PactDice Mile End: Session 2b

The Host’s Kids

Wildbow

The shop is quiet as Gail goes to sleep and the others have departed to go to Sherry's house.
You're in the back room and as you busy yourselves with papers, the store spirit vacates the
area, wary of the influence it could have on any denizens of the back room.

Jojo begins picking up papers, making sure the way is clear to work between two sets of fallen
bookshelves, where a rusty wrench lies in plain view. June, meanwhile, laces up, ready to try to
make it across the side of a fallen bookshelf, stepping on the edges of each shelf while sprinting
over to the far side - the store owner's office and the books stored there seem to be important.

It remains to be decided what order to do these things in.

CG|Jojo

The quiet of the store in the aftermath of everyone leaving, and his talk with June leaves Jojo a
lot of time to think. Especially on how crazy everything is, and how crazy the idea of what he's
going to be doing is. He's set the pages aside in a way that there's no way anything will disturb
him while he's having his discussion with the wrench. Talking with a wrench, he actually laughs
thinking about it. Still, his book had said that more unique or interesting items would have more
to say and offer, and well... this wrench had surely seen a lot of use at the very least. Jojo gives
the wrench a long look before glancing over his shoulder back at June.

"Mind hanging back in here for a bit while I do this, just in case? This will be my first time talking
to an inanimate object that can actually talk back." He'd almost left the last bit out, but had felt
the need to add it. It wouldn't be the first time he'd talked to an inanimate object ever.

"When I'm done I'll watch to make sure you get okay across, and read the pages while you're in
there or something." He shrugs, whatever works.

CG|Jojo

disturb them*
Orph|June

"Yeah." June nods. "Sounds good." He takes a position by the wall, allowing Jojo to take center
stage, but close enough to intervene if the situation gets out of hand.

CG|Jojo

"Thanks." Jojo says giving June a nod. He wants to draw a circle around the thing just in case.
He's not sure how it works with personifications over Others but he feels like its better safe than
sorry. He approaches it and leans over to grab it but stops short, thinking. The book had
mentioned something about the sight, seeing things weirdly like he had when he awakened. If
he could just figure out how to use it. He blinks his eyes a few time while calling back to June.

"Hey dude, could you look at this Wrench from where you are with your sight? Tell me if it looks
like its going to blow my arm off or something?" He asks, as he examines the thing in more
detail with and without the sight.

CG|Jojo

wrench*

Wildbow

Under the sight, surrounded by narrow chains of flaking paint, the wrench appears to be just a
wrench, but it vibrates on the spot, rattling and bucking, making the ground around it tremor
slightly. Not intense, but somewhat more than a phone on perpetual vibrate.

Orph|June

June's not used the Sight much since the ritual, and it's still a touch disorienting. He takes a
moment longer than strictly necessary before turning back to Jojo. "Looks normal to me, but it's
kinda... vibrating? And given what else came out of this shop... well, I'd be careful, at least."

CG|Jojo
"Yeahhh. It doesn't look like it's moving that fast, or like it'll hurt me but..." He repeats his earlier
words to himself in his head. 'Better safe than sorry.' They were Practitioners now as hard as it
was to believe. He'd done some magic of his own already, and he was planning to do more
here. The comparison had been made between these pages and ticking time bombs. If the
pages were bombs, what were the items?

"I think I'm just gonna talk to it. I think I can make it go away if it wants to mess with me." He
says frowning. The frown or the anxiety doesn't stop him from going about the details listed in
his book. It says it'll take him five minutes, and he'd set aside a chain somewhere hadn't he?

Wildbow

Chains are still out in the front of the store, where Sherry had searched for and picked out a few.

CG|Jojo

$roll 2h6+2 Diagrams

[ATM]

ATM CG|Jojo "Diagrams" (3) [6] +2 = 8

Wildbow

The diagram is comfortably drawn. Only a final stroke remains to complete it.

CG|Jojo

"Alright, get ready dude. I'm gonna do this, and I'm not really sure what to expect so... Well only
one way to find out."

"You ready?" He asks... he can't call the guy his friend, partner in crime seems more apt.
Conspiring to take over the town and cover up a murder scene didn't strike him as very legal.

Orph|June
"I don't feel super ready, but I also don't think I'm going to be feeling much more ready if we
wait. Let's hit it."

CG|Jojo

Jojo nods, and with a flourish he adds for the spirit's sake, and because he wants to feel cool
while he does magic, he brushes down the final stroke.

Wildbow

The wrench begins to vibrate, jumping visibly, and in the midst of the jumps it casts shadow and
raises dust. The dust and shadow begin to take on a form, moving around a silhouette, then
filling in shadows.

A man in coveralls, with unwashed hair and wild, wide sleepless eyes, his mouth perpetually
open and his teeth broken and crooked. His skin is caked in iron oxide dust, to the point that the
countless wounds large and small are hard to make out.

CG|Jojo

Jojo stumbles back a step, not expecting something quite as human looking or as developed as
this. He'd been expecting something more like a concept. Or maybe for the wrench to sprout
tiny bobbly eyes and stick arms and legs. This guy reminds him of Sanctuary in a way though so
its easier to settle down taking him in. Jojo situates himself looking the wrench in the eyes.

"Greetings, I'm here to ask some questions, possibly bargain with you if you're interested. Do
you have a name you go by?" Jojo asks mindful of his word choice.

Wildbow

"Ray... Ray Haskell. Josh Hart. Tim Hart. Calvin Hart. Ruth Hart. Thomas Barrett. James Welch.
A.J. Hunsucker. Wheels... I have a bit of all of them in me. Mostly Ray. Others call me the Nut's
Wrench."

CG|Jojo
"Do you have one you like better? I know you're a actually a wrench, but I wouldn't blame you if
you preferred a less on the nose name." Jojo says, he thinks back, does he know any of those
names? They don't necessarily ring any bells but he often remembered random things from
class on the off occasion he'd been paying attention. As few and far and between as those
moments came.

$roll 1d6-1 Know

[ATM]

ATM CG|Jojo "Know" [1] -1 = 0

Wildbow

"I don't- no," he says. The situation of being conjured up seems to have disoriented him, and he
seems fascinated by his own body. He lifts his eyes and turns his attention to the room. "Oh,
shit, bro, it's a mess in here."

Jojo wracks his brain and can't think of anything standout - the names sound pretty ordinary.

"Do you- I can fix up the room, if you want. Get these shelves upright, back in order."

CG|Jojo

Jojo is taken aback for a moment. One moment he'd been contemplating on whether he should
pick Wheels for this guy's nickname because it was a fucking badass nickname, and the next
the wrench is offering to solve one of his problems for him.

"Wait, you want to do that? Like, for free?" Jojo asks, blinking.

"Can I talk to you while you do it?" He continues.

Wildbow

"Yes. Yes, no, of course, whatever," Ray says, his attention clearly on the room. "My Da always
used to say that you should find a job you love so much you'd do the work for free. I was... I
found that. Where do you want me to start? I'd love company while I work. That just... that
sounds like the best motherfucking thing ever."
CG|Jojo

Jojo glances at June, shrugging and widening his eyes before turning back to the shelf that
June was going to have to tightrope across like a circus acrobat and points at it.

"Uh, that one I guess." He says, going to follow the wrench.

"Wait, you had a dad? I thought you were a Nut Wrench?"

Wildbow

"I was, but uh, an item has a bit of everyone who owned it. I was mostly Ray's. Ray's Da used to
say that. Sorry. Which one? The far right, here?"

CG|Jojo

"Huh, that's pretty cool." Jojo says genuinely meaning it. He wonders though, would some of his
brushes and paintings have Jonathan or Jojo as one of their names someday in the future?

"Yeah that one on the right." He confirms, nodding.

Wildbow

The figure starts forward, then tries to touch the bookcase. His hand passes through. He holds
up the hand, and you can see that the figure is already starting to disintegrate around the
edges. He might last another twenty seconds or two minutes.

Failing to move the shelf with his hand, he draws his wrench, and sticks it against the shelf. As if
a professional bodybuilder was moving it, he easily slides it back into position against the wall -
the other shelf that was leaning against it slams hard against the floor, knocking a phone off the
hook and sending papers flying. Loose shelves fall from their mounts and slide to the ground
like loud sheet metal dominoes, and papers and items fall amid them.

"Whoo!" Ray shouts.

CG|Jojo
Jojo jumps back at the sudden motion.

"Woah, easy dude. I get you're excited about fixing things but it doesn't look like you have much
time left out here right now and its gonna be even messier by the time you're gone." He says,
eyes widening at the supernatural sight. Holy shit.

Ray Savage apparently.

"Do you remember anything about the shop? What happened when you got knocked over, or
the guy who owned it and watched you?" He asks, eyeing the guy warily.

Wildbow

The Nut's Wrench begins collecting the fallen shelves by catching them with the tip of the
wrench, and slinging them to one side. "I'm a wrench, so I don't see much. All I know is there
was violence, then a pause, then whoever they were, .

Jojo is almost at a loss for words watching the guy work, and he's also sad that there isn't much
in the way of answers from Nut's Wrench.

"Is there anything you do know? Like what you do when you aren't like this? You've probably
never been able to talk before if you have anything interesting to say now's the time to say it."
Jojo says watching the guy clean the store with impossible finesse.

Wildbow

"Oh, I've talked lots. Twenty sessions with the owner of this store. Terrific guy. He gives me beer.
It's like, uh, shit... Ruth Hart? You know what happened to her? Anything? I'm a little fucking
rusty when it comes to remembering things."

He laughs, quite a bit, at the awful joke.

CG|Jojo

"What do you guys talk about? Just shoot the shit? Anything he had on his mind lately?" Jojo
asks Nut's Wrench. He frowns hearing that name. That's one of the names he'd called himself
wasn't it? "And nah I don't know her, who is she?" He asks. It might be another one of his
random ass owners, but its the most meaningful thing he's said yes. Or maybe he's just
searching for meaning where there isn't any.

said yet*
Wildbow

"I'm not sure. Memory comes and goes. Happens when you're old and disused. You want me to
lift this one up too?" - he indicates the nearest bookshelf.

CG|Jojo

"If you're sure you can do it in a way that won't break or knock anything over." Jojo says, still
frowning. "Would it help if I cleaned you when you're a wrench again?" He adds responding to
the memory comment.

Orph|June

"That would be great, yeah," June interjects, walking forwards a bit. He's a touch hopeful he
won't have to perform an acrobatics routine just to get to the office.

Wildbow

"We'd talk about my issues. Hammer it out, talk about compulsions, work out how I got places,
changed hands," he says, answering your earlier question in a scatterbrained way.

"A cleaning might be nice, but I'm-"

He stops, heaving up the second shelf to an upright position. More shelves clatter, sliding
across the floor and coming to rest at different places around the room.

"I'm real fucking stained, y'know. Lot of blood on my hands."

CG|Jojo

"Sounds like Ruth made it okay?" Jojo asks, sounding sad. Now he gets it just a bit more.

"Is there anything I can do to help? The owner isn't here anymore. If you need to talk about
those 'compulsions' I could be here for you..." He offers. Antoine did something important here.
From the sound of things these items needed it. His frown deepens.
Wildbow

"Oh, no," the Nut's Wrench said. "She died. Fuckin' sucked, you know, man? Just a... fleeting
contact with me and she was doomed. Everything I touch turns into a fucking grade-A disaster
waiting to happen. But the guy who runs this store, he says that could be useful. Maybe."

CG|Jojo

Fuck. "Yeah. Really sad." Jojo gets out through a choked throat. All the names carry so much
more meaning now.

"At least you were able to tell me. You don't have to add my name to your list." He says giving
the wrench a bittersweet smile. "That means we could actually be friends. Properly if you
want..." He offers.

"How do you think he meant? Is there anyway I can even pick you up or carry you around. Use
you?" Jojo asks.

Wildbow

"I dunno. Guy said I was mostly cured, but that's mostly a change of purpose, you know? I'm still
carrying a lot of bad with me, so you have to deal with that, too. I love working, don't get me
wrong. Just... you seem nice enough, kid, I don't want to see you die horribly."

CG|Jojo

"I don't really wanna die horribly either." Jojo says. "Thanks though, Ray. You seem cool too. I
don't think your old owners blame you for what it's worth." Jojo says to Nut Wrench. He likes that
he has a name to call him by, even if its the name of a dead man.

"I have ways I can put the bad in things onto other things, people. If I did that to someone or an
Other that deserved it, you think it would help you?" He asks.

"If not, I'll move you somewhere else for now. But I'll come back and talk to you, I seriously will.
We can work on working out the rest of the bad. If I make it through the next few days." Jojo
sighs.

"I've got a lot of bad with me now too it seems. The same kind that got Antoine. That was the
owners name by the way.
"*

Wildbow

"Huh," Ray says. "I don't think it'd be that easy, or the store guy would've done it already. Bad
sticks with you, you know?

"I'm mostly Ray in here, and I blamed myself pretty hard." He raps his knuckles against his own
skull. "That bad, it really stuck. I think I'm fading now. good luck with these fucked up shelves,
you know? I hope too many people don't die, or if they do, they're the ones you wanted to die."

CG|Jojo

"Thanks Ray, I really appreciate it..." Jojo says not lying even though the scattered shelves left
behind is a sight for sore eyes.

"You should think about it though, what you think you'd like to be called." Jojo says smiling. "For
the next time we talk." He adds, smiling bittersweetly.

"Who knows maybe if things get bad enough I'll have a reason to pick you up." Jojo laughs and
waves at the wrench goodbye. At the very least they got some toppled shelves out of the way
and he avoided touching something that probably would have killed him or one of the other kids.
Not wasted time.

Wildbow

Ray begins to fade, first into pale skin and dark shadow, then to dust and darkness, and then to
nothing. The wrench clatters to the floor, more or less where it started.

CG|Jojo

Jojo gives June another look.

"Dude. What the fuck?"

Orph|June
"That was... weird. I'll admit, I'm somehow more nervous about trying to get through now than I
was before, even though it looks like there's a clearer path." June eyes the newly-created
corridor carefully. On one hand, trying to just dash through before anything bad happens seems
a solid plan, but when dealing with 'cursed' items he's a little more trepidatious than usual.

CG|Jojo

"It's not like you have to run. The pages themselves are okay. I picked up a few of them on the
way to Ray." Jojo says, indicating them.

"Just don't like, trip over onlo e of the shelves. They're a lot smaller than the huge tipped ones
were at least." Jojo says shrugging. He takes a look at the state of the room as well, and at the
items in the place. If they were all like Ray... He looks away back over to his pages. He should
check those out but...

"You want me to come with? I'm done talking and I can follow a bit easier now. I've done my fair
share of climbing things for good spray spots." Jojo offers shrugging.

Orph|June

"Honestly, I'd rather go faster and not risk getting crushed by the shelves deciding right then is
the ideal time to fall right back over." June considers it for a moment. "Maybe we could try to find
something to brace them with, in case that does happen? Not the wrench, though." He glances
around for a second, in search of something decently sturdy he could use. "You're welcome to
come with, yeah." $roll 1d6 Something sturdy enough that jamming it between two falling
shelves wouldn't immediately snap it in half.

[ATM]

ATM Orph|June "Something sturdy enough that jamming it between two falling shelves wouldn't
immediately snap it in half." [6] = 6

CG|Jojo

"Sounds like a good idea on the bracing, yeah. And a little jogging won't kill me I guess." Jojo
replies, looking around as well.

$roll 1d6 Wits

[ATM]

ATM CG|Jojo "Wits" [5] = 5

Wildbow

June finds an ironing board, a weightlifting bar with weights, and a ladder. In his rounds around
the shop, June finds a wrought gate door and a flagpole.

Orph|June

June grabs the bar, and slides the weights off, holding it at around head or neck level, so it'll
catch the shelves if they start to fall, before they actually hit him. "Okay, great. I'll go first."
Frankly, he'd like to let Jojo go, but after the whole 'closing the door on everyone' mess,
volunteering to take some risk seems necessary to regain his social capital with this guy.

CG|Jojo

"Fuck that first bullshit. I'll be right behind you to give you a push forward if you need." Jojo says
going to follow along with the wrought gate door, grunting with his steps.

Orph|June

"Kay," June says, his voice not betraying the fact that he's a touch perturbed by that response.
Taking a deep breath and exhaling, only slightly shakily, June starts down the rightward corridor.

CG|Jojo

Jojo follows close behind as he said he would, ready to help or brace if necessary.

Wildbow
As you pass through the corridor, the shelves rattle and sway. Metal drags against them, ready
to stop them from toppling. You reach the end, and reach a point where there are enough
papers underfoot that there could be anything underfoot. June spots an electric guitar by his left
foot, nearly buried under papers. With a sharper look, however, he notices that the papers are
connected by paperclips, and the paperclips are hooked on the strings.

Orph|June

June eyes the guitar carefully. Almost certainly cursed, so he intends to avoid touching it for the
moment. "Hey, Joj. I think I found your next candidate for 'cursed item therapy.' But let's get out
from under these shelves, first." June leans down, putting a bit of trust in Jojo to brace the
shelves while he -carefully- tries to clear out the papers immediately blocking their progress
towards the office.

CG|Jojo

Jojo eyes the guitar for a moment in interest. Now that was a cool item, he wondered what they
would look like. Was that guitar a killer too? How would a guitar kill someone? Literally brain
melting guitar solos? Jojo nods

"Got you..." and sets his brace up waiting for June to finish his task before following behind him
into the office.

Wildbow

The back office is windowless and dark - a flick of the light switch doesn't turn on any lights.
Safes and filing cabinets line three of the four walls, and the desk is cramped. Boxes marked
'taxes', 'inventory: front' and 'receipts' with years dating back as much as two decades sit atop
the various surfaces.

You hear metal creak, back out the way you came.

CG|Jojo

"Well those didn't stay fixed long." Jojo laughs, taking the room in.

"He said the dangerous stuff is in here so be careful." Jojo adds, turning on his sight.
"Well that's not gonna stay fixed for long."*

Orph|June

"Yeah. Careful sounds good." June does the same, slowly scanning the whole room. He's
getting more and more used to the 'Sight,' but the threads are still a touch distracting.

$roll 1d6-1 oh nooooooo

[ATM]

ATM Orph|June "oh nooooooo" [4] -1 = 3

CG|Jojo

$roll 1d6 Guts

[ATM]

ATM CG|Jojo "Guts" [2] = 2

Wildbow

As your eyes rove over the area, you adjust to seeing things in terms of threads, for June, or
painted chains, for Jojo. As the vision begins to focus, however, you glance over something and
it's dark, and as you keep looking, the darkness persists, like the patch of dark in the aftermath
of looking into the sun.

Yet it's far darker, and at the center, that darkness is more acute- to the point it stings your eye.

Orph|June

"Well, that's... concerning." More concerning is the fact that their trip back might be similarly
precarious, though likely not more dangerous than whatever the shadow thing is. "I'm dropping
Sight," he says, and promptly does so.
CG|Jojo

Jojo tries holding his hands up in front of his eyes and peeking at the thing through them like
that'll help before he eventually gives up on using the sight on the thing and curiously peers at
where it had been without the sight. What was causing that? He goes to investigate without
getting too close.

"Concerning is a word for it. What the fuck is it though?" Jojo muses.

$roll 1d6 Gutsu

[ATM]

ATM CG|Jojo "Gutsu" [6] = 6

"Best guess says it's related to the thing that fucked this place up in the first place. So, y'know.
Don't fuck around with it." June looks around at the shelves nearest to the pair, hoping one of
the books previously mentioned will be within reach. Ideally Dramatis Personae- they need to
know who they're dealing with, on the 'take control of the town' front.

$roll 1d6-1 guts

ATM Orph|June "guts" [4] -1 = 3

Wildbow

Jojo glances around, scanning, and seems to find the source of the spot, as the pain grows.
Testing, hand up, glancing around the edges of the hand and moving it carefully, he can see that
there's what looks like a burn or a stain on the table, perfectly square, about eight or nine inches
by eight or nine inches. Whatever was there is gone. Viewing without the Sight, it looks like
ordinary table.

CG|Jojo

Jojo tries to blink the uncomfortable negative out of his eyes, he glances at June.

"Don't touch the table. There's some kind of burn on it. Like a scar or something. It's causing
that bright darkness. Extra dark darkness?" He scratches his head.
"Whatever made it happen isn't here anymore though." He adds, looking around for anything in
the room that might fit the exact eight or nine by eight or nine inches somewhere inside.

Orph|June

"Umbra, maybe?" June muses on the potential implications of extra-dark dark, before
refocusing. "So long as we don't get too close, we should be good? Or, good-ish?"

$roll 1d6 the odds are not in my favor

[ATM]

ATM Orph|June "the odds are not in my favor" [5] = 5

CG|Jojo

$roll 1d6 Wits!

[ATM]

ATM CG|Jojo "Wits!" [1] = 1

Wildbow

You're in the midst of searching in the dark when, in the other room, metal pops, and something
small clatters to the ground, followed by other things. With a screech of steel on steel, the
shelving units collapse, vertical separating from horizontal to point at the door like a half-dozen
spearpoints.

The way out of the windowless, one-exit office appears to be barred now.

CG|Jojo

"Yeah I think we should b-" Jojo jumps several inches off the ground at the long noise, before
looking back.
"Fuck!" He says, angrilly. "God fucking... damn it." His anger dies off partway through the
sentence. He's all angered out quite honestly.

"I don't suppose your book has a wenguardium leviosa spell in it? Mine was missing it." Jojo
says dryly.

Wildbow

You hear a sputtering, off to the side.

Orph|June

If June wasn't concerned it would accidentally set off some sort of magical land-mine, he'd start
beating his head against the wall. "Great. Trapped in the office with something that looks like a
portal to the Shadow Realm, our only available backup sleeping like a ton of bricks." His fingers
curl into a fist a few times, hard enough his nails dig into his palm a bit. "No. Nothing, uh...
useful, at least not right now. Just some fucking advice on drafting contracts." He sighs, and
takes another look around. "Maybe we can find something useful in here, at least."

CG|Jojo

Jojo turns to check the sputtering as he responds.

"Your mom's items could help, if we can find them." Jojo starts. He doesn't want to admit it but
the crashing shelves had spooked him and he's considering something slightly more drastic.

"I could also make a weapon if worse comes to worse..." He starts, focusing in on whatever it
was that made that noise.

$roll 1d6 Wits

[ATM]

ATM CG|Jojo "Wits" [3] = 3

Orph|June
"Let's hope it doesn't," June replies, but he's a bit relieved to hear they have offensive power of
a higher order than him throwing dust at the baddies. $roll 1d6

[ATM]

ATM Orph|June [2] = 2

Wildbow

The sputtering continues, shifting from a 'pup pup' popping sound to a fizz, then a crackle. Your
searches don't turn up anything in the dark.

CG|Jojo

$roll 1d6 Wits One Last Time because that sounds worrying

[ATM]

ATM CG|Jojo "Wits One Last Time because that sounds worrying" [6] = 6

Orph|June

$roll 1d6 wits because we are Out Of Options

[ATM]

ATM Orph|June "wits because we are Out Of Options" [5] = 5

Wildbow

Jojo pushes things aside, so he can edge closer to the shelves, and realizes one of those things
is the Dramatis Personae book, right by the door. He leans against the wall and looks to the
side, and he can see where one of the metal bars has punched into the wall. The crackles,
fizzes and pops coincide with flashes of light and visible arcs. There's paper beneath.

June finds an axe, not really a fire axe, but more of the woodcutting sort.

CG|Jojo

Oh! Well looks like its not all bad. They were trapped but at least he had some really useful
reading material if they had to spend the night in the room. He glances back seeing June
looking at an axe and breathes a sigh. He's not sure if its a relieved one or not. What looked like
a perfectly useful doorchopping axe could turn into some kind of cursed ex serial killers fetish
weapon.

"Look at it with the sight before you touch it. And the papers... They're literally like landmines
dude..." Jojo says in awe watching the sparks.

"A bar is pressed into one and its like, sparking and shit. It's crazy." He says sort of awed.

Orph|June

"Crazy. Right, yeah." June flicks on the Sight and takes a quick look at his new weapon. "Least
we found the book. But I'd really rather not spend much more time near the weird, uh... thing."
He gestures vaguely at the Dark Table Thing. "So. Electrified metal, weird magic shit... rock and
a hard place."

$roll 1d6 wits again, this time for mom/fae-related stuff

[ATM]

ATM Orph|June "wits again, this time for mom/fae-related stuff" [3] = 3

Wildbow

There are a few items around the back room, but some look to be ordinary antiques, and others
could be cursed items. Even the axe June holds could be something- there's no telling.

In the background, the store spirit can be heard. "Uhhhh... what have you done? You put a hole
in my wall and the exposed wiring is starting a fire."
Orph|June

Fuck. "Blame the wrench!" June calls out to Sanctuary, trying to keep his voice decently low so
as not to wake Gail. "I'll patch it up, after we get out of here." Or, try. He's not exactly very
experienced in terms of manual labor, and the scant amount of glamour he has can only go so
far.

CG|Jojo

A fire? Jojo's face drops. This is really bad. Gail is sleeping somewhere in here and they're
trapped in a room. At this rate they're going to end up burned to death inside of a burned down
shop before his friends get back. He'd be a liar.

"Sanctuary is there anyway you can move the shelves? The shop is you right? Could you just
roll them away?" Jojo calls out to Sanctuary.

"If not I have an idea... Not sure if it'll work though." Jojo says frowning.

Wildbow

"I- perhaps if my master was alive."

CG|Jojo

"Okay..." Jojo says, fuck. Fuck. "Sanctuary I'm going to try a spell, and if it doesn't work go wake
up Gail. She can't be asleep in here if the place catches on fire." He turns to June. "I'm
experimenting here, so I don't know how this is gonna turn out but you should have the axe
ready just in case. And maybe stand back a bit." Jojo tells June, following his own advice.

Jojo pulls out the chalk still in his pocket and draws a quick circle around the pole of metal
jutting through the wall hoping his hands don't shake.

"Spirits!" Jojo calls out. "Hear me!"

"I see a page and a metal beam. Both are volatile, both are obstructions to us, and both are
dangers to the people in this room. By the power of my words I bind these two items to make
them none of these things, let the power in the page push the shelf away from the wall and us!"
Jojo calls hoping that whatever is causing those sparks is enough to push a big shelf.
Wildbow

As you recite the words, you can See the connection between the items form. But at making
them 'none of these things', there's a feeling like you've tried to take in a deep breath and found
only vacuum.

There's a connection, but no nullification.

CG|Jojo

"Damn it, the connection is there but that effect doesn't work. I can retry it, but I need to think of
an effect that would work" Jojo says shaking his head, and glancing at June to explain to him
what he's doing.

Orph|June

"Okay, let me think. Uh, maybe something I can glamour up?" He takes a look at the axe, now
resting on the floor. "If that thing isn't going to fuck things up worse, I could try to make it sharp
enough to cut through... handle's wood, so it shouldn't be conductive. That something you could
work with?"

CG|Jojo

A lightbulb pops up in Jojo's head. A eureka moment.

"Hold up..." He says absently. He repeats his incantation until the very last words.

"By the power of my words I bind these things to mirror one another, what happens to one,
happens to the other." And then he grabs the slip of paper by its tip if its loose enough and
pulling it back out and free. If he's right the pole should be pulled in the opposite direction.

enough, pulling it back out and free.* $roll 1d6+2 Dexterity

[ATM]

ATM CG|Jojo "Dexterity" [6] +2 = 8

Wildbow

Flames spread across the papers as Jojo works to reach past the electrified shelving posts and
avoid being burned by the heat of the paper. He manages to reach past both and grab the
paper. As he pulls it toward him, the pole slides further into the room. Without detritus beneath
it, however, the posts begin to slide down, falling to the ground. There's no more crackling, but
there is still fire.

Orph|June

$roll 1d6 this better work

[ATM]

ATM Orph|June "this better work" [1] = 1

Wildbow

You find next to nothing - it's a dry, dusty place and there isn't anything akin to a blanket.

"What are you looking for? What are you doing!?" the store spirit sounds alarmed.

Orph|June

"Something to try and put out the fire," June calls back. "I- I don't fucking know. This is... not
great. I could try to use the axe, but I don't think I have enough juice to make something that
chops put out the fire." He runs a hand through his hair, and does his damnedest to think of
something.

Wildbow
The sections of the shelving unit have mostly fallen, and the ones that remain now no longer
stand in your way- nor do they seem to impale the wall and the wiring. The footing may be
uneven. Fire spreads atop a filing cabinet to the left of the door, just beyond the office you're in,
threatening to climb up the wallpaper. The shelves that the Nut's Wrench worked on have
collapsed, and seem to be impassable ground, but there does appear to be a path, if you run
along the top of one of the old, original fallen shelves ((to your right, map's left)).

CG|Jojo

Jojo throws the door open, covering his mouth and nose. He pulls off his coat that he was still
wearing from his awakening passing it to June.

"You needed a blanket or something right? Make this bigger or something?" Jojo tells June,
shoving the thing in his direction. He had one last idea failing this but he doesn't want to bank on
it.

Orph|June

June nods, taking the coat slowly. Holding it with one hands, he grabs his book, and passes it to
Jojo. "You mind holding this for a second? Not sure I have this bit memorized quite yet."

It takes him a moment to think of something appropriately 'faerie' to say. Then, June speaks. He
glances at the book, held open to the relevant page, a few times while reciting.

"Star dark, to sky light. Honey bitter, to knife's delight. Still dance, to music bright. Moon's shine
to sun's night." The next portion takes him a bit longer, though he does his best to maintain a
rhythm. "Rionnag dorcha gu solas na h-adhar. Tha toileachas mil le sgian. Dannsa fhathast ri
ceòl soilleir. Bidh gealach air a ghrian gu oidhche na grèine." Then, the part he had to come up
with on his own. "Colorful coat, to smothering shroud."

June reaches for the glamour, and does his best to layer a significant amount onto the coat.
He's asking for a fair bit from it, and the need is great- the papers, including the registry of items,
could already be burning- but the idea of using it all the first time he tries is concerning.
Especially if this doesn't work. Surprising even himself, he doesn't feel as stupid as he thought
he might, reading what he's fairly certain is Gaelic, and a bit of freestyle poetry.

$roll 1d6+1 soc

[ATM]
ATM Orph|June "soc" [5] +1 = 6

Orph|June

!roll 1d6 know bah $roll 1d6 know

[ATM]

ATM Orph|June "know" [1] = 1

Orph|June

$roll 1d6 wits

[ATM]

ATM Orph|June "wits" [2] = 2

Wildbow

With emphasis, June articulates the english parts well - the gaelic... not in the slightest,
stumbling over the reading in the panic. A movement of hand under coat expands it, and gives it
a reflective glimmer that spreads for a second or two before running out.

The coat has adapted to another purpose.

Orph|June

Using both hands to hold the coat out as much as he can, June tries to cover as much of the fire
as possible, doing his best not to get burned, and let go as soon as it's in position.

CG|Jojo
Jojo carefully goes to pat at it if it looks like its working, trying to help best as he can.

Wildbow

There are a few moments where the coat is pushed down, pulled away, and the fire reignites,
but after some further work, you manage to quench the flames. The area is choked with smoke.

The metal shelves that are still partially standing begin to creak - you get the sense it would be
good to get clear.

CG|Jojo

There was no end to this madness. Jojo hauls ass.

Orph|June

June does likewise.

CG|Jojo

$roll 1d6 Athletics

[ATM]

ATM CG|Jojo "Athletics" [3] = 3

Orph|June

$roll 1d6+1

[ATM]

ATM Orph|June [1] +1 = 2

Wildbow

You run along and between the shelves on the fallen bookshelf to give the weaponized
bookshelves a wide enough berth. As you run, your feet kick a loose shelf down, rattling a small
child's skull that is carved with glyphs. Whispers can be heard in your ears, taunting as you set
foot on dangerous ground. "Dangerous! Fearsome! Reckless!"

As your heartbeats slow, the situation seeming to settle and grow quiet, you have the things
you've found - some collections of pages and important looking images, the dramatis personae,
and the axe.