Wheels of Darkness III

Originally published November 18, 2013

The World of Darkness is full of many mysteries and many twisted things lurk in the shadows. While the default focus is on local events and urban locations, people still need to get around. In this series of blogs, I will present some of the cars, bikes and other vehicles that have appeared in my World of Darkness Chronicles.

The Enchanted Motorcycle

Surveillance Report by Crash Override, Hoplite of the Panopticon pylon the Disciples of Alhazen:

Target: Vespa, Libertine and Herald

With the "help" of our clueless local government and assorted paranoid companies, I patched together the feeds from 109 security and traffic camera to produce a video diary of the target's day. See the attachment. Pretty boring. Drive across town, deliver message, drive across town, deliver package, etc.

Anyway, that's not what you wanted. If you had bothered to say what you wanted. You want to know about her defenses. No one contracts the Eye just to know where someone is. Especially not the Praetarian.

So anyway back to what you are paying for. Vespa's not anything special, just another Obrimos with a bit of tech fetish. Disciple level of Prime at best, though probably not with Forces. Seems to be gifted with Matter. Probably a Disciple of that as well.

Her bike is something special. Matter enhanced, tough as steel and with acceleration boosted all to hell. If you don't pick off her or the bike off fast, she'll be out of there. Given what I've seen I'd favor sniping the girl.

The bike's warded against magics and seems to have usual enhancements: platonic mechanisms and an endless gas tank. Don't expect luck to be on your side. Don't expect to be able to chase her down. Just shoot her.

But then who am I to tell you what to do. You're the ones with the guns.

The Free Council love their technology as much as they do their magic. Mixing modern science and ancient magics comes naturally to them. So it is no surprise that they have a collection of enhanced and enchanted vehicles at their disposal.

The Enchanted Motorcycle is common example of this. Owned by the Herald of the city of Chicago, this sleek motorcycle moves with almost supernatural grace and surprising speed. Thanks to a mix of mundane engineering and magical enhancement, it can outrun almost anything on the ground.

Learning More

Here are some mundane skills that could help in learning more about the enchanted motorcycle:

Drive or Crafts: That's one well made machine. The way it moves it is clear it has custom suspension work. That acceleration is crazy. Someone who knows about vehicles can easily see that this bike has been modified. They might be puzzled however at how it shrugs off bullets and never seems break down. Or need gas.

Occult: Those squiggles along the edge of the bike's chassis, those are not artwork. Notice how you can't quite focus on them. No it isn't the blurriness of the image. Those are magical runes. This bike is enchanted. Occult reveals the outward signs of the motorcycle's supernatural nature. Disrupting those runes might cripple its powers somehow.

Under Mage Sight, the motorcycle clearly shows signs of magic. An extended Wits + Occult roll at a -2 penalty reveals the following information:

• 1 success: the resonance of the creator: a blurring of objects at the edge of your vision.
• 3 successes: the Arcana used on the motorcycle: Matter and Fate.
• 6 successes: the mage who created this item was of medium level of enlightenment (Gnosis).
• 8+ successes: the mage is a Disciple of the Arcanum of Matter and an Initiate of the Arcanum of Fate.

Secrets

The Enchanted Motorcycle is a modified Yamaha YZF-R1. Its body has been magically reinforced to protect it from crashes or mundane attacks. A potent Matter spell has been placed on the gas tank to ensure it always has plenty of fuel. The engine, tires and drive train has been enhanced to give it a blisteringly fast acceleration. Just as importantly Fate magics have been worked on it to ensure that no mundane glitch will cause it to fail. Its parts don't wear out, they don't fail, and the weather never slows it down.

Enchanted Item: 9 dots
Durability: 3, Size: 6, Structure: 7
Acceleration: 63 (86 mph/turn), Safe Speed: 117 (80 mph), Speed: 335 (228 mph)
Handling: 6, Occupants: 1+1

Additionally the current owner, Vespa, makes use of the Atlantean runes inscribed on the chassis to hang a spell for magically shielding the motorcycle. Typically this is inflicts a -3 penalty to spells used on the vehicle if she spends a point of Mana. Vespa typically invests the vehicle with 3 Mana.

Vespa

Herald of Chicago, Disciple of Arcana of Matter and Prime, Minuteman in the Free Council

Background: Vespa was always an activist, fighting those in authority for what she saw as the right reasons. Unfortunately she fell in with the wrong crowd and things got violent. She Awakened when she unsuccessfully tried to stop the firebombing of some SUVs. Though the burns marred her face, inside she gained insight into what really needed to be done.

She joined the Free Council and worked to fight the Seers and move Mage society forward. While socially she has advanced considerably, she has become somewhat unfocused magically and has yet to take a legacy.

Description: A nasty burn scar mars the face of this blond-haired young woman. Despite the visible reminder she is recklessly sure of herself plunging into danger without a second thought.

Storyteller Notes: Vespa is driven but friendly and helpful. She believes in the power of communication and works to open channels between the various Orders in the city. At the same time she can't take it slow and hates it when people are late.

Path: Obrimos Order: Free Council
Virtue: Faith Vice: Lust
Arcana: Death 1, Fate 2, Forces 2, Matter 3, Prime 3, Spirit 1, Time 2