Author Topic: Volume One: Number Theory  (Read 49341 times)

Offline Bozwevial

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Re: Volume One: Number Theory
« Reply #260 on: November 22, 2013, 06:31:10 PM »
Kitty
The receptionist is more than distracted by his own call, ringer or no, and Kitty easily moves past his desk to the fire stairs up to the fourth floor. While most of the professors have their office doors decorated with newspaper clippings, little cartoons, or cheesy linguistics jokes that don't quite make sense to her, Brunner's door is entirely devoid of ornament except for the room number and a placard reading "Dr. Tobias Brunner." Unsurprisingly, the door is locked.

Leo
The back room is even smokier and stiflingly hot than the rest of the cafe, somehow. Another large fire burns brightly in the grate as a small knot of people, seated on squat barrels instead of seats, argue good-naturedly over a mess of cards and beer glasses. Whatever game they're playing is completely unfamiliar. Leo recognizes them as Ziggy's close friends, all of them supernaturally clued and some of them with formal magical training. The only real wizard among them, however, is the one emerging from a corner of the room and trying to hold five fresh glasses of beer in two hands. "Now then, now then, I'm certain it's not your deal--Leo, my boy! Good to see you again! Have a seat and drink up, you look dead on your feet." One of the glasses is thrust toward Leo while one of the card players drags over another barrel. "I assume you're not just here for some company? If you want in on the game, though, Lennert here is staggering home in a few minutes, and we could use a fourth who's not too blind to see the cards."
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Offline veekie

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Re: Volume One: Number Theory
« Reply #261 on: November 22, 2013, 06:35:34 PM »
Phil hangs up, then settles to look for a good spot to keep an eye on Brunner and possible routes for him to depart along. No need to follow him after all, just figure out where he's going next, then fly ahead to intercept.
Everything is edible. Just that there are things only edible once per lifetime.
It's a god-eat-god world.

Procrastination is the thief of time; Year after year it steals, till all are fled,
And to the mercies of a moment leaves; The vast concerns of an eternal scene.

Offline Bozwevial

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Re: Volume One: Number Theory
« Reply #262 on: November 22, 2013, 07:47:43 PM »
Phil
The little store has enough windows that Phil can watch Brunner make his slow circuit of the store, comparing foods in painstaking detail. According to Therese's dossier on the wizard, he habitually takes the same route back to his house after shopping, a meandering path which leads back through the park Phil drenched earlier today.
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Offline veekie

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Re: Volume One: Number Theory
« Reply #263 on: November 22, 2013, 07:54:10 PM »
Phil casually wanders about, keeping the store in view. Just need to be sure the wizard is actually starting on his way home when he leaves.
Everything is edible. Just that there are things only edible once per lifetime.
It's a god-eat-god world.

Procrastination is the thief of time; Year after year it steals, till all are fled,
And to the mercies of a moment leaves; The vast concerns of an eternal scene.

Offline Bozwevial

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Re: Volume One: Number Theory
« Reply #264 on: November 22, 2013, 11:29:52 PM »
Phil
After an excruciatingly long period of time (how long does it take to choose between two brands of crackers anyway?), Brunner leaves with a large load of groceries. He doesn't seem terribly bothered by the weight, heading off in the direction of home at a surprisingly fast clip. Brunner seems pretty spry for someone of his age, although part of that might simply be the extreme longevity wizards enjoy.
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Offline veekie

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Re: Volume One: Number Theory
« Reply #265 on: November 24, 2013, 05:13:47 PM »
Phil gives the wizard plenty of time to get out of hearing, then takes to the sky once more, this time to look for a place with a good view of Brunner's home. Just need to watch, and watch and watch.
Everything is edible. Just that there are things only edible once per lifetime.
It's a god-eat-god world.

Procrastination is the thief of time; Year after year it steals, till all are fled,
And to the mercies of a moment leaves; The vast concerns of an eternal scene.

Offline Agita

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Re: Volume One: Number Theory
« Reply #266 on: December 08, 2013, 08:02:25 PM »
Brunner's door is locked. Of course it is. Unsurprising and inconvenient. And warded.
With a wry smile, Kitty checks if the coast is clear and traces two signs in front of her with her fingertip while breathing out a colorless flame. He won't have his door rigged with a landmine in a place where the janitor could be blasted out the other wall by accident, so this spell should work well enough.
With that, she checks the corridor again and squats down in front of the lock with a wire and a needle. Not something she has experience with, exactly, but how hard could it be for a half-fox? It crosses her mind that she has all kinds of important things to do. Why, yes, all of them behind that door.

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Offline Bozwevial

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Re: Volume One: Number Theory
« Reply #267 on: January 05, 2014, 07:02:24 PM »
Kitty
Brunner's ward is surprisingly tricky, but Kitty manages to redirect the compulsion so that it drives her into the room instead of away. Fortunately, the lock on the office door isn't designed to keep out anyone even moderately determined to get in, and a little bit of time with her makeshift picks pops the lock open.

The wizard's office looks immaculate. Not even a scrap of paper is out of place, and if Kitty didn't know he'd been in here earlier today, she'd suspect he was on vacation for how unused the office seems. Most of the storage spaces in the room are occupied by various texts on linguistics, but one small file cabinet and several desk drawers look promising enough to make up for the fact that the desktop is unaccountably missing a folder marked "Ritual Notes" in large red letters.

Kitty does note that the book selection on the shelf nearest the desk has a high concentration of Sumerian language texts, some of which aren't quite flush with the rest of the books.

Phil
A nearby run-down church provides Phil with a nice position at the top of the bell tower from which he can see the wizard's house as well as a decent portion of the surrounding city blocks. The wizard isn't here yet, of course, but it shouldn't be too much longer if everything goes according to plan...
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Offline Agita

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Re: Volume One: Number Theory
« Reply #268 on: January 05, 2014, 08:37:56 PM »
Quietly closing the door behind her, Kitty packs in the Sumerian texts without ado or even checking what they look to be about, then puts her attention to searching the room. Given that he wouldn't want any random guy to find anything incriminating, she bases her search on an easy principle.

If he weren't a stick in the mud, where would he hide his porn?

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Offline Bozwevial

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Re: Volume One: Number Theory
« Reply #269 on: January 06, 2014, 12:58:14 PM »
Kitty
Not under the desk lamp, apparently. Or inside random books plucked off the shelves, or in the center of the most boring magazine Kitty can find, or seemingly anywhere in the room. There's not even so much as a copy of Bilingual Girls With Huge Lexicons. This may be the least interesting room she's ever ransacked.
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Offline veekie

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Re: Volume One: Number Theory
« Reply #270 on: January 06, 2014, 01:22:03 PM »
Phil

Waiting for the wizard, Phil concentrates on the tip of his baton, waving it lightly as he sends a faint ripple of wind, little more than a breeze, down the route  Brunner should be walking down. If the wind is interrupted by anything moving that should pinpoint the wizard. Gentle breeze, that's the trick.

OOC:
4d3-7 Discipline go, 1, 2, 1, 2 , Total: -1
+3 Baton. take 3 backlash
Everything is edible. Just that there are things only edible once per lifetime.
It's a god-eat-god world.

Procrastination is the thief of time; Year after year it steals, till all are fled,
And to the mercies of a moment leaves; The vast concerns of an eternal scene.

Offline Bozwevial

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Re: Volume One: Number Theory
« Reply #271 on: January 07, 2014, 06:30:59 PM »
Phil
The wind is surprisingly tricky to control, but after some wrangling Phil manages to send it rippling down the path. Not very long after, he feels the air currents disrupted by not one, but two someones walking side by side toward the wizard's house.
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Offline VennDygrem

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Re: Volume One: Number Theory
« Reply #272 on: January 07, 2014, 08:10:05 PM »
Leo looks at Ziggy as he goes about his merrymaking. Gathering his nerve, he simply goes for it, deciding to give the details but no name. He'd have to get a bead on Ziggy's reaction, if any, to see if it was safe to discuss more, especially in a relatively open environment.

"Well, we came across a few details from... what we were discussing earlier. You know, creeping air, and all? We found out that there's someone involved in several things happening around the city. A short, pudgy guy with a long nose; fond of tweed jackets, suspenders, bow-ties. You know, sort of old-fashioned. Definitely has that 'academic' look down..."

Offline Agita

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Re: Volume One: Number Theory
« Reply #273 on: January 09, 2014, 04:55:42 PM »
Kitty frowns. Nothing whatsoever, other than those Sumerian texts. No even, Brunner being a wizard, a computer she could boot up and try filling the browser history of with golden shower videos. Alas. With a sigh, she opens every drawer, the contents of which are guaranteed to be well sorted, and puts exactly one item from each in a different drawer. With at least that little bit of mischief done, she quietly absconds out of the room, not bothering to lock it behind her - the ward will keep away anyone who's not Brunner, and Brunner will know someone was inside the moment he sees the Sumerian texts missing anyway.
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Offline veekie

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Re: Volume One: Number Theory
« Reply #274 on: January 09, 2014, 05:00:38 PM »
Phil

Phil simply maintains his attention for a moment, then waits for them to come into view.  As long as Brunner isn't about to interrupt Kitty, he'd be better off idly watching than rushing things.
Everything is edible. Just that there are things only edible once per lifetime.
It's a god-eat-god world.

Procrastination is the thief of time; Year after year it steals, till all are fled,
And to the mercies of a moment leaves; The vast concerns of an eternal scene.