[Fall] Chapter 1: Re-Placement

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Apr 9, 2026 4:45 pm
Myra has a note card will all the information they had on Emily. With this note card in the middle of her compas drawing, incircled by a snake, she tries to recreate the sensation she had in the library.
She wanted to see the connections, the correspondence, between Emily and the hall.
And to flip the problem on its head, she would also look for something that could have hidden Emily's tracks.
[ +- ] Correspondence
[ +- ] • Immediate Spatial Perceptions/ Landscape of the Mind
[ +- ] •• Sense, Touch, Thicken & Reach

Rolls

Arete, sensing Correspondence - (2d10)

(56) = 11

Apr 9, 2026 9:48 pm
"A countdown clock?" Minsoo says, her eyes widening considerably. It was like being faced with your own mortality for a moment. She swallows the temptation to ask what he thinks hers might have said. Worse yet:

"Yours was at zero?"

But wouldn’t that mean?… but Torrance suggested then that they were locked in some slice of time. Maybe that’s why zero didn’t mean… Game Over.

"What do you think…?" she asks, letting the boy answer whatever question he thought might come next.
Apr 9, 2026 10:23 pm
Joe, who was looking gratefully at first Myra, then the others who’d offered to help, looks urgently at Jonathan. "That’s hard to interpret as anything but ominous, but since you’re still sucking in air today, you apparently didn’t die yesterday. And Emily didn’t feel anything but alive to me. Maybe it’s an allocation of time that’s run down; something happened to Alex, then Emily, and… crap, that would suggest you’re maybe next in line for something. It also suggests you won’t be the last, if everyone had such a clock and they were all counting down. I think we just graduated to being under some kind of existential threat, or a very good impression of one? Please tell me I’m wrong." He looks worried.
"I told you about just after the blackout. During it I had a momentary sense of every other mind in the gym thinking a single thought - except me. I couldn’t think that thought, couldn’t see what it was. Not very useful, I’m afraid."
Last edited April 9, 2026 10:35 pm
Apr 11, 2026 9:15 am
At Joe's words, Wren looks up.

"During the blackout - the room felt like thousands, not five hundred. All of it pressing in at once."

She pauses.

"I don't know what to make of it either."
Apr 11, 2026 4:08 pm
Minsoo eyes linger on Jonathan. The boy had gone quiet, and she wanted to know if he was afraid of dying… or, or… if he had some explanation to the clocks. Still, that selfish part of her wondered what hers read!
Apr 11, 2026 5:26 pm
Torrance thrums his fingers on the table."There's this silly game I used to play with a microwave.... " He pauses just a moment, looking into the middle distance "You could stop it at 0 without it beeping.
Maybe that's Johnathan."
His eyes focus back on the group. "That is, of course, assumung the timer had anything to do with the dissapearing. As far as I can tell we were all released from whatever expierence we had."
Apr 11, 2026 8:58 pm
>>> "I don't understand it any more than you guys do..." Jonathan had to confess. "I thought maybe it was like a 'death clock' since it included Alex and Emily but I simply don't know. I'm not convinced the vision, premonition, or whatever it was, has passed or changed. I went for a walk after school yesterday to think about it since I kinda thought it was just me then. Didn't know you guys had weird experiences too." He looked at the others gathered at the table, glad he wasn't alone in the experience. "I got lost, tho, and had to ask for directions back towards home. IDK but the lady I asked directions from gave me the same fuzzy feeling in my head that Nixon gives me... Like we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg where they're concerned." He shrugged noncommittally, "I don't like that feeling."

>>>"Sounds like it wasn't just me that had some kind of psychic something-or-other happen to us. Maybe we can put them all together and get a clearer picture . Either that or a get a group discount on therapy..."
Last edited April 12, 2026 2:02 pm
Apr 12, 2026 10:40 am
She'd said it out loud before she'd really understood it - thousands, not five hundred.

Jonathan mentioning the clocks once more made it click.

"The thousands." She looked up. "During the blackout. What if they were resonances of students whose clocks went zero. Long before us."

The words landed and she couldn't unthink them. Alex was gone. Emily vanished. Daniela wasn't picking up. And whatever had happened to them - whatever was happening - the clocks were apparently still running.

"Nixon." She said it quietly, and felt the goosebumps coming back. "That feeling you described - she gives me that too."

She glanced around the canteen, then back at the table. "Let me try something." It came out almost like an apology.

Her hands moved to her headphones, pulling them up over her ears - not to shut the canteen out, but to listen.
OOC:
She activates Prime Sight using the headphones as a focus. I'd see this rather as an opportunity for you Bedzone, nothing in particular she is trying to hear. I'll throw in a roll for Arete and another for Perception+Awareness that you can use if there is something or ignore if there is nothing. I'll apply Acute Senses but will leave applicability of specialties to your judgement.

1. Arete 2 against 1+3=4
2. When #1 was successful I'll add Perception+Awareness 9 against 6-2=4 but feel free to adapt the base difficulty as you see fit.

Rolls

Prime Sight: Arete 2 diff 4 - (2d10diff4)

(35) + 4 = 12

Prime Sight: Perception+Awareness with Acute senses - (9d10diff4)

(31016854102) + 4 = 53

Apr 13, 2026 5:34 pm
OOC:
That’s a lot of green. Still here! Under the weather this week, but it seems like Bedzone has something to work with anyhow!
Apr 14, 2026 3:43 am
If their main takeaway from the counselling session was that a narrative was being imposed on them, finally sitting down in what felt like a safer space in the canteen rather than the waiting room with its off-kilter vibes allowed them to recompose themselves from the implicit threat they felt sitting in the room with Veritas and Nixon. And this was despite the fact that there were three hundred or so students coming and going and milling about, getting their food, catching up in their cliques.

More importantly, talking among themselves felt right, in a way that being grilled earlier felt wrong. The wrongness was not so much that their version of what they knew did not match with the official narrative. It was rather than they could feel that something shifted depending on whether they chose to espouse a public version that wasn't consistent with their version, or whether they would dig their heels in to stick to their own versions. Maintaining a facade guaranteed their safety from prying questions or worse, censure, but those who parroted a cover version felt somehow that reality shifted to integrate their version into the official one, making the official one stronger. Whereas those who held fast seemed to feel some push back, a push back that could be felt psychologically, even physically.

They would in time to come realise that was what the Awakening was all about, competing versions of realities and which side of the boundary they would choose to inhabit. Sitting in the canteen, they picked up on the conversations around them, for yesterday's incident was still abuzz in everyone's mind. "It's just a wiring issue." "I didn't even feel it, it was over so quickly." "My uncle works here, it wasn't a big deal." Students were repeating the official explanation. Kyle's phone, which had resumed proper service, showed that of the students who posted on their social accounts, the pictures were largely blurry, or flagged for misinformation, or deleted.

Truth was being overwritten, for now. Yet, the fact that the seven of them were finally sharing their visions and what it meant showed that there was another version, their version. Had they kept it to themselves, as lone voices it would have been gradually rewritten, a casualty of consensus. But if they were able to connect the dots to unify what they had experienced, then the real truth could emerge.

This much they experienced from their visions which they tried their best to convey to the others:

They had some ability which differentiated them from most others, and Myra explained further their awareness was akin to an awakening and they could learn more by understanding certain traditions which explained how these abilities worked. This resonated with some of what Joe knew about magic which he had learned previously. Also his vision made him feel like he was an exception in the midst of a unified mass of other minds. Now he knew he wasn't the only exception.

Wren and Torrance both felt their context. Wren's vision of thousands of beings must surely refer to everyone who had existed in their school, and combined this with Torrance's understanding was that time was less relevant when viewing these beings. They could potentially all continue to exist simultaneously in the past, or now, or in the future. This resonated with Minsoo's idea that space was also something that could be perceived simultaneously, all places are essentially the same location.

Minsoo and Kyle though had a darker element to what they saw, an existence of something that had eyes on everything in school, and also fed off all sources of energy. Perhaps this was how all energy disappeared for a moment yesterday, time and space were made to stand still when the event happened. Multiple Emilys, directly connected to this.

For Jonathan could confirm it. Emily's 'clock' was at zero. She wasn't part of the count. She didn't 'exist', or she 'existed' as multiple versions across time and space, whatever that meant. The disturbing thing was to find out why Alex and Jonathan were also null and void in this manner.

They made plans thusly. Going back to the hall and gym to ferret for more clues was a very viable option, something they could do in two hours time, after their lessons. Breaking into the counselling centre after hours was needful, but more iffy. That required more careful planning, and whether they were going to do it tonight, or find a better night to do so.
OOC:
Looks like we're ready to do a fast forward to the hall/gym clean up. I used this post to explain how the PCs can understand more and more what reality and Paradox means, ie if you follow reality, then consensus happens. But if you push against reality, sometimes reality pushes back, and if you're affected by the pushback, that's considered Paradox (in narrative terms, there are game effects for it). I've also tried to rationalise your visions, that's the happy outcome of your talking together, in that you have a bit more insight so I've tried to describe what that insight looks like. Tracking Emily will provide the next bit of insight, as will re-envisioning at the same venues, so off we go!

Runekyndig, I haven't forgotten your roll, will apply it when we head over. Eldarin, lots of successes, so Wren feels everything! Remember a Prime roll is essentially about sensing raw magic essence. And a super duper Perception roll means she can see everything in the canteen that she feels is not mundane. I can use the opportunity to feed some details, so I'll do just that. Or if there's nothing that relevant here, I'll 'save' that roll for later; I hate seeing good rolls go to waste :)

Does anyone want to speak with anyone else in the canteen? Classmate, random teacher, etc?
Apr 15, 2026 2:22 pm
The conversation the seven of them had went some way to assure them that they weren't alone, and that having an alternative view was safe within their group. They still had an uphill task of figuring out who to trust and who not to, but at this point they were all they had. As lunch time ran out, the prospect of returning to class was an exercise in patience; they couldn't wait to get back to the multiple-purpose hall and the gymnasium to verify their speculations.

As Wren left the canteen, with her headphones on she could once again isolate herself from all the noise which now seemed to be louder and louder to her. What was left was a buzz, sometimes louder, sometimes softer, but still all around her. If that was the sound of the essence of magic to her, everything was magic. She needed to learn to listen out more specifically, and began to wonder if the buzz was associated with some people more than others, such as the other six at the table. Her eyes then settled on the three girls they saw yesterday whom they all knew were Emily's friends; the freshies were streaming in for their lunch time as the seniors were filing out gradually.

Back in class, Alex's seat was now starkly empty, made more foreboding by what they little they knew about his disappearance. Daniela's seat was also vacant this afternoon, even though she was in in the morning, and they could see Mrs Lee, their form teacher this year, cast a longer glance or two at where Daniela would be. Did she know where Daniela was?

No sooner than the bell rang than the seven of them made their way to yesterday's scene. The indoor gymnasium and the multi-purpose hall were the same building, the hall one storey above the gym. Some of the other senior students were already there at their respective booths, packing up, carting things back to where they ought to be, after which all of them would have to stack the tables and chairs and trolley them off to the storerooms at the back. Everything looked pretty much intact, nothing seemed too out of place from where things were yesterday. If the venues were locked down for some arcane purpose, the lock down didn't seem to care about the physical furniture and the booth materials. All was in order, or disorder since everyone was ordered to leave hurriedly.
OOC:
Looks like we can advance, so let's move the scene! You can divide yourselves the same way as you were yesterday, or swap around (ST hint, whether it's the gym or the hall doesn't matter too much). There are other students present, all seniors from various classes and sports and clubs and societies, with more streaming in, so you'll have to account for that if you want to do magic. You can of course talk to people, or try to avoid people. You might need to distract. You might want to detect, or track, or find things or people. You can offer a roll, or I can specify if you tell me what you're trying to do.
Apr 15, 2026 6:48 pm
Minsoo heads back to her Track booth in the gym. She makes big work of organizing and reorganizing the stall, shuffling chairs this way and that. Trying to look inconspicuous, she keeps her eyes out for anyone not looking inconspicuous; besides her co-conspirators.
OOC:
You mentioned other people posting stuff on Social Media, which got taken down! Whats the vibe like in the gym? Is only Minsoo acting weird?
Last edited April 15, 2026 6:48 pm
Apr 16, 2026 12:43 pm
OOC:
How much staff seems present once the tear-down has been going for a bit?
Apr 16, 2026 5:43 pm
>>>The time passed quickly for Jonathan between lunch period and teardown duty. He'd been surreptitiously working on his art project and had finished his part. Now, he had to enlist some help...but first, he had teardown duty to help finish what should've been done yesterday had nothing gone sideways.
>>>He wandered by the Others as he saw them, giving them a knowing nod before seeking out Kyle on the way towards the Art Club. Kyle might have the know-how for the next step in Jonathan's plan, plus he should be nearby the Art Club table since he'd brought Emily's group over from the nearby Robotic Team table.
Apr 16, 2026 11:15 pm
They arrived early enough that the clean up had just started not long before, for most of the setups were still largely intact. There were one or two teachers around to supervise, Ms Mendes, PE teacher and track coach, whom Minsoo knew well, was there in the gym, always with an eye out for student safety, for you'd never know when someone might accidentally swing an armful of baseball bat the wrong way. In the hall, Kyle saw the familiar figure of Mr Chase, the robotics team adviser; yesterday's robotics booth included one of those mazes to trial puzzle-solving robots on wheels. The students were in the midst of dismantling the strips of wooden board.

But they had the impression that there are more teachers earlier who came to issue instructions on what to do, before generally leaving the actual striking to the senior student body, who by and large were conscientious in their task. Once in a while someone from the school's caretaker team would pop in to direct students to where to throw the trash and recyclables. It looked like everyone just wanted to get it done with as little fuss as possible, given yesterday's interruption. Minsoo could pick up on some gossipy mutterings while her schoolmates were going about their clearing. Perhaps she could dig further if she joined in.
OOC:
Answering the scene-setting queries first. Yes there are teachers, but a minimum. Assume they have mostly left, and one or two will be popping in and out at any one time just to manage their area of responsibility. Don't need a roll to tell that there is no single teacher or authority figure overall overseeing the entire clean up from above.
And yes, there are pockets of talk. Students might have already been discussing yesterday's incident in class earlier in the day. But actually coming back to the scene itself has re-prompted them to talk again. I'll offer the chance for anyone to hear something relevant (or not), or join in to pick up on some sentiment which may be relevant (or not), the possibilities being someone else might be behaving differently, or someone else might be talking about something they saw yesterday.
Apr 18, 2026 9:29 am
They arrived at the building together. Wren caught Joe before the group split between floors.

"I'll be in the hall. Text me when you're checking your spot."

She headed upstairs.

The hall looked the same as yesterday — booths still set up, chairs where they'd left them, everything frozen mid-orientation. Other seniors were already working, carting supplies back to where they belonged. Wren made her way toward the stage end. On the way she passed the Editorial Wing booth. Yesterday, Daniela had been right there, crying, barely holding it together. Today the booth was half-dismantled by someone else.

Wren slowed. Picked up her phone. Still nothing. She stopped and approached the editorial booth.

"Have you seen Daniela this afternoon? She was in this morning but wasn't in class after lunch."
OOC:
I'll stop here and wait for the interaction. My plan is that Wren heads to the music booth to start packing up. While working, she'll put her headphones on and activate Prime Sight. After some packing up at the booth I plan to let her sit down at the piano and play activating Mind Sight on top of Prime sight. There is nothing particular she's doing it for - I'd say she still often casts coincidentally for herself ;).
Apr 18, 2026 11:54 am
Down in the gym, Joe bustles back and forth a bit, partly to blend in with the tidying up activities, partly to check the sight lines he memorised the day before. Then he proceeds to the exact spot, pulling out his phone as if checking for a text. His concentration is real, though, as he begins to clear his mind. He suddenly realises he can record his exact position simply by taking a picture of his own feet on the floor before he begins in earnest, and does so. Then he enacts a plan he has been working on since last night, beginning with simple and more familiar effects and gradually adding others…
Wren, let me know if you hear anything. Trying some things.
First, Joe stills his mind, smoothing and slowing his breathing to a regular rhythm as he does so, stretching out with his perception to determine if there is any sense of another mind exactly here (Meditation; Mind 1).
Next, he begins tapping on his own wrist as yesterday, trying to find the rhythm of a pulse not his own (Rhythmic body movement; Life 1).
Then, he tests a theory; the slowed, regular breathing becomes a rising and falling flow, like waves advancing and retreating on a beach. As with the pulse, he uses one rhythm to try to sense another, probing for another chi flow, looking for any sign of magick on this spot, on the assumption that if there is anything to sense, it may have been something to do with what happened to Emily (Chi raising; Prime 1).
Finally, another theory; he begins carefully picturing a certain symbol in his mind, mentally drawing it into existence, one imaginary pen stroke at a time; he has been wondering if any Spirit effect might have contributed to Emily’s disappearance (Calligraphy; Spirit 1).
OOC:
Given a sense that this might be the only chance he has to try this reasonably soon after the disappearance, Joe elects to use a Willpower on the Arête roll.

Rolls

Arete - (2d10)

(78) = 15

Per+Alertness - (4d10)

(4527) = 18

Apr 18, 2026 3:01 pm
OOC:
I'll leave sequencing time to Bedzone II. Like whether Wren got to start packing or even got to play the piano. When Joe"s text arrives, she'll join the group in the gym.
Apr 18, 2026 4:14 pm
Minsoo works this way and that, trying to catch a little gossip or talk that seemed to be floating around. Unsuccessful, she thought she’d have to mix it up if she wanted to learn anything.

She feigns a table being a little too heavy to lift. She makes a second feeble attempt, before wandering over to one of the small groups chatting. She gets as close as she can without being weird. Listening for a moment before she says:

"Hi! Omg, so sorry! Could you guys help me with this table? I’m on my own today!"
Apr 18, 2026 5:42 pm
Torrance will make sure he is seen getting some work done, tearing down things, and then slip out before things really get locked up.
As he moves out he will get to the office and if noone is inside and looking he will duct tape the latch bolt back, stopping the future door locking from keeping him out.
He will then slip to whatever exterior door automatically locks and repeat the process and get back to the tear down.
Last edited April 18, 2026 5:46 pm

Rolls

DEX + Stealth +Cloak - (4d10+2d10+2d10)

(41093) + (26) + (17) = 42

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