The House of Heron

[Corwin]

Raven shifts the box to the palm of his left hand, bringing it back. He makes sure it's not facing Liron or anything fragile like a mirror, and the holds out his right arm towards its surface, open-handed. That hand closes in on the box, skin touching against its wooden surface, and Raven traces it with his fingertips, feeling for that invisible weakness in the material. He inhales deeply and holds the air in for several long moments, before exhaling it slowly.

His right hand makes a fist, knuckles scraping the box. "Let's see if I still remember how it's done," Raven says, more to himself than for Liron's sake. His hand withdraws, the muscles in it tensing with anticipation, as he continues breathing in and out deeply. Then, when he exhales, Raven's right hand launches forward, fist headed for the box.

(Dex + Brawl to hit The Box! 1, 8, 10, 6, 4, 4)
(Str + 2 dice to damage The Box! 4, 10, 9, 2, 10)

[Carthrat]

The box shatters open before Raven's precise strike, broken into mere pieces in an instant.

What remains in Raven's hand is a gold pocketwatch, glittering softly in the light. Roman numerals count up from I to XIII about it, and it dangles from a long length of chain. Abruptly, it begins to tick away, second hand starting from XIII and moving about. The back of the device is enscribed with strange runes and symbols beyond Raven's understanding, but there's a palpable feel of urgency stemming from the clock.

[Brian]

"That maybe wasn't so good," Liron decides, frowning at the clock.  "Thirteen hours ... or maybe not hours at all, eh?"

Liron hums thoughtfully, then plucks out, "It's the End of the World as we Know it (And I Feel Fine)" on his guitar, trying to see how long it will take the watch to get back to where it began.

(Time 2: Timesense: Roll 1: 5, 7)

[Corwin]

"Yeah, my bad," Raven says apologetically, wincing. "Didn't expect the old man to leave a... what is it, anyway? A time bomb?" He shivers. "Sure has a feel of urgency around it."

His eyes track the seconds hand as it travels across the clock's surface slowly, as he turns the back of the device towards Liron. "Seems to me like the work of a hermetic, alright."

[Carthrat]

Code Select Expand

Two possibilities stretch out before Liron.

Either the watch will reach the thirteenth hour in thirteen hours....

...or it will never breach that time.

[Brian]

Liron sighs quietly, as the last notes fade away.  "Well, feeling fine is well, but this is some bad news, brother.  There's two things that can happen for that clock, and one of them involves the thirteenth hour never happening.  If only we'd got to Heron sooner."

Putting up the guitar for the moment, Liron shakes his head and sighs again.

[Corwin]

"All I got was a call asking me to meet him here," Raven says, shrugging helplessly. "I didn't get a chance to ask why, and by the time I got to his place...." He trails off, grimacing. "Do you know more about the trouble he seemed to be in?"

[Brian]

"Not a thing," Liron says apologitically.  "I don't even know who Master Heron would have told his troubles to."

[Corwin]

Raven sighs, pulling his feet up and under him to sit cross-legged on the bed. "Yeah, it's a shame. Seems like we don't have much to go on, aside from the strange clock I'm thinking Heron left, the ankh I saw the punks who busted up his house wore, and maybe... you got some music sheets, right? Think they're something Heron left for us to find?"

[Brian]

"And maybe they were just something for him," Liron says, looking at the sheet music again.  "I could try playing it, but I don't know what might happen."

[Corwin]

Raven gives the ticking watch in his hand a wry look. "What's the worst that could happen?" he asks, smiling as he turns to face Liron. "And now that I've jinxed us, I don't see a whole lot to lose by going with your suggestion."

[Brian]

Shrugging, Liron decides to try playing the song and see what happens.

(Dex + Perform to play the song on a guitar.  Roll 1: 7, 10, 9, 7, 2, 4)

[Corwin]

Raven listens as Liron plays, idly twirling the watch by its chain.

[Carthrat]

An interesting tune begins, a melody that slowly picks up pace. A constant backing beat accompanies the slowly accelerating tune, and Liron finds himself tapping his foot in time with the music.

How long does this tune go for, anyway? It's only a couple of sheets long, but Liron keeps finding more notes that he thought there were, the song getting more complex, but not beyond his ability to play.

Sounds from the road outside join in with Liron's guitar, the honk of horns, and the squeal of tires adding to the rhythm, not disrupting the flow of the tune. Liron practically finds himself lost within a seat of flowing music, effortlessly flowing from his fingers...

...a pause! Several bars worth; the next page stretches out before him, but Liron feels the tingle of magic on his hands, and realises that unless he gets out now, something very magical- and overt- will happen, with him as the source!

OOC: If you don't stop playing, make an arete roll. >_>

[Brian]

Furrowing his brow, Liron keeps up with the music -- or tries to, at least.

(Mysterious Arete Roll:  Roll 1: 7, 2)