Another Universe!

Session held 12th November - Summer 1223

Having travelled through the gate guarded by Tyr,

Whoa! We've skipped a page or three here!
{deep breath}
The elder mages all followed me through the gate which I had used to return from an odd mythical world where I got stuck after some shamanic travelling by the mongols into the spirit world went wrong. It turned out that magic didn't work there; (I hadn't noticed) and the gate was very arbitary about what it let through (ie, we couldn't get out again, but others we met there could)
Oh yes! The gate was opened by Samahazai (a walked-out-on-his-own-accord angel) at Procter Ignem, where he had been freed from his prison by Dmitri and Anatol (real early on). He got to do this because Marcus killed Order (Karaka's nemesis) by accident.
So anyway - we discovered that there we're a load of strange things here - and that we couldn't go back - so after a series of Divers Amusements, including letting Fireheart attack some Norse gods (and Marcus killing another person with Chirurgeons Healing Touch) we met Tyr (Norse war god) guarding another gate...
We went through, and...

the magi found themselves, minus, for unknown reasons, Dimitri, on a hill overlooking a beautiful city. The city was white and gold, entirely paved, seemingly dirt-free, and generally reminded everyone of the idealised image of Jerusalem.
{Well - to some of us it was simply strikingly beuatiful}
It seemed to be deserted, save for strange smokey shapes moving with a peculiar menace, and small groups of children. Behind them was a large range of hills, and to the north plains, farmland, and an emerald sea. Even better, the place appeared to have a positive aura of the eighth magnitude. On the plains they could see Samahazai racing to the north.

Gwyntar and Marcus promptly Strode to just before Samahazai and were promptly unable to find anything to say to him.
{Well - the Lofty glare and dark beauty of him winged form might have something to do with it... Or the inability of anyone to restrain their giggles, perhaps}
After a moment Gwyntar asked him "Where is this place?" to which he replied, "Close" and went off again, heading over the sea. Marcus and Gwyntar Strode back, Gwyntar finding his spell worked surprisingly well, and feeling more in tune with his surroundings. [Tristan botched for the first time here, discovering there were eight extra dice from the aura. The SG passed him a note and smiled.]

The gate was now glowing with a golden aura. Gwyntar used InVi, which again, worked strangely well [Tristan botched again], and determined that there was Dominion power, probably angels, trying to get through on the other side, who would get through in a couple of days. He considered helping them, but decided against.
{There was a general shuffling away from the gate at this point}
Vitenka aggravated Revan, causing him to fly into a fury,
{All I did was ask him whether his better understanding of the mysteries of nature would better enable him to talk to the Angels than us... *snigger*}
But Gwyntar cast Strings of the Unwilling and prevented a fight. Gwyntar by now was feeling very - um - harmonious. [Another botch! By this time he had all the Christian virtues - Temperate, Chaste, Brave, etc - at +3]

The group headed down into the city. In the area just outside the city's golden walls, they encountered a couple of the strange smokey creatures, which Marcus determined were using a PeMe effect of the eighth magnitude.
Gwyntar tried a Binding the Infernal Menace, which, for unknown reasons [The spell is flawed and won't work on demons not touching the earth] failed completely. Julian drew a Circular Ward Against Demons of the sixth magnitude, which repelled them, as did Gwyntar. After various experiments with spells, including blowing them into the air with Pull of the Skybound Winds, the magi determined they were airy demons of some unknown type, of roughly the fifth magnitude of power. Gwyntar proceeded to destroy them with Demon's Eternal.
{It was a nice circle to be in...
Julian also tried but didn't have much effect, though he then seemed to be getting increasingly nervous. [Double botching, he became convinced all other party members were demons, except for Gwyntar, who was an angel] He then hid the group from the rest of the demons with a PeMe(Vi) effect. As he did this - which went perfectly - his skin and hair turned golden. [Yet another botch. Truly, Tanya ^[1] was against the party that day!]
{Gwyntar seemed to be in his element...}

The characters then moved into the city, stopping to talk to a child called Raphael, who was convinced that they were in great danger because they could see the smokey creatures, which he called Spectres. He said they'd come three months ago and ate people's minds, then, when they died of starvation, the bodies, but couldn't affect children, who couldn't see them.
He took the magi to a tower warded against the creatures by the Blessed, who appeared to be this world's equivalent of magi. Minor Vim effects pinged off people's Parma [Julian casting Demon's Eternal, no words/gestures]
{I mean, his D.E.O. couldn'rt even affect the spectres; did he really think he could hurt me with it?

A young Blessed named Sariel let the party in and talked eagerly to them about their journeys. They claimed to have come from "far away" and to have been transported there by Samahazai - all reasonable enough.
{Well! It was true...}
They discovered that the Blessed had had a brief warning about the Spectres, who came from an island to the north called 'Henna, but hadn't believed it, such creatures being previously unknown here. Sariel seemed to have great respect for Gwyntar. Julian got increasingly paranoid [another botch - he started seeing green flames everywhere] and stood in a corner, avoiding contact, with a Ward around him.

More Vim effects [Julian] pinged off Marcus' parma, causing him to warn Sariel that the Spectres might be trying to break through. An older Blessed, Carpiel, came down to check the wards. At this point just about everybody's magic started going strangely wrong, leading to Marcus in agonising pain, Gwyntar growing stubby wings, and Julian growing talons. [Lots of botches. :-) Helen regretted taking Susceptibility to the Divine, as she was rolling seventeen botch dice.] Julian panicked
{You should have seen his face - I'd forgotten I was invisible when I asked him if anything was wrong...}
and tried to flee through the walls, but was restrained by Gwyntar. Another Blessed, Rumuel, took him upstairs to 'heal' his mind.
{He had a quiet lie down, and seemed alright afterwards}

Further conversation with the Blessed determined that they called Essence Vis,
Should that be 'called their vis essence'?
that their equivalent of Twilight was Ascension, where the Blessed gradually became an angel - like Gwyntar,
{Gwyntar makes a good angel - not that there can be any other type; but you know what I mean}
that they had only one God,
{Why do some people limit themselves so?}
added -el to all names as a sign of respect for God, that magic didn't work on the sea here, that the city they were in was called Beth, and was one of many on various islands, and that the Spectres had been released by an Ascended called Timiel, trying to get closer to God.
Marcus fainted from the pain, which seemed to have become part of his Essential Nature, according to Sariel, a "body-healer." The Ascended didn't seem to talk to people much.

Since the Hermetics could hide themselves from the Spectres, they decided to travel with Sariel to another city close by to warn them. Julian by this point had been healed of his mental disorders, though still had claws and was somewhat jumpy.
{He now passes all the entry requirements for Animus Silvae; and can be considered a full member}
They travelled to the next city, Aruth, where the Spectres hadn't yet reached, being caught in the hills. On the way they encountered somebody with his mind eaten, who Sariel gently killed and Julian buried. Reaching the city, their warnings were believed and preparations made against the Spectres.
{I found these people to be trusting and compassionate...
And didn't take advantage of it, either. }

The magi then considered their course of action. Going to 'Henna to follow Samahazai was proposed but rejected, as was going to the mainland "from which nobody had ever returned" but where there might be other gates. They eventually decided to stay here and have Gwyntar work on a spell to get them home. They did so, which took Gywntar and Marcus three seasons.

During this time the other magi discovered some things about the world - such as its absence of a story of a Fall, though there were tales of an expulsion from the mainland, the inability to conceive of different tongues (assumed by the magi to be due to the lack of a Babel incident), and the absence of violent magics, demons, or widespread war.
Over the course of the three seasons Vitenka also began to resemble a lion - golden fur, mane, different tail.
{I'm a Lion?????}
Gwyntar's voice became musical and his wings grew fully. He also began to perceive things in strange ways.
{Gwyntar IS an Angel????}
[More botches. Note that James Woods rolled not a single botch, despite having to roll 22 botch dice, thus providing his luck had been evilly transferred to everyone else]
Oh, Vitenka tried to tease Revan, but was restrained and made to apologise by an Ascended.
{I can't remember what I said; but I meant to annoy - and he lost control completely - became a wolf; and chased me round the table.
When we were stopped I apologised, and worse; I meant it}

Eventually the spell was completed and the Magi travelled firstly to the Rus world, then home, accidentally destroying the island of Malta in the process - both forwards and backwards in time. [In-joke] They arrived home at the Well of St. Deimos, now with a Divine/Magic aura of eight. The physical changes on Gwyntar and Julian disappeared when they left the aura, as did Marcus' pain. Gwyntar now transforms to an angel and Julian grows claws whenever they enter the Dominion, however, though Marcus' pain has gone. They were welcomed home by Philippa and given a celebratory mass by the good Father Vulpis.

[1] What, you don't know The Lady on first name terms?