View source for Episode Twelve: Regina Rising

===Session One (11.27.11)===
* '''[[Serafina]]''', '''[[Autumn]]''', and '''[[Issa]]''' rescue any Sleepers who might have been trapped in Shadow during the Verge storm.
* '''[[Malachite]]''' and '''[[Rasayana]]''' head to New York to retrieve [[Danny Brewster|Danny]] from the hospital there.  Strangely, [[Ophelia Rosetti|Ophelia]] doesn't come with us.  She says she's made plans to get back to Astoria on her own.
* '''Serafina''' contacts her order to tell them what happened.
* '''Rasayana''' learns from the Free Council that a Seer pylon was uncovered in Portland.  The pylon got away, but they've now been identified.
* Leaving Danny sound asleep at Qurbani's house, we go to investigate the Babylon pylon's former sanctum.
* While post-cogging the place, '''Autumn''' finds a blank space in time, about three hours' worth, that occurred right before the pylon invaded the Regina the first time.
* '''Autumn''' and '''Rasayana''' cast cooperative ritual Time magic to punch through the time ward.
* [[Tanya Clark|Tanya]] calls while they are casting.  She's at the Regina because she thought it was safe to return.  '''Issa''' escorts her right back to Africa.
* Also during the ritual, '''Malachite''' finds a room with faint traces of writing left on the walls.  He brings the writing out with Matter magic and finds an alphabet that is as creepy and disturbing to him as a mage as Atlantean was to him as a Sleeper.
* '''Autumn''' and '''Rasayana''' successfully bypass the Babylon pylon's Time spell.  '''Autumn''' sees the pylon discussing the ritual they tried to cast at the Regina.  They have the book they stole from us, the Ishtar Codex.
* From what they're saying, Qurbani is ''probably'' the “sacrifice” they need for the ritual, but they're not completely sure.  [[Heroditas]] says that even if they've chosen the wrong one, “the other one” is close at hand.
* Apparently, the Babylon pylon is an Abyssal cult.  They are trying to breach “the vault of heaven” and allow Her out into the world.
* Heroditas may be the one who revealed the Seer pylon in Portland, so that all attention would be diverted there and her pylon could work its ritual unmolested.
* The Proximi families of Astoria are here because of Her.  According to Heroditas, they've been gathering around Her for generations.
* After they returned to their sanctum, Heroditas is concerned that the ritual was ruined without a sacrifice.  [[Amenhotep]] isn't so sure.  He says it was more like they opened a cage and let something out.
* [[Sofia Warren|Vellamo]] agrees.  She says the fallen world ''wanted'' what she was doing.  Heroditas says that the Eleventh Seal is inextricably linked with the fallen world.
* None of us can read the creepy writing in the basement, so we take pictures and video to send to some of '''Autumn's''' contacts.  '''Autumn''' can tell that it's a varian of Atlantean.
* '''Autumn''' calls his primary Mysterium contact and fills him in on everything we've learned about the Babylon pylon and their weird ritual.
* Minutes later, we get a call telling us that '''Autumn's''' contact is one of the Seer agents who was exposed in Portland.  D'oh.
* But it may work to our advantage, as the Seers aren't going to be any happier with what the Babylon pylon has been up to than we are.
* The Guardians send the [[Infirmerer]] and the [[Circuitor]] out to help '''Serafina''' with damage control.
* '''Autumn''' gets a call from Hypatia and tells her everything he accidentally told the Seer agent.  She tells him that Seers refer to the Exarchs as the Ten Seals.   The Eleventh Seal is a supposed Exarch that is a personification of the Abyss.
* '''Issa''' and '''Malachite''' team up to cast a ward on Qurbani's place.
* '''Serafina''' meets up with the Infirmerer and the Circuitor.  The Circuitor gets busy planting evidence of a chemical spill to explain the mass “hallucinations.”  '''Serafina''' and the Infirmerer go out to the local hospitals to edit a few memories.
* At the hospital, they run into Ophelia, who is followed by several members of Astoria's major families.
* Ophelia is clearly not acting like herself.  Weirdly, everyone around acts like they know her and are thrilled to see her.
* When '''Serafina''' points Ophelia out to the Infirmerer, he doesn't seem to see her.  Then he doesn't seem to hear what '''Serafina''' is saying.  Before long, he doesn't register '''Serafina''' at all.
* '''Serafina''' starts following Ophelia and her entourage.  She contacts the [[Abbot]] about the Infirmerer's strange behavior.  Then she calls the rest of the cabal.
* '''Autumn''' stays behind to do some research.
* The rest of us drive to the address '''Serafina''' gives us.  It's a really nice house that belongs to a member of the Warren family.
* On the way, '''Issa''' scries on Ophelia.  She looks right at the scrying window, aware of it even though it's one of '''Issa's''' attainments.
* We walk into the house.  Someone rushes out, to stop us apparently.  But when he sees us, he becomes immediately ingratiating, much like how he acts around Ophelia.
* When '''Rasayana''' tries to hug her, she rebuffs him.  '''Issa''' demands to know who she is.  She seems surprised but pleased that it's so obvious she's not really Ophelia.
* Ophelia became the sacrifice when she came back from the brink of death after nearly drowning.  But she is still in there somewhere.
* To '''Malachite's''' Prime sight, Abphelia appears deeply disturbing, much like the writing we found at the Babylon pylon's sanctum.  There is a void in her, an insatiable hunger.  But he also feels an affinity toward her, on some strange level.
* As we talk to her, she tells us pretty much everything we want to know.  She is completely unafraid of us.  She even thanks us for helping her cross over.
* She's been influencing Astoria for ages, through the Hallow at the Regina.
* She is a personification of the Abyss.  She says that she is “what is not.”  Eventually, she will unmake the world.
* No Awakened soul can perceive her.  Or us, because we have mana from the Regina within us.  As long as we have it, we can see her.
* After some experimentation, we learn that transferring Regina-tainted mana isn't enough to make a mage aware of us or Abphelia.  It only works on mages who have performed the oblation at the Regina.
* Which means our sole potential ally is [[Auctorita]].
* '''Issa''' goes to recruit his grandmother by spiking her tea with tass from the Regina.
* '''Rasayana''' tries to cast a Fate spell to free Ophelia.  Even though he succeeds, it backfires horribly. He gains a derangement and has a temporary meltdown, offering Abphelia anything if she'll give Ophelia back to him.
* '''Malachite'''' socks him in the jaw and gets him the hell out of there.  Abphelia looks a little titillated at the display of violence.