mission ♔ and the rest is history

[borrowedheaven]

♬ Firefly - Over the Rhine

WHO || Des, Jade & later: Gar, Kat, Spike, Buffy, Myri [Closed]
WHAT || Des takes Jade home; the Knights attempt to unlock the mystery of the stone Gar discovered...
WHERE || The Hoffman Institute > Nightscape
WHEN || Backdated to Thurs, March 22nd
HOW || Actionspam

[ She lets herself out when Des pulls up, shoving open the front doors of the Institute with a certain degree of attitude that makes it clear how fed up she is with all this. But there's something much more subdued in her demeanor too, and a strange pallor to her cheeks that makes her skin look almost gray as she moves closer, taking the steps two at a time. Someone must have provided her with new clothes, as she's not dressed like a hooker today, but rather wears a dark green loose Bohemian looking shirt that's slightly ruffled, with two ties dangling in the front, and a pair of khakis with a number of funky pockets all over them. She wears less makeup than she had on the other night, but she looks no less striking for it - maybe even more so given that so much of her strange beauty is apparently all natural.

She tosses open the passenger door and sits down hard, hardly seeming concerned with being graceful as she digs a cigarette out of a pack. ]

Please tell me you brought a light.

Comments

[slay]

[ Spot check 21, Buffy just steps aside and gives Jade room to get out of the car, pulling the door open all the way and leaning on it. ]

I'm sure you'll recognize it when you see it. Or, well, if you don't, it's probably got something to do with Nightscape. Anyone else having some serious fuzz on what happened back there?

[witchwoman]

[Myri's spot check is only 6 so she's clearly too nervous to be out on an actual field mission and isn't paying all the attention she should.]

[bigbad]

It is getting a bit murky... [Spike's spot check is a 21 too, and he gives Buffy a puzzled look. He remembers talking about it with her more than he remembers the actual experience.]

1/3

[borrowedheaven]

[ Everyone but Myri is a winner! For those who didn't notice it earlier, either while she was singing or in the chaotic hubbub of getting shot at, it's quite clear up close that there's something non-human about Jade's looks: and with the way she has her hair today, it's easier to see that her ears have an almost elven cast to them, though it's not as prominent as it is with, say, Luthir or any of the dark elves they know.

She looks back to Des, shaking her head. ] No clue. But let's see it.

[rationalizes]

[ Gar reaches in the pocket of her coat with a smile, and pulls out something wrapped in a white handkerchief. She carefully unrolls it and holds it out, basically in front of Des' face. It appears to be a small flat stone, that fits in her palm. Engraved into the rock is the very familiar symbol of the Talisman. ] There you are.

[borrowedheaven]

[ Jade looks over at the stone and a deep frown cuts across her features, though she shakes her head. ] It's not mine. But where did you get--

[ And she reaches over to pluck it right off the handkerchief.

Immediately, the lines cut into the stone begin to glow, a bright green light racing through the image, and then just as quickly, the light shoots upwards about half a foot from the top of the stone and hovers there, an image of the symbol suspended in mid-air. She lets out a slightly startled sound, but doesn't let go of it. ]

What--

[ And abruptly the image changes itself, working into a new pattern, until it looks like a projected digital image, though it has that strange glowing green cast to it. The picture that it changes into is one of her, like a reflection looking right back at the surprised girl. ]

[bigbad]

[Spike already noticed the not exactly human thing! He notices it again now, apparently. But he gets distracted from that quickly by the exciting glowing image that's just shown up.]

...might not be yours, but seems like someone wants you to have it.

[witchwoman]

[Myri's never seen anything non-human until she got to this world, so she's just not used to looking for those sort of signs. SHUT UP GUYS. SHE'S TOTALLY PERCEPTIVE. Sometimes...

When the stone glows, shifts, and projects an image, Myri takes a step back, accidentally bumping into Spike's arm. She glances up at him briefly, an apology flashing in her eyes. Quickly, she focuses back on the task at hand.]

[borrowedheaven]

[ The image changes abruptly, before they get to comfortable with that one. To this, which a spot check of 14 or above can notice the writing on the building. ... Or a 10 for Des I guess since it's two inches in front of his face. ]

I don't understand.

[witchwoman]

[Hey Myri's spot check is 17 so she sees that one! But... it's words and words are hard for her. Her Int check of 14 would cause her to be able to sound it out, even if she has no idea what those words mean...

She is the most helpful, really.]

[nothingsodivine]

[13, baby. And Des is just horrified, gaping, and then rubbing his jaw like the entirety of New Orleans just socked him there.]

Well, shit.

[bigbad]

[15. Spike's all over seeing that text.] ...do you recognise it?

[slay]

... Huh? [ Buffy squints, but from her angle with her spot check of 8, this just ... isn't happening. ] I'm with Jade on the serious not understanding. What is that?

[borrowedheaven]

[ And just like that it switches again to a brief view of a skyscraper, although this one has no visible exterior markings to explain what it is. ]

Where did you get this?

[shootfirst]

[ Matter-of-factly ] Stole it from the Hoffman Institute. [ SMARTASS SMILE AT DES ]

[nothingsodivine]

Yeah, I hear they got a new secretary without running a background check first. Shit like that happens. [POINTED GLARE AT GAR.]

[rationalizes]

Well, you must admit, it certainly wasn't doing anyone much good trapped in that locked case in the basement.

[slay]

So, if said new secretary happened to go bargain-hunting in the basement, who's to blame her? [ Buffy cranes her head to look at the skyscraper from all sides, awed. ] So, Gar, what do you think? Helpful? What is all this stuff?

[rationalizes]

[ An excited light shines in her eyes as the image cycles back to the talisman symbol. ]

If my theory is correct, and it's used for the same reasons as the last such stone I encountered... then it's a map.

[shootfirst]

It's going to take a little while to place that whole 'unmarked building' thing. Not very convenient map-making, if you ask me.

[rationalizes]

It's rather unlikely that it was meant to be convenient. [ She whips out her Knight's cell and begins to take pictures of each image as it cycles through. ]

[slay]

Someone really needs to update your people about latitude and longitude. [ It's said offhandedly to Jade. ]

[borrowedheaven]

I'm not sure this has anything to do with "my people". I still don't remember a thing, and I'm not chasing down something that's probably better left buried.

I've got enough to deal with. [ A spot check of 16 or above can notice that the placement of the people outside the museum has shifted this time, as if it were a picture taken at a different moment. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des got a thirteen, so he's just too consumed with frustration to care.] It's like I told you- that thing only brings trouble. The really not-fun kind.

[witchwoman]

[Myri's spot of 18 will make it! She squints and clears her throat.]

Uhm... is that..? It's different.