Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman
Can Gwen's mind be attacked via her mystical connections to the cult? If what she says afterwards genuinely makes no sense, any cult information in her testimony is less of a risk.
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She ought to be theoretically vulnerable to a Path of Mind ritual (or a Path of Nonexistence one affecting the mind) from a distance, but the PCs have arranged for the authorities to keep her under observation in a hospital room full of the newest medical equipment, as well as being fitted with high-tech monitoring equipment. The hospital room was solidly No Mana during the day and will only be Very Low Mana (-10) around the most mystical times of night.
Meaning that any divination rituals performed during the day to locate her, even if only done for curiosity's sake, would only yield the information that she was somewhere on Galveston island surrounded by too much interference to pinpoint, likely causing the cultists to correctly assume that the authorities have her somewhere without Mana (as much of the world is, during the day, especially in modern urban areas full of technology and secular skeptics). They can try again once it gets dark and the spirits come out, but it would be hard to affect her, given that the Mana around the caster and the target are both taken into account.
Also, 'Gwen Delvano' was given a small Charm that provides a measure of protection from curses and spiritual influences, as well as having ashes and holy water discreetly sprinkled around the secure wing where she's housed. Kessler has assigned numerous retired 'Night Riders', friendly ex-cops and Sheriff's Office Reserve Deputies who live around the Galveston area to keep an eye out for her in the hospital and two of her doctors are Kessler's men and aware of both the supernatural and that this girl might be targeted by rituals from afar. So even during the night, when rituals might work, there will be significant penalties.
An occultist (without magical ability, but familiar with the Laws of Magic) friendly to Kessler among the nursing staff will also discreetly place as many
apotropes around Ms. Delvano's room as she can without drawing attention; bells, wind chimes, mirrors, the right herbs, scented candles and incense, a dreamcatcher and the like. All good for some penalties to anyone trying to send remote curses or spiritual influences. Granted, Ms. Delvano would be even safer from remote magical effects inside the Threshold of the
Penemue, but Raul Sandoval and his Merry Men made that impossible by getting the authorities so thoroughly involved.
That being said, if the cultists abandon their planned ritual and instead use the dark spiritual energy around Indianola, as well as some of their pre-made magical energy sources, to power an all-out psychic assault on 'Gwen Delvano' instead of a more ambitious ritual, they have a fair chance of success.