[Deimos_Masque]

I can't believe it... we did it. We actually played Mage!!!! The first game of the first book of the Rotten Apple Mage chronicle.

Thus as supreme vilicus of this forum I thought it would be only fair if I posted it all here.

So here we go:


The Rotten Apple Setting: New York City, New York July 2000

Book 1: End of Family Tradition

New York City is an interesting home for the Awakened. After the brutal War of the Nameless at the begining of the century, the Seers of the Throne haven't been much of an obvious threat. In fact noone has heard of one actively interfearing in one of the Pentacle Order's affairs in almost 15 years. NYC was one of the epicenters of the Nameless War and as such the Consilium and orders are more accepting of the Free Council than some more traditional cacusus may be.

With it's vast amount of hallow, verges, loci and ley lines, the Rotten Apple has proven to be a center of mystical convergances. With that its no surprise that the Mages of the city have had many conflicts with various other supernatural entities that seek the mystical secrets of New York City. But now things have become more calm, except for the rare conflicts the mages have formed something of an unstable balance between the other denziens of the night that make the city it's home.

However recently the geomancy and ley lines, long since stablized and controled have begun to wane and take on new forms. The secrets of this change perhaps lie in the machinations of an unusal vampiric entity made of shadows and with some special connections to the places of power both above and below the city

[Christian A]

Woo hoo!

[Vampir]

Is this the game placed in your home brew setting I saw a while ago?

[Deimos_Masque]

Yes it is. Though it will be a slow reveal into the larger setting as the game starts with three solitary mages.

[Vampir]

I live for these threads...

[Deimos_Masque]

And now the characters:

Firstly....

Raggedy Ann

Path: Obrimos
Order: Adamantine Arrow
Mentor: Marcus Gillan

Loriann was your typical high school mall rat for most of her adolescent life. When she was thirteen years old however everything changed on her. Her father, a strong role model in her life, was killed in a car accident. Despite the loving sympathy of her mother and the consolations of her friends and family, Loriann found that she could not bear the world anymore. The world had proven itself to be cruel and unfair, a place where nothing was eternal. With that thought in her mind she spent her life in the malls wandering around them, hoping that one day she would find something eternal.

One day, she found it. She sat in the mall as sad and lonely as ever, the only odd thing of that day was that some sort of ad campaign had begun to occur. Banners everywhere suggested "Upliftment" "Nobility" and "Pride." The people all seemed to be of a higher class than they usually were and she could not find her traditional clique of mall rats anywhere. She wandered the mall realizing that this new ad campaign just like everything else, would just come to an end one day. She didn't know what to do accept find a corner and mourn her loss.

While sulking so pathetically she was approached by a man. His skin was tanned his appearance tailored to a near archetypical male beauty, he had all the bearing of a noble prince. He stepped up to her softly and in a voice of pure golden quality he asked her. "Why are you crying little one?"

"Because the world is ugly and hard and no good can come from it." she replied with tears in her eyes.

The Prince leaned down to her and kissed her tears away and said, "Do not succumb to it. You have in you a noble heart and should never lose that." He took a ring from his finger, a golden signet ring in the shape of a blooming rose. "Accept this ring and you will find your noble heart again and you must promise to never loose it."

She looked up at him and she felt that she may have found that eternal thing that she had been looking for. She took the ring and just nodded to him. From that moment on she has been connected to the Aether and to the concepts of true nobility. She has strived to be just like the Eternal Prince that she had seen. She always wore his ring and became even more of a tomboy that she ever had been before. She even took up the noble sport of fencing in a way to be even more like the Prince she wished to be.

However, it would be years before she knew that she had awakened to the magic of the Supernal Realms, instead she would end up applying and going to Bernard’s College in New York City in order to get away from the small town life she’d grown up in. It was there she met Marc Gillian and was shown the real truth.

Since being inducted into the Adamantine Arrow, and officially proclaiming herself to the mage community as “Raggedy Ann,” she has found herself involved in some interesting adventures. Recruited temporarily by a cabal of Arthurian Scholars known as the “Apple Gathers” she won a mystical sword from the blood-drinking denizens of a Romanian Historical Museum. The sword, originally believed to be Excalibur by the “Apple Gathers” cabal but later realized it wasn’t, proved to be an ancient Atlantean weapon wielded by “The Eternal Prince Dios.”

Later she would encounter the paranormal beings that referred to themselves as Vampires. These particular vampires fancy themselves some sort of Knightly Order and would duel each other for the prize of a young Asian girl named Yuri. After accidentally witnessing the abuse of this poor girl she inadvertently challenged one of the vampires to their own duel. It seemed the ring her Prince had given her long ago bore the same sigil that this Vampiric Knightly Order used to signify it’s members. She defeated the vile creature in the sword fighting duel and found that she was no the guardian of the Bride of Wu Keng.

The girl that Raggedy Ann rescued has tried to live up to some ancient game between demons and her ancient village. She is polite and demure but seems to know more about what is going on that what she talks about.

Most recently, in order to afford to added expense of having Yuri live with her, Raggedy Ann has taking a job as a stripper at the “Itty Bitty Titty Bar.” The pay isn’t as good as it could be but she’s now making enough to get buy.


Appearance: Raggedy Ann is a dyed in the wool punk. As a result she dresses in ripped dresses and stocking, destroyed band t-shirts, bright red hair with red yarn hair falls. On most days she likes to dress in something akin to a torn up out fit that the Raggedy Ann doll would wear, going as far a painting the red circles on her cheeks. She has a petite yet tall body, standing six-feet-tall but having long well-toned legs, a virtually flat bust and lithe arms she looks like both the dancer and the fencer that she really is.

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•  Emilieautumn4.jpg (22.21K)
  Number of downloads: 158

[agasha kumiko]

Heh, I love that Shadow Name it definitely shows that Obrimos/Adamantine Arrows are human and not the stuck up "kill first ask questions later" bastards conception a disturbing number of people online seem to have of them.

Otherwise interesting start.

[Deimos_Masque]

Thanks... that's my fiance for you she comes up with unsual characters. Actually Raggedy Ann has to be one of my favorite concepts for an Adamantine Arrow "The Noble Mallrat"

Alright now the second player:

Morgana

path: Arcanthus
Order: Guardians of the Veil
Mentor: Daliah (desceased)

Melissa was just your garden variety middle class Irish girl from a single parent family... that is if the typical girl from said household is called "Spawn of the Fae!" and beaten whenever something goes wrong in the home. To be truthful Melissa's life was very horrible. Her mother had a fling with "a charming young man with eyes like the sea" and nine months later Melissa was born. She was mistreated and abused, being blamed for everything that could possibly go wrong. It made Melissa shy and scared of her own shadow, the fact that her Uncle was much worse to her than her mother made her fear men even more. The only hope she had was that one day her real father, the fae man who had seduced her mother and brought her life. She imagined that she was some sort of faerie princess who would one day have a wonderful Knight in Shinning Armor come and rescue her. However, they never came.

She was 15 years old when she finally mustered up enough courage to run away from her abusive home and strike on her own. She was a fool traveling the pecarious path alone with noone to help her. She traveled through the thistle covered wilderness that existed just outside her hometown before she realized she had made one of the largest mistakes of her short life. She had no food or money, she had no way to live or survive out here alone. She began to run around in a panic, she no longer knew what to do next. In her panic she pricked her finger against one of the thistles in the clearing. It seemed to drain her off all her energy from her, she found herself unable to stay awake. Soon she was asleep next to brook that ran through this thorn covered woods.

In her dreams she flowed down the brook until it became a river, then river turned into rapids and then she simply glided down the rapid waterfall safely and soundly. She came to the banks of the gentle lake at the bottom of the waterfall. She glanced about the groove she now found herself in unable to believe her eyes. She seemed to have entered a new world, a better world. The greens were vibrant and beautiful, the blues sharp and piercing. It was as is she was seeing color for the first time ever. She looked down into the water at her own reflection and she didn't look at all like herself. She looked like a beautiful elven princess with beautiful sleek black hair in curls and ringlets with skin as pale as alabastor. It was the way she wished she was. She let herself fall into her own reflection feeling her change and age into the beautiful elven princess that she had always hoped she was.

Her eyes opened and she was in the groove again but now she had the access to her faerie heritage, or that is how she viewed it. She managed to use her new found abilities to escape from the dreary life she had lived in. However she still couldn't manage it for long. She was once again scared and uncertain. Having no clue what to do next. That's when she met Daliah and Jezabelle. Daliah was a Guardian of the Order and found the young girl and took her under her wing. Daliah was a very motherly figure to Melissa and helped her find her place, her life and her name... Morgana, a variation of the Arthur's sister who had become one of the Fae. It seemed appropriate to her considering what she had viewed as her heritage.

While Daliah was a mother figure for Morgana, Jezabelle was like a sister at first. They were about the same age but while Morgana was a classic beauty, Jez, as she liked to be called, was an alternative type of girl. At the age of 15 she already had tattoos and piercings about her body. Morgana was amazed by Jez's outrageous apperance and developed a form of a crush on her. At first she didn't understand her feelings for her at all, but eventually as she grew a bit more up she realized that she had fallen for Jez. She meekly admitted her feelings and Jez responded by very passionately expressing a similiar feeling. From there on Jez and Morgana were inseperatble, but Jez still found the time to have her own dalliances on the side. She claimed that they both knew that they weren't meant to be together forever, Morgana wanted a Knight in SHining Armor one day. Morgana knew that it was true, she still had her wonderful fantasy of being whisked away from her life.

But together they stayed, true friends and a bit more. Together with their mentor Daliah they became the Dancer's in the Mist, a small cabal that took care of each other as they traveled the lands. Morgana found herself a purpose in purpetuating a labyrinth of the Guardians. She began to write books, publishing them under a small new age publishing company, books about Wicca. These books held enough truth but no full secrets, instead they acted as both misdirection and direction depending on how well the reader could see throught the lies she told in her writing. She found a certain level of purpose in her writing and felt like she at last had a family.

Unfortunately it was not to last. A Free Council rival of Daliah, one that was radical in the belief of "Free Magic!" had tracked down the cabal and had one goal, to elimate his rival. The encounter was brief and bloody, the Free Counciler seemed to not care what level of violent and vulgar magics were used, as long as his goal was achieved. And he proved his tactics to be sounds, killing Daliah and leaving Morgana and Jez alone, to find their way in the world without thier leader and mentor. Jez took to stripping and other less savory practices to keep the two of them in money and standard of living. They continued to travel together not staying in one place too long, afraid that the Free Counciler will make a come back and find them again. Their long trips have brought them to New York City where they have made friends with a few of the local mages but Jez is already planning to leave again while Morgana finds herself drawn to stay.

Description: Gothic aristocrat, that is the phrase to describe Morgana. She dresses in deep dark colors in victorian and edwardian gowns at nearly all times. The only stylistic change is she usually leaves her right arm bare to reveal the ivy and thorn branch tattoos that run down the length of her arm. Her hair is a glossy black color which has been both curled and dreadlocked and kept in small buns and ponytails nearly all the time. She is a rather petite yet hourglass shaped, a look she accenuates with corsets. Above all however Morgana is completely shy, usually unable to talk above a whisper unless she is very comfortable with the person she is speaking too.


One more character and then the game begins... prepare for the last character... Orpheus.

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•  11.jpg (36.76K)
  Number of downloads: 79

[agasha kumiko]

Very nice mystery play and I love how you can show a sympathetic side to the GoV and flip the tables on the Free Council, rock on! (I do hope this Orpheus guy isn't too much like Mr. Fishburne or I may have to giggle a little).

[Christian A]

Very nice characters so far.

Just so that you know it, the Actual Play Indexis always welcoming new entries.

[Deimos_Masque]

Thanks guys,

Christian, yeah I know about the Actual Play index and I'll probably post to it sometime but right now I want to make sure we stick with it before I do.

[RaidoHaglaz]

Raggedy Ann rocks. Morgana a little less, though the description of her awakening is nice. Say, what's with the stripping and whoring? Is there some hidden fantasy in that, or don't those girls have any other talents? Oh, and I like the idea of New York City as a chronicle location, very diverse, I think. Be sure to add some mysterious recurring bum that has the lowdown on supernatural activity in the city.

[Deimos_Masque]

No just a touch of the WoD, no fantasy there... but the stripping is actually not supposed to be the seedy abusive type and any girl who can dance can get a quick job with nice tips. Also was a connection between Rags and Morgana (who already know each other at the start of the story) in that they both knew Jez (Rags being a co-worker)

[RaidoHaglaz]

Ah, I see. I wouldn't know if stripping gets good tips, since there isn't a stripjoint anywhere here as far as I know, and I don't really take information from movies for granted. Oh, and just to clear the air, Morgana's character isn't at all bad, but she is in pale contrast to Raggedy Ann.

[Deimos_Masque]

I absolutely agree.

[Deimos_Masque]

And now the last:

Orpheus

Order: Silver Ladder
Path: Thyrsus
Mentor: None

Carlos had distant parents who shipped him to a counselor when he showed rebelious behavior. His counselor was something of a clock watcher, and someone who Carlos didn't trust with his problems. As a result he would just sit in the sessions and play chess with him. These failed attempts at "help" from his counselor made him wish to become one himself, one that could actually help the kids rather than just sit there and waste time with them while collecting a fee.

He was a rather exceptional student of psychology and found himself in a small but successful practice in New York City in no time. He helped primarily anti-social kids who didn't feel they could talk to their parents at all. He used his realitive youth (26) and his intersting hobbies (snorkling, scuba and other aquatic aspirations) to relate to them as a friend rather than just a counselor. And it worked fairly well.

However things changed with Billy Masters. He was a 15 year old boy who used to be the most popular kid in his school, however out of nowhere he turned introvert and even self-destructive. The cause of this seemed to evade Carlos, never managing to understand what exactly was wrong with Billy. That was until Billy began to speak to him in a gutteral language that didn't sound human at all.

Billy began to explore the possibility that Billy was possesed, though he did not tell his parents right away. He was sure they would think he was crazy and remove Billy from his care. Instead he examined all the posibilities and decided that at the best, Billy was a MPD case, at worse... possession was real. It all came to a head on the day that he decided to confront this thing.

He calmly asked Billy to stop speaking in the gutteral tounge the next time he did it and Billy took notice. Billy looked at him and Carlos could feel his arms feeling like they were being cut open with razor blades, the wounds appearing on his arm but with no blood. He didn't know what to do and the pain became blinding white light.

When the pain passed he was in a deep jungle that was overlooked by a large mountain range. He had no idea where he was or what was going on. Nor was he given much time to figure it out. Instead he was soon being pursued by a mythic beast, a Minotaur, it chased him with a nimbleness and speed that Carlos didn't think a beast like that would possess. It nearly caught him many times before he found his salvation.

It snarled and chased him leading him to the mountain range, he managed to climb far enough that the beast seemed to not be able to follow, taking shelter in a small cave. He followed the length of the cave until he finally reached a large antechamber in the cave. The cave was covered in symbols, words, pictures and more. He examined the symbols and was unable to truely make out any specifics of the symbols, all he could think though was that everyone in this cave had left thier mark on the walls.

He looked for another way out and only found one thing in the antechamber. A hammer and chisel. Sensing that perhaps there was some solution to be had here, he carved his name in the rock walls that surrounded him. Immediately after he did the Minotaur blasted through the cave wall and looked at Carlos... it then said "Good" and threw Carlos against the wall.

Carlos never left his office he was still be phantom cut by whatever entity was withing BIlly, the only thing was now he could see it. This painful and self-destructive spirit was sitting in Billy's body, using it and urging it as it could. Soon it would be too late all together and Billy would forever be lost. He reached out to Billy, ignoring the pain that the spirit caused and pulled it out of Billy and threw it out the window.

Billy made a miracle recovery after that.

Months later he came to his office and found a beautiful young egyptian woman in a power pants suit waiting for him. She introduced herself as Tabitha Kashaf of the Straussen Academy of Staten Island, a school for very gifted children. She explained that she had heard about Billy's remarkable recovery and wanted to know how he achieved it. He claimed that all he did was "Listen." She glanced about the room as if watching events only she could see and asked "But pulling the Malice Spirit out of him helped correct?"

This was how Carlos discovered that he wasn't crazy and in fact was gifted with the power of Supernal Magic. The teaching staff of the Straussen Academy (all of the mages) offered to help guide him forward until he was ready to handle things on his own. He took them up on the offer and chose to be inducted into Hatshepsut's (Tabitha's shadow name though Tabitha was not her real name either) order of the Silver Ladder.

Carlos took the name Orpheus as a homage to his travel to the Supernal realm and the visions of both ghost and spirits he found he could see. He saw himself sort of as a "Spirit Whisperer" who could reveal the secrets that the spirits and the restless dead held from the mortals in the Fallen World. Using such visions he discovered he could better help those under his care by viewing the spirits around them and dispelling the ones that proved harmful to his patients.

In addition, from Basqualle, the Academy's young sciences teacher, Carlos learned about the concept of geomancy and the intricate ley lines that criss crossed about New York City as well as their benfits to both people, ghost and spirits. He became highly intrested in them and began to study a few of the ones closest to his practice and his home. He is still a novice and unable to muster the magics necessary to harness the Ley Lines, but he still studies them in hopes to use them to his advantage.

Description: Orpheus is very laid back and relaxed, especially for a counselor for troubled teens. He tends to dress in kakis and short sleeve t-shirts over anything else, prefering comfort to formality. He has dark brown eyes and a dirty blonde hair that gives him something of a surfer like look, though he proclaims that he hates to surf.

And now it's time for the first scene.. the Atlantean Bastard Concert.

=====

BTW I added photo pictures of the three main characters to each of their profiles.

Attached File(s)

•  indexa.jpg (9.5K)
  Number of downloads: 68

[Vampir]

a power pants suit

Huh?

[Deimos_Masque]

A power suit, that has pants, since woman can wear skirt suits

[Vampir]

what's a power suit...

[Deimos_Masque]

A power suit is a type of suit now stereotypically associated with 1980s business environments. It is characterized by sharp cuts, wide shoulder pads and a stiff rigidity, making its wearer look angular, and powerful.