3142/Tripping Wards

Tripping Wards
Date of Scene:	28 August 2020
Location:	Pepper's Apartment, Upper West Side, Manhattan
Synopsis:	Nessa turns up on Amanda's doorstep, seeking the source of the magical pulse that swept over the city some days earlier.
Cast of Characters:	Nessa Donovan, Amanda Sefton
Tinyplot:	Zodiac Rising

---

Nessa Donovan has posed:
The great thing about having magical senses is that you can hunt down things magical in nature quite easily. Unfortunately, that also means that you might happen to be aware of more than you perhaps might have wanted--some things are harder to ignore than others. Lately, Nessa has been keeping an eye out for signatures that are either familiar to her, or particularly strong. Even if it didn't always lead her to exactly what she wanted, there was almost always /something/ of interest at the end of the magic rainbow.

The trail led her to an Upper West Side apartment complex, which did present the problem of getting close. Outdoor areas were easy to sneak into and investigate, apartments not so much. She does, however, want to at least see how close she can get to maybe feel it out.

Nessa slips into the complex itself on the heels of someone already entering, following the magical sense inward until she spots an empty elevator. When the doors slide closed, she frowns. What floor? There was no recourse--she had to know. Heaving a sigh, she presses all the buttons to wait for the elevator to stop on every floor.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
The other great thing about having magical senses is that you tend not to be surprised when other magical people show up on your doorstep. Frankly, Amanda Sefton is a little surprised there haven't been more mages tripping her wards, lately. Then again, many of the perimeter wards are recently renewed and augmented because she's gotten a trifle paranoid.

But is it really paranoia when they may actually be out to get you?

The oldest wards about the perimeter, and even on the apartment, were applied weeks ago, when Loki popped by to harass a visiting Thor and left a magical present behind in the form of several eldritch serpents. Since then? Oh, yeah. Those wards get renewed *regularly*.

Then, there was the sudden appearance of the sorcerer Radu Dragavei, who crashed straight through all those wards and landed on Pepper's balcony only to leave behind a fragment of some sort of mystical treasure map. Yep. She had to re-lay the wards then, too. The fact they did nothing to alert her just before Loki showed up (again with Thor!) to crash her breakfast just yesterday? Yeah. Not happy. Last night was spent strengthening them *again*.

So, when those wards actually alert her to the presence of yet another arcane spirit, she is understandably surprised... and more than a little wary -- despite the fact the map fragment is now somewhere in the Asgardian plane. She calls up her costume, with all its runic protections woven into the stitching, and steps cautiously out into the hallway, wrapping an illusion about herself to make her harder to see. When the elevator dings and the doors open, she watches to see who may approach. /If/ they're even willing to make a direct approach.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Ding!

Nessa's already tried several floors. The method is simple. Hold the door, poke her nose out into the hallway, give it a moment to test for the magic, then move on. As the door slides open and there's someone there, she's just as surprised as she would have been if it was just another resident of the apartment complex, but this isn't just someone else waiting to step onto the elevator. It was someone waitig for her to step off--and certainly someone protecting something.

She's already got a hand to keep the door from closing when she becomes more aware of the fact that this is the floor she was looking for, and she clears her throat a bit. "Uh, I was just looking for where the Ladies Book Club was meeting." She does, however, step off the elevator to let it resume its trek between the floors likely to annoy anyone else boarding later.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Ladies' Book Club?

A blonde brow arches faintly and Amanda cants her head, regarding the young woman that steps off the elevator. Her eyes narrow pensively, however, as she regards her. She's not making any hostile indications. She's trying to place why the woman looks familiar.

"Ladies Book Club," she echoes. "Wait. That angel I met through Strange said something about that." Back when she helped him -- and so many others -- save the City's soul. She pulls her hood back and steps cautiously forward. "Have we met? I feel like we've met. Aetherial plane over New York?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Oh thank god, this wasn't just going to be something about to blow up in her face. Too much of that lately. Nessa gives a bit of a nod. "Right, yeah, that sort of just became a thing whenever we were hunting down magical stuff that might endanger the city. I think it's kind of a weird codeword now to check in." She lets the elevator doors close behind her before she straightens up a bit.

"I helped with some of that mess," she looks Amanda over, though it's more of a magic glance than an actual physical one. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure we've met. Which is good, I thought for a second you might have been someone or something else and less about books and clubs."

Nessa gestures vaguely towards whatever she's sensing--the general direction of the apartment. "I, uh, guess whatever's going on around here is something you've got under control? I don't like to presume but this caught my attention and I thought it couldn't hurt to check in."

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda gives a wry smile now. She looks the woman up and down for a moment, and then gestures to the door a few steps up the hall behind her. "Come in and tell me what caught your attention?" After all, she's laid enough wards around this place to light up the night for anyone with magical senses. That's attention grabbing in and of itself, nevermind the fact the Prince of Mischief has decided he likes riling up his brother by poking at Pepper and Amanda periodically. Or the fact the magical equivalent of an EMP pulse -- without the shorting-out effects -- recently exploded on her balcony.

She steps aside so Nessa can enter her current home. The apartment is spacious for Manhattan, though that doesn't mean it's big. It is cozy, however. Well appointed with good furniture chosen for both style and comfort. The kitchen is off to one side, opposite the living room and its door to the balcony. There are a couple of bedrooms down a short corridor past the kitchen.

To magical sight, wards and runic protections are laid over all the windows, doors, and even over the baseboards and crown moulding. If Pepper could see them all, she'd probably be stunned.

Just as well she can't. Amanda hates having to explain herself. She's already caught a tongue lashing from her best friend over this mess. Why add to it?

As she closes the door behind Nessa, Amanda says, "Can I offer you a drink?" Gypsy hospitality rules. Make the other woman a guest so there's less likelihood of conflict between them.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa doesn't look too overly like a mage, though she seems to dress more for cold weather rather than warm, with long sleeves and gloves. Pretty casual, as it turns out. "I wouldn't mind some water, if you don't mind," she says, her eyes scanning the apartment over, more magically than physically as she had done to Amanda before. "Well, I've been kind of keeping an eye out for anything big or familiar and doing my best to not stick my nose too far into everything magical in the city but..."

There's the tiniest hint of concern as she continues. "Had any interesting visitors recently?" She might be keeping an eye on some things... but there are others she's looking to /avoid/ for the time being. So much so that she takes another peek around the apartment, just to make sure there aren't any ravens lurking under seat cushions.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda crosses into the kitchen to fetch a pair of glasses with ice water. Returning, she snirks softly at the question. "I'd call that my stock and trade," she says dryly. She sets one glass in front of Nessa and takes the other in her own hand, selecting a seat near her. "Zum wohl," she says, raising the glass slightly in a toast. It's the German equivalent of Slainte or L'chaim, if slightly on the formal side.

She regards her visitor for a moment. And then decides that if the woman was willing to help heal the City's soul, and is someone Dr. Strange puts some degree of trust in, she can extend the same courtesy. "Most recently? I've attracted the attention of Loki of Asgard, but he's not actually my most pressing problem. You said something drew you here. I reckon it wasn't him. I'd guess, rather, it was the pulse some days back, yes?" She watches the woman for some confirmation. She knows it's impossible others sensitive to magic didn't feel it. Even Captain Britain called her to ask about it.

"It was a sorcerer I know from Romania. He was fleeing an attack."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Zum wohl," Nessa echos the toast before drinking some of the offered water. There's another quick look around, just to make sure Loki's not actually around before she returns her attention to Amanda. "Oh, of /course/ he was here, that would make perfect sense. Is there anything he's not sticking his nose into?" It sounds more like she's referring to the trickster than the sorcerer. "Well, the Asgardian was certainly part of the reason I checked. I'm trying to keep an eye on him. He's not particularly high on my list of people I'd like to run into right now. It didn't feel like he was here now, so I figured it might be wise to investigate on more than one account."

Nessa does nod. "The pulse was something that caught my attention. Your friend came to you for help, I'm guessing? And somehow that attracted our Asgardian's attention as well?" It's certainly worth looking into if Loki's snooping about.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda laughs, a kindred spirit. "Gods, if I could have avoided him, I would have, too," she says, as to the matter of Loki. She looks around the apartment, inhales a deep breath, and releases it as a resigned sigh. "I consider myself a fair hand at spellcraft and wardings," she says, "but if he wants in here, there's nothing I can do to stop him. I can't even rely on my wards alerting me; he's just too powerful." She grimaces, faintly annoyed. "I don't *think* he's here now." Though she does have his 'monitoring device' in her room not so far away. And she won't swear he hasn't laid a secondary spell on it so he can monitor her as easily as she can now monitor the treasure she gave the Asgardians for safe keeping.

She sets her glass aside. "I don't actually think Radu's appearance attracted the Asgardian's attention. I think asking Thor for a favour did." Isn't that par for the course? "But I suppose he's interested now." Though it's just as likely he's yanking her chain. Really, she's only met the godling twice? Why would she even remain on his radar -- aside from the Faustian bargain she made with him to make sure he didn't cause more trouble for her in the short term.

"Radu left an artifact with me, which I believe was the cause of the attack against him. Someone was after it. He gave it to me to protect. Now I need to find out why they attacking him and what the artifact means." A beat. A wry smile. "You wouldn't happen to know anyone familiar with Ancient Hellenic languages that aren't Greek, would you?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"He does what he wants including putting entire diners full of customers to sleep just to 'chat'," Nessa shakes her head. "Yeah, I'm trying not to piss him off currently but he's pissing /me/ off currently so I'm trying to avoid getting more in over my head with him than I am." It is nice to have someone who can at least relate to that. "If he's snooping around, though, it'd be good to at least know he's not tying more knots into whatever's going on in the city."

She takes a sip from the water before she continues to listen. "Right, I'm assuming the artifact's safe for now at least." There is a sudden laugh at the mention of ancient languages. "Well, I'm not so much for language myself but I /do/ know someone who seems to be a fount of magical knowledge and I trust him so far. He's so far been extremely useful trying to untangle Loki's knots. I can ask him."

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda appreciates Nessa's assessment of Loki. "Gods of Chaos do know how to keep life interesting, don't they?" A beat and then she chuckles again. "You know, it's just occurred to me, I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Amanda Sefton -- Daytripper. At your service. And I would be quite grateful for an introduction to your friend." She runs a hand through her long blonde hair. "Because Radu's mystery has me stumped." Never mind the fact she's not even sure Radu's still alive... and that worries her.

"But, yes. The artifact is safe for now." Theoretically. Then again, if Loki breaks his promise, she's no longer bound by hers.

She waves her hand in an arcane gesture, conjuring an illusion of the artifact. It's a fragment of an ancient stone tablet with writing on it that appears to be written in a Hellenic alphabet. Presently, a secondary piece appears to abut it, a crack between them indicating where there is a break in the stone face but that they are clearly pieces of a single whole. There's obviously a third piece of the puzzle missing.

"The top piece is Radu's fragment," Amanda tells Nessa. "The other one belonged to an art collector in Starling City. Sadly, he's no longer with us. From what I've ascertained, he was attacked hours before Radu and his fragment stolen. See this pictograph here?" She points to the second stone -- the one from Starling City. "It's actually a map, if you know the key." A beat. "Which I don't. But I imagine translating the writing above and finding the missing piece will help solve that. A contact of mine found a photo of the Starling City piece online; that's the only reason I have any clue what I'm looking at."

Okay, actually, Iron Man found the picture online. But it all evens out in the wash. No sense dropping extra names unnecessarily.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Nessa Donovan, no fancy extra name. Just Nessa, even though people seem fond of trying to give me some other moniker," Nessa doesn't sound too pleased with the names. "But it's nice to meet you, all the same. Nice to know who's around I can put some trust into." That seems to be a big deal lately, at least for her. She glances at the illusion, taking a careful peek at it. "Okay, yeah, I can see why this is a bit of a mystery."

There's a nod. "Yeah, I think I've got someone who at the /very/ least could point to some more information on translating this type of thing. My friend, uh, Luci... he seems to enjoy researching artifacts and things like that." She smiles. "I think he'll probably help. He seems to enjoy puzzles and weird stuff, this seems like both." He /is/ both.

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda nods to that. "It is both," she agrees. Her head cants slightly. A gentleman named Lucy? (Not like she's seeing the name spelled out.) She doesn't comment on it. Instead she says, "Sounds like a useful contact to have. Like I said, I'd appreciate the intro."

She reaches for her water once more and sips. "I am," she notes carefully, "intending to do a more hands-on investigation of the late Mr. Crowne, to discover if his artifact is missing. I suspect it is, given he's dead, Radu was attacked, and the tablet seems to be the only connection between the two men. But I haven't had any formal confirmation." A beat. She looks at Nessa. "It might be helpful to have another magician on site with me, if you're interested. Muscle is easy to come by. Mages... less so."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"In fact," Nessa starts, fishing into her pocket for her phone. Once retrieved, she taps away at it for just a moment before looking up at Amanda. "I'm checking his interest in non-Greek Ancient Hellenic languages and translating them. I figure it's easier than just trekking over there only to find out he's got nothing to give us."

She takes a sip of her water. "I can come with, I don't mind. So long as nothing ice blows up in my face between now and then, you can count me in." She pauses as her phone vibrates. "Well that was fast." Nessa's attention goes back to her phone. "He says 'sure'. Would you rather I just... I dunno, text a picture or is it better to see this stuff in person like you just showed me?"

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda considers that. "Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to obtain these things," she notes. "I don't know if they have the missing piece -- or pieces -- or not. But I do know they don't have Radu's. I think I'd sooner visit your friend in person, rather than risk sending an image out into the aether where it might be intercepted by the wrong people." Because that's way too possible. "If I can get make a replica of the Crowne piece with just a photo, I have no doubt someone else could do the same with Radu's fragment."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa nods. "Sounds good then. He did say he'd do it and he didn't ask any questions, so I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind. Whenever you want to do that, let me know. I imagine we could just bother him at his nightclub if I gave him a heads up. I'd rather see him in person anyway. Kind of seems awkward to just text someone photos of something potentially important and not at least pay them a visit in person."

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda nods her agreement. "Indeed. I've always hated electronic introductions. I far prefer a real handshake when doing business." Might be the gypsy in her. She only trusts technology so far.

Which makes it ironic she's become roommates with the girlfriend of one of the world's greatest technologists. Just ignore the little cleaning bot that peeks around corners periodically and beeps as it searches for dust to bust. Perks of Pepper's job, he is. And a damned fine snake killer.

"What nightclub?" she asks now.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"I'm not big on handshakes myself," Nessa wiggles the gloved fingers on the hand not holding the glass. "But I get the sentiment. In person is always good, easier to sense magic and also just to see what someone's like. Text is very impersonal." There's another sip of the water before she continues.

"The club's called Lux. I imagine if we go during the day there won't really be anyone around. It'll be good to keep an eye on who /is/ around if we're going out somewhere after all."

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda has decided she likes Nessa. They seem to share many of the same sentiments. Thus, she smiles -- though perhaps a trifle sharply. "I couldn't agree more," she says with some satisfaction. Then, she shakes her head lightly. "My biggest concern is that I can't fully quantify the threat we're facing. I know Radu is a powerful sorcerer; stronger than I am, certainly. But he was nearly dead when he arrived." And then disappeared shortly thereafter. "And, it occurs to me, if *you* can eventually find your way here, following the pulse of Radu's teleportation spell, anyone else could, too. Including whomever it is that wants this map."

She wants to keep Pepper out of the crossfire, nevermind anyone else. Not that Pepper will entirely thank her for that sentiment if she's putting herself at risk in the process.

"So, the quieter I can keep this, the better."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"It was a bit of a pulse, certainly. But I can't say you're wrong, if I'm here anyone else could come snooping. They probably wouldn't be as charming as me either," Nessa grins a little, then nods. "Keeping it quiet shouldn't be too much of a problem. I'd like to keep under the radar a bit too. No idea when troublesome tricksters might decide that this situation is way more fun to manipulate." Really, if he's been by he's probably got his finger in all the pies. "My friend can keep a secret, pretty sure."

Amanda Sefton has posed:
"I certainly hope so," Amanda says sincerely. She's actually familiar with the outside of the Lux, given it's not that far from the apartment. But she's never been in. She's not much of a clubber, herself. "Lucy, you called him? Lucien? It's an unusal name. I look forward to meeting him."

As for tricksters? She leans back in her chair and chuffs a soft breath. "I've never met a trickster that isn't troublesome, however," she notes. "And I've more or less come to the conclusion that there are some things best handled by rolling with the punches, rather than fighting. Thor's brother may be one of them. I wish you luck." Another beat. A laugh.

"I wish us both luck."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Yeah Luci," Nessa says, her tone one of amusement. "It's an unusual name. He's interesting. In a good way, I mean. But certainly /interesting/." She finishes off her glass of water. "I agree with you on the mess of tricksters. Rolling with the punches is sort of wise when he's entangled himself. At a certain point I'm fairly certain I'll have earned his ire, but I'm rolling until I get there."

She grins. "I think luck is certainly something we both need here."

Amanda Sefton has posed:
Amanda chuckles softly. "Good luck, hopefully," she says. She's had enough of the bad. She does, however, give Nessa a somewhat serious look. "If you ever need a place to hide from an irate godling, let me know. I'll happily help." A beat. "At the very least, I know people who can help." Of course, she'll probably end up pissing off the same godling herself at some point. So she may need those contacts herself. He's not the most even tempered fellow, after all.

And sorceresses are meddlesome by nature.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa certainly is a bit of a meddlesome type, as it turns out. She offer a grin. "Believe me, that's appreciated. I'm preparing for the worst case scenarios, but he's unpredictible in any case. For all I know, he may not actually end up annoyed but think it terribly funny." She gives a bit of a nod. "If it comes down to it, I'll certainly let you know. The help is appreciated. Everyone in the Ladies Book Club has to have each others' backs, right?" There's a tone of pure amusement. Book club indeed.