Volume One: Number Theory

[Bozwevial]

The Subway
[spoiler]It's raining today. And that means a lot of people are tramping mud all over the polished floor of the station, complaining loudly about the tightly-packed cars, and making everyone else wonder why they didn't just buy an umbrella instead of a pass. After a wait that's definitely longer than the cheerful advertisements would have you believe, a train pulls up and you manage to board despite the crowd. A garbled voice starts blaring over the car's speakers before dissolving into static and cutting out as the train picks up speed and leaves the station.[/spoiler]

The Funeral
[spoiler]It's raining today. What would normally be a somber procession in black is now a sea of multicolored raincoats and umbrellas, in keeping with the law that whatever you grab to deal with unexpected weather will work or look appropriate, pick one. Still, no one sniggers, at least not loudly enough to be heard from more than a few feet away. Otto von Habsburg was respected enough that his coffin commands a certain level of dignity, and even the baby ducklings bobbing up and down on one of the umbrellas seem to grow more subdued as the procession nears the cemetery.[/spoiler]

The Park
[spoiler]It's raining today. Despite that fact and the fact that wet dog is at least the sixth worst smell known to humanity (or at least the parts of humanity that have never smelled a chupacabra), the dog walkers are out in full force. Even a few well-dressed businessmen are wandering about through the rejuvenated grass, though they take great pains not to follow in the footsteps of the dog walkers. Neither thunder or lightning seem forthcoming, but the rain hasn't taken the hint yet and probably won't leave any time soon. Still, if you have an umbrella handy, it's a fine day for a walk.[/spoiler]

To All
[spoiler]Pick one of the three above scenes as a starting location. I'm sure you can come up with a good reason for being there, so I'll let you guys pick whichever one you prefer and then we'll run the scene(s) as appropriate.[/spoiler]

[veekie]

Phil @ The Park

Phil crosses the park at a leisurely pace, raincoat sheltering a colorful wrapped package even as he enjoys the vigorous weather. Dull as the more ordinary deliveries may be, they do have the upside of nobody trying to kill him for a change.

[Agita]

Kitty"Heeeey!"
Running up to the familiar figure, Lilly lightly pats Phil on the right shoulder, then steps to his left, beaming at him with a toothy smile. "If it isn't my favorite fairy prince! How ya doing?"

[veekie]

Phil @ The Park

Oh dear, this can't be good.
"What're you doing here?! He glances about, slowing his walk, "Its not going to be like the ball all over again, is it?"

[VennDygrem]

The Funeral
Leo Berenson had had just about enough of rain. He had enough of it back in New England, and more than enough of it during the three months he spent in Jolly Old. For some reason, even here in Austria, rain clouds hung around as though their sole purpose was to track mud in Leo's life. Like he didn't have enough to deal with, what with one of Old Mickey's so-called Wizard Buddies asking to meet at a coffee shop after the funeral. Although, as funerals went, Leo gave credit where credit was due; someone around here sure did give a hoot about this Habsburg guy- A lot of someones.

The young man struggled through the crowds, hoping to find someplace out of the way until the crowd cleared. As an American, he didn't know much about just about anything in Austria; anything he did know, he had heard years ago during some family reunion, or had to learn about in the last couple of months of wandering. Luckily, there was a youth hostel in the city that was fairly low-key, and low-technology. That suited Leo just fine, since as a Wizard- ok, Wizard-in-Training- he and technology just didn't get along. There would probably be a lot of dropped calls and photographs missed as he wound his way toward his destination.

[The_Mad_Linguist]

The Funeral
Some events are obligatory for wealthy families.  No son of the Sheffields, acknowledged or ignored, could escape the looming specter of Habsburg's funeral.  To them, the driving rain was something to be endured with proper decorum, not avoided.  Dressed to the nines in a dark suit worth more than your average car, Arsene plotted his escape from the steady drone of the proceedings.  All he really needed was a suitable distraction... and if that didn't appear on its own, it wouldn't be difficult to manufacture.

[Bozwevial]

The Funeral
[spoiler]The stately pace of the procession practically ensures that anyone without suitable clothing is soaked by the time the casket reaches the graveyard. That wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the priest who starts talking

and talking

and talking

in an incredibly dull manner, placing emphasis on the wrong parts of words and in the oddest parts of his sentences. And he doesn't seem perturbed by the rain, either. He just plows on with his eulogy.[/spoiler]

TML:
[spoiler]Arsene devising some method to slip away from the funeral sounds like it would fall under the compel portion of Practically Raised by Bertram, no?[/spoiler]

Venn:
[spoiler]How would you feel about compelling New Kid on the Block to have that wizard buddy (or some other wizard buddy) take Leo under his wing and use this opportunity to explain a few of the finer points of the history of Austria? This would, of course, require you to attend the service instead of finding somewhere to wait until the crowd clears.[/spoiler]

[VennDygrem]

Boz:
[spoiler]Hmm, sounds appropriate. Just because he wants to meet for coffee after the funeral doesn't mean he can't find me before it's over. Did you want me to come up with the basic character, or did you want to? I left it open since Leo doesn't really know these people Old Mickey's sending him to meet now and again, so it made sense to allow you to surprise me. [/spoiler]

[Bozwevial]

Venn:
[spoiler]I can make something up, if you like. We did have an old conservative wizard in mind as one of the faces for the Shadows of the Past aspect, so it works out pretty neatly.[/spoiler]

The Funeral
"Leo!" booms a rather short, bearded man for whom the phrase "barrel-chested" seems to have been coined. He makes his way through the crowd over to the younger man, grasping and wringing his hand. "Splendid to see you here, dear boy! It's always wonderful to see the younger generation taking an interest in Austria's history...Bless me, I'm shouting again, aren't I?" he adds, noticing the pointed stares directed his way. "I'll just accompany you to the service, then. On the way back for coffee, I'll teach you a little about Otto, God rest his soul." He beams up at Leo.

[Agita]

The Park

"Hmm? Why ever would it be like the ball? Sorry, you don't get to dance with me today." Lilly hops in front of Phil, doing a little pirouette. "I'm just taking a walk and getting barked at. Don't you want to protect a nice girl from the mean dogs?" Leaning to the side, she peeks past the changeling's shoulder at one of the more dangerous-looking specimens of the dogs whose attention rests on her, as if hiding behind him, and sticks her tongue out at it.

[veekie]

Phil @ The Park

Phil glances at Lilly, "My aunt still hadn't forgiven me for that yet you know."
He walks closer to the dogs, on the basis that she didn't like them, so she might go away at some point.

[VennDygrem]

The Funeral

"Yes, splendid."

Though Leo is genuinely interested in learning more about the place that he is effectively stuck in for the foreseeable future, the mix of weather and the general environment of the funeral didn't exactly make him feel all giddy.

He looks down at the elder Wizard, who is quite a bit shorter than him. Leo wasn't exactly a giant, like some described that other Wizard as, but he managed well enough to dwarf this man. Rather, Leo stands at roughly six feet tall-- Ok, so... what, 1.85 meters? Damn, he'd have to get used to describing things metrically-- and was possessed of a wide frame, though he was of fairly average weight. Something about his predilection for earth magic seemed to bolster his body and make it tougher and denser, or so he thought. Maybe it was just genetics, though his parents were both smaller; his mother was actually quite short, while his father was on the lower end of average. Then again, he hadn't known either set of grandparents, though he was told that he took after both his grandfathers in certain ways.

"You know, when I was young, my parents told me I was actually named after Saint Leopold. I guess my family's got some history in Vienna, but honestly, I don't remember much of it. "

[Bozwevial]

The Funeral
"Well, we'll soon fix that, won't we?" The elderly wizard nodded absently, steering through the crowd with Leo in tow and taking a seat. It looked as though the priest had been talking a while, but he didn't seem close to wrapping up.

The Park
By this point, Lilly had attracted the attention of a lot of dogs. Even the smaller sorts had looked up from their sniffing pastimes and started to edge closer to her, teeth bared. When Phil stepped closer to the dog walkers, the retriever that had startled Lilly earlier started barking loudly. His owner, looking frazzled, tugged on the leash, apologizing profusely to the changeling but not managing to settle the large dog down. The other dogs started following suit, and within seconds the park was full of the sounds of angry dogs barking, howling, and trying their hardest to get away from their owners.

[Agita]

The Park

Graciously ignoring the intent behind Phil's actions, Lilly chooses to interpret his stepping forward as stepping up to defend her... as seem to do the dogs. "Go get em! Um..." Her enthusiasm falters a bit as all the other dogs in the park seem to follow the leader. (Stupid dogs. Can't they think for themselves? Of course they can't.) "I know fortune favors the hero defensing the damsel in distress, but... you might want to retreat to a chokepoint. You're kind of outnumbered."

[veekie]

Phil @ The Park

"_{Why me...}",Phil pauses and starts to backpedal. "Uhh...nice doggies?"

[Agita]

The Park

"Noooo! Wroong!" Stepping up behind Phil's back, Lilly sticks her tongue out at a pitbull. "Bad dogs! Stupid dogs!"

[The_Mad_Linguist]

[spoiler]Sure.  Not getting along with his parents or the social expectations for his class is half of that aspect.[/spoiler]

[Bozwevial]

All:[spoiler]Alright, looks like everyone gets a fate point because they're being compelled in some form.[/spoiler]

The Park
Things might have calmed down if Lilly hadn't stuck her tongue out. But the retriever let out a furious bark and wrenched his leash out of his owner's hands before bounding after the odd pair. Emboldened by its success, the other dogs began to escape their owners' grasps and join in the chase.

[spoiler]So for the time being, this should just be a Mediocre Athletics check to stay ahead of the dogs.[/spoiler]

[Agita]

The Park

"Uh oh." She could have taken one retriever, with ease. Tricked it into chasing its own tail or something, an oldie but a goodie. The whole park's worth of dogs... not so much. Turning around, Lilly grabs Phil's elbow and starts sprinting towards the nearest park exit. "Tactical retreat!"

[spoiler]Omnomnom Fate Points.

So, die rolls. Invisible Castle doesn't do fudge dice, but a fudge die is really just 1d3-2, so 4d3-8+(bonus) work fine.
Athletics (4d3-8+2=1)
Of course, Phil literally can't fail here. Lucky him, I was half-expecting IC to troll me with a -4 right out of the gate.[/spoiler]

[veekie]

Phil @ The Park

"Dammit, dammit!"
Quickly deciding that disentangling her wouldn't be right(besides it'd take too much time), Phil grabs her arm in exchange, holding the package under his other arm as he physically hauls Kitty away with the practiced ease of somebody who spent most of his adult life running from something or another, hauling something.

[spoiler]Run For It (4d3-8+4=6)[/spoiler]