ooops! Ive done a Pete, and not noticed that this had been updated. Right:
The Shutting Downs wrote:
okay, data search time, adding an edge die in this time
11 hits.
Blimeh! Well, a search on Dr Sanders' ID shows nothing, all activity just stops dead the day he ran. There were no transactions on his accounts either, he has left what little money he had with his old SIN. However, widening your search a little shows a number large transfers to certified credsticks recently. Widening a little more shows a Professor Alistair Walker arranging for a house moving service and transport out of the country on the day Sanders disappeared. Walker also has nuyen coming into his account in amounts and on dates that match up with the certified credstick withdrawls. Walkers ID is registered as awakened, and has a number of apparently valid licences for various magical items. Both the container carrying his belongings and the flight tickets go to Hong Kong, at which point he goes off the grid entirely.
deject wrote:I'll get Benedict on the line and explain the situation.
Benedict confirms what some of you have figured out already: It looks like Dr Sanders used Choppers blood sample as a link to Chopper. Normally, you can only cast spells and so forth on someone you have line of sight to, but you can use things like blood, hair, or even very personal items like a watch or childs toy as a focus of a spell instead, as part of what is called ritual spellcasting. Dr Sanders has gone one further than that, and used the blood sample in part of a summoning ritual.
Mages can enter "spirit pacts" with spirits in return for various things: access to spirits powers being the most common. In return the mage has to do something for the spirit, such as gift it Karma on a regular basis, or (as in this case) let the spirit take over the mages body at certain times. Although normally this is voluntary on both sides, it is occasionally forced on one or both parties. Benedict thinks that, in this case, Sanders has been a cheeky git, getting the payoff but pushing the cost on to Chopper.
Presuming all that is the case, Benedict says you have three options:
1) Banish the spirit. You dont know how strong the spirit is, so he cant say what your chances are, and the spirit would know as soon as you start. It wouldnt be able to do much whilst you are trying to banish it, but its a fair bet that if you fail it will be
pissed.
2) Find its formula, or true name. Having that gives you a hell of an advantage, and would let you banish it pretty easy regardless of power levels. Best bet for that would be finding Sanders. If he doesnt know it, well, good luck with that.
3) Do as it asks. Spirits usually make a big deal out of..well, deals. If it has agreed on something with you, it is more likely to cut off its own arm than screw you. Unless you do first, obviously.
A few things he points out:
Sanders sounds like a practitioner of Black Magic. Those guys tend to be of the "power is everything" and "end justifies the means" types. That, coupled with the fact he used a blood sample in a summoning means there is a fair chance the guy is also into blood magic. Adding credence to this theory is the fact the spirit has gone on a murder spree; if he was using blood magic, he would have summoned a blood spirit. Be extra frosty.
Also, if Sanders was worried the spirit was going to use Chopper to get him, he could have dismissed it. If he was worried that Chopper himself was going to get him, he could have commanded the spirit to stop him. The fact that he chose option three, and ran the fuck away, suggests that he is not in control of the spirit. If he is a good enough mage to cure HMHVV with relative ease, and if he has been using blood magic to boost his power, if he then couldnt bind the spirit when it turned up...its a lot of ifs, but something to consider.
