Battle at an Abandoned Hospital, Rituals and the Tree in the Street IC Thread 45

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

(OOC: Colin is in his apartment having tea with Cita, Adley is in the basement preparing to do a protective ritual on Thomas, Nicole is right outside of the abandoned hospital that houses Jace's lab, Serge is showing of his teleportation skills to Kyle and Stephen.)

[Warpmind]

[Casa Wainwright]

"I will be good."
Poodle promised as he started dancing in the candle flame making is flicker wildly. Anna raised an eyebrow to this, then she sat down on the pillow and opened her book again and settled down to read.

Colin smiled and nodded to Anna, "Alright, knock first when Mr. King comes by. Just in case."

"Hum...a Darjeeling Oolong sounds lovely."
Cita said with a smile.
"But please don't go to any trouble on my behalf Mr Wainwright...now what was it you wanted to discuss with me?"

He nodded and started preparing two cups as the water came to a boil, "Well, the first matter is perhaps the lightest of them - I am curious as to what the item you retrieved from our friend in Seattle was. The second matter... I seem to be subconsciously drawing more on the inverted shards. Wallace Jace and Jodelle Jerkins decided they wanted a word with me as I slept in a time bubble tonight. Wallace Jace tried to intimidate me, though it didn't work - Mia has quite the hold on their ability to shape my dreams, so he faced another defeat with some amount of grace... and then I found one of the prisoners downstairs reciting nursery rhymes. In the Dragon's Tongue. I couldn't make out more than fragments of the speech, but enough to make an unpleasantly educated guess at what he was actually saying. I knew the time would come when I could begin to understand bits of that... noise, but I am a little dismayed that it's already happening..."

[Nicole Bouchard]

[Waltham]

Anja's Post:

'Okay, people... be ready to go straight into action after leaving the cars.' Nicole replied, getting her rucksack and replacing the taped flashlight to her carbine.

Anja's Post:

'Erm... thought you had it. Must still be in the trunk.'

Anja's Post:

'Having the ability for both teams to communicate would be good. Though having a couple of decent fighters in reserve might be an idea...'

Anja's Post:

Nicole gave a "that's settled then" nod.

[I'm a bit of Nietzschean in that I think the British ruling class simply lost it's drive, daring, ability and finally courage. By the '50s it was clear all they desired was 'a quiet life' where they could strut around in the moth-eaten costumes of their grandfathers and to pocket their dividends. Now it's got to the point where they think the stage is reality, the mannequins are an audience and they Hollywood quality rather than borderline infomercial.]

[Went to hospital again. I'm fine; though turns out I'm colour-blind. Explains why I've always sucked ID'ing stuff on the on the red spectrum...]

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Waltham]

Okay, people... be ready to go straight into action after leaving the cars.' Nicole replied, getting her rucksack and replacing the taped flashlight to her carbine.

The others nodded their agreement to this.

'Erm... thought you had it. Must still be in the trunk.'

"Then it is probably in the trunk Ma'am do you want me to go and retrieve it now?"
Alicia asked.

Having the ability for both teams to communicate would be good. Though having a couple of decent fighters in reserve might be an idea...'

"I can go with either team, but if the second team is going to clean up the hallways they will also need fighters."
Ty replied.
"But I guess the front forces are going to meet more resistance."

Nicole gave a "that's settled then" nod.

Coava grinned again then he got into one of the cars with a grunt.

[Casa Wainwright]

Colin smiled and nodded to Anna, "Alright, knock first when Mr. King comes by. Just in case."

"Ok dad I will do so."
Anna agreed.

He nodded and started preparing two cups as the water came to a boil, "Well, the first matter is perhaps the lightest of them - I am curious as to what the item you retrieved from our friend in Seattle was.

"A Victorian copper syringe, if Jace was a doctor it could have been a part of his early tool bag."
Citra replied.
"It was some...fluid in it, I will make sure that is analyzed, right now it is in Master Morgan's safe."

The second matter... I seem to be subconsciously drawing more on the inverted shards. Wallace Jace and Jodelle Jerkins decided they wanted a word with me as I slept in a time bubble tonight. Wallace Jace tried to intimidate me, though it didn't work - Mia has quite the hold on their ability to shape my dreams, so he faced another defeat with some amount of grace... and then I found one of the prisoners downstairs reciting nursery rhymes. In the Dragon's Tongue. I couldn't make out more than fragments of the speech, but enough to make an unpleasantly educated guess at what he was actually saying. I knew the time would come when I could begin to understand bits of that... noise, but I am a little dismayed that it's already happening..."

"Hum...well that might be a bit unfortunate, there are two issues here the way I see you first of all that you have shards that are trying to be a nucience, though it sounds like the core have that well in hand. As for starting to understand the Nephandi language...in my opinion as someone who have examined several shard clusters unless the core is corrupted you are not Fallen Mr Wainwright, though I understand that such an experience is disturbing and it might mean we have to try to work on counter measures to try to cleanse some of the shards or at least halt the level of corruption sooner rather than later...after all your cluster have adopted quite a few shards from the Nephandi prisoners brought to Horizon for trial and punishment."
The Spirit Healer said with a concerned look in her eyes.
"Hum...how are things doing physically, have you gotten much bothered by Jhor yet Mr Wainwright?"

(OOC: Ah you are color blind? I had a neighbor who was color blind. I hope they figure it all out.)

[Warpmind]

[Casa Wainwright]

"A Victorian copper syringe, if Jace was a doctor it could have been a part of his early tool bag."
Citra replied.
"It was some...fluid in it, I will make sure that is analyzed, right now it is in Master Morgan's safe."

Colin frowned, "Victorian? Bloody Hell, how old is the bastard, anyway?"
He paused, "Twenty dollars say it's his spinal fluid... his original body's spinal fluid, even. At this stage, I'm almost willing to bet this isn't his first time as a ghost..."

"Hum...well that might be a bit unfortunate, there are two issues here the way I see you first of all that you have shards that are trying to be a nucience, though it sounds like the core have that well in hand. As for starting to understand the Nephandi language...in my opinion as someone who have examined several shard clusters unless the core is corrupted you are not Fallen Mr Wainwright, though I understand that such an experience is disturbing and it might mean we have to try to work on counter measures to try to cleanse some of the shards or at least halt the level of corruption sooner rather than later...after all your cluster have adopted quite a few shards from the Nephandi prisoners brought to Horizon for trial and punishment."
The Spirit Healer said with a concerned look in her eyes.
"Hum...how are things doing physically, have you gotten much bothered by Jhor yet Mr Wainwright?"

He nodded, "It's unsettling. Though if we can convince Mia of the prudence of it, might it be possible to, hm, set aside some of the inverted shards in an item, like a ring?"
He held up Shawn's ring, "This one was made with a sliver of its maker's Avatar, or so I'm told, which makes it an incredibly potent Quintessence battery, in the crudest of terms - I'd imagine if we could forge a number of fragments into a similar item, it could serve as both a potent such tool, and it might give me a small reprieve from the more troubling... bits I've collected."
He smiled wryly, "And no, thank Heavens. Seems Freddy's been... helpful in tempering the Jhor I picked up in the Caul; I won't claim it's receded, but it's certainly not become any worse; a slight pallor, and my veins are a little trickier to find, but that does seem to be the extent of it."

((OOC: Colorblindness is a bit of a pain. There's a very political joke there, though, with the particular variant you're describing. ))

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Casa Wainwright]

Colin frowned, "Victorian? Bloody Hell, how old is the bastard, anyway?"

"It is hard to say when you can alter reality. I myself is 87 years old so...a willworker can be quite a bit older than they appear."
Cita replied.

He paused, "Twenty dollars say it's his spinal fluid... his original body's spinal fluid, even. At this stage, I'm almost willing to bet this isn't his first time as a ghost..."

"I am not so sure you are going to find someone to take that bet, the man seam to be obsessed with spinal fluids. Now that he have died before is less likely, but that he might have used the trick of making clones of himself and shifting into a new body when he needs to a few times as a form of immortality that might be so. I guess we will know more when I get the substance analyzed."
The Spirit Healer replied.

He nodded, "It's unsettling. Though if we can convince Mia of the prudence of it, might it be possible to, hm, set aside some of the inverted shards in an item, like a ring?"

"Possible yes, but it would be a major undertaking."
Cita replied. You felt that Mia was not happy about the idea, not happy at all she would not be easy to convince to let you take a good chunk of her shards.

He held up Shawn's ring, "This one was made with a sliver of its maker's Avatar, or so I'm told, which makes it an incredibly potent Quintessence battery, in the crudest of terms - I'd imagine if we could forge a number of fragments into a similar item, it could serve as both a potent such tool, and it might give me a small reprieve from the more troubling... bits I've collected."

"May I?"
The Virtual Adept said and if you did not protest she fished her phone out and scanned the ring.
"This is beautifully made and yes there is an Avatar shard in there. That would be one way to make a most powerful tool to sore and channel Quintessence as such a shard is still connected to the Quintessence Pool, it is part of the reason why I made the Heart of Horizon out of a wounded Avatar, it is a ship that will never run dry on fuel, if it ever start to run on empty it can simply draw in more from the Pool itself, and yes removing some of the corrupted shards might slow the corruption of your Core in general."
Cita said but Mia protested.
"Absolutely not, you can have...one shard, one...not more, I and all my shards are me, are not a battery and will not be used in such a way!"
She declared angrily.

He smiled wryly, "And no, thank Heavens. Seems Freddy's been... helpful in tempering the Jhor I picked up in the Caul; I won't claim it's receded, but it's certainly not become any worse; a slight pallor, and my veins are a little trickier to find, but that does seem to be the extent of it."

"That is good. I still recommend that you get regular medical check ups though, Jhor can be dangerous as it builds up, both for the mind and for the body."
The technomancer said with a nod.
"Though it is good it have not progressed to far yet."

[Jeremy Silverstein]

[Kyle's Room]

"Ok Sir."
Kyle said clearly a little disappointed he would not be shown how to do teleporting through drawings.
"What sort of teleporting did you do with Shawn?"
He asked.

"Teleported the handcuffs off of him and onto me while we both weren't looking. Sorta like a reverse version of that handcuff trick from Now You See Me." he said with chuckle.

"Yes like where Optimus Prime have his trailer?"
Kyle asked.
"That is pretty standard really, my Mentor have a whole little pocket realm, and I heard Master Sharaya have made a space just to get rid of burner phones that he calls burner phone hell."
He continued as he looked at your hand.
"Yeah a pocket realm or setting up some storage place to have things that you can then quickly grab things from on the go are pretty standard Sir."
Stephen agreed.
"It can be really useful for example if you are armed but do not have a permit, or something, or you have something else illegal by sleeper laws on you, if you are stopped by the police you just drop it into your storage area and they will find nothing on you."
The young Flambeau continued.

"Awww, looks like you guys know about it. I wanted to feel smart explaining it." Serge said jokingly, "But yeah your right. I personally learned it as an internet term to describe a cartoons characters ability to pull anything that they wanted from seemingly no where. As if they had a special place to pull out items, typically a hammer, thus the name."

"But as I was studying with Master Sharaya, around the time he was telling how everything exists everywhere at once, I thought about it in a different way. Rather than just an extra dimensional space, what if hammerspace was the ability to reshape the unobserved universe?" he explained, thinking carefully about the items in his room. "After all, reality is an illusion. That's how I've always seen it. Our minds, beliefs, and perceptions shape it. But what happens when you don't perceive it? What happens when no one does? Well maybe it's in flux? Ready to be shaped and molded by someone? That's whats happening here. As you guys focus on my palm here your distracted from the world around you. Anything could be happening offscreen. Away from your vision. There might be a bear behind you. Or an elephant on the ceiling. ..." he said, slowly meditating, concentrating as he spoke explained the madness of his methods.

Space was an illusion, everything existed everywhere and nowhere all at the same time. Like the vast virtual worlds on a simple computer chip or a cartoon character's hammer just offscreen of the audiences view, ready to be pulled out at the comedically opportune moment.

He focused on those thoughts, thinking of the reality he wanted to create. It was more than just teleportation. Serge wasn't moving something from point A to point B. Not from his perspective at least. The items Serge wanted had been with him this whole time. And at the apex of his altered mental state he could strip away the illusion and make it true.

".... Or a unicorn behind my back." he said, moving his left hand arm in a grand showman gesture to reveal the contents of his hidden hand.

(OOC: Corr 3 to teleport a the glacial Unicorn Helena made from Serge's freezer to his left hand as he reveals it to Kyle and Stephen.

Arete Roll: 9, 9, 5, 4 - 9, 6, 7, 1 - 4, 2, 7, 8 )

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Basement]

"Teleported the handcuffs off of him and onto me while we both weren't looking. Sorta like a reverse version of that handcuff trick from Now You See Me." he said with chuckle.

"That is a pretty cool spell Sir and it takes some finesse to do well."
Kyle said sounding impressed.

"Awww, looks like you guys know about it. I wanted to feel smart explaining it." Serge said jokingly, "But yeah your right. I personally learned it as an internet term to describe a cartoons characters ability to pull anything that they wanted from seemingly no where. As if they had a special place to pull out items, typically a hammer, thus the name."

"Yeah like Amy Rose's hammer in Sonic?"
Stephen said and Kyle nodded.
"Or Mary Poppins travel bag."

"But as I was studying with Master Sharaya, around the time he was telling how everything exists everywhere at once, I thought about it in a different way. Rather than just an extra dimensional space, what if hammerspace was the ability to reshape the unobserved universe?" he explained, thinking carefully about the items in his room. "After all, reality is an illusion. That's how I've always seen it. Our minds, beliefs, and perceptions shape it. But what happens when you don't perceive it? What happens when no one does? Well maybe it's in flux? Ready to be shaped and molded by someone? That's whats happening here. As you guys focus on my palm here your distracted from the world around you. Anything could be happening offscreen. Away from your vision. There might be a bear behind you. Or an elephant on the ceiling. ..." he said, slowly meditating, concentrating as he spoke explained the madness of his methods.

"The idea that if a tree falls in the forest and no one see it fall have it really fallen, hum well yes that is a fair way to look at it though I would have rather used such a idea for transfiguration of matter once I learn it, than for teleportation."
Kyle said with a nod.

Space was an illusion, everything existed everywhere and nowhere all at the same time. Like the vast virtual worlds on a simple computer chip or a cartoon character's hammer just offscreen of the audiences view, ready to be pulled out at the comedically opportune moment.

He focused on those thoughts, thinking of the reality he wanted to create. It was more than just teleportation. Serge wasn't moving something from point A to point B. Not from his perspective at least. The items Serge wanted had been with him this whole time. And at the apex of his altered mental state he could strip away the illusion and make it true.

".... Or a unicorn behind my back." he said, moving his left hand arm in a grand showman gesture to reveal the contents of his hidden hand.

The boys clapped and seamed impressed.
"That is fine detail work Sir."
Stephen said.
"So you are saying the Paradigm you have for this is like the space ship in Futurama, the world changes place around you in order for you to get where you want or get the sculpture where you want in this case?"
Kyle asked.
"That is a cool Paradigm."

[Warpmind]

[Casa Wainwright]

"It is hard to say when you can alter reality. I myself is 87 years old so...a willworker can be quite a bit older than they appear."
Cita replied.

Colin nodded, "And Master Steelhaven is still quite youthful in appearance, even if time is beginning to catch up..."

"I am not so sure you are going to find someone to take that bet, the man seam to be obsessed with spinal fluids. Now that he have died before is less likely, but that he might have used the trick of making clones of himself and shifting into a new body when he needs to a few times as a form of immortality that might be so. I guess we will know more when I get the substance analyzed."
The Spirit Healer replied.

He sighed, "Crafty bastard, all the same..."

"Possible yes, but it would be a major undertaking."
Cita replied. You felt that Mia was not happy about the idea, not happy at all she would not be easy to convince to let you take a good chunk of her shards.

He nodded, "Indeed, Mia is none too pleased with the idea, and she'd not take kindly to any attempts to forcibly remove so much as a single shard..."

"May I?"
The Virtual Adept said and if you did not protest she fished her phone out and scanned the ring.
"This is beautifully made and yes there is an Avatar shard in there. That would be one way to make a most powerful tool to sore and channel Quintessence as such a shard is still connected to the Quintessence Pool, it is part of the reason why I made the Heart of Horizon out of a wounded Avatar, it is a ship that will never run dry on fuel, if it ever start to run on empty it can simply draw in more from the Pool itself, and yes removing some of the corrupted shards might slow the corruption of your Core in general."
Cita said but Mia protested.
"Absolutely not, you can have...one shard, one...not more, I and all my shards are me, are not a battery and will not be used in such a way!"
She declared angrily.

He smiled wryly and sighed, "The ring contains a piece of Akrites Salonikas, the Seer... it is truly a marvel. Mia is not sold on the idea of therapeutic distancing from the inverted fragments, though, as she, with all her shards, is not a battery and will not be used in such a way. Honestly, from where I'm standing, the Quintessence storage would be a side effect, not the primary objective; I am thinking an item to hold a single shard at a time, though, might be used to try to manually revert the shard within, without having to pester Mia directly with each attempt. With, of course, the understanding that the shard, once reverted, would be returned to her, possibly for exchanging with another inverted shard..."

"That is good. I still recommend that you get regular medical check ups though, Jhor can be dangerous as it builds up, both for the mind and for the body."
The technomancer said with a nod.
"Though it is good it have not progressed to far yet."

He nodded, "Oh, I do see Dr. Lee regularly. In fact, he may soon be making breakthroughs in reversing Jhor; he's going to be treating a Necromancer for it soon, and with some measure of success, it seems."

He poured the tea and brought it over to the table, "Now, the other matters... I've found another shard cluster; a former Void Engineer who was exposed in the Void, and ousted afterwards. She... fell in with the wrong crowd afterwards, but she's not Fallen, and she'll be hiding out in the House of the Lost for the foreseeable future. Apparently, she's quite weak, but clever with what little power she has. She might visit me in the shop someday. Now, would it be acceptable if, in that case, I gave her your contact information, like one might a mundane medical specialist?"
He sat down, "Of course, I would not pressure anyone into such a meeting, I'm merely asking if I may make her the offer."

((OOC: Meh, feelin' a bit queasy. Not sure why, though I suspect it might've been the milk. Shop was out of lactose free milk on Monday, and I had to make do with the regular type. ))

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Casa Wainwright]

Colin nodded, "And Master Steelhaven is still quite youthful in appearance, even if time is beginning to catch up..."

"That is true and Jeffry...is over three hundred."
Cita said and she smiled warmly as she spoke of the old Hermetic.

He sighed, "Crafty bastard, all the same..."

"Far to crafty for anyone but his own good."
She said with a frown.

He nodded, "Indeed, Mia is none too pleased with the idea, and she'd not take kindly to any attempts to forcibly remove so much as a single shard..."

"I would never try to take something from your Avatar by force, I am far to fond of my own spiritual bits to attempt that."
The Spirit Healer said wryly.

He smiled wryly and sighed, "The ring contains a piece of Akrites Salonikas, the Seer... it is truly a marvel. Mia is not sold on the idea of therapeutic distancing from the inverted fragments, though, as she, with all her shards, is not a battery and will not be used in such a way. Honestly, from where I'm standing, the Quintessence storage would be a side effect, not the primary objective; I am thinking an item to hold a single shard at a time, though, might be used to try to manually revert the shard within, without having to pester Mia directly with each attempt. With, of course, the understanding that the shard, once reverted, would be returned to her, possibly for exchanging with another inverted shard..."

"I understand your Avatar's stance on this and it is something that would have to be done with her permission or not at all, anything else would be to dangerous. However separating out one shard, while that might make something similar to the Great Seer's ring, who I assume was made as a gift to Teomin, is quite possible with using one shard, but once in a ring getting that shard cleansed...I have no idea how even to try to do that. You can not just wash and Avatar piece, and what cleansing methods have been indicated have been through Seekings and the mage and their soul intensely working together to turn the soul shard away from the path of Oblivion, a isolated, removed shard would not have that, so unless you find someone with allot more knowledge than me helping you this idea is not viable."
Cita said and she shook her head.

He nodded, "Oh, I do see Dr. Lee regularly. In fact, he may soon be making breakthroughs in reversing Jhor; he's going to be treating a Necromancer for it soon, and with some measure of success, it seems."

"Oh is that so? I would be most interested in learning of his methods once he have developed them."
The Virtual Adept said.

He poured the tea and brought it over to the table, "Now, the other matters... I've found another shard cluster; a former Void Engineer who was exposed in the Void, and ousted afterwards. She... fell in with the wrong crowd afterwards, but she's not Fallen, and she'll be hiding out in the House of the Lost for the foreseeable future. Apparently, she's quite weak, but clever with what little power she has. She might visit me in the shop someday. Now, would it be acceptable if, in that case, I gave her your contact information, like one might a mundane medical specialist?"
He sat down, "Of course, I would not pressure anyone into such a meeting, I'm merely asking if I may make her the offer."

"Certainly, my first job after the Void Engineers rescued me was working with their personnel, formally sleepers who got shard clusters, I might be able to help this girl and if she leave...our enemy faction and is not Fallen then dealing with her should not be illegal, you can give her my number if she wish contact with me."
Cita said as she accepted the tea cup with a nod of thanks.

(OOC: I hope you feel better soon Warp.)

[Nicole Bouchard]

[Waltham]

Anja's Post:

'Well yeah, as we'll need to move from car to building very quickly to avoid the sniper.' Nicole replied. 'But one thing...' dropping her voice a bit and gently moving Alicia a little away from the others '-once the machine is running, it may screw up a bit. Like it's saying there's a Kinfolk right next to you or something. This is an error which don't need to be mentioned, right?'

Anja's Post:

'Well, we do... I think.' Nicole replied, looking around at the group.

[I've not been keeping track of the names of everyone; after the four healers, Morgan, Nick, the three shifters, two trap-people and the pair who can do telepathy - how many do we have left to assign?]

[Well, partly colour blind. It's called 'Protanomaly' in which I've got present, but defective red cones. They only picked it up because the doctor put me through a *different* type of visual chart. Apparently, I've developed an unconscious 'work-around' by relying on light-dark contrasts, not hue to compare with stuff. Nothing they can really do, and the fact this was only noticed in my 30s shows there's nothing they really *need* to do.]

[Not as bad as a couple of days ago where I ended up consuming by accident expired milk. Didn't know skimmed milk looks/tastes the same once it's gone off... *rolls eyes*]

[Warpmind]

[Casa Wainwright]

"I would never try to take something from your Avatar by force, I am far to fond of my own spiritual bits to attempt that."
The Spirit Healer said wryly.

Colin chuckled darkly, "On that note, unless it violates patient confidentiality rules, how's the good Master D'Angelo doing? Not too worse for wear, I hope?"

"I understand your Avatar's stance on this and it is something that would have to be done with her permission or not at all, anything else would be to dangerous. However separating out one shard, while that might make something similar to the Great Seer's ring, who I assume was made as a gift to Teomin, is quite possible with using one shard, but once in a ring getting that shard cleansed...I have no idea how even to try to do that. You can not just wash and Avatar piece, and what cleansing methods have been indicated have been through Seekings and the mage and their soul intensely working together to turn the soul shard away from the path of Oblivion, a isolated, removed shard would not have that, so unless you find someone with allot more knowledge than me helping you this idea is not viable."
Cita said and she shook her head.

He nodded, "Very well; I had to run the hypothesis by you. And yes, the ring was ours, centuries ago... but now, it belongs to Shawn, my Custos down in the basement. It's a family heirloom of his... Well, then binding shards temporarily into items for external cleansing is not going to happen. But I had to ask about the viability of it."

"Oh is that so? I would be most interested in learning of his methods once he have developed them."
The Virtual Adept said.

He smiled wryly, "Well, the methods might be a few months out yet. April or so, I believe. And I, too, will want to keep an eye on that progress. For admittedly more selfish reasons."

"Certainly, my first job after the Void Engineers rescued me was working with their personnel, formally sleepers who got shard clusters, I might be able to help this girl and if she leave...our enemy faction and is not Fallen then dealing with her should not be illegal, you can give her my number if she wish contact with me."
Cita said as she accepted the tea cup with a nod of thanks.

He nodded, "Then if she does decide she wants to speak with me, I'll let her know that you're the best in the field, and that if she wants to make sure her cluster is doing well, you're the one to come to."

He leaned back a little, "Then the less pleasant question... Mia's core shard is stronger than any one of the other fragments; enough so so as to being able to control the others into a cohesive, focused will, while most shard clusters lack that stronger central shard, as I'm given to understand. What I am curious as to, then... is your apprentice's shard strong enough on its own to take charge like that? If introduced into a, er, swarm, would it be able to take control of it and grow stronger, like Mia has done? I know it's a deeply personal question, and if you do not wish to answer, or even to find an answer, I will understand, and leave the topic be."

((OOC: I seem to be doing mostly alright; nothing severe, just a bit of discomfort in the basement, and general faintly oogy feeling, not even worth the effort of fruit salts or anything...))

((OOC2: Interestingly, there does seem to be some research indicating that women, in general, are better at distinguishing different shades of color than men, though the same is true for younger versus older people, and graphics workers versus non-graphics workers... though it seems men are far better at detecting shifts in light levels across the board. A strange little quirk of nature, I suppose...))

((OOC3: Oh, and milk and expiration dates - expiration dates printed on the carton/jug are usually not directly linked to when the milk goes off; it's just a "sell by"-date, not how well the milk keeps. How well you keep it refrigerated, or air exposure, seems far more relevant in determining how long it will remain good.))

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Waltham]

'Well yeah, as we'll need to move from car to building very quickly to avoid the sniper.' Nicole replied. 'But one thing...' dropping her voice a bit and gently moving Alicia a little away from the others '-once the machine is running, it may screw up a bit. Like it's saying there's a Kinfolk right next to you or something. This is an error which don't need to be mentioned, right?'

"I will get it then."
Alicia said she listened to what you said and nodded about the order about moving quickly then she raised an eyebrow but then all she said was.
"Ehm...yes certainly Ma'am such glitches would just be a distraction to mention."
She agreed simply.

'Well, we do... I think.' Nicole replied, looking around at the group.

From Steelhaven you had Jeffry, yourself, Ingmar Rush, Antonio Riez, Marian and Ty and Fran. Then there was Alicia from Westchapel and from the Chantries from Worchester there was Axel, Amber Rose, the pretty Goth kid and two more. As well as the three shapeshifters.

[Casa Wainwright]

Colin chuckled darkly, "On that note, unless it violates patient confidentiality rules, how's the good Master D'Angelo doing? Not too worse for wear, I hope?"

"I can not discuss a patient's case directly, but I can say that an injury to the Avatar is painful, but usually heal completely given enough time but in my experience from treating accidents after...Core Wars such injuries can take can make it to painful to reinforce spells using Quintessence for months, and it is vitally important to avoid Paradox, a bad stab wound to one's soul can cripple a mage's magickal ability for months."
Cita said and she raised an eyebrow.
"Speaking in general terms off course. I can not discuss a given case directly. If this was a Core War injury I would recommend daily protective and sensory spells to get small amounts of Quintessence to flow through the wounded Avatar without the risk of straining it."

He nodded, "Very well; I had to run the hypothesis by you. And yes, the ring was ours, centuries ago... but now, it belongs to Shawn, my Custos down in the basement. It's a family heirloom of his... Well, then binding shards temporarily into items for external cleansing is not going to happen. But I had to ask about the viability of it."

"Yes I heard Jeffry grumble something about Steelhaven getting a...a...what is the word the Hermetics use...a Massassa? Custos, so he is related then to Master Teomim?"
The Spirit Healer asked.
"An interesting coincidence to run into a relative...if you believe in coincidences that is Mr Wainwright but yes...you might want to discuss your idea with Master Ir when it comes to cleansing Avatars he knows more than me, but likely a host have to be involved so you can not just put a shard on hold and then wash it so to speak."

He smiled wryly, "Well, the methods might be a few months out yet. April or so, I believe. And I, too, will want to keep an eye on that progress. For admittedly more selfish reasons."

"Interesting, well if they work they might save lives. I am going to have to ask Dr Lee about his idea then."
The Virtual Adept said with a smile.

He nodded, "Then if she does decide she wants to speak with me, I'll let her know that you're the best in the field, and that if she wants to make sure her cluster is doing well, you're the one to come to."

Cita nodded at that.
"She is free to call me if she want my help, now or later."

He leaned back a little, "Then the less pleasant question... Mia's core shard is stronger than any one of the other fragments; enough so so as to being able to control the others into a cohesive, focused will, while most shard clusters lack that stronger central shard, as I'm given to understand. What I am curious as to, then... is your apprentice's shard strong enough on its own to take charge like that? If introduced into a, er, swarm, would it be able to take control of it and grow stronger, like Mia has done? I know it's a deeply personal question, and if you do not wish to answer, or even to find an answer, I will understand, and leave the topic be."

The Spirit Healer had grown visibly paler and for a while she just looked down into her teacup not speaking. After several minutes she nodded sadly.
"Yes...I believe she is strong enough to form the core of a cluster, leading it into a more complete Avatar...I can feel her consciousness there, as she is lodged into mine...the problem is one can not just introduce a shard cluster to a sleeper and hope for the best as the cluster will rip asunder the Avatar the sleeper already got, when the Void Engineers have personell who end up with clusters it is a matter of making the best of a bad situation. You are a bit different Mr Wainwright, Mia was incarnated into your soul from birth. I would only be comfortable introducing a cluster into a soul that did not have an Avatar there in the first place, so I have never sent John's shard into the Umbra to find a cluster I...have perhaps a foolish hope that one day I will be able to recreate the entire Avatar from the shard that is left...especially if I can find more of of apprentice's shards in the Umbra..."
She said then she looked down into the cup again, stirring listlessly with a spoon.
"It is okey Mr Wainwright I can...talk about it I just...just..."
She wiped away a tear that was rolling down her cheeks.
"Ehm...why where you asking about this?"

(OOC: Expired milk how nummy. That sounds like it is right up there with the salmonella salad me and my mother had a few years ago.)

[Warpmind]

[Casa Wainwright]

"I can not discuss a patient's case directly, but I can say that an injury to the Avatar is painful, but usually heal completely given enough time but in my experience from treating accidents after...Core Wars such injuries can take can make it to painful to reinforce spells using Quintessence for months, and it is vitally important to avoid Paradox, a bad stab wound to one's soul can cripple a mage's magickal ability for months."
Cita said and she raised an eyebrow.
"Speaking in general terms off course. I can not discuss a given case directly. If this was a Core War injury I would recommend daily protective and sensory spells to get small amounts of Quintessence to flow through the wounded Avatar without the risk of straining it."

Colin nodded thoughtfully, "Let us hope, then, that she's not suffered permanent damage, and that it won't happen again."

"Yes I heard Jeffry grumble something about Steelhaven getting a...a...what is the word the Hermetics use...a Massassa? Custos, so he is related then to Master Teomim?"
The Spirit Healer asked.
"An interesting coincidence to run into a relative...if you believe in coincidences that is Mr Wainwright but yes...you might want to discuss your idea with Master Ir when it comes to cleansing Avatars he knows more than me, but likely a host have to be involved so you can not just put a shard on hold and then wash it so to speak."

He nodded, "Shawn is the Massassa Chief Morgan was less enthusiastic about. The kid will grow on him, though, and yes, Shawn is the last scion of Teomim's son, as far as I know. I'm sure I will find out more about his family in time, once I have time to start my investigation. I've long since given up on the idea of coincidences."

The Spirit Healer had grown visibly paler and for a while she just looked down into her teacup not speaking. After several minutes she nodded sadly.
"Yes...I believe she is strong enough to form the core of a cluster, leading it into a more complete Avatar...I can feel her consciousness there, as she is lodged into mine...the problem is one can not just introduce a shard cluster to a sleeper and hope for the best as the cluster will rip asunder the Avatar the sleeper already got, when the Void Engineers have personell who end up with clusters it is a matter of making the best of a bad situation. You are a bit different Mr Wainwright, Mia was incarnated into your soul from birth. I would only be comfortable introducing a cluster into a soul that did not have an Avatar there in the first place, so I have never sent John's shard into the Umbra to find a cluster I...have perhaps a foolish hope that one day I will be able to recreate the entire Avatar from the shard that is left...especially if I can find more of of apprentice's shards in the Umbra..."
She said then she looked down into the cup again, stirring listlessly with a spoon.
"It is okey Mr Wainwright I can...talk about it I just...just..."
She wiped away a tear that was rolling down her cheeks.
"Ehm...why where you asking about this?"

He got up quietly, and retrieved a handkerchief from the drawer, offering it to Cita, "Here, you can return it later... I had a few reasons for asking, both in the abstract and the concrete; first, I needed to know if Mia was, well, unique in respect to the strength of her core. By your description, she is not, then... which leads to the next abstract idea; if we could locate another shard so strong as to form a conscious core, would you be able to construct an artificial phylactery, like the Heart of Horizon, to house a cluster of potentially growing strength, able to be adopted by anyone without an Avatar? Not affixing a new Avatar to a Mage, but enabling the Avatar to be essentially passed around like a library book? I'm not proposing to use John's shard for this, of course, I am speaking in the hypothetical, concerning the possibility that we find such a fragment somewhere out there, perhaps."

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Casa Wainwright]

Colin nodded thoughtfully, "Let us hope, then, that she's not suffered permanent damage, and that it won't happen again."

"Yes indeed let us hope so Mr Wainwright."
Cita replied.

He nodded, "Shawn is the Massassa Chief Morgan was less enthusiastic about. The kid will grow on him, though, and yes, Shawn is the last scion of Teomim's son, as far as I know. I'm sure I will find out more about his family in time, once I have time to start my investigation. I've long since given up on the idea of coincidences."

"Interesting. Well I am sure the kid will be a good Custos and in a way he is family if he is the last in the line of children after Teomim's long lost son. I am not sure the Verbena would be happy if they found out the kid have become a vampire though."
The Spirit Healer replied.
"And no...coincidences seam to have...lost their meaning."

He got up quietly, and retrieved a handkerchief from the drawer, offering it to Cita, "Here, you can return it later...

"Thank you Mr Wainwright."
Cita said and she wiped at her eyes with the handkerchief, she still looked sad and drawn.

I had a few reasons for asking, both in the abstract and the concrete; first, I needed to know if Mia was, well, unique in respect to the strength of her core. By your description, she is not, then...

"She is not unique in sense of being a shard cluster with a powerful core keeping it together, however she might be the most powerful shard cluster with the most potential I have ever seen."
The Virtual Adept Master said and Mia seamed quite pleased with that reply.

if we could locate another shard so strong as to form a conscious core, would you be able to construct an artificial phylactery, like the Heart of Horizon, to house a cluster of potentially growing strength, able to be adopted by anyone without an Avatar? Not affixing a new Avatar to a Mage, but enabling the Avatar to be essentially passed around like a library book? I'm not proposing to use John's shard for this, of course, I am speaking in the hypothetical, concerning the possibility that we find such a fragment somewhere out there, perhaps."

"No that is not possible...well I guess nothing is impossible but I would recon something like what you describe is harder to do than creating a new Avatar from scratch and it is certainly far beyond me as it go against everything an Avatar is. An Avatar seek to lead the host to Enlightenment and all shards, small or large only wish for a host. Secondly I would not even know where to being in constructing a phylactery that can be passed from person to person. When a mage have a phylactery, natural or artificial it is tied to their soul and their soul only, someone else can nto pick up someone's Phylactery and make it work for them, that is just not what an Avatar is."
Cita said and she shook her head.

[Adley]

[Hobby Room]

"I think that ehm, circle on the floor stuff might be hard to do in here with the big table and all. I could get up and stand in the hallway. I am after all not tied to this chair."
Thomas offered.
"It would be more room there."
Darrian said and Crecia nodded.
"It might be more practical but then again our emies might overhear, the most practical thing might actually be to bring the young man to one of the ritual rooms."

"Or I can move the table out," he suggested simply.

// yes, I meant Andrew, since they need someone to watch their backs

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Hobby Room]

"Hum...we are going to have to take ti apart in the middle and carry it out in three pieces I think."
Darrian said as he looked at the large hobby table.
"I am not sure moving to a ritual room is not easier Sodalis."

(OOC: That makes sense.)

[Jeremy Silverstein]

[Basement]

"That is a pretty cool spell Sir and it takes some finesse to do well."
Kyle said sounding impressed.

"It was fun little trick. I want to try doing it on a moving person though. I imagine that'd require a lot more finesse."

"Yeah like Amy Rose's hammer in Sonic?"
Stephen said and Kyle nodded.
"Or Mary Poppins travel bag."

"Exactly." he said with a nod. "I'm personally a fan of the animaniacs shenanigans. But you can see examples of it everywhere."

"The idea that if a tree falls in the forest and no one see it fall have it really fallen, hum well yes that is a fair way to look at it though I would have rather used such a idea for transfiguration of matter once I learn it, than for teleportation."
Kyle said with a nod.

The boys clapped and seamed impressed.
"That is fine detail work Sir."
Stephen said.
"So you are saying the Paradigm you have for this is like the space ship in Futurama, the world changes place around you in order for you to get where you want or get the sculpture where you want in this case?"
Kyle asked.
"That is a cool Paradigm."

"You've basically got it. The world changes around me to conform to my beliefs and desires. Like how a daydreamer can change the entirety of her fictional world with just a thought." he corrected. "Glacier was always behind me. And wasn't at the same time. A million possibilities bubbling away from our perception. It was only when I wanted one of those options and brought it into view that reality changed to make it so."

He pulled out his notepad with his free hand and quickly drew another picture of his freezer, having forgotten where his previous one was. Once it was done he pushed the sculpture back through into his room.

"I'm still coming into grips with that line of thinking. It still needs a bit more practice and a bit more thought on my part. Let's move on to something a little more visual." he said with a smile. "Have you guys ever watched Naruto?"

[Adley]

[Hobby Room]

He looked under the table to see if it was like a tennis table or card table, that could fold up.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Hobby Room]

He looked under the table to see if it was like a tennis table or card table, that could fold up.

It was indeed a table tennis table so it could be folded up for easier transportation.

[Kyle's Room]

"It was fun little trick. I want to try doing it on a moving person though. I imagine that'd require a lot more finesse."

"Yeah doing it on a moving target would probably be allot harder Sir."
Kyle agreed.

"Exactly." he said with a nod. "I'm personally a fan of the animaniacs shenanigans. But you can see examples of it everywhere."

"It is a common idea, one that most learn to use as they develop skills with teleportation magick Sir."
Stephen replied.

"You've basically got it. The world changes around me to conform to my beliefs and desires. Like how a daydreamer can change the entirety of her fictional world with just a thought." he corrected. "Glacier was always behind me. And wasn't at the same time. A million possibilities bubbling away from our perception. It was only when I wanted one of those options and brought it into view that reality changed to make it so."

"It is a fair enough Paradigm Sir, but how to you reconcile it with things you are not yet able to do? If you are not limiting it to space, let us say oh...you change your perception to having created an Umbral world, the ability to do such being one of the conditions to be considered a Master of Spirit, and while it is not my place to judge your ability I have not heard you addressed as Master yet so I am just guessing here that it is beyond you, if I am wrong please do forgive me, but what do you do when what you want your reality to be like exceed your ability to make it so, if your Paradigm is that your imagination create your reality in the first place?"
Stephen asked.

He pulled out his notepad with his free hand and quickly drew another picture of his freezer, having forgotten where his previous one was. Once it was done he pushed the sculpture back through into his room.

"I'm still coming into grips with that line of thinking. It still needs a bit more practice and a bit more thought on my part. Let's move on to something a little more visual." he said with a smile. "Have you guys ever watched Naruto?"

"It is an interesting Paradigm Mr Yager."
Kyle said.
"Yes I have watched part of the series at least why where you wondering?"
He replied Stephen shrugged.
"I have seen a few episodes but since I became an apprentice my free time have dwindled so when watching anime I try to focus on those shows I have a chance of finishing.

[Warpmind]

[Casa Wainwright]

"Interesting. Well I am sure the kid will be a good Custos and in a way he is family if he is the last in the line of children after Teomim's long lost son. I am not sure the Verbena would be happy if they found out the kid have become a vampire though."
The Spirit Healer replied.
"And no...coincidences seam to have...lost their meaning."

Colin nodded, "Shawn is family, and we'll help him heal... and in a few years, he'll have a chance to regain the soul that were stolen from him... With luck, we can save his life at that time, too. And I'm not about to share his lineage with just anyone... Especially the Verbena; I don't trust their Gardeners to not pursue his family..."

"She is not unique in sense of being a shard cluster with a powerful core keeping it together, however she might be the most powerful shard cluster with the most potential I have ever seen."
The Virtual Adept Master said and Mia seamed quite pleased with that reply.

He smiled wryly, "Well, she approves of that flattery."

"No that is not possible...well I guess nothing is impossible but I would recon something like what you describe is harder to do than creating a new Avatar from scratch and it is certainly far beyond me as it go against everything an Avatar is. An Avatar seek to lead the host to Enlightenment and all shards, small or large only wish for a host. Secondly I would not even know where to being in constructing a phylactery that can be passed from person to person. When a mage have a phylactery, natural or artificial it is tied to their soul and their soul only, someone else can nto pick up someone's Phylactery and make it work for them, that is just not what an Avatar is."
Cita said and she shook her head.

He nodded, "Fair; you're the expert, I'm just an amateur with the occasional workable idea. Hum, though, could it be possible to create an artificial phylactery that could be bonded to a person who had lost their original Avatar, to help a shard cluster bond with them more safely than by, well, diving into the Void without protective gear? Obviously, it would require somehow holding the shard cluster captive in advance, which is an entirely other kettle of fish, but... well, it is an idea."

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Casa Wainwright]

Colin nodded, "Shawn is family, and we'll help him heal... and in a few years, he'll have a chance to regain the soul that were stolen from him... With luck, we can save his life at that time, too. And I'm not about to share his lineage with just anyone... Especially the Verbena; I don't trust their Gardeners to not pursue his family..."

"Hum...if you have seen the possibility of such an event happening Mr Wainwright it is important to keep it to yourself, perhaps only telling a few who have to know, for the more who knows the greater the chance the future will be changed. Also yes keeping the boy's lineage's a secret is probably a good idea."
Cita said and she raised an eyebrow.

He smiled wryly, "Well, she approves of that flattery."

"Oh I am glad the lady approves."
The Spirit Healer said with a grin.

He nodded, "Fair; you're the expert, I'm just an amateur with the occasional workable idea. Hum, though, could it be possible to create an artificial phylactery that could be bonded to a person who had lost their original Avatar, to help a shard cluster bond with them more safely than by, well, diving into the Void without protective gear? Obviously, it would require somehow holding the shard cluster captive in advance, which is an entirely other kettle of fish, but... well, it is an idea."

"Ah...well here is where Mia is unique, she formed a cluster before incarnation, normally shards do not do that, they will try to congregate inside of a viable host's soul, and sometimes that will then form a shard cluster Avatar. Could such a phylactery that you talk about be made? In theory yes but it would be incredibly difficult because of, well several reasons."
Cita begun ticking said reasons of on her thin fingers.
"Shards will have no interest in a thing, so it means capturing them and forcing them into the Phylactery and trying to get them to join together once there which will be quite a tall order, and if you manage to do that you also have to try to get said Phylactery to accept a new host. Remember I made the Heart of Horizon out of the host, now the Captain's own Avatar, it was always his soul, getting a Avatar to accept a new host is hard, now a shard will normally take whatever host is available so you can side step that issue, but first making a Phylactery and then attach it to a host's soul...possibly...it is maybe possible but would be the absolute limit of m ability and far harder than letting the shard congregate in a soul on it's own."
The Spirit Healer sigh.
"And all of that is only possible if the reason why the host no longer have an Avatar have not damaged their soul to much, think of someone ripping a plug out of a computer by force there is a good chance to damage the port as well."

[Jeremy Silverstein]

[Kyle's Room]

"It is a fair enough Paradigm Sir, but how to you reconcile it with things you are not yet able to do? If you are not limiting it to space, let us say oh...you change your perception to having created an Umbral world, the ability to do such being one of the conditions to be considered a Master of Spirit, and while it is not my place to judge your ability I have not heard you addressed as Master yet so I am just guessing here that it is beyond you, if I am wrong please do forgive me, but what do you do when what you want your reality to be like exceed your ability to make it so, if your Paradigm is that your imagination create your reality in the first place?"
Stephen asked.

"Funnily enough, I may have actually created an Umbral world. I think....I'm still not sure." Serge said with a chuckle. "But that's another story. Anyways, for things I can't do I simply haven't been able to pierce that illusion of reality yet. The Cult of Ecstasy teaches us to ignore those illusion that impede us and exceed our boundaries. For things like transfiguring matter or seeing the future, that illusion still bounds my mind too tightly."

"It is an interesting Paradigm Mr Yager."
Kyle said.
"Yes I have watched part of the series at least why where you wondering?"
He replied Stephen shrugged.
"I have seen a few episodes but since I became an apprentice my free time have dwindled so when watching anime I try to focus on those shows I have a chance of finishing.

"There's a character in it whose ability I really wanna copy." he explained, pulling out a pencil and beginning to wrap a piece of paper around it. "His ability is basically just standard teleportation. But he's only able to teleport to a special marker that he needs to draw at the location he wants to teleport too. So he draws that marker on throwing knives. When he throws the knives, he can teleport to them mid flight. Which creates some amazing actions scenes."

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Kyle's Room]

"Funnily enough, I may have actually created an Umbral world. I think....I'm still not sure." Serge said with a chuckle.

"You have to tell us about that Sir."
Kyle said looking surprised.
"Are you a Master of Spirit Sir?"
Stephen asked also looking rather suprised.

"But that's another story. Anyways, for things I can't do I simply haven't been able to pierce that illusion of reality yet. The Cult of Ecstasy teaches us to ignore those illusion that impede us and exceed our boundaries. For things like transfiguring matter or seeing the future, that illusion still bounds my mind too tightly."

"I think I get it...it is like with foci right, I know it is possible to just ignore the need for them and just work magick at will I know one can but it is not as easy to actually do?"
Kyle asked and Stephen nodded.

"There's a character in it whose ability I really wanna copy." he explained, pulling out a pencil and beginning to wrap a piece of paper around it. "His ability is basically just standard teleportation. But he's only able to teleport to a special marker that he needs to draw at the location he wants to teleport too. So he draws that marker on throwing knives. When he throws the knives, he can teleport to them mid flight. Which creates some amazing actions scenes."

"Well...I guess that could...be useful in a fight Sir, if you are skilled with for example Martial Arts, but even so the action of throwing someone will tip the enemy off so it would be better to teleport without a visual cue and beside throwing something takes time, your enemies will have moved by the time you throw something and you teleporting. It seams like something that would look great in an anime but not be the most practical in real life."
Stephen said sounding a bit skeptical about the tactical use of such a focus.

[Warpmind]

[Casa Wainwright]

"Hum...if you have seen the possibility of such an event happening Mr Wainwright it is important to keep it to yourself, perhaps only telling a few who have to know, for the more who knows the greater the chance the future will be changed. Also yes keeping the boy's lineage's a secret is probably a good idea."
Cita said and she raised an eyebrow.

Colin nodded, "I know the how and the when - I have not and will not share that freely, but I will keep an eye on things, and try to keep the equivalent of an ER team on hand when the day comes; I think it might be possible to save his life, but he'll have to make a willing sacrifice of it first..."

"Ah...well here is where Mia is unique, she formed a cluster before incarnation, normally shards do not do that, they will try to congregate inside of a viable host's soul, and sometimes that will then form a shard cluster Avatar. Could such a phylactery that you talk about be made? In theory yes but it would be incredibly difficult because of, well several reasons."
Cita begun ticking said reasons of on her thin fingers.
"Shards will have no interest in a thing, so it means capturing them and forcing them into the Phylactery and trying to get them to join together once there which will be quite a tall order, and if you manage to do that you also have to try to get said Phylactery to accept a new host. Remember I made the Heart of Horizon out of the host, now the Captain's own Avatar, it was always his soul, getting a Avatar to accept a new host is hard, now a shard will normally take whatever host is available so you can side step that issue, but first making a Phylactery and then attach it to a host's soul...possibly...it is maybe possible but would be the absolute limit of m ability and far harder than letting the shard congregate in a soul on it's own."
The Spirit Healer sigh.
"And all of that is only possible if the reason why the host no longer have an Avatar have not damaged their soul to much, think of someone ripping a plug out of a computer by force there is a good chance to damage the port as well."

He nodded thoughtfully, "So, a long shot even if we were to get all the pieces to the puzzle."
He frowned, "Hum, I could think of one man offhand, actually, who would most certainly fit that last description; Wolfgang, the old Deacon Primus of the Chicago Mercere Chantry. His Avatar left him of its own accord; some Geas that he was forced to violate... Not that I would rush the old man with the idea in his fragile state; he was rather ill-treated during the last troubles, and is only now properly recovering..."

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