Easthaven Lighthouse She sells Seashells

[Billy Broder]

Billy dropped his duffle bag on the rocks. Had to be rocks since sand of a beach wouldn't do him much good. He needed a solid surface to draw on and sand was too easy to shift or move. Like hell he would want a circle to break mid ritual just because a crab walked through his circle. Or high tide or something came in. No no no, better to have some solid rocks to get things done. Billy had some work to do.

He unzipped his bag and looked through his supplies to see what he had on hand. Chalk, easy one there. His vessel- a silver shift knob that he'd been using as a keychain for years. It was from a car he and his dad had tried to restore one summer. Billy smiled remembering that they had never even gotten close to finishing that car. In the end his dad parted it out and sold it all off but let Billy steal the shiny silver knob off the shifter. His dad had even welded on the clip at the bottom so he wouldn't lose it. 

Billy had over time scratched into the surface of the knob the runes and symbols he thought he would need, with lines crossing its surface in mimic of recorded leylines as they crossed the globe. It wasn't real silver, it was Pennsylvania steel. Real bitch to mark the runes on it.

What Billy didn't have was components, but he could fix that with a bit of work. Besides, he suspected getting components from around the lighthouse would be a better plan than grabbing them from somewhere else. The lighthouse was the important place, a building designed to protect ships from wrecking. A rock formation to protect the lighthouse from high waves. Protection for protection. 

It would be the best symbolic location to settle a shielding enchantment over the bauble.

Now for components.

Billy looked into the water and let out a low sigh. He stripped the coat first, then his shirt. Right away he was reminded that Massachusetts was much colder in general than the Nevada dessert he was used to. Right, cold but it is what it is. Shoes and socks next and finally... Billy glanced around a bit embarrassed before quickly dropping trow and revealing a pair of plain swim trunks under his jeans. Billy looked at his arm that was still more than a little bruised from getting hit by a car minutes after arriving into town. His sling was in his bag but he figured it was better to move it a bit before getting into the water.

Billy made his way to the waves and then with slow caution made his way over the slick rocks. He made sure to look back and remember his path so he could scramble back up once he had a few components. He had a goal and wanted to search for things that could better symbolize protection. 

Diving into the water he searched for a few minutes before finding nothing. Billy swam back to the surface and broke free to take a deep breath. His arm was killing him but he'd only just started so he ignored the feeling. Right right, back under! Billy dived again and started searching near the shallows at the rocks, but as he searched he started swimming a bit deeper and deeper. Finally he found something ideal.

A seashell, for some kind of crab. It looked abandoned and Billy moved it between his fingers as he examined it, it was good and he focused carefully. A shell that was once home, shelter, and shield. Closing his eyes Billy drew power around the shell as he gathered energy around the concepts he wished to hold. The shell itself may well have been enough as a symbol but trying to collect the ideas would do more. Once the energies started to settle Billy grabbed a hand of mud from the shallows bottom and stuffed it tight into the shell to make it a sealed container for the new component.

He opened his eyes and became aware of two things. The first was that he had succeeded gathering an idea component. The second was that in his focus he wasn't paying attention to the sudden burning pain in his chest. His vision was already starting to tunnel and in a panic he started pawing at the water to break the surface! He kicked as hard as he could but already his limbs screamed at him for oxygen. He opened his mouth in pain and a bubble burst upwards, showing him how far from the surface he still was. He must have been pulled farther out as he was Collecting the shell.

Was he going to drown here?

Collection Cinder Roll
8d6: 3 + 2 + 6 + 2 + 5 + 3 + 2 + 6
2d6: 2 + 3
3 Passes = Complete Success!

[Kailani Aukai]

Kai loved the ocean, the water was warming up so it made it a vastly most pleasant experience to dive and swim in. She took to the waters again today, wearing just a simple bikini halter top and bottoms. On her feet were small yet durable little flippers that helped propel her through the water that she cut through easily. On her thigh, there was a knife strapped to it and then a bag strapped to her.

Her legs were covered in her scales that shimmered in the water, her long fiery hair wooshing behind her as she moved and then clouding around her whenever she stopped moving. It felt lovely rushing through her long hair as she swam and looked for any lost trinkets. So far she'd found some necklaces and rings that had been lost to the sea.

As she did swim though, she caught the sound of someone else swimming in the water and swam towards them to investigate, not overly able to help herself in her curiosity. She watched from a distance first, he was exploring and looking around, finding shells from the look but then he was struggling to get back up to the surface.

Humans and their weak lungs.

It was a no-brainer for her as she easily swam through the water, her body easily cutting through it until she reached him from behind and pushed him up as fast and hard as she could until he broke the surface but her own head would not. She just kept underwater to let the human breathe actual air and not seawater. She didn't make a motion to take him to shore yet, unsure if he needed more help or not.

[Billy Broder]

Billy felt the world start to fade from his view, black taking away the world as everything just sort of... went... da- he was barely aware he was moving when someone rushed him up to the top of the water. Once he broke the surface his head rolled to the side and he wasn't breathing. Was this it? Was this how he died? Did he need mouth to mouth to help- Nope. Wait. Nevermind, Billy started suddenly hacking and coughing up water as the young woman held him up with her own strength until his started to return. As he gulped at the air trying to figure out what had happened he looked down, slowly starting to move his legs and tread water on his own.

He mostly saw a fan of red like fire. At first he thought it was a reef or something, the bright red-orange so striking to fill his vision. Then it shifted in the water and an oval face peered at him from beneath the water. A young woman was helping him keep swimming, her blue eyes watching him closely. As he looked at her hands near him and that gaze tracked down until it passed her legs he saw the shimmer of scales that could be a swimsuit or just maybe... an idea flashed into his head and he bobbed higher up once and took a deep breath. As he fell back down he slid down into the water and looked the girl in the eyes.

His free hand dug into the pocket of his swim trunks, he was sure to buy the ones with pockets, and pulled out a small glass vial which he held up for her to see. Holding it toward her as he did his best to not scare her away he gathered up power from within himself and closed his eyes. He could feel the concept... the idea floating in the space where everything was just ideas. His magic made it more real and cemented it even as it coalesced around the two treading beneath the surface. A woman rescuing a drowned moron man near the lighthouse. A small pulse of light pulled inward as it filled the bottle and Billy quickly capped it with his eyes still closed. The light bubbled slightly in the water as it formed a young woman helping hold a man, at least that was what it looked like in the simplest shapes.

When Billy opened his eyes again, expecting to see the young redhead... he just saw hair all around him. Seriously, her hair was gorgeous but how did she see anything!? Billy pushed up to break the surface of the water and then looked around to see if she was still around.

Cinder Roll (Collection)
8d6: 3 + 5 + 5 + 1 + 6 + 2 + 6 + 5
2d6: 3 + 4
6 Passes = Exceptional Success!

[Kailani Aukai]

Small bubbles left her mouth as she looked up at the man from below the surface of the water, she was curious as to what he was doing that nearly caused him to drown. Her feel moved easily, the dark flipped swishing through the water as she just hovered right below the surface as he then ducked back down with a vial?

She watched, her long hair drifting around her body like a flaming curtain. her eyes watched in curiosity as she sunk a little but then lifted back up as he went back up to the surface. The Siren stayed close, this man was apt to drown still and she didn't want to have to rush to save him again.

As he dipped back into the water though, she smiled at him and gave a little way, Hello, her voice echoed through the water. The sound was similar to that of an alluring song, the water carrying her voice easily to him as she spoke. With a bit of playfulness, she darted and swam around him for a moment before going back in front of him.

What did you do?

[Billy Broder]

Billy was back above the surface and he looked down at the redhead in the water. She was looking back up at him and he smiled at her. Then he took another big breath and ducked back under once more. He tried his best to put himself level with her eyes and when he did she smiled back and waved. Then she spoke.

SHE FRIEKEN SPOKE! Under the water. Her voice sounded a bit distorted, like she was talking from the other end of a pipe but she managed to speak. Under water. That HAD to be some kind of magic. Her voice was amazing too, like a song he knew when he was little and wanted to remember again. She suddenly darted and swirled around him, her long red hair brushing up faintly against his bare chest as she circled him once and then situated herself back in front of him.

His eyes looked down her body and he half expected to see a tail but instead her legs seemed to shimmer like the scales of fish. It made him think of that one book all kids seem to remember from their first few years in school. The one with the rainbow colored fish and the cover of the book was always shiny. Yeah. That book. You remember it too.

Billy looked back up into her cerulean eyes, no maybe it was better to say her eyes were aquamarine? Probably didn't matter. She spoke again, her voice echoing through the water and moving into Billy's ears. His chest. His heart. That probably wasn't normal.

Billy smiled at her again and then opened his mouth to speak back. Unfortunately it seemed the magic she used to speak only went one way. Billy got a mouth full of water and lost some air. He frowned, blushing in embarrassment before swimming back up to the surface. He took a breath and then glanced back down at the girl. "I don't suppose you can understand me from under there can you?" he asked.

He watched and waited. Maybe she would just pop up and answer him. Mermaids did that in tv all the time. Was she a mermaid? She was pretty enough to be one and with the long red hair she was a dead ringer for a disney lawsuit. What was the other thing mermaids were known to do? Billy was having trouble remembering it all over his excitement for meeting another magical creature/person in Easthaven. This city was awesome!

[Kailani Aukai]

This one was a strange man for sure, the way he stared at her made her want to laugh. She was probably the first siren he's ever met and she felt rather proud about that- if it was true, she'd believe it was true anyways.

As he dipped under the water and tried to talk back to her this way, she laughed, her hand covering her mouth as he sputtered and resurfaced. Her hand went to his chest, her sharp claw like nails pressing into his skin a bit as she made sure that he didn't fall too deep into the waters.

“I can understand you. What did you do? ” she asked him again, wanting to know what his magic was or if he was some sort of special creature that needed to collect certain things from various areas to survive. People were always strange that way, doing different things to live, she just needed the water and it would be fine for her.

[Billy Broder]

Billy composed himself after basically trying to drown himself twice in a row, real smooth there Broder, and the young woman reached a hand out and placed it on his chest. Then her nails pressed against his bare skin and he winced ever so slightly. He didn't expect the young merlady to be like a cat, jeez. He didn't think it broke the skin but still, ouch. When he bobbed back under she told him she could understand him and he grinned again, taken away from the strangeness and embarrassment and right back into the magic of it all. He rose above the surface smiling at the red head.

"I captured the moment in the vial. I'm trying to get stuff to do a big spell." He held up the shell he'd found and then the vial one after the other. "A shell that once offered protection. A lovely girl saving a drowning wizard." He explained. He looked back at the lighthouse looming over the both of them. "A building meant to help keep ships safe built on rocks meant to stop the ocean from hitting that same building." He was still rather proud of all the symbolism he'd managed to fit together for the site of this ritual. "Once the moon is up tonight, I plan to do a protection spell." He explained. He looked down at her swirling hair and hand pressed into his chest and realized the obvious that he was forgetting.

"Um, thank you by the way. For helping me. I didn't realize how long I'd been under. I'm Billy." He said, doing his best to sound polite and sincere. He hadn't met a lot of non-human supernaturals and while this beautiful girl looked human enough he figured the breathing underwater bit and sharp claws were reason enough to be nice. Apart from the fact that it was just polite to be nice anyway of course.

[Kailani Aukai]

This was not the smartest man, he nearly drowned himself twice with the water and she was wondering if maybe this man was better off on land and not here in the water. So, she left her hand on his chest to make sure that he didn't try to drown himself again because third time and she dragging his backside to shore and leaving him there.

Kai listened to him then, a bit of a smile rising on her lips as he mentioned a lovely girl saving him. Sure, just let him think that and not that she was a creature that could drown him with ease. That worked for her. He was clever though, building this spell he was working on, “What do you need protection from? ” was he being hunted by something? Or Someone?

Kicking her feet a little, she bobbed closer to the surface but lowered back down before her head broke the tension of the water, “Kailani. Do you need anything else from in the water, I can get it. I won't drown, ” she told him with a bit of a playful smile at that. She was already in the water, it filled her lungs and body. It would suck when she finally went to land but that wasn't going to happen yet. Hopefully.

[Billy Broder]

Billy watched the red head smile a bit as he mentioned the components he planned to use. It seemed she liked magic too! This was great! At no point did he consider that it might have been because he complimented her when he called her lovely, this was clearly all about the MAGIC and he was down with that. She asked what he needed protection from, her words reverberating through the water. That was a really cool trick, he wondered how he could do that. Elements weren't really his go to in spellcraft but... either sound or water as a base for the ritual. Maybe he could separate the words until they moved to a target and then release them? That might not be the most simple way but it was probably the best for him. He pushed that aside for now as she questioned him. He had a mildly puzzled look on his face.

"Nothing I guess. But I'd rather have a protection spell and not need it than the other way around." He explained.

He didn't really think about the car that hit him, or that time he got mugged in Vegas, or any of the little accidents that always happened around him. Obviously he didn't NEED protection. But if he could create an item that let him throw up a shield he would love to have it. If it also came in handy some time then that was even better.

The girl introduced herself as Kailani and Billy smiled at her. "That is a really pretty name." he said. He liked the way it sounded, all exotic and stuff. More so than William, Will, or Billy which were the go toos when anyone met him. She even offered to help him get components for his spell. His smile turned into a full boyish grin when she said that. "That would be awesome! I already have the shell and the rescue, so I really just need two more things." He said. "They don't have to be symbolic either, though that might help a bit with what I'm doing to be honest. Not sure. But anything with a theme of protection or defense would be great!" Billy mentioned.

He wanted concepts more than just pure physical objects because he wanted this shield to be less physical in nature. Yet even then maybe for defense a spectrum of items ranging from conceptual to physical would be better. He wasn't really sure. A thought did come to mind though as he moved his hand over her own against his chest. "Though if it seems like too much trouble you don't need to help. I appreciate it but I wouldn't want to bother you." he added. This mer-lady probably had her own stuff going on right?

[Kailani Aukai]

“So you are preparing for if you find trouble then? Do you often find yourself in trouble...say drowning when you swim too deep, ” she asked, a playful tease in her tone as she moved and then laid out in the water like she was on a bed. The way she faced him made him look upsidedown but it let her just float and hover with little effort.

“Thank you,” she told him as she relaxed a bit while he spoke and let her know of some things that he could possibly use. Flipping and then looking back up at him as she puzzled over what he could use that were protective and something for defense. “Let me see what I can find in the shipwreck below...don't go diving around and if you see a dark shadow...well, swim fast, ” she told him with an impish grin.

“Oh its fine with me. Unlike you, I can breathe underwater, back in a few moments! ” she called out as she flipped and then dove right back down to the bottom. She found the wreck and pulled herself inside it, unaware that she was possibly irritating someones home as she rummaged around until she found an old bullet container. She yanked it from the rusty hull and opened it up, looking it over in relaxed oblivion...

[Billy Broder]

Billy laughed at her words. "Believe it or not this was actually a first. But to be fair, I did just move here from a desert." he revealed. He wondered what he would use to balance his spell if he was still in Vegas. Likely he would try and find a way to pull this ritual off in a casino vault, which are surprisingly intense, and take in the theme of guarding valuables. As he looked at the merlady she shifted herself and splayed out in the water looking up at him. He tilted his head as he watched her. He didn't have anything close to that level of grace in the water. She moved like one of those angelfish. He swam like a duck with head trauma. He did glance over and noticed her yellow flippers, clearly store bought. Plus she had on a swimsuit, a bikini, so she had to go on land sometimes. Or she stole stuff from divers.

"Do you go on land to shop?" he asked, his eyes lingering on her flippers again.

When she told him she would help his face lit up. "I really appreciate the help, its swell of you to do this. That was a bad pun, sorry. There is a shipwreck down there?" he said with a kind of childish excitement that clearly had nothing to do with magic and everything to do with all boys dreaming of finding pirate gold at some point in their lives. When she mentioned she could breath underwater and warned him about dark shadows he nodded. "You're gonna hold this whole almost drowning thing over my head huh? And if the water is so dangerous maybe I should go back on land and start working on my circle?" He said, more muttering to himself as she was swimming off into the depths.

Billy swam back toward the rocks he'd submerged himself from and glanced around for anything good to use while he searched. When he hit the rocks he saw a small flash of something blue in the water and reached for it on instinct. It was only after he'd touched it that he considered what if it had been a jellyfish or something harmful? But no, he was basically a man child and just reached for the new thing. Hard to believe that people just assumed he would get into trouble all on his own. As he pulled it free he found a pair of goggles, in fairly good condition too, that must have been lost by someone in the past.

Googles were meant to protect the eyes. Well it wasn't the best but he could work it into themes if he needed to. Ideally he could find something better, but best to have it and not need it and all that. He pulled himself up onto a rock by the water and looked out over the water for Kailani. He didn't see her and he hoped she wasn't going to too much trouble just for his sake.

The discord 8ball has spoken! Average goggles found as component if needed

[Third on the Match]

Cecaelia

DC 3

Unfriendly

Keywords: Water, Mutation, Partition

Cinder 6d6

Strike 5d6

Luck 3

The Cecaelia's underwater trove is being disturbed and she doesn't appreciate it. This half-woman, half-octopus being will confront Kailani for her theft and attempt to dissuade her from further disturbing her spot. She doesn't want a fight, but she wants the interlopers gone.

[Kailani Aukai]

“So you are not used to water then, ” she countered, a playful teasing in her tone towards him still as she looked at him. She could not imagine being away from the water and not being around it and enjoying it. As he took her in, she glanced down at herself and then up at him again as he asked his question.

“Yes…I don’t live in the water all the time, ” Kai told him simply as she nodded to his question, “Of course there is, ” she kept out the part that it was probably inhabited by something down below. His statement made her nod, a light laugh leaving her that sounded rather melodious in the water. “Forever, ” she told him easily as her head nodded a bit to his assessment of leaving the waters to go somewhere safer.

Once he was gone, she dove down to the shipwreck below, her kicks powerful as she hunted around her for a moment until she saw what she looked for. What she hadn’t expected was a tentacle resting over the chest and her eyes reaching up to the Cacaelia’s now. A small smile as she recognized her and swam up and started to sing softly, her voice lulling and enchanting until the creature relaxed her guard. Cupping her cheep, Kai placed a soft kiss to her forehead in thanks as she’d not do anything to harm the beautiful creature but did take the box she’d been hunting for.

With it in hand, she kicked off and swam right up to where she’d spotted the man who nearly drowned as he pulled himself up onto a rock. She couldn’t help her impish idea as she swam deep and then around to the back of him and would kick splash a wave of water that would rush over and douse him.

Siren Song: PASS against the lovely octo lady

[Billy Broder]

Billy rubbed his arm as he watched the water. He shouldn't have gone swimming with it after all, it ached a good bit. He didn't see Kailani anywhere and frowned a bit wondering if she'd actually come back or just swim off.

Then again she had said she spent time on land so, yeah. She'd probably come back. Totally.

....

Billy stood up and walked back toward where he'd decided to make his circle and dug some chalk out of his bag to mark it down. A good enough start.

When he finished, the initial circle was easy enough, he walked back over to the rock and sat back down to wait.

He didn't see her and was a little worried. Maybe he should go back in and try to find her? A sunken ship certainly couldn't be safe to swim around in.

Before he could do anything though a heavy splash rushed over him from behind. The water rushed off of him leaving his hair dowsed over his eyes. He brushed it back and glanced behind him.

"Ack, you sunk my battleship." he called to the water.

Ritual Prep: 1/3

[Kailani Aukai]

A musical laugh could be heard as she poked her head up from the water, her nose still under the waves as she looked at him. There was nothing but pure impish playfulness in her gaze towards him as she would go and toss the object at him.

Now, whether or not he caught it was totally up to him but she was removing the not yellow flippers from her feet, she started to walk up and onto the water. Her magic was strong enough for her to do so, her long hair clinging to her back in fiery ringlets as she walked over to him.

Her suit did nothing to hide the scales that decorated her body, the sunlight making them shimmer even more as she walked out of the water. She'd then head to a spot behind a rock to then promptly puke out sea water, coughing and gasping for the next minute or two.

[Billy Broder]

Billy Strike to catch: 4d6
2 passes = Partial failure

Billy liked the sound of the mergirl's laugh. It was clear like bells. Kailani then tossed a small box at him, which Billy went for with cat like reflexes and blind goose accuracy.

Meaning that he whipped out a hand in perfect time but still managed to totally miss the box as it sailed pass his palm.

"Dammit." Billy said as he turned to where it splashed in the water.

He slid himself off the rock back into the waves to search for the box, missing Kailani stepping out of the water ON the water. When he resurfaced with the box he spied her in her swimsuit and was rather taken with her glittering scales. He wondered if they helped her swim in the water and if they carried any magical properties.

She'd just vanished around a rock when Billy pulled himself out of the water again.

However a second alter he heard her wrenching and hurried over to see her puking up... well it looked like water. He sat the box down and knelt down next to her with a concerned look on his face.

"Lemme hold your hair." he said.

He'd done much the same for old friends back in high-school. No girl liked throwing up in her hair.

If she didn't stop him he'd carefully pull her hair back so it would stay clean without touching her too much. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea either. Especially after she was nice enough to fetch that box for him.

Ritual Prep 1/3

[Kailani Aukai]

Kai didn't care of he caught it, she was far too busy purging the seawater from her lungs. There was nothing else in it, just pure unadulterated salt water that had built up in her body until she got on land and now it needed to come out. She hated this part so much, wished deeply that she never had to do this but ocean water did not absorb.

There was no pushing him away as he suddenly held her long locks from her face, a small smile on her lips as she spat the last of the water from her body. She coughed some, her hand waving a bit as she wiped her lip.

“Fucking hell I hate that...so damn much, ” she wheezed out. There was a small laugh in her tone as she sat back on her calves, her eyes then looking to the guy she had just helped.

“You owe me...there was an octopus woman down there not too happy I stole that for you, ” she told him quite simply. On land, her voice was just as alluring and sweet. Without water to dilute it, he could easily hear the lulling pitch she naturally carried.

[Billy Broder]

Billy ran his hands I to her red hair and lifted it back as she spewed salt water out onto the rocks. Her torso tensing and flexing with the effort of expelling the water.

When she finally started spitting, a sign she was mostly out of anything left to eject, he gingerly let her hair down, trying to get most of it to lay back out of her face.

His eyes watched her own carefully for traces of a second round but she seemed mostly controlled now stating how much she hated throwing up.

That was fair, no one liked vomiting.

Then she mentioned that he owed her because there had been some kind of octopus lady down there, which sounded dope as hell, but was hardly what was important in the moment as far as Billy was concerned.

"Yeah, that's fine. Whatever you need, but are you sure you're okay?" his own voice held no magic melody or musical resonance. Just genuine worry for someone else.

Ritual Prep 1/3

[Kailani Aukai]

Once he let go of her hair, she pulled the long curly locks over her shoulder and she ran her hands over her hair to start pulling the salt water from it. It took two passes of her hands to make her long hair completely dry now, the curls refreshed and bouncy as she started to braid it over her shoulder with a small smile.

“It happens every time...I'm used to it, ” she told him easily as she moved and sat on a rock now as she looked over herself. She wasn't hurt and nothing was out of place on her, so, she'd call that good diving experience.

“So...you make spells? ”

[Billy Broder]

"Every time? Doesn't sound fun." he said. But he wasn't looking at her eyes anymore.

Now he was looking at her hair which in two quick passes of her hands had gone completely dry and was being braided up. [Collr=skyblue]"Cool."[/color] he muttered.

Then she asked about his magics. "Oh yeah. I came out here to make a protection charm, keep me safe and stuff if I ever need it. I actually got hit by a car right when I got into town so- well you never know when you'll need something like that." he said.

He stood up, grabbing the box as he did so, then offered her a hand to help her navigate the rocks toward his circle, if she wanted the help.

"This place has all the themes I need for what I'm doing." he said with a grin.

Not far from the shore was his marked our circle, along with his bag of supplies and discarded clothes.

He walked over to his things and then deliberately not looking at Kailani quickly threw on his t-shirt. The bottom of which quickly began to get soaked from his swim trunks.

But he wasn't about to change those with an audience so he'd just have to suffer.

"Do you know any other wizards in town?" he asked.

[Kailani Aukai]

“No one ever said being what I am would always be a joy, ” she joked as she rubbed her chest a little bit to ease the soreness that came from removing all that sea water from her lungs.

That was...unfortunate luck on his part, “And you nearly drowned here- I think you might need a bigger protection jar, ” she told him with a small shake of her head at that. The offering of his hand had her taking his and letting him help her up; she wasn't wearing flippers anymore so she walked barefoot in the sand and rocks to where he'd been.

Once at the beach, she saw the circle and then him quickly pulling on clothes. It was hard to not roll her eyes a bit. Some men were so funny enough being half naked when she was swimming around nearly naked all the time.

“No I sadly don't but I don't imagine you know too many sirens then, do you? ” she asked, her tone a little playful and teasing. Above water, it still held that melodious tone but it was not as potent as it was inside the water.

[Billy Broder]

Billy Collection Roll: 8d6
3 passes = Success! (Average Component Created)

Once Billy had his clothes on and felt a bit less self conscious even with the bottom of his shirt soaking up sea-water so he walked back over to his circle and his new acquaintance. When she pointed out that he might need a bigger protection jar he grinned a bit and ran his fingers through his wet hair, pushing it back in something of a nervous habit. 'Well, right now I don't have any protection so I'll take having this and work my way up to something bigger." he said.

Kailani wasn't wearing her flipflops anymore and her voice had a different quality now that she wasn't in the water anymore, still beautiful but more... mundane. The kind of voice he would expect a singer to have. Maybe a really good therapist? Odd thought but not really worth exploring. While she spoke Billy made his way over to the box she had brought him and he grinned looking at it. He laid a hand against it and felt his magic pulse as he conceptualized the idea of a box keeping secrets in the ocean. Then bound the idea up and shoved it into the box itself.

Once it was done he had a fairly solid component. Along with the seashell, the rescue by a mermaid- siren actually based on what Kailani just said- it made the goggles he just picked up seem kind of... puny. His smile turned into a small line as he considered it. He glanced around a bit then had an idea as he stood.

"Real ones? You're the first. But the Silverton does have a pretty great Mermaid show in their aquarium." Billy said.

One of his old friends had had a massive crush on one of the mermaids and she'd dragged Billy to that aquarium show like five times.

"I'm still two solid components short... know anyway to get up to the top of the lighthouse?" Billy asked, his voice taking on a more serious and focused tone as he figured he would ask before... well before trying to break in real quick.

1/3 Ritual Prep

[Kailani Aukai]

“So this will keep you safe then, with all the items together? How though, ” she asked him curiously as she just stood there to let things settle until wandering over to where he had his circle set up.

Kai didn’t stop him from touching or taking the box that she’d won from the creature below. She knew that if she dared to go near that ship again that she might be attacked given that her magic did wear off eventually but for a while the creature would love her. Glancing off even, she could see the waters moving and the tentacled woman’s head poking out from the waves and then lowering back down to watch from the depths.

“Those aren’t real mermaids…but I know what you speak of. I do my own show there as well with one of their tails since I don’t have a traditional one myself ” she told him with a rather easy tone. One day, she knew that she’d gain her own tail and be far more of a siren then anyone in her family had been.

The question had her looking up to the lighthouse and giving him a playful smirk, “I know how to get in there…just so long as you don’t mind breaking rules, ” she told him simply as she went over to a rock and pulled out a hidden bag. She reached inside and removed a long deep sea diver glowstick and cracked it, shaking it a bit as she tossed her bag down.

[Billy Broder]

Billy shrugged a little as he went over everything. "Magic is naturally present almost everywhere. Like a kind of background radiation to reality- and it resonates with certain themes and desires given shape and purpose by the mind. I'm just going to harmonize all these resonating magic into a concentrated form then use an item to allow it to take shape: specifically a barrier to defend myself. There is some pseudo math involved but on the whole that's all there is to it." Billy said.

He was dumbing it down a bit but in some ways making it more complicated as well. As his dad told him, a mind capable of holding and manipulating magic wants to do so. Sometimes it was more important for something to feel right than make sense by the basic laws of nature.

The mind and magic touched all those things between hard facts and clear outcomes...

When Kailani mentioned she'd been in some of those shows before Billy grinned. "That's so cool. I always thought it looked like fun swimming in those big tanks, even if you had to break character to hit an air tank every now and this... though I guess you didn't have to do that?" he said.

Holy hell... actually now that he thought about it a few years back one of his friends had told him their was a great mermaid show with basically a real life Ariel in it. With Kailani's full red hair he was willing to put good money down that his friend had actually seen her performing.

"So long as we don't damage anything too badly I don't mind." Billy admitted.

He didn't mind the minor breaking and entering but didn't want to do anything that could damage the actual lighthouse.

Ritual Prep 1/3

[Kailani Aukai]

“I wonder if someone like myself can use magic in the same way that you do... ” she mused out loud. It was something that she now was curious about while also having no real idea about. Perhaps it was best she not mess with things that she didn't understand and stick to what she did know and that was the ocean and it's own magics.

Siling a little, her head nodding, “ No I didn't but for looks I did...I didn't want everyone to know that I needed no help breathing in the water but I held the longest recorded time of being underwater without getting ill,” she told him with a rather proud and playful smile.

She went over to the door of the lighthouse, the lock looked fine and secure but it took a yank and a twist to make the rusted lock fall off with little effort. Tossing the rusty lock away, she opened the door and smiled at him, “Oh no...just the lock, it breaks all the time due to the sea water,” she told him as she'd walk inside without hesitation. The glow from the glowstick made the twisting tube earie as she took to the stairs.

“ So what are you needing from in here?”

[Billy Broder]

Cinder Collection 8d6
4 passes = Average component

Billy shrugged. "I don't see why not. A lot of what I do personally is a mental process. Just learning to think the right way. Though, my dad told me once that you need mortal blood to be safe. Too much contradicting magic otherwise, greater risks." Billy explained. Honestly if Kailani pushed he didn't mind teaching her some of his ritual magic. But he wanted to make ot clearly that it would always be harder for her because she wasn't fully human. Not that he would phrase ot that way.

Not being human was far from the same thing as not being a person and he didn't want to make her feel that way just because of some cosmic rule in arcane metaphysics.

He smiled when she pointed out she won best at staying under. "I bet you did."

When Lani broke the lock with a simple hand gesture Billy felt... it felt odd. Just above his stomach. That was... cool. "You're pretty strong." he said sounding genuinely impressed. Even rusted he wasn't sure he could have torn the lock with his hand.

Stepping in he looked around feeling with his mind for something. He pressed his fingers against the stone... gathering his will he collected the feeling into a spare vial... it wasn't as good as he had hoped. Like something darker was tinting it. But it would do.

"The stones... and I think the light up top. I think those will be enough." Billy explained.

Ritual Prep 1/3

[Kailani Aukai]

“Sadly, I think, I’ve never had mortal blood. My mother is a siren…and my father well…i’ve never met the man so I do not know if he is like me or human…it is hard to say honestly, ” she told him with a shrug, “I can help with gathering things…I don’t enjoy getting myself in harms way…too much, ” she said with a little bit of a chuckle at that.

Kai shrugged her shoulders at his assessment of her strength, “Sort of…if you know where to pull on a rusted lock, it will break easily since the mechanisms wear out quickly…they have to chance these locks every few months, ” she told him easily with that as she lead him inside and up the spiral steps.

Nodding, she lead him all the way to the top where the lights were housed, she looked around a bit to find a stone and went to the wall and touched it, “Do you have a knife? ”

[Billy Broder]

Billy grinned a touch mischievously. "Never said the mortal blood had to be yours. Any mortal blood for the final bit of the ritual will do- that's not an offer to take mine mind you." Billy added.

The young wizard nodded along as Kailani explained how weak the lock had actually become. "Wouldnt think theyd get a lot of break ins out here... except for right now I mean." he said, realizing at the end the very reason they had the locks. Billy Broder. Criminal mastermind.

As Billy answered the question and glanced around a bit he heard the siren ask for a knife. "Outside in my bag I think, why?" he asked. Seeing her near the wall a thought did occur to him. "Oh if it's about the stione I already got it." he said holding up the vial. "This is more of that metaphysical background radiation I mentioned. Instead of needing a physical rock I just skimmed the thematic resonace off the thing." Billy felt a little proud of himself for all his big word mumbo jumbo.

It was only partly right and he very well could have used the actual stone, but he always tried to remember that a big piece of magic was things feeling right. Weakening the stone to make another shield didn't feel right for the spell.

Ritual Prep 1/3

[Kailani Aukai]

“Damn, there goes my vampire plans on you, ” she teased, a little grin on her face as she winked at him. She wouldn't steal his blood, she wasn't mean or anything. Though if he offered it that was one thing but in general she wasn't a blood sucker. No no, she was a good siren...most of the time.

“Teenagers break in here to drink, ” she told him with a smirk, “I break in here to take a nap after being in the water for so long and being too tired to make it back to my place...so, you learn a few things about the lighthouse, ” she told him rather simply at that little fact. She had no shame in saying that she used it to hide away at for her own reasons.

As he said that though, her head bobbed a bit in a nod, “So you need to do the ritual in here with the lighthouse light that is currently off? ” she asked as she went over to the switches and found the rather obvious ON button and hovered her finger over it for him. She had no clue how these rituals went or what they all entailed; did they just need to be around things to get it done?

[Billy Broder]

Billy shivered involuntarily at the mention of Vampires, a freshly burned building still lingering in his mind from his quick move out of Vegas. He put it behind him though and glanced around some more while talking to Kailani.

Billy considered her question and looked around at the inside of the lighthouse... then slowly shook his head. When he spoke his words were halting as he was still thinking it through.

"No... I think I just need the energy from the light... better to do it outside. In here is too cut off from the other aspects of protection I'm trying to invoke.... yeah. Just need the light, is there a switch for it we can hit real quick?" Billy finished.

He was already starting to walk the spiraling stairs upward.

[Kailani Aukai]

Kai smiled a little at his question as she flicked the switch on to turn the lights on in the lighthouse, the beacon turned on and twirled around them, illuminating the space around them better than her glowsticks did at the moment. She walked over to him and then looped an arm around his.

“Shall we head back down then if you've got everything you need, i'd like to see this ritual, ” she told him with a little smile at that. she was rather eager to see magician magic that was different than her own magic.

[Billy Broder]

Billy Collection Roll 8d6
4 passes = Average component (Lighthouse Light)

Billy made his way to the top and at request Kailani casually flipped a switch that turned e erything on. Billy was a bit disappointed to see such a regular switch instead of a frankensteinesque power switch. Oh well.

Billy looked at the revolving light and waved a hand as he skimmed the feeling of the light that protected ships at sea. He bottled it and then gave a nod to Kai to shut off the switch.

"Yeah, we can- yeah. Let's go, I think I have all I need." he said, breaking only a moment as her arm slipped into his own.

Billy seemed to realign something mentally and then smiled a professional smile to her as he walked her down.

He walked her down to his circle outside the lighthouse.

"Gimme a moment to get everything together."

[Kailani Aukai]

Kai could see the disappointment on his face that it was so ordinary but everything was ordinary and normal; no flare what so ever. She flicked the light back off once he was done collecting what he had to so that they'd not be getting in trouble for being in here.

“Good good, ” she told him as she'd walk out of the lighthouse with him, her hips swaying a little as a soft haunting hum left her. It was normal for her to hum a diddy while walking around, so when they were outside again, she'd go and sit on a rock.

“Need anything else from me? ” she asked as she'd just watch the magic man work whatever magic he was trying to work up.

[Billy Broder]

Billy had what je needed and walked down the Lighthouse with Kailani. He kept his eyes up and moved with calm detachment from the pretty red head next to him, though when she started to hum he had to shake his head for a second. The sound carried and seemed to vibrate up against his senses. Not just his hearing but all of them.

As if her voice could resonate to his skin, his eyes, his nose, his tongue. As if every part of the melody wanted to caress against him. He pushed it away but the idle thought of what the full force of her voice was like prickled at Billy.

When they were down low the wizard walked over toward the circle and began to arrange things. He started writing on the rocks with chalk- squiggly runes of power he had learned from his father. He walked a wide circle around his work and changed or added to the marks over and over again.

When Kailani asked about anything else she needed he thought for a moment.

"Would you like to help and learn a bit about it?" he asked.

Billy marked down smaller circles as he started placing items. "These symbols are my runes, they help me focus and align my well with the magic. Think of them like a mold to shape everything. Without them I'd just be throwing around magic and hoping for the best." Billy said.

He placed his chosen items. The chest Kailani had given him, the Lighthouse stones, the protecting light, rescue from a Red Head, and a protective shell.

Each had a place. The seashell was taste and Billy tapped the shell against his tongue before setting it down. The stone was touch, the rough rock under his fingers. The chest was smell, the scent of the water still thick on it. Rescue was the component he'd drawn from Kailani and having heard her hum he assigned that one to sound.

Finally was sight, the protecting light... Billy hesitated to put this one down but reluctantly did so. This spell didn't call on the Ceacless Watcher. There shouldn't be a risk of invoking that being.

Glancing up at Kailani he smiled. "So this circle will draw the resonating magic off the items while building up ambient magic as well. The items will help thematically align the rest of the power, which I'll funnel into this." Billy held up his Keychain. The gear shift covered in runes.

"If you want to help put your hands at the edge of the circle, and feel for the power. Any power you feel try to push toward the center. Of you want to just watch that's cool too."

Billy moved to his side of the circle then seemed to have an after thought. "By the way, you have a really pretty voice." he said as he positioned the car battery he was using for power next to the circle.

Ritual Prep 2/3

[Kailani Aukai]

Kai didn’t think of what that sound might do to him, the alluring nature of any of her music or tunes that she produced naturally. She was naturally in love with all music and tunes and when their was a handsome or really fricken cute guy next to her, it made her put a little more magic in her voice without realizing it; opse.

Once they were back to his ring, she’d walk around to it and then circle his circle because it was interesting to see and read. Well, sort of read. It was a whole another language that she didn’t really know nor understand easily, “So this will help center and focus your magic in the center and keep things contained and do what you are willing it to do, ” hopefully at least. He did know what he was doing at least.

Quietly she watched him work and set these special objects down in a certain way. She assumed that they had to be done in this fashion to work well.

“And in the end all of these items should meld together to make one protective item for you? ” she asked him curiously as she settled at spot of the circle that was closer to the ocean. It felt right for her at least.

Not thinking anything could go wrong, she got down on her hands and knees by the circle and placed her hands at the edge of it. She took slow deep breaths and felt out for this magic that she didn’t know about. Something tingled at her finger tips, she could easily feeling it building at the tips of her fingers, “Thank you…I do feel something, ” she told him as she tried ti push it in but there was something that stopped her. Something akin to the thin wall of a jellyfish that shot right up her fingers to the crook of her arms and made her cry out and fall back, the tips of her fingers smoldering as she shook her head.

“It does not like me, finish it, ” she encouraged him as she went to the cold water and placed her burned fingers inside it to ease the pain.

Kai Cinder assist: Partial failure

[Billy Broder]

Cinder Shielding Ritual: 8d6
2 Passes = Partial failure (Backlash!)

Cinder To limit Backlash 8d6
5 passes = Exceptional Success

"That is the idea at least. Normally I have a bit more going on, a safety ward in place. But I think throwing up a shield to protect another shield might ruin the thematic energies I'm working with here." Billy said in a friendly tone. Kailani moved next to the circle and began to focus on the power, she even seemed to naturally fell the energy he was flowing through the ritual. While she did so he bit into the inside of his mouth and swabbed his thumb against his cheek for a dash of grade B human blood. The B stood for Billy.

He was just pressing it to the circle when Kailani pulled back saying it didn't like her. Billy raised an eyebrow but the ritual was in progress and he couldn't stop it now. It didn't take Billy long to feel the problem, there was something wrong with the ritual. He pinpointed the problem in a moment, the eye. Of course it was the eye. He should have covered the eye after all. That feeling Kailani had was one of awareness, something unknown looking at her and its very presence creeping toward her. Now it looked at the ritual as a whole.

Billy ground his teeth and pushed forward, trying all the same to finish the work.

"ርዐጠጌጎክቿ ፕዘቿነቿ ፕዐጕቿክነ ጎክፕዐ ል ነዘጎቿረዕ ፕዘልፕ ጠልሃ ኗሁልዪዕ ጠቿ" He said, the speech of the runes flowing from his lips.

When the power coalesced the components, tokens of power, began to crumble. The vials cracked while the chest seemed to warp and rot in seconds. The shell turned black and brittle. Only the vial of light from the lighthouse remained intact. In fact it grew brighter as it shined like a small lighthouse itself, aiming at the bauble of steel Billy had hoped to enchant.

The Ceaceless Watcher was, as Billy's dad put it, the personification of the observer effect. Which is to say something changing because it was observed. In that way it was an avatar of change perceived. The light was now its line of sight and as it perceived the steel gear shift the metal suddenly began to violently warp and twist in on itself. The light passed away from the steel and started toward the water- the thing it had sensed. Billy squeezed his eyes shut, realizing this was a failure, and pulled the power from the ritual. The last vial shattered and the energy began to blaze against the edges of the circle.

With nowhere else to go the excess pushed into Billy himself and he felt the gaze of something in his very mind.

"ዘዐረዕ" He said, Suring up his own mental defenses.

A moment later the energy dispersed and Billy fell back on his butt letting out a long sigh in defiance of the pounding headache that now assaulted the inside of his skull. He glanced over at Kailani and shrugged a bit. "Looks like my luck isn't great today." He said, sounding defeated despite his smile.

Components Destroyed, Ritual - Failure, Backlash contained.

Luck 3/4

[Kailani Aukai]

Even though the spell kicked her from it, she straightened herself up to watch and see what he was doing and what he did made her eyes widen. Magic was magic but this was otherworldly to her. He gave his blood and spoke words that she did not understand but the circle did.

She felt it, it rippled over her skin like the mist from the waves and set the hair on the back of her neck up. It was incredible. She watched and listened, enchanted almost; as if the magic held its own siren song to her that called to the magic in her blood but then as he spoke again, it ended.

The materials were gone and the circle died down and dear Billy looked downtrodden from what appeared to be the failure. Slowly, she got up and went over to him and if he held no protest, she would plant a soft kiss to his cheek,, “Not all bad luck, you met me and made a friend…I assume you can try again another time with it? ”

[Billy Broder]

"I suppose that is true enough." Billy said as he slowly pulled himself up an stretched a bit.

"Had to pull off some of the magic since it failed, left me a bit tired. But I'd like to hang again sometime if you like." Billy said with a smile, while slowly moving and picking up his gear.

Man... he was sure that ritual would work.

Guess the notes were right, for anything real good he would need some help. He would need a familiar.

[Kailani Aukai]

Kai nodded as she went to her own bag and slung it over the shoulder, “Sure, I'll be around here more even as winter rolls in...that's when the best things show up. I'd love to see more of your magic, ” she told him as she tightened the bag around her midsection.

Gathering her few items as well, she would give him a wave as she went rock hopping towards the opposed end to go to where her jeep was parked. Thankfully for her, trips back home never took too long.