Fiber

Mage The Ascension: Illusion and Reality in the City of Sin

Ezekiel sat on the tailgate of his van, looking the group over, still with a relaxed posture and talking.

“This machine puts out a signal that doesn’t quite resonate with bad vibes, but gets stronger with good ones, so whether you pick up on it depends on where your headspace is at. I’ve got my theories and tests, but the fact I ran it for a while and none of the men in suits showed up yet makes me fairly confident it’s working damn well.”

He took a look at Jianglong before he said his next part

“Jianglong, you know me, when I get a project in my head I go for it, and I don’t worry about telling people until I’m deep into it. People can find out when they find out. This was the kind of thing that was difficult to test in the small scale, but I do have my precautions in place just in case it gets the wrong kind of attention. Namely, I’ve got eyes all around the junkyard and a damn fast escape route if I need to ditch the tower.”

He had gotten a look at some of the chips they were holding, and heard them talking about them, but from far away he couldn’t tell much about them, not even their denomination. After squinting to try and get better a look, he gave up and spoke to the group.

“I heard you asking about chips, don’t know anything about casino chips, and despite what it looks like I don’t deal with the computer kind either. All my gear is analog, digital stuff just can’t connect with the frequencies of the universe. If you got some chip that you think might be a little off it and tell you if I notice anything, but I’ll tell you right now I didn’t make any.”

He had one last thing to do before going back into his van. Ezekiel took a good look at Kalen’s photo, but paused to think for a bit. As he turned his back and went into the van, he said

“I can’t say I’ve ever met somebody named Jin, but something about that picture looks familiar. I know I’ve seen it somewhere.”
He went over to a desk that had some kind of CRT television on it next to an antenna array. After tweaking a few dials and seeing different images dissolve into one another on the screen, Ezekiel said

“Hold up, I think I might have it. “

He ducked under the desk to flip some switches on a thermal printer, giving it a good thwack before it started. Gradually, a piece of paper began to come out of it.

Ezekiel said

“The law is hassling me over something I didn’t do, said I messed with slot machines when I haven’t even set foot on a gaming floor all year, nothing but trouble there, and hacking slot machines ain’t even fun. I was wondering why they are trying to pin this on me, it’s not the first time they’ve gone after me over some BS, but this got me curious. I worked some of my old tricks and found that the bulletin they sent around about me was actually the second version, and the first draft had some pretty major differences”

The page had finished printing now, and Ezekiel grabbed it and handed a copy of the sheet to Kalen. He said

“Here, this is the report they sent around but then recalled before it hit the public, they thought they were being slick but they’re up against someone who knows Van Eck Phreaking the like of which they’ve never dreamt of. TEMPEST ain’t gonna do them any good when I’m on them, and tricks like this are what keep me alive.”

The paper was smudgey, and had a thin feel to it, like a giant CVS receipt. On it, there were two police bulletins, side by side, bearing dates one hour apart

The body text was the same, “SUSPECTED OF TAMPERING WITH SLOT MACHINES, PLEASE REPORT TO LAW ENFORCEMENT IF ENCOUNTERED. DO NOT APPROACH OR CONFRONT”, but the headline was different. The suspect’s description and the photo had been completely swapped out between versions; the original had a blurry CCTV photo, but one that was unmistakably Jin, and the later copy had what looked like a professional headshot of Ezekiel, with no explanation for how it could change so drastically only hour apart.

As Ezekiel had his mind focused on the paper, there was action unfolding on another CRT monitor, one mounted high enough that anyone inside the workshop would have a good view of it. It looked like the signal of CCTV camera, one pointed at the junkyard entrance. Through scanlines, one could see a distinct screen: five incredibly generic men in black suits at the gate of the junkyard, having some kind of conversation with the gatekeeper and clearly growing frustrated with his mix of confusion and laziness.

Mage The Ascension: Illusion and Reality in the City of Sin

A man walks out of the van, obviously in no hurry as he slowly opens the door and steps out, one foot after the other. He wears a workman’s uniform, and looks to be in his forties, traces wrinkles in his skin and strands of grey in his hair. One of his hands holds a wirestripper, which he keeps hold of as he speaks and gestures towards the tower. After getting his bearings and taking his time to look over the group, he says

“If you’re here, then I guess that means the tower must’ve worked. It’s like a big ole’ beacon, supposed to attract people, but only those with good intentions. Right now I’ve ran it with enough charge that it’s aetheric flux field oughta hit the whole city, but someday want to really overclock it, get people all across the world, across others worlds to be able to see it.”

With the back doors of the van now open one can see that the interior of the van is far larger than the exterior. It could fit a large one bedroom apartment inside, and from the doorway you can see that every free corner is devoted to an elaborate electronics workshop. A table crowded with tools dominates the center of it, soldering irons, lenses, lamps, mechanical arms strewn about, and the walls are covered in bins holding electronics parts. Wires, antennas and oscilloscopes stand on carts and on the floor, all of it stubbornly analog; there isn’t a single computer in sight, but there are plenty of vacuum tubes and CRT monitors. Aside from tripping hazards, it’s messy but not dangerous. It’s difficult to see the far corner, but it appears that there is smaller second level overhanging the lab, with a bed and a small sofa indicating that this might be his living area. There are no exterior windows, all light comes from the glow of many, many incandescent bulbs.
He's got smile on his face, happy that the beacon worked, and happy to meet some new people. He says

“Anyway, I’m Ezekiel Thomas, guess you could call me an electrical engineer, of a sort anyway. People told me I can get in trouble if I call myself that, cuz the work I do ain’t exactly conventional. I just say they’ve got too narrow an idea of how electricity works. If there’s something I can help you with, might be best to come on in, there’s space inside the van for everyone and that’s where I can get real work done. Oh, and that includes you too, Jianghong, I see you out there hiding. Why didn’t you tell me you was back in town?”

He turns his back and begins to re-enter his workshop, gesturing that people are welcome to follow him.

Mage The Ascension: Illusion and Reality in the City of Sin

<Snipped quote by Fiber>

Thank you.

Also, you won't be offended by someone running their own Mage the Asension game?

Or Mage the Awakening?

Edit: Actually, I should check if I have the time first.

@Letter Bee

Fine with me in any case. Website's got enough space for everybody, and the setting isn't mine anyway.

Mage The Ascension: Illusion and Reality in the City of Sin

DAY 1. 11PM. 36.208413169652246, -115.0586987291666

Sometime past sunset, the chip begins to bother you. This isn’t the strange thing about it. You don’t know where it came from, other than it landed in your hands by a lucky coincidence, and you haven’t been able to cash it in even though it appears to be legitimate, and worth a heft 100 grand at that; if you tried, circumstances just didn’t work out. However strange it has been, tonight it is doing something new. It seems to rattle around on its own, enough to make a noise if you left it on a hard surface, or annoy you if you left it in your pocket. Once you pick it up, you begin to notice one of the marks appears to be pointing somewhere, as you adjust it, the chip itself rotates to keep the mark pointing in a direction, like the needle of a compass. Maybe out of curiosity, maybe just to get it to stop bothering you, you start to look where it’s sending you. After a bit of work, whether it’s just driving around, pulling out a map, or using more exotic, magical methods, you get an idea where the chip wants you to go.

The place it leads you to is on the far outskirts of Vegas, miles away from the tourist traps of the Vegas Strip. As you head there, you find a golf course on one side, the runways of Nellis Air Force Base on another, and the rest surrounded by trailer parks and warehouses. This is a reminder of another great resource Vegas had, alongside loose laws, big dreamers, and desperate people: cheap land. Piles of scrap, junked cars, building materials, and the businesses that dealt with them all sprawl in every direction; back east you could fit an entire township in this area, but in Vegas this was just for taking care of it’s waste products.

The chip is pointing to one junkyard in particular, nothing stands out about this one. Like many things in this city, it’s open late, and the sodium lights overhead cast an orange hue over the chain link entrance gate. The guard sits in his little cubicle by the gate, a heavyset man sweating from the underpowered AC unit, spending more time watching tiktok on his phone than the security monitors on his desk. He’s not paid enough to care, he will let just about anyone in as long as they don’t look like a tweaker out to steal scrap metal. Even the most basic excuse is enough for him, to the point that if someone waits patiently long enough he’ll just assume they’re meant to be there and open the gate. On leaving, he’s more careful to check that people paid for everything, though that’s easy because it’s hard to conceal anything worth stealing in a place that makes sales by the ton.

Once inside, the overhead lights cover a gravel path through the yard, but nothing else, the rest is dark. There’s little to see among all of the piles of metal and broken cars, except one tower of lights. This very tower appears to be where your chip is pointing, it’s not far from the main path, a side path takes one to a small clearing where you can get a fuller view. The tower is as tall as a telephone pole, and looks like the work of an insane engineer. It’s violently asymmetrical, built from a latticework of old metal in a vague pyramid shape, and every side of it is covered with a mixture of neon lights and an irregular assortment of antennas. Wires are wrapped all over the structure, and they end in a giant bundle connected to a port on an Econoline van parked next to it. Fading letters on the side say “EZ-Fix Electrical”. If you arrive early, you may catch a glimpse of a man entering the back of the van, but he is goes inside and closes the door before you can speak to him. Peering through the front window shows that he is in there, but the back is dark and hard to see much more.

Mage The Ascension: Illusion and Reality in the City of Sin

After careful review, the following players have been chose for the group for this RP

@Pragia12@Kensai@Mistress Dizzy@Shifter_Master@Jumbus@Theyra


Please check your DMs for an invitation to the Discord server and join it at your earliest convenience.
You may now post your characters in the character tab, an opening post will be coming shortly

To those not listed here:
Thank you to everyone who applied or expressed interest, it is unfortunate that I was not able to include you all, your contribution were valuable in any case and you are welcome to continue reading the RP while it is in progress.

Mage The Ascension: Illusion and Reality in the City of Sin

@Fiber, is Deuel approved?

@Letter Bee

There are no major issues with you CS; please note this does not mean Deuel is accepted at the current time. Approvals/Acceptances will be sent out all at once. I am offering critique up front about major issues to give people the opportunity to make corrections when their CS is missing information or contains something that itself would disqualify the character so that they have a fair chance during review, but that is only one aspect of the decision. The actual decision on who is accepted will be holistic, based on character concept, quality of submitted sheet, group dynamics, and reviewing the roleplayer's previous history.

Mage The Ascension: Illusion and Reality in the City of Sin

@Fiber If there's anything that needs attention on my sheet, please let me know.

@Kensai

Looks good to me at the moment.

Mage The Ascension: Illusion and Reality in the City of Sin

<Snipped quote by Fiber>

I have edited and added the missing info. Is this good enough?

@Theyra

Thank you.

Also, an update. I am looking to make final decisions on character applications in the next 2-3 days. I've been in contact with @Mistress Dizzy who is currently working on their character, and if anyone else needs extra time, please let me know. I am tagging @Memoria and @Crimson Flame who showed up in the Interest Check, just in case they were still intending to join.

Mage The Ascension: Illusion and Reality in the City of Sin

Samuel Evans

Just because I did bad things, does not mean I cannot do good things.

Tradition ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Orphan Spheres ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Mind, Forces and Life ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔	_______________________________________________ Samuel Kent Evans 25 Outlook: Samuel is ultimately a person seeking redemption for past actions with the 13th Street Snakes. Finally realizing after one criminal act had gone too far and now. Samuel wants to make things right with his conscience, which he had ignored since joining the gang. While he did seem like a typical gangster with the Snakes. Samuel does have morals and a conscience. Which he feels pain over what he has done and tries to forgive himself for it. He is done living as a gangster. Going clean and getting rid of his tattoos. Samuel's truth is that he believes in the power of redemption and for someone to redeem themselves not just to others, but to themselves. That a person can change for the better and not give in to past temptations. Become stronger than before. But now with the magic at his fingertips, Samuel feels like he was Awakened for a reason and that he could use his magic to use in his redemption and make things right. Once he figured out how to use his magic, that is. Samuel's Avatar only appears during dreams, which he has almost every night. The Avatar appears as a masked man wearing a cloak and often speaks in insightful words that Sameul understands half the time.	Personal History ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Samuel did have a good life growing up. A native of Las Vegas and would see the worst the city has to offer. Born to a single mother and an absent father. Samuel and his mother did their best to make a life out of their poor situation. Sometimes, despite their living conditions and status. The two were able to make it work and have some happy moments to enjoy. But like all things, it had to come to an end when Samuel's mother died when he was fourteen, and his later foster parents would barely care about him once they miraculously had a child of their own. Once he was eighteen, his was promptly kicked out of his foster parents' house without anything to support him. On the streets, Sameul would end up joining a gang and for a time he seemed to improve and felt like he had a real family since the death of his mother. Only for one day, he witnessed his gang do something that crossed the line in his mind. Forever splitting him between his gang and would later drive him to leave and go solo, but never looking back. Now on his own, Samuel experienced his Awakening after seeing a profound act of kindness he witnessed on the streets. Now a mage, Sameul now tries struggles with learning how to use his magic while trying to redeem himself for his past actions in the gang. Plot Hooks ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Being an ex-gang member, Samuel's departure from his gang, the 13 Street Snakes, was not a painless departure. As members of the Snakes, including his now ex-girlfriend, did not wish for him to leave, while some felt betrayed by him leaving. So their resurfacing in his life could happen. That and while he never knew his father. His father did not forget that he had a son out there and he may try to find and connect with his son, Samuel. Whether or not Samuel would appreciate his father showing up after all of this time remains to be seen.

_{Affiliations
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TBA
Character: Relationship}

@Theyra

I like the concept, but because he is an orphan, please expand the worldview section to include a little more about how his magic works. What does he actually do work magic, how does he prepare himself? How does he think the world works, and what does he think is happening that lets him do this? DM if you need any more detailed advice

@Letter BeeThere will be a discord server, the invite will be sent to the players that are accepted once the RP begins. The amount of combat will depend on how your characters decide to try to solve the problems they encounter. I am trying to make it so that there will always be options that don't involve direct use of force, but the more fights people try to start, the more fights will occur.

Mage The Ascension: Illusion and Reality in the City of Sin

@Fiber *blank stare* For the newly Awoken... uhh...

whazzat mean?

Actually, speaking of new. I know you said you want us to be relatively new Mages. But how long is "new"? A year? 6 months?

@Mistress Dizzy

In short, we won't be worrying too much about the metaplot the tabletop game had running, that was all events that happened in the tabletop books that won't matter for the purposes of our RP.

For how new, they don't have to be new Mages, they could even people who have been a mage for decades at this point, the main idea is that they will have a power level close to a newer mage. On the flipside, Mages that just awakened right before the first post in the RP are also welcome, as are characters somewhere in between the two extremes, whichever fits the character you are going for. I'm not tracking numerical stats like in the tabletop game, but as I've laid out in other posts, new Mage means either a few spheres they're decent at, or numerous spheres that they have a very basic grasp on. For the tabletop people stats people (non-tabletop people, don't worry about this), Arete 2 overall, but might be able to occasionally do some Arete 3 stuff.