun goes down. He is somewhere in the heel of Italy. Into a city with a grand, brand-new citadel. Ley line ends here in the citadel. L feels Zalmoxis close by. As the sun sets, Zalmoxis walks among the guards in the citadel unseen, and L's spirit swoops into the courtyard. Two secret masters, hidden to the mundanes. "You found me." "I thought it best  to make sure you were safe and in good health after what transpired in Prague." "Thank you. HOW did you find me?" "I conducted a ritual." "With the blood?" "Yes." "And you used your sympathy with me?" "Yes." "Impressive. Very impressive." "Thank you my liege." "I suppose you're wondering why I left. Are you surprised to not find me at Bathory's door, begging for my body back?" "I'd hoped not, but that is what I feared." "Why would I want to follow in the footsteps of that whelp. If I were given my life again, I would be left as a man of four score years. I did flee. Because of the revelation of Corneliu becoming mortal again." He walks wistfully. "You may not believe this coming from me, but I have many regrets for how I came to be in this state. I was tempted. Reason won out in the end. But by the gods I was tempted." "What brought you here, you sought to put more space between yourself and the temptation?" "You stand in the citadel built by Charles V meant to protect the town of Crotone from the Turk." L figures it must be a former Greek colony. "This is where I died. This is where I betrayed my master. This is where I bought nearly two millenia of regret and shame. It was a Golden Age. Men took knowledge from the skies and brought it down to the mortal mind. There will never be its like again, not even in your city of Prague. On this spot was Pythagoras's temple, his home, and I one of his oldest and dearest friends, betrayed him." (88 - 94)

Scene 10: Vision

"You would not believe me if I told you." "Now we're getting somewhere. I have an assistant who sees things. I know that among the alchemists there were people who knew the true Art. I know astrology isn't real, but I know at court there are people with knowledge beyond that which we can see with our eyes. So Herr Cavus, are we going to talk frankly now?" Salih thinks maybe Tycho is ready to take the first step on the Ladder. "Santiago's ship is in ruins, at this location, as of yesterday." "So my next question is how do you know the sky looks like this at the site of his wreck." "Because I saw it." "So you have visions too. Is that what you and Johannes has been gossiping about like a couple of old ladies." "something like that." "You saw the night sky above the wreckage of the ship of your friend?" "Yes." "Yesterday." "Yesterday." "Well! Now we're getting somewhere. I told you before I'm no good with maps, but we could probably use one. I know there's not a lot of detailed maps of the other side of the planet, but if the emperor has one, we could use it. A globe would be even better." Salih uses Fate to bring him and Tycho to a globe. Kunstkammer. 

Matthieu and Astragal. They just finished analyzing the Blood of Christ. "Very impressive," Astragal says. At this point Salih and Tycho are at the end of the hall and Matthieu sees them. Astragal takes the relic back to the box. "Doctor? We come seeking a globe." "What kind?" "As detailed as possible, especially with respect to the Pacific Ocean." "So you seek a terrestrial globe." "Yes!" Matthieu is of course, shocked, but hides it well. The globe is brought forth. It hits near to what has been termed "the Solomon Islands." Full of cannibals. "Thank you for your help." "You will tell me how things turn out? I hope your friend is all right."

"How much did you tell him?" "That I had a vision of the night sky…" Matthieu rolls his eyes. "Over the wreckage of the ship. Tycho is not completely clueless." "Continue to misunderstand what it is that I do." "HE was read and able to handle the information I have him." "Only time will tell that." "I believe that." "Good on you." "He did not crack or run off in disbelief. That is a positive sign. He is a good man with a good understand of the universe around him,? He has some unusual conceptions. He's trying to expand his horizons. Well, Santiago is in the Solomon Islands. My plan is to go there very soon." "How do you plan on doing so, what's your plan when we get there." "My plan is that I will follow and see where it leads." "It leads to an island of mists and shipwreck with Atlantean ties. The last time we encountered such things, I almost killed everyone." "I hope that will not be the case. But this time Santiago is there, and Makovsky is there, and I intend to follow them." "To what end?" "To explore, and to find them. To help them. I am concerned that Makovsky does not have, that he has no care for Santiago, that he is a means to an end. This must have been his plan from the beginning, ever since the ritual." Matthieu is speechless. "Isn't this what Santiago wanted too?" "To a certain extent." "You feel this is a rescue mission?" "I do. I cannot perceive beyond that veil in any way. That alone has made me cur…. has grabbed my attention." "Do you know what my job is? It is to make sure veils are not removed." "Very well. I will see you when I return." More stuttering. "Neither of us is speaking in our native tongue, but we might as well be, my good sir. Are you just… just going to rush off and do this now? Alone, unaided, unprepared?" "Makovsky did." "And he built a lot of resentment for what he did." "It is my intention to return in a timely fashion." "I am sure it was Makovsky's intention to return in a timely fashion!" "I do not believe that. I do not believe he intends to return." "Why is that?" "Because of the preparations he made for his family, his brother, before he left. He safeguarded the name of his family going forward." "Interesting point. We should call together Ernst and Lorant before going forward." "Absolutely. I would not wish to act without their counsel." "Ernst is here." "Lorant is indisposed at the moment. He is at Benatky." "What does that mean?" "Exactly what I said. I will return there before we leave." "So much conviction in your plans." "I believe Fate will take me where it is supposed to." "Bleh." (94 - 107)

Scene 11: The Death of Pythagoras

Zalmoxis conveys everything to Lóránt that happened around the fall of Pythagoras. A sad tale. "Now you can see why I resisted. I have trucked with powers in the past and asked them to help me. I don't wish to do that anymore. I also don't wish to die, but I have been living with this guilt for 2,000 years. I don't want you to make the same mistakes and betray those closest to you." "I have taken steps to ensure that will not happen." Zalmoxis sees the oath on Lóránt. "So they've chained you, they've tried to chain your Beast." "It was actually my idea to protect them from me. I feel like I have a lot to learn from them. And I wish to remain companion with them. And if it took that for them to trust me, it was a sacrifice I was willing to make." "It was a wise precaution on your part and theirs. I would not want you to stay outside your body much longer. It might cause you to fall back into torpor. I must convey one thing to you. It concerns Zsuzanna. When Michael returns to the front? She is planning to make her move." "And what is her move?" "She is utterly sick and disgusted with Michael's pursuits of power. She wishes him to consolidate and offer protection to the Ordo Dracul. She feels this final request of aid from Rudolf is the moment she has needed to strike. She left Prague because she is laying a trap for him." "Is she seeking to humble him or destroy him?" "She will want to put one or the other of his heirs on the throne who is utterly bound to him. She knows he knows the family history and she knows of Michael's suspicion. She wants a more pliable option on the throne. I care nothing for these intrigues. I am staying in Crotone. These memories I have vouchsafed to you, I need some way to enshrine these memories. Find some way to make these memories live. Find some way to protect others from this… hubris." "It would be my honor." "If you need me I will be here." "And if you need me, I will be in Prague." (107 - 120)

Scene 12: Three

Ernst's office. E: "Good day to you." S: "Good morning. How are you?" E: "It has been a… troubling, difficult day." S: "You look troubled. Do you care to talk about it?" E: "The good news is our Awakened prisoner has been taken care of." M: "What do you mean taken care of?" Ernst holds up the jar. It's an Awakened soul. S: "Why would you do this horrible thing?" E: "For our safety." S: "He's one of us?" E: "Would one of us use… demons to try to take each other out?" S is still very shocked. "This doesn't justify such a horrific act. He lacked understanding." E: "He had significant understanding." S: "Knowledge and understanding are different things, ability and understanding are different things." E: "I will concede that. Regardless, what's done is done. If you would like to put him back in someone else to teach him, you may. But I wash my hands of it." S: "Where is his body?" E: "His body was taken, by a demon, and went down the drain. The demon is now loose. As I said it's been a troubling day. For once things did not go as planned." S: "For once? Very well. I wish to inform you that I am going after Santiago. I will see you when I return." E: "Godspeed." Salih leaves to go back to Benatky to wait for Lóránt to awaken.

M: "I met with him briefly, the fellow in this jar, to get information. He threatened me within the first few minutes so I am all right with what you've done here." E: "Good. I'm sure Salih will come around eventually. Maybe a trip halfway around the world will cool him off a bit." M: "Ernst, I'm feeling apprehensive. That Salih is going to run off to this potentially extremely important location and that he is going to find potentially extremely important information regarding the history of Mages and that he is just going to tell people about it." E: "So… is this necessarily the worst thing in the world." M: "Yes, it is the worst thing in the world. Because a man who is dragged to the Watchtower in stead of arriving there on his own ends up in that jar right there and that is why it is the worst thing in the world." E: "How do you propose we deal with this?" M: "I think that we should make the necessary preparations, find out as much as we can about where he wants to go, and go with him." E: "I am confident he'll come around to us coming." M: "He…. he's all about Fate and it taking him where it will, and all this shit…" E: "Perhaps Fate will convince him we are meant to come." M: "I don't want to leave without preparation. Neither you nor I are in position to abandon our posts without proper preparations." Ernst agrees. M: "We should talk to Lóránt." Ludovic will find a trusted physician to work in Matthieu's place. M and S leave for Benatky. (120 - 127)

Scene 13: Awakening

Salih returns to Benatky. It's night time. Lóránt awakens. Salih knocks. "Enter." "Oh, good. I was going to leave a note if you were not awake." "Oh, I was just tracing the ley line that feeds the Dragon's Nest here." "You made it quite far." "This is the source of it right here." "When I came here last night you were over the ocean." "It was well worth it. Illuminating. What have I missed the past two days?" "Santiago's ship is in the Solomon Islands. And I intend to go there. To seek out him and Makovsky." "Going alone??" "If I must." "I would urge you to at least take Ernst; he is doorwarden, you could use his protection." "I'm not sure if I trust his… judgment." "Oh?" "Yes, he has done things I find very difficult to accept." "Difficult in that it put us or the Emperor in harm's way?" "I believe that it was wrong." "Well…" Sigh, pregnant pause. Ernst and Matthieu find his door shut. Ernst knocks. "You may enter." "It is nice to be meeting in someone else's Sanctum other than Matthieu's," Lóránt says wittily. "I have no wine to offer you as I have lost my taste for it." E: "And we have no taste for the wine you have been drinking." L: "Touché. Salih was just explaining to me how he plans to find the wreckage of the Caleuche." E: "Yes, and Ludovic has begun working on our affairs here and we plan on tagging along." L: "I think this is a very wise decision. I hope you will forgive me if I do not join you." E: "There is a lot of daylight in this location, yes?" L: "Also, someone should stay here because there are many things afoot." M: "Also, you can keep an eye on the Emperor." E: "You should know of what I have done today? It has resulted in a demon being loosed upon Prague." L brightens visibly. "You don't say? I just fought some demons. I would like to fight some more." E: "Well, this one is a torture demon. And since you are a soulless being, he should be no challenge." Ernst only laughs. "He is rather strong. He caused some considerable harm to me." L: "Tell me everything about him." L uses his Mage Sight, sees the soul dislodged, loose. L: "Well, we can't have a demon loose in the catacombs of Prague, can we?" E explains the method of his escape. L: "I will see if I can clean up your mess while you go to find Santiago." E: "I will try not to summon more demons on our trip." Again, only Ernst laughs. 

S: "What made you change your mind?" M: "The importance of the information we might find there. And to be perfectly frank, my role as a protector of such information." E: "Salih, if I may, if there is anything I have learned from my experience today, is that you and I act as checks on each other. You rein me in when I go too far, and I know that I have done the same for you from time to time. You see what I did when you were not around." S: "So you are saying you should come because I should not leave you alone in Prague?" Matthieu laughs uncharacteristically. E: "There is considerable seriousness to that. Something has impacted me, and it's not something I'm sure I want to face alone." S: "All right. L, is there anything you need from us before we go." Red thread to L.

M: "S, when are you hoping to leave." S: "Whenever we are ready, a day or two?" M: "I'll need a week." S: "How long do you imagine we'll be gone?" S: "Barring any other trouble, I will… try to return us soon after we leave." Time magic. M: "I think we should then pick a time so we can tell people when we return. Perhaps I am going to Paris to visit my father?" S: "A month." S prepares a room to return to that will be Warded. A solid sympathetic anchor for a quick return. S will need to choose something of himself or something very dear to himself there. 

What to tell the Consilium? S wishes to tell Perun, who will then tell the Consilium? M thinks we should instead make our own announcement to the Consilium. S says perhaps I can speak with him first. M: "All I am saying is that we are men of certain standing in this city and we should act accordingly." S makes the argument we're going purely for Santiago. We do not need to mention Makovsky. S says he will tell Perun. E also thinks we should not tell the Consilium about Makovsky. S and E are both wary of his allies. L says information is power. We are the only ones who know. We can hold that over him. E says we do not want his allies to contact him. M is not convinced Makvosky has any malice. S says he used Santiago for his own purposes M says he is unduly concerned. S says he is our compatriot. M assumes as a Master of Fate he sees everyone as a game piece. S yes. M so Santiago can be your game piece but not Makovsky's? S is silent. S I don't think of him as… Santiago is my friend. For Makovsky, he used him to find what he wanted. M a great discovery. S that by right is Santiago's. I would do the same for you and for your discoveries. M I cannot speak for Makovsky, I don't know him that well… S interrupts None of us do. His actions have led me to trust him less. M I disagree! I feel like before when we couldn't figure out his motives, I was suspicious. But now we see the plan, it's a man who wanted something very specific. S True. Something he had manipulated very secretly for. Not that we all haven't done that. But I don't trust his motives. He's also not my main concern. M This talk of motives and means, it is his results that matter. S I disagree. E I don't believe we know enough to make a distinction either way. Which means we must default to simply looking after our companions. We have no incontrovertible evidence either way if he is a threat. S You're using harsh terms. I don't speak of threats. We should not be hostile, even in thought. I merely wish to understand what's going on. M I agree. Which is why I think a week of preparation before going is important. Almost a month since Makovsky left. Six weeks since Santiago lost contact. S: "I believe that is what triggered Makovsky's actions." L: Laudanum, coffeehouse, M's machinations (which means L will know of all of M's plans). (127 - 155)

Scene 14: Two Goodbyes

Salih and Perun: a walk in the gardens. Salih puts a Ward up. "So I guess you have something to tell me?" S: "I always want to keep you apprised, and I trust your judgment. We are leaving Prague and we are going to find Santiago. His ship is wrecked in the Solomon Islands." P: "Have you been able to pinpoint him?" S: "His ship yes. Him no." P: "Do you fear he is dead?" S: "No. It is where Makovsky is. And there is a barrier I cannot perceive past." P: "Makovsky did this?" S: "No, it is much older." P: "What are you trying to tell me?" S: "I am just letting you know. I believe Santiago stumbled into something ancient and that Makovsky is chasing that discovery. I am concerned for Santiago's well-being and bothered by Makovsky's involvement." P: "Makovsky will be tried upon his return to Prague by the Lex Magica. The Consilium will see to that." S: "Why?" P: "He abandoned his post without first consulting the Consilium. Like you are doing right now." S: "I see." P: "Obviously if you could bring him back, it would be a great service to the Consilium. We need to talk to him." S: "Why?" P: "He not only left his post but we believe he is hiding something, even from his fellow Guardians. The Consilium will try him, the Guardians will punish him." S: "Are you giving us authority?" P: "The authority would reside with Ernst as an Arrow." S: "That was not my intention in going, but if that is the Consilium's wish, we will do so. If you have any advice on how to stop him." P: "He has great facility with Mind and Space magic which is why I thought he set up that Ward. Do you believe he has found Atlantean ruins?" S: "I believe Santiago has. And that Makovsky is looking to usurp this discovery. P chuckles. "Will the Mysterium and Guardians ever stop being at each other's throats?" S:"I don't think so." The Peregrini will appear before the Consilium to receive the warrant for Makovsky. P: "What do you think you'll find?" S: "I was completely unprepared for the discoveries we made last time; I am no better prepared this time." P: "The legacies of Atlantis are myriad and dangerous. But I have faith in your wisdom to manage any discoveries you make." 

Ernst and Michael: "Freiherr, it was good to see you again. This stay has been productive and profitable, and I feel like a new era is dawning for both our nations. We'll take the fight to Sigismund, we'll free our land from the evil grasp of the Bathorys." Salih sees the knights of the Dragon marching off to their doom. But at least they're leaving the city alive. (155 - 170)