Volume One: Number Theory

[The_Mad_Linguist]

[spoiler]... I think I see where this is going. 

Rolling driving (as a form of 'city layout knowledge' to try to apply the scene aspect "Next to the Park".

4d3-4+1=6
... wait a second, fudge dice should be 4d3-8, not 4d3-4.  So the real total is 2.

Assuming I make it, I then tag Next to the Park to declare that the ravenous hounds are a massive distraction, and use my 'cat burglar' skill to roll burglary as my sneakiness ability.
4d3-8+5+2=8

...assuming that worked.
[/spoiler]

The long, droning memorial speech continued, causing the eyes of the audience match the sky's cloudiness.

Only to be interrupted abruptly as a pair of guys ran past in a blur, followed by what spectators would later describe as 'a goddamn wolfpack'.

Wait, is that them?

Taking the advantage of the welcome distraction, Arsene slipped out of the crowd to pursue.  He'd catch flak for it later, but anything was better than this.

[Bozwevial]

The Park (but not for long)
It had been such a nice--

Well, it had been a rather pleasant--

Alright, it had frankly been a rather average day, but the dogs were just too much. It simply wasn't possible that a pack of dogs had started chasing two people through the park, decided each person as Phil and Lilly ran closer. They therefore paid close attention to something else in the hopes that the impossibility wouldn't start chasing them.

As the pair left the park, closely escorted by the dogs, something caught their attention. It wasn't the man in the dirty jumpsuit. It wasn't the fact that he was watering one of the trees. It was the fact that very few gardeners, if any, water trees using a petrol can.

The Funeral
Absolutely no one in the crowd watched the younger Sheffield making his escape. Their attentions had come unmoored partway through the second sermon on Death and were now fixed raptly on the spectacle of two figures chased by a massive pack of dogs.

Even if they had been watching Arsene slip away, they wouldn't have seen anything. The man seated next to him would have sworn that no one had been there in the first place. His exit was so smooth you could use it to grease door hinges.

Not that he'd need silent door hinges. Because he was that sneaky.

[Agita]

(Previously) The Park

Think fast, Kitty. The day was shaping up to be rather unfun, and Lilly just wouldn't have that. Especially not at the paws of a bunch of smelly mutts. Add to that that being dragged by another isn't exactly the most dignified way to flee. Something needs to happen. "Left!", she barked (get it?) to Phil as he left the park with her in tow, hoping that he'd follow the direction without thinking too much about it and get them out of line of sight from the park.
Closing her eyes, Lilly took two deep breaths, holding the second as she scribbled a sign into the air with her free index finger. When she released the breath, it came out as a haze of colorless flames that crept along her body and Phil's, engulfing them... and suddenly, the dogs were chasing nothing.

Inside the veil, a screen of ghostly fire muted the outside world, making it look kind of like an old black-white film. The noise of the rain sounded distant, and even the wet dog fur wasn't quite as bad. More importantly, so hidden from their pursuers, Lilly tugged on Phil's jacket to signal for him to slow down and let her get on her feet.

[spoiler]Kitty casts her appropriately-named Emergency Veil rote here, resulting in a scene-long 4-shift veil.

FP: 2
Stress: Physical OOO(OO); Social OOOO; Mental OOXO[/spoiler]

[veekie]

Phil

Realizing what she was doing as the haze springs up, Phil screeches to a halt, still holding the package gingerly under his coat.

[Bozwevial]

[spoiler]Alertness (4d3-8+1=1)

Is the duration on that until the end of the scene, or for two exchanges?[/spoiler]

The angry baying of the hounds turns to a confused whine as their quarry vanishes. Some of the more eager dogs keep running in the same direction, while others circle around on the spot.

[Agita]

Outside the Park

Righting and dusting herself off, Kitty surveyed the dogs (stupid dogs) with a smile as they split into groups of overenthusiastic and confused. She lifter a finger to her lips and hissed a low "Shhh" to Phil, then tugged at his arm to lead him back to the park. Now she could take her walk with a lot fewer annoying dogs barking at her. And take a peek at that wannabe gardener with the petrol can, while she was at it.

[spoiler]Sorry, I guess I forgot to update the description. It's supposed to be a thaumaturgic veil at evocation speed, so the duration would be 1 scene (or until broken).

FP: 2
Stress: Physical OOO(OO); Social OOOO; Mental OOXO[/spoiler]

[VennDygrem]

"What the heck is going on? What's everyone looking at over there?" Leo attempted to peer over at the spectacle, but couldn't quite make everything out from his vantage point. "Is that...? What the... Where did all those dogs come from? Is there a dog-park nearby?"

[Bozwevial]

The Funeral
Leo's elderly companion spluttered, definitely gasted and quite possibly flabber. The rest of the crowd was just as confused, but the priest seemed to be engrossed in his speeches and was not paying the dogs--or the crowd--the slightest bit of attention.

The Park (Again)
As Kitty and Phil drew closer to the park's entrance, the sharp tang of petrol rudely kicked aside the lingering fragrance of wet dog. The man in the dirty jumpsuit was still there, leaning against the excessively large tree he was "watering" earlier. The can lay discarded to the side, and his outfit was sopping wet. His head was bowed and his lips moved silently as though he too were praying for the recently deceased Habsburg.

[Agita]

The Park

Kitty wrinkled her nose at the new stench as she reentered the park with Phil. Between wet dogs and petrol, she honestly couldn't decide which smell is worse, but she was leaning towards the dogs on general principle. Regardless, so much for her nice walk.
Pointing at the so-called gardener, Kitty whispers to Phil, taking care to keep her voice low enough for the veil to muffle it, "There, that guy. Smells like arson. Literally." A beat passes before she adds, "Ugh. Can you do some wind thing to make the smell bearable? My poor nose..."

[veekie]

Phil @ The Park

"_{Not such a good idea I think. Wind makes fire much worse. I could encourage the rain a little though...}" Phil glances at the clouds, concentrating as he reaches under his raincoat for his focus baton. A surreptitious twirling is mirrored in the skies above, as a spasm of wind compacts the clouds over the park area, squeezing out a near legendary deluge.

[spoiler]Evocation speed thaumaturgy: Set Scene Aspect - Epic Downpour. 3 shifts to effect, 1 to duration(for half an hour)
Control(4 shift) (4d3-8+4=5)
I Have Control[/spoiler]

[Bozwevial]

The Park
The clouds quickly gather and turn the mildly annoying rain into a thick, drenching storm that quickly leaves anyone nearby looking as though they've jumped into a lake. The suspicious gardener looks up in dismay before pulling out a pocket watch, squinting through the deluge to check the dial.

[veekie]

Phil

Phil looks about, why would anyone want to commit arson when things are too wet to burn anyway?

[VennDygrem]

The Funeral

Leo leaned over and asked the elder Wizard, "Do large packs of dogs normally run around like that? Is that typical for this city?"

[spoiler]All the action seems to be at the park, so I guess all I can really do is keep asking questions. [/spoiler]

[Bozwevial]

The Park
The man stood with sudden determination, dropped the watch, pulled a cigarette lighter out of his pocket, and held it to his sleeve before flicking it dramatically.

This had absolutely no effect, since the storm Phil concocted was probably potent enough to drown some of the smaller dogs that had been chasing him earlier. The gardener kept trying, his demeanor changing from that of a martyr to one of desperation.

The Funeral
"No," the older wizard said in evident consternation, staring up and around in great confusion. "And would you look at that?" He pointed to the thick mass of clouds that had clumped in the sky not too far away. "That's not right at all." The crowd was also muttering to one another about the freak rainstorm.

[spoiler]If you would, Venn, make an Alertness check. Getting at least a Fair lets you know that the priest has stopped talking.

Also, what's Arsene doing, TML?[/spoiler]

[VennDygrem]

[spoiler]Alertness: -1,-1,+1,0=-1 +1 Average = 0 (Mediocre) vs. Fair *Failure by 2*[/spoiler]

The Funeral
Leo gets caught up in paying attention to the clouds being pointed out to him. "I've got to agree with you there... Do you think they're connected?"

[The_Mad_Linguist]

[spoiler]Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehternet
bleh
blehebleh
hbhlhelbhelbh
bhlehblehb
...
bleh

Anyway, assume arsene is following the trail of dogs, genre savvy enough to realize something is up.[/spoiler]

[Bozwevial]

[spoiler]Arsene probably gets there in time to see the storm coalesce out of nowhere, in that case.[/spoiler]

The Funeral
"It certainly seems that way," he mused, frowning at the sky. "Are the Courts at it again?"

[Agita]

The Park

Kitty watched the wannabe martyr's behavior with amusement that she didn't bother to hide as she huddled under her umbrella with Phil still on her arm. "Poor guy, he looks like he really wanted to burn..." With a wry smile, she extended one hand towards the man as far as she could while staying inside the veil and took a deep breath. As she breathed out, she drew some signs into the air in the man's direction and... nothing happened. Or so it seemed, anyway.

The martyr saw otherwise. After many failed attempts, the lighter finally flared to life in a flash, engulfing his arm with fire in a matter of seconds and swiftly spreading across his body and to the tree. He might eventually notice that the flames were not actually hot, but... details, right?

[spoiler]Alright, let's liven this up. Kitty makes a simple 3-shift maneuver spell here to place a fragile aspect "Phantom Flames" (or maybe just "Thinks He's On Fire"?) on our wannabe martyr that lasts until tagged.

Deceit control and aim vs. Discipline or other applicable defense (4d3-8+5=6)

FP: 2
Stress: Physical OOO(OO); Social OOOO; Mental XOXO[/spoiler]

[VennDygrem]

The Funeral

Leo shuddered in remembrance of his last encounter with denizens of Faerie; he had had a rather rotten curse laid on him by a Wyldfae Lord- a Leprechaun- to act as motivation in retrieving the Lord's stolen gold. If Leo never saw another Fae again, died, was reincarnated a few times, and never saw a single one during those lifetimes either, it would still be too soon. However, knowing the kind of trouble it meant if the Sidhe were fighting with one another, he scrounged up the will to say,

"We might need to find out."

[Bozwevial]

The Park
Oddly enough for a man who believed he was ablaze, the ersatz gardener's face was ecstatic as he flung himself against the tree, shouting wordlessly. It's remarkable what a little push will do to persuade someone who's fanatic and desperate.

Actually wanting to be on fire probably helps too. At least, that's what it looked like to the two three observers watching a grown man...nuzzling? Nuzzling a tree.

Agita:
[spoiler]He is not very good at this (4d3-8+1=4)
I don't know why I bothered rolling for him when he couldn't succeed. Poor guy. He got really burned on that deal.[/firepun][/terrypratchettripoff][/spoiler]

The Funeral
"Yes...yes, I think we might just have to leave the history lesson for--oh my," the elder wizard trailed off lamely. By now, anyone who had stopped paying attention to the dogs and the storm had noticed the priest slumped over the podium. "Good lord...Leo, dear boy! Go find out who's causing that storm. I'll go see what I can do for that man. Excuse me!" he thundered, not pushing his way through the crowd of anxious mourners so much as bulldozing. "Let me through!" The command was entirely unnecessary, given that anyone who had seen the wizard coming had made it a priority to be at least several yards out of his path. Those who hadn't were being propelled ahead as a sort of human battering ram.