Spirits in the Mist of the Lake - MAGE/VAMPIRE [1-15-2026]
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Edgar Williams
Dice Pool: Wits - 3, Investigation - 2
Action: Investigate the Lake, see if it's a mild disturbance that can easily be dealt with, or something more sinister.Health: 8
Mana/Vitae: 5
Willpower: 6
Conditions: None
Description:
A figure in a black turtleneck and suit walks along the pier, unhurried. Meanwhile, a pair of lovers grip hands tightly as they quickly head back to the city; a busker stops the harmonica and picks up a meager jar of recompense for the night. All this the dark figure of Edgar duly notes as his sunken eyes keep wandering back to the lake. There's a frigid air coming off the waters that has nothing to do with autumn chill.He eventually realizes he's not the only one preoccupied with the lake. One at the railing, one on his phone, one at the pier's edge. It's not often Edgar has company, but it often means trouble.
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@1l0velamp A number of ghosts become clear, and Ken feels the draw from any of them. His dearest friend whispers in his ear, "Name the one you want, and I shall get it for you..."
A woman in a soaked flapper dress, pearls floating like bubbles around her neck. Her skin is pale as frost, her eyes two empty sockets weeping river water. A long, torn red scarf trails from her wrist, twisting like a living thing.
An old harbor patrolman, spectral uniform soaked dark. His lantern burns with blue flame, casting no light, only shadows that move independently.
Where his heart should be is an empty hole filled with lake water.A middle-aged woman in a turn-of-the-century dress, face frozen in terror. Her hair floats constantly around her head like she’s still submerged. Her mouth opens too wide when she speaks, spilling lakewater and choking on words she can’t finish.
A tall figure bound in spectral chains that drag behind him, scraping the pier. His body flickers — sometimes human, sometimes skeletal, sometimes entirely shadow. His face is always obscured by a metal mask, rusted and wet.
A figure in a black turtleneck and suit, his vampire nature leaking off him like dripping blood, leaving a trail of resonance in his wake.
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Are you actively using Obfuscate to hide?
There are a number of people still at the Pier despite the late hour. However, your keen eyesight can pick out the ones that do not belong as if they were alight.
An asian man in a nice suit, well tailored, sits near the water on the rocks despite the cold splash of the waves below. His eyes closed, he seems to be focused on something.
A careful man in a winter coat, talking on the phone. He looks about 30 and is well groomed. His voice sounds serious as he says goodbye to a friend and hangs up the phone.
A wintercoated man deeply focused on his cellphone sitting on a bench just inside the walk through to the museums and restaurants. He's hunched against the cold wind off the water, and his eyes light up with the reflection of apps and screens scrolling past his vision.
Did you want to approach one of them?
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Edgar is using Face in the Crowd to hide in plain sight since he's scoping the area and doesn't want to attract unneeded attention.
Edgar would like to keep all 3 in observation, but if his options are limited and he has to choose, he focuses on the man sitting near the water on the rocks. He looks out for anything suspicious. Anything that confirms the rumors about the spirits of the lake.
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Chance Meridian
Dice Pool: 9 = Manipulation (3) + Persuasion (2) + Attune (2) + Credentials (2)
Action: Moving the bystanders out of the area.Health: 7 - No Damage
Mana/Vitae: 6
Willpower: 6
Conditions: Charmed, Steadfast, InspiredChance lets the phone settle back into his pocket and takes a breath, grounding himself in the cold air rolling off the lake. The mist hangs thick, stubborn, blurring the edges of the world. He turns first toward DosBox.
He walks up alongside him, close enough that the words don’t have to travel. “Ashbriar and Dante are out,” Chance says quietly. Not alarmist. Just facts placed on the table. “Looks like it’s us for now.” His eyes flick briefly to the water, then back. “I’m going to check in with Ken, then I’ll work on clearing the area. Keep your eyes open. If anything spikes, I want to know.”With that, he peels away and heads for Ken.
Up close, it’s easier to feel than to see. Chance can’t perceive whatever Ken is actively engaging with, but the air around him has that familiar wrongness—like standing near a generator you can’t see, only hear through your bones. Ghost juju. Spirit work. Something straddling the line. Chance waits without interrupting, hands loose at his sides, eyes scanning the perimeter while Ken finishes whatever delicate business he’s in the middle of.
When Ken’s attention frees up, Chance leans in slightly. “What’ve you got?” he asks, low and direct. He listens, nodding as the answer comes—whatever it is, it slots into place with the rest of the night’s chaos. Useful. Concerning. Probably both.
“Ashbriar and Dante had to pull out,” Chance adds. “Before she went, Ashbriar flagged some information about the local spirits that you should probably know.” After Chance filled him in about the Drowned Host and Echo-of-the-Lights, he finished “I’m going to try to move the civilians along. Too many eyes, and I don’t trust who’s still hanging around.”
He steps away from the group and toward the lingering bystanders. Sleepers, probably. Probably. That word carries a lot of weight these days. He reaches into his jacket and produces the badge with practiced ease—not flashed, not thrust forward. Just enough authority to be real.
“Evening, folks,” he calls, voice calm, tired, reasonable. “FBI. We’ve got an ongoing investigation out here, and I’m going to need everyone to move along. Nothing to see, and it’s not safe to linger.”
He watches their faces carefully as he speaks. Not just compliance—reaction. Confusion, annoyance, curiosity. Anything that doesn’t fit gets filed away. The mist curls between them, the lake quietly listening, and Chance stands there in the thin space between mundane procedure and something much older, hoping—just a little—that tonight, the badge is enough.
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• Ken(Hideki Takashi)
Dice Pool: wits(3) + intimidation(3) + specialization(cold stare) + willpower(3)=9
Action: gather info by intimidating the ghost of a harbor patrolman
Health: 8/8
Mana/Vitae: 13
Willpower: 6/7
Conditions:
Description
Ken breathes, slow and measured, like he’s centering before a bout. The wind tugs at his jacket, moonlight crawling over the water, and that wrong vibration hums up through the pier into his bones.
His eyes open—and lock.
“…You.”
He nods once, decisive, toward the old harbor patrolman. The blue-flamed lantern, the hollow chest spilling lakewater. A guardian who died doing his job.
“Bring him,” Ken murmurs to the whisper at his ear. “Someone who stood watch knows when something breaks the rules.”
When the ghost draws close, Ken rises to his feet. No fear in his stance. Just that familiar, coiled confidence.
“Alright, officer,” Ken says, voice steady, carrying heat beneath it.
He gestures to the lake with two fingers.
“What makes you want to flee your grave?”
A pause. Ken lets the question hang, gives it weight. His eyes flick briefly to the hole in the ghost’s chest, then back to the lantern.He steps closer now, aura pressing.
“is what you're afraid of the thing destroying anchors?"
His fist tightens, a faint ripple of heat licking the air.
“And the thing that did that to you—where did it come from?”
Ken’s voice drops, sharp as a challenge bell.
“Did it rise from the bottom of the lake, from somewhere older than this city?”
“Did someone wake it up?”
“Or did it push through from somewhere it shouldn’t be, tearing the Boundary open on its way in?”
He straightens, shoulders squared, fire barely leashed.
“Because whatever’s down there just forced the dead to retreat.”
“And that means it’s strong.”
A grim, familiar half-smile touches his mouth. -
@1l0velamp
The harborman stumbles over the Ken, who had been sitting on the rocks by the spray of the water. The ghost is translucent, hanging in twilight like the others, requiring an Active Mage sight, or Auspex or other power to see and hear. His voice is a low drolling sound that rises and falls like the tides. He is always looking off into the distance, looking through Ken as he asks the questions."You feel it too, don’t ye? The change in the water… the way the air tastes of salt and sorrow.”
The ghost’s eyes are twin voids of drowned glass, reflecting only motion—never light.
“Was a storm what did it. A black squall, bigger than any I’ve seen since breath left my lungs. Wind cut the lake in half, churned it so deep that even the old bones at the bottom shifted. And there, deep beneath the ferry lanes, there was a cage—aye, a great iron thing, rusted shut and forgotten by men but never by spirits.”
He grips the lantern tighter, though it casts no warmth.
“When the storm cracked it, something inside… stirred. I felt it the way a sailor feels the pull of a riptide, right behind the heart. Only—”
he gestures to the hollow in his chest where lakewater sloshes and trickles out in black drops
“—I haven’t got one no more. So it pulled at what’s left instead.”“The dead near the water’s edge—dockhands, sailors, widows who threw themselves in—are changin’. The thing below… it whispers through the current. Twists ’em. Turns ’em into shapes that ought never walk nor swim. I’ve seen one with ropes for veins, another with barnacles growin’ where eyes used to be. They gather down there now, clawing at the cage, like dogs diggin’ at a grave they don’t understand.”
The ghost leans closer, the lantern flame hissing as if on the edge of drowning.
“The Lord of the Drowned Calls cries out for help—aye, I’ve heard him. A spirit older and mightier than I. But he won’t draw near the cage, for fear that whatever’s in there will make him kin to the beasts he commands. And who could blame him? The pull is strong. The water hums with it. Even I… even I feel it callin’ me home.”
The shadows twitch across the ground, forming writhing shapes like eels.
“If you mean to meddle, stranger, go softly. Don’t let the lake look back at you. The storm didn’t just break the cage—it woke the thing inside. And it’s waitin’, patient as the tide, for someone foolish enough to open the rest of the way.”
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• Ken(Hideki Takashi)
Dice Pool:
Action: Meet up with chance and explain the situation. Tell him we need back up.
Health: 8/8
Mana/Vitae: 13
Willpower: 6/7
Conditions:
Description
Ken meets back up with Chance and Dosbox.
Ken takes a slow calm breath.
“Alright. Here’s the deal—listen up.”
“Whatever’s under that lake? Storm cracked open something that was never meant to see daylight, and now the water’s carrying its voice. Dead are feeling it first. They’re backing off, twisting, answering a call they don’t understand.”
“Ashbriar was right to flag it. Spirits around here are getting reshaped. Not possessed—recruited. Ropes for veins, barnacles where eyes should be. That’s not random. That’s influence.”
“There’s a cage down there. Old. Iron. Forgotten by people, not by the dead. The storm busted it just enough for whatever’s inside to stretch and breathe. It hasn’t escaped yet—but it doesn’t need to. The lake’s doing the work for it.”
“The local heavy hitter—the Lord of the Drowned—won’t go near it. Says enough right there. When a thing that commands the dead is scared of becoming one of them? You pay attention.”
“So here’s the takeaway: whatever this thing is, it's Slow, tidal. It wants helpers before it wants freedom. We should probably talk to this echo of lights.
Ken snorts, a flash of heat edging his words.
“And yeah—if you’re wondering? Something strong enough to make the dead retreat is absolutely strong enough to ruin our night.”
“So Keep your heads clear. And whatever you do—don’t stare into the water too long.”
A pause. A grin you can hear without seeing.
“Because if it looks back? That’s round one.” -
Chance moves about the pier, past the restaurants out near the water and lookout. Most folks are pulling jackets about themselves to shield from the cold wind, and don't take much conjoling to move along. A few give sideways looks, but everyone clears out.
The sun has set and it is getting dark out. The low rumble of city sounds continues, but is nearly drowned out by the crashing waves and sounds of the water.
@1l0velamp
The ghost turns slowly towards the end of the pier, raising his lantern to shine the light. He points with his other hand and says softly to Ken,"Looks like ye got a visitor. Best not keep her waiting." He chuckles, water splashing from the gaping hole in his chest.
"Wait, ye might want this." The spirit hands his lantern to Ken, offering it over. "If ye all plan to deal with this, then ye have me thanks. This gift should get er attention to ya, I reckon."
Ken can take the lantern. It is still in twilight, so holding it is strange to say the least. It is an invisible object, but with your Death Arcana, you can ensorcel your hands and grasp it firm. It has an eerie green light out the one unhooded side, casting a strange glow across the ground and showing footprints where none should be.
@swerdfish
The wizards have cleared the pier, and are talking to some unseen spirits. Your enhanced sight (Auspex) allows you to see a faint outline where the ghost is standing, speaking with an asian man in fine clothes.The rain has ceased with only a soft drizzle here and there from the crashing waves.
You can:
- Continue to watch, staying hidden but listening in
- Confront one of the wizards who has a badge and is clearing people from the area. You feel like you could do this without startling him if you so wish
@greatsquiggy
With his map complete of different spots and areas, it is clearly a problem along much of the coast.
As DosBox browses the stories, a young girl who supposedly jumped off the docks and drowned. There is a picture, and she is wearing an old flapper dress with a red scarf. With a quick check across social media, there is a lot of speculation of something darker having happened to her...and from what Ken said, her ghost is standing on the pier.
Where the ghost is pointing, it is impossible not to see
A great wave rises up, emptying on the pier
The water, clear to see by everyone there, rises into a tower some 8 feet tall, with faces pressing out of it, moaning and crying for help
A shifting tide of drowned bodies that speak in unison, eyes glowing like lanterns beneath the waves. Its surface changes to reflect whoever looks into it last.
The spirit lord, The Drowned Host, waits for an audience with the magi. -
• Ken(Hideki Takashi)
Dice Pool: gnosis(3) + spirit(1) + lantern(1) + order tool brass knucles(1) + high speech(2)=8
Reaches 1 for instant cast, 1 advanced duration
Action: cast exorcist eye and talk to Drowned host.
Health: 8/8
Mana/Vitae: 13
Willpower: 6/7
Conditions:
Description
Ken takes the lantern without a word.
Its light stains his features amber as he glances back at Chance and Dosbox, giving them a small, deliberate tilt of his head—be ready.
Then he turns toward the empty stretch of pier.
To Ken, the sea is standing upright.
As he walks, he slides the brass knuckles onto his fingers, the metal kissing bone with a muted click. He rolls his shoulders once and rubs the plates together slowly, deliberately. The sound is soft—but it lands heavy in the air.
High Speech spills from his tongue.
Not loud. Not dramatic.
Precise.
The world answers.
The wind stretches thin and begins to harmonize. The tide fractures into layered whispers. Twilight deepens into a bruised spectrum where colors hum instead of fade. The boards beneath his boots murmur in old timber dialect, remembering storms long past. Over it all comes the sound of distant bells—no harbor bell, but something deeper, submerged.
The air thickens.
And the Drowned Host clarifies before him—eight feet of vertical water. Faces press outward from within its shifting surface. Eyes glow like drowned lanterns. The water reflects him, then shifts, reflecting something pale and lifeless in his place.
Ken does not flinch.
He stops a respectful distance away.
He bows, smooth and formal, lantern lowering with him like an offering.
When he speaks, his voice carries two tones—his own, and the echo beneath it.
“How may we be of service, great one?”
The pier is silent.
But the sea inhales.
