Play@YSDC

The smile is slightly wider now, as Izzy imagines a corpse just nonchalantly walking out of its own autopsy. Presumably Grant and Nightingale had already dealt with that particular mishap.

"Just dumb luck, really. I joined straight from my A-Levels, did my two years at Hendon, a year on the beat, and then transferred to MIT. Major Investigation at Belgravia, mostly murder. It was going well for about a year or so, then we had a corpse that was drained of literally every fluid. No water, no blood, no spinal fluid, nothing. I was checking out the crime scene, and noticed it smelled like an abattoir, but no-one else caught it. Didn't realise at the time that I was sensing vestigia, but DI Stephanopolous did, and she made me the Folly liaison for the case. Turned out to have been some kind of vampire thing out of Rotherhithe. Anyway, we dealt with it, and then The Nightingale asked if I wanted to transfer across and start learning magic. DCI Seawoll didn't want to lose me, but he said it was my choice, and honestly, I've been loving it ever since."

As Izzy speaks, it's clear that she's becoming more animated the more she continues, as if excited to have someone outside of the Folly she can safely talk about it all to.

"Once the coast is clear, you'll get to see a bit of proper magic too, bit of a treat for you..." she continues, beaming.

jp1885 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 15, 2023 11:40 am “Don’t know. The shop used to be two buildings. I guess one had a cellar and one didn’t. Can I get on with my work now?”

"Of course, much obliged."

Saffron nods and scurries up the stairs, leaving you all alone in the basement…

Leo nodded slowly, sympathizing with Izzy as she described her unpleasant reaction to the vestigia and nodded agreement with her suggestion. Once he was sure Saffron was gone, he responded, "First, based on your experience, there is no question in my mind this is a Falcon case. Given what I heard from Abigail about a werelight working as a ghost lure in the past, I think we should at least give it a try here. As far away as possible from the camera, and as low power as you can manage."

Izzy smiles once more. "Way ahead of you on that. Just waiting for these..." she points towards Skipper and Des, "to take their phone batteries out."

She turns to the pair. "Oi, you listening? I'll tell you this for nothing, the Folly won't be paying to replace your fancy Samsung or whatever if the chips turn to dust."

She actually has no idea if Nightingale would be willing to pay for replacements through the department budget, but she'll be damned if she's going to get the blame if he isn't.

Jordan stands back and prepares to watch the show with interest.

Skipper looks at Izzy blankly, with a side of irritation. "Keep your Alan Whickers on, DC Hermione. I do not have clue one what you are talking about. Batteries out of my phone? I take it that's not a pick up line?"

Leo turned around, shaking his head. "She's serious, mate" he said as he reached into his two opposing suit pockets and pulled out a battery from one and a cheap plastic phone in the other before replacing them with a well-practiced move. "S.O.P. that I learned the hard way on day one.Any electronics that are currently receiving juice will get fried...or more accurately, sanded. You will want to keep phones and digital. watches well away."

Skipper sighs. "Oh well, when in Hogwarts..." He quickly drops the battery out of his camera with practised ease. Getting the phone battery out takes more effort. Getting the phone out of the rugged, scuffed case is the first battle. Getting the battery out of the less rugged but still scuffed phone is the second.

He holds his wrist up, showing the battered CWC analog watch. "Definitely not digital but they do have a battery operated motor. No circuits. Hope that won't blow up? I'm a bit partial to this watch."

"And as a matter of interest, are you meant to be reporting back to your guv'nor at some point?"

"Thank you," Izzy says, "and sorry for getting a bit snappy about it. Just trying to make sure your stuff is protected. And it's definitely not a pickup line. No offence, but you're not exactly... my type." She gives a knowing glance to Leo as she says this.

"We'll report back once we're done here. May as well have something concrete to report on."

Izzy then turns to Des. "You too, Miss Orivo, come on. Phone battery, I'm not having you blame me if your stuff gets bricked. And what's your first name, anyway? You still haven't told us that yet."

Des looked at Izzy for a long moment, then slipped a old mobile out of her back pocket, opened it up and removed the battery.

”Des. Short for Destiny, but if anyone calls me dat, I shove dis batt’ry where de sun don’ shine, ok?“

"Got it. Nice to meet you, Des." Izzy gives Des a smile as she tries to get the rather wild young woman to warm up to her a bit, but she realises it will likely be an ongoing task. "Okay then. If we're all ready, time to wow you."

She moves across to where she has guessed the best place to cast a spell will be, without frying the circuits in the CCTV system. One more glance towards the stairs to make sure Saffron isn't on her way back, and Izzy holds out her hand, palm outstretched and facing upwards. She concentrates, conjuring up the forma in her mind, closing her eyes, and whispers a single word - "Lux."

Magic (60%) - Casting a werelight, bonus 10s die from earlier hard success:

1d100
1d10

OOC:   Well, I think I'm keeping that 22 for the hard success

Those attuned to such things instantly feel Izzy's vestigia: the deep contented purr of a cat; the scent of lavender; a clockwork tick-tock precision.

From out of nowhere, a ball of shimmering light forms above her upturned palm, seemingly radiating no heat. If there was a ghost in the vicinity, the light would dim as the spirit feeds on the magical energy. However, no spectre forms.

The glowing ball changes colour from a milky white to a deep crimson before slowly fading away, but still no ghostly figure appears. It seems there's definitely something in the basement feeding on the werelight, but it doesn’t seem to be a 'normal' ghost.

You feel a faint tickling sensation, like feathers being brushed across your skin...

OOC:   If your character has never seen anyone spellcasting before, this must come as quite a shock! Please make a POW roll. If you fail, you become Impaired, which means you fumble on a 90+, not a 100 for the remainder of this scene.

For the briefest of moments, perhaps less than a second, Izzy imagines that it's Jennifer's hand stroking her, feeling the sensation of feathers being brushed against her, but as she just barely lets out a contented sigh she is brought back to Earth by the realisation that something here is draining the energy of the spell. She closes her palm, and ends the spell as she looks across to the others, satisfied with the discovery.

"There's definitely something down here. Maybe not a ghost in the traditional sense, but something. I think it's time we let the boss know."

Before they set off, however, she looks at each of the group in turn, to gauge their reactions (other than Leo, of course) at witnessing her using real, proper magic.

”Wot dafuq was dat?!” breathed Des, before recovering herself, hunching her shoulders and fixing Izzy with a suspicious look.

POW (70%) 1d100

1d%p55%

OOC:   Success.

Skipper jumps back but then nods in interest, eyebrows raised, wishing his camera was working. "Much nicer than the last bit of weird I saw."

"Let me know when I can put the battery back in my camera."

Jordan's jaw drops.

POW roll (30% skill) for witnessing magic:
d%