Diary of Kuranes (waking)

December 31st 1964

Xavier Hellstrom. Such power. From what that man Jonathan said about his "visions" (I'll have to look into that more later), XH must have spent quite some time preparing this elaborate trap. I fear had I not woven that first counterspell in exactly the way I did, the defenses on the box might have proven a near impossible challenge.

I must say, XH made an interesting choice in spells… and to delay, interesting choice indeed. I'm not sure if he would have been as happy with a quick evisceration spell or a simple fireball. He wanted those original Prometheans to stew, to try their best to find a solution and fail. And, should they survive, they would have had quite the message.

I gather I've made a powerful enemy by allying myself with the foundation. Hellstrom, what would you have done if you were in my shoes?

I figure I should mention some of the less important things this evening brought, namely my fellow Prometheans. They all seem to be fairly skilled in some way or another, perhaps in ways I've yet to see. I might have been a tad too… myself around them, not realizing how entangled we'd become. It would be wise to befriend them, far easier to get what I want.

I'm not sure I can stomach that Elaine creature though. It might stretch me to the limit holding back from turning her into a little piggy for my Kieluu to devour. I'm curious if she might be smarter in the form of semi digested zoog food. Still, even dull tools have a use. At least she will keep Kieluu on his toes, if he displaced a pebble I would be shocked if she didn't fire a round at it.

Jonathan as mentioned above is of interest, as is Jinda who besides obvious talent with spirits has a little power in him. I could swear I noticed looks of fear from the great man… directed at me? He can't see Kieluu can he?

Lisa however, intrigues me. She clearly has power, although not as varied as my own. She spoke of teleporting in such a way it seemed she might excel in that class of magic. She chose to live in the guest house closest to mine. Perhaps Kieluu and I should try and make the Avoid spell permanent.

I just realized I have only touched on the biggest news, becoming a Promethean. This should be an interesting diversion. Imagine this world with higher mana, it's certainly no Celephais but perhaps a step closer to getting me there. Speaking of, perhaps I can pry Magdalena for a little more information on this "silver key" once she returns, or at least get a chance to look through some of her brother's belongings. I'm tired of hearing Kieluu's LEGENDS of the man, perhaps there is some truth to the tales but i'm sure he's not as fantastic as fabled.

I'm curious what we might come across in our assignments.

January 4th 1965

Magdelena returned today. We sat for breakfast and discussed some possible courses of action for the Prometheans. She felt a particular mansion in Pasadena was a good place to start.

One amusement was when Elaine pressed her for information on something… probably inane, I couldn't be bothered to recall what. Magdalena lied, and I have to give our silly gun child some credit, she caught on. Best part, she called Mag' out on her lie without flinching. I hate to say it, but I like her a little bit more than before. Of course, a shiny turd is still a turd though.

When everyone left I made sure to ask her about the silver key. She responded as expected, only knowing what Randolph storied. Although, she does believe it to be an actual key, not some code for something else. Even with a spell to cause a more favorable reaction she wouldn't allow me access to Randolph's belongings. Seems I might need to butter her up a little more.

We made our way to the house and before even stepping foot inside, Jinda got so scared he started to vomit. That kind of weakness disgusts me, but coming from such a big man it is pure comedy. He didn't do this only once either. One time, I just couldn't help myself, I made him fall right into his own sickness. The look on his face! It really was a treat. Sadly, after a while Lisa felt the need to be a spoil sport and magically cleaned him up. She stole the joy I got watching him squirm in shame and discomfort… just like she stole that book.

The book she took is clearly magical in both content and nature. At the moment I assume, as does Lisa that this is The Book of Gates. A great discovery… although I'm sure not as "world changing" as Lisa would like to think. Anyway, after snatching it up, she wouldn't part with it for even a moment. I guess she's not as sharing as she likes to make others think. She should understand such items of power belong in my hands where they can be used properly.

I found it amusing that she doesn't have the skill to cast a spell to read unknown languages. Even sillier was her insistence to learn Persian rather than allowing me to read it by spell. She says she believes this wont work, which is ridiculous. However, what do I care, if she takes the time to learn the language I'll just borrow her skill with it, much easier than starting from scratch.

My time will be taken up instead by reading the diary of Jacob Jansen from 1963 and possibly earlier ones if I find them. Also, it seems Jansen was as much a lover of art as I am. A large number of the paintings were by Austin Spare a fellow magician. Many use paint imbued with magic. I'll have to analyze those when I get a chance.

Lets see… oh yes, the brain. I guess Jansen got in over his head and gated a giant brain here from some other plane of existence where these things roam around sucking mana from the atmosphere. It too requires some study, although I must be careful as this entity is quite powerful.

January 5th 1965

I am so furious. Why didn't we take those paintings before we left the house the first time. Stealing? From who? Why do we care about debt collectors? Also, I wish I was given a little more information on the forces we are up against. OSI comes in and just stops our investigation of the house. I wasn't done! Now I have these journals with info probably made worthless once OSI douches out the place. Beautiful and magical works of art just gone. Not even to mention the brain.

I wonder what they will do to it. I only barely buttered it up. The telepathic link I established allowed me to see such wonders. His world is unlike anything I have ever seen. I intended on later asking the brain permission to truly search it's... mind... its self... that's confusing. I doubt it would have let me, but to take possession of such a great creature would have been amazing. Now, that sliver of a hope is impossible. Although, I might try and connect to it when I'm not too busy, see what OSI has done, assuming our agent "friend" kept his word and didn't just destroy the brain.

Also, I'm going to have to have a conversation with the others about magic. I was shocked to see Lisa... the other mage of all people... strike the OSI agent immediately after I dazed him. Unbelievable!

Jonathan showed a little more of his skill with psionics today much to my annoyance. It seems he noticed I was holding back some information and chose to pry it out of me instead. I might just have to keep up a spell to hide my thoughts while around him. I'm sure it took a lot of guts to stand up to someone such as myself. He should be glad that I am trying to keep a nice show going here or I could have made life uncomfortable for him. And yet, I'm growing to like the guy; he doesn't seem to be afraid to make the hard choices. That I can respect.

And Keaton, such an oddity. From my knowledge of him he must be in his 60's or 70's but looks to be around 30. He has no idea how this is so either. I've heard of magic that does as much but such a spell would require great energy and skill. Perhaps I'll pry him for a bit more information next time we meet. Kieluu tells me I shouldn't care and that I always have "tentacles in every crack" (a zoog expression of being nosy that I find hilarious for other reasons).

Anyhow, I got the painting I admired so much on my first visit to the house. It's the one titled "Mystic Dreamscape". I'd never analyzed a magically created work of art before. I regret to say it is much harder than I expected. I have some skill in painting but certainly not as much as Spare. This coupled with my magic helped me see just how time consuming such an inquiry might be. I chose instead with a heavy heart to leave the paintings for Quinn so he could arrange for a specialist to study them. I think I'll be sore over losing those other works for some while, especially the large one.