Mage Kings Session Notes

Episode 1: The Dragon, the Dollmaker and the Drama Queen

Two Mages, Ex-Hermetics Helene de Beaujeu and Claribel Marrionque, are summoned to a Thig house hideout at the Empress Theatre to investigate the murder of Alfred Roussel, one of the city's strongest Mages.

Helene is a librarian keeper of forbidden knowledge. Claribel is an exiled enchantress who keeps a dressmaking shop.

They meet the Order's three Magister Scholae in the city: Kirsch bani Thig, Lucretia bani Shaea and Gaios bani Solficati.

The Scholae explain that Roussel was killed by the Sabbat sect of the city's Massasa vampires. After discussion, the group determines it's a sub-sect of the Sabbat, called the True Black Hand. (Who are not Serbian nationalists)

They learn a sleeping demon lives under the mountain, now inflicting terrible dreams on locals.

They learn that Roussel was a dragon afficionado, fixated on the seemingly-fictional species. They've been unable to contact him after death, because when he died, his Avatar spirit rapidly moved to someone else in the city and merged with theirs. They track the location down to a Technocracy-owned part of town...

Meanwhile, elsewhere, a research subject named Soma Tarascon (alternately, Alpha-Tiamat) awakens. She's been imprisoned in a Technocracy facility for years, but finds that a major breach is taking place. Over time, technomagical experimentation has caused her to express draconic features, which have been further enhanced in turn.

Using plasma breath, she escapes her cell. She encounters an interloper in the lab, apparently a ghoul, wearing street clothes. Seemingly out of their mind, the ghoul challenges her. She decks them.

She encounters a lab technician named 'Smith', who refers to her as (after realizing he's powerless to stop her escape) gives her access to some basic equipment and tells her how to escape.

Soma flees to the surface and wanders, confused. Despite the scales and pink hair, she's able to pass for a human in cosplay.

Claribel and Helene find Soma, by how she stands out, and her powerful, draconic Avatar. They confront her, aggressively offering to help. Soma first tries to escape, but not knowing where else to turn, risks trusting them to help her.

The trio hides out in Claribel's home, explains to Soma about the traditions and the technocracy, and tries to get to the bottom of what happened. Helene is enthused to meet a dragon. Soma is deeply un-enthused to be considered a dragon.

Despite this, they convince Soma to let them summon and speak with her Dragon/Roussel soul in Claribel's magic circle. The avatar is surprised it took less than a week to "reincarnate" into someone who was alive when he was. He reveals that a vampire stopped time and decapitated him. He suggests to check the chantry for ghouls.

<Soma_Tarascon> "...what do I do about being... like this?"
<Exhack> "Oh, easy."
<Exhack> "Make a Patreon."
<Exhack> "More seriously, file your nails down so they're manageable or learn the Sphere of Life so you can manage your appearance better."

[IRL Date: May 10, 2020]