Re: Little Moments Between Steptember and November, Meetings and Endings IC Thread 30

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Adley, Colin, Nicole, Tane and Serge] (Cabal meeting 10 in the morning Wednesday 30/9 2015)

"Don't have much...would a drawing that paralyzes anyone who looks at it work?" Serge asked curiously.

"No sorry kid, I do not think I have much use of that."
Bruce said and he shook his head.

"That's true. I've been hospitalized a couple of times because of that. Not realizing what state my body was in until I passed out from dehydration or starvation that I didn't feel." Serge said as if that was a normal thing to happen to a person.

Bruce gave you a very odd look.
"Ehum...okey then, perhaps some sort of alarm to remind of you such needs would be a good idea."

"But yeah that's what I meant. Something that makes you ignore pain so it doesn't get in the way of your concentration. You'll essentially be fighting at full strength regardless of your injuries."

"Yeah that would be quite useful to put into an armor."
Bruce agreed and nodded.
"You can do this kid?"

"Sorry, sorry. If we're only taking about life and death combat then yeah your right. The only point is to fight desperately for what you want, ready to kill or be killed in the process. No fun and games." Serge apologized secretly thinking that he had won the argument for getting Bruce to admit there was more types of combat than just the one the Orphan had described.

"There is no need to apologize kid."
Bruce said and sigh.
"It is perfectly fine to say something others do not agree with."

[Adley]

"Perhaps Adley could do a numerological chard of our collective birth dates to do a reading on the Cabal, then he would need Jon's birthday but it would not directly target him sort of."
The artificer suggested.

"I am not strong in numerology in that sense, though I am sure that information would be useful in the right hands, especially in conjunction with other things like your name. Strange how we're conditioned now to just hand these things out on any old form...they even assign us a number at birth now. Also, I will pretend I didn't hear you call my brother a brat..."

The large Orphan nodded but he did not comment further this being far outside of his area of knowledge.

"That is my current theory at any rate."

"Actually some of the texts I inherited from my grandfather spoke about that, our ancestor a artificer from before the Order of Reason was formed spoke of his Fount."
Bruce commented.

"Coptic sort of looks like Greek," he said. "I can probably read it though I am not sure about the jargon. I can investigate."

"Yeah...it is easier for the hedgies though, for us making anything permanent and static is hard but for them, I mean I have seen beginner hedigies make permanent enchantments."
Bruce said and frowned.

"We all have our talents."

He frowned, "Yes, it probably would, to some extent... It would not be impossible to overcome, though, but... hum, perhaps the Kelly formula would be better suited; there's a near-Primium quality refinement that has most of the properties of Primium except the dampening effect. Easier to work, too, I believe. I should inquire about that formula."

"I would be most interested in that formula Colin."
Bruce said his eyes growing wider with excitement.
"Where did you hear about such a thing?"

"I am a bit curious too, though I admit that I do not understand much of what you just said."

"You would be amazed at what one can do when one have to Mr Yager, when you know you will die and your friends will die unless you get back up, but yes it is not like in allot of moves where a bullet proof west mean one can just shrug of bullets, being hit still means a trip to the emergency room but with a west you can usually then walk back out again when you have been patched up instead of being rolled into the OR or the morgue."
Bruce said and shrugged.

"It hurts a lot but you aren't dead and you still have to fight."

"Don't have much...would a drawing that paralyzes anyone who looks at it work?" Serge asked curiously.

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Remind me not to causally peer at your sketchbook."

Leaning back in his chair, Serge thought about something for a moment and said, "I wonder if I can add that to the armor. The painless part. I'm not as good at enchanting items as you guys. Hell I only learned how to do something like it two days ago. But it could be a fun thing to try."

"Painless might not be good in a fight, that might disassociate you from what is happening but a way to reduce pain so it do not disturb concentration and ability to move would be most useful."
Bruce agreed.

"That's true. I've been hospitalized a couple of times because of that. Not realizing what state my body was in until I passed out from dehydration or starvation that I didn't feel." Serge said as if that was a normal thing to happen to a person. "But yeah that's what I meant. Something that makes you ignore pain so it doesn't get in the way of your concentration. You'll essentially be fighting at full strength regardless of your injuries."

"That can be useful in an emergency, like you said, being injured means you aren't performing well. But the other side of it is, if you push yourself more than you should, since your pain is not there to remind you, then you could hurt yourself worse. Even die. I had to watch out for that when I used that potion and honestly, I was very lucky not to have made things very much worse than they were. If I had to have done, I would have pushed myself until I died if it meant that we got through those battles alive. I would have had little choice. I am glad that you are alright, Mr Yager that does not sound pleasant."

"Now hold on there. That's one point of fighting. The most common one. But I think your wrong in saying that's the only reason people fight." Serge said glancing at Bruce. "It is not always desperation or killing to achieve a goal. Gladiators fought to entertain a crowd and even tried to win without spilling blood as that required more skill. Hell even fights between martial artists are pretty entertaining to watch and in those they are typically trying to show off their skills rather than kill each other. Same with MMA fighters. Doubt they're trying to kill each other."

"The spilling of blood was also costly to the gladiator's patrons, so there was more reason behind it than just finesse and skill. They didn't want them to die."

"Well, normally no, but I haven't been in Boston for that long. Everything is a bit new to me. Not to mention I'm not a very outdoors-y guy in general and with my overactive imagination I tend to think everything wants to attack or harm me. So I'm not really a fan of exploring the great outdoors. At least not in this world." Serge explained.

'It can feel that way if you get in the way of the morning joggers and you're not running," he said, with a bit of a wry look. "A good amount of paranoia is probably healthy for us, but we can't afford to be so afraid that we get in our own way either. It's difficult."

// sorry I missed a few bits earlier today

[Tane Karyak]

No, we've not met. Only came in a few days back, just in time for the attack on the Fallen.' the large woman replied.

"Well, maybe Next time we can organize a more relaxed gathering and meet properly. It'd be nice" Tane proposed to her and more So, to the group at large.

The thing is that is the weapon of the Nephandi once they have their claws in a soul it is forever.

"In that case, although I need to confirmate, it's a shame. I will still see if we can mechanically filter the soul's corruption."

your ignorance will shield you from spillover

"Ah, alright then, just let me know if I can do something to help, then"

I've had a prophetic vision of a battle over Horizon

"So we"all reach that point so soon? But wait, this will be a battlecruiser captain with only 20 years? And he will be with the Union?

I'd appreciate more insight over how you'll have it harder and how acurate or true your visions are"

Lady Dalisse, the battlecruiser's Handler, knew as certainly as that humans need air that a Fallen Avatar can be untwisted and restored to the Light.

"You warm my heart with that knowledge, Colin. Could you help me find this Lady Dalisse? I'd like to ask some questions at her"

Endangered, perhaps, but hardly doomed

As we are, we are doomed. If we are to survive, we have to adapt and that changes us. We can't survive being who we are now, but to survive we have to give up something of what we are.
I just hope mistakes are enough, though.

perhaps it is your inner armor you have to work on and I can not help you there.

"That was super sweet."

We are in a far better position to restore Avatars than a week ago... We know of two possible means for certain, and a potential third if your werewolf idea has merit. All we need is to stall for time to actually make it.

"I'll need a fucking etherite space craft for that so i'm trying to think of a way to make it easier to pursue"

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Adley, Colin, Nicole, Tane and Serge] (Cabal meeting 10 in the morning Wednesday 30/9 2015)

"I am not strong in numerology in that sense, though I am sure that information would be useful in the right hands, especially in conjunction with other things like your name. Strange how we're conditioned now to just hand these things out on any old form...they even assign us a number at birth now.

"I guess you are right about that Adley we give out our name and birthrate on every form there is, and knowing what can be done with them that is a bit scary."
Bruce agreed.

Also, I will pretend I didn't hear you call my brother a brat..."

"Yeah sorry about that."
The Orphan said and he scratched his head.

"Coptic sort of looks like Greek," he said. "I can probably read it though I am not sure about the jargon. I can investigate."

"I can bring the books over to your room if you will, and thank you."
Bruce said and smiled.

"We all have our talents."

"That we do."
He agreed.

"It hurts a lot but you aren't dead and you still have to fight."

Bruce nodded at that.

"The spilling of blood was also costly to the gladiator's patrons, so there was more reason behind it than just finesse and skill. They didn't want them to die."

"True the gladiators was after all highly trained and expensive the old roman Bastards would not want their investments to just die."
Your Cabalmate agreed and nodded.

"Well, maybe Next time we can organize a more relaxed gathering and meet properly. It'd be nice" Tane proposed to her and more So, to the group at large.

"Well this is pretty relaxed actually Mr Karyak we are just sitting around and talking."
Bruce commented.

"In that case, although I need to confirmate, it's a shame. I will still see if we can mechanically filter the soul's corruption."

"There would not be anything to filter, it is like talking about filtering the rabbit out of a rabbit, an Fallen Avatar is changed it is not like with Jhor which is a lingering taint which can be removed or as you said filtered out."
The Orphan said and frowned.

As we are, we are doomed. If we are to survive, we have to adapt and that changes us. We can't survive being who we are now, but to survive we have to give up something of what we are.
I just hope mistakes are enough, though.

"Hum...I can not really say I get what you are taling about here Mr Karyak, in what ways are you claiming we need to change?"
Bruce said skeptically.

"I'll need a fucking etherite space craft for that so i'm trying to think of a way to make it easier to pursue"

"Him over there is getting lessons in Umbra ship piloting the way I understand it."
Bruce said and pointed at Colin.
"And we have gotten ourselves a Etherite now in Miss Bouchard."

[Nicole Bouchard]

[Cabal Meeting]

Tane's Post:

'Yes, that would be nice.' the large woman replied. 'Well, better be off...' Unless stopped by anything, she'll move to the door, the last view being her large behind encased in the form-fitting semi-leggings...

[Leaves Scene?]

[Serge's Adventure]

Serge's Post:

'They're not real 'cos that what happens there changes nothing out here.' Nicole replied, gesturing to the street in general. 'Unless you'd like the Union to continuing to hassle everyone.'

Serge's Post:

'Yes... but very unlikely. Like betting that a toss of a coin will end up not heads or tails.' starting to walk down the sidewalk.

[Warpmind]

[Steelhaven Hall, Monday September 28th]

"That is interesting."
Anna said and nodded.
"And there is allot of orange threes there?"

Colin nodded, "I would think so - Israel is a major orange producer, I believe."

Captain Welder listened to what you had to say then she nodded.
"So you said I was this person you call Sister Bernadette, a Chorister then I assume since she enjoyed singing? And the young Miss you said where named Luis DuMonte...where you a part of this group Mr Wainwright? Since you think we need to gather the reincarnations of the nine."
She asked and glanced over at you from her bed.

He smiled sadly, speaking softly, "I was indeed a member... I was, in fact, the leader, Heylel Teomim, who had our two Avatars torn to shreds. It took five centuries to rebuild an Avatar from the scraps, this time without that part that would become Moloch. But I greatly fear that Moloch-part has also come about in this age as part of something else... the Union's Computer. But that battle will come soon enough; right now, all I can do is beg your forgiveness for the betrayal so long ago. I swear upon my power, that part of history will not repeat itself."

[Cabal Meeting, 10 AM, Wednesday September 30th]

"In that case, although I need to confirmate, it's a shame. I will still see if we can mechanically filter the soul's corruption."

He nodded, "It's not necessarily forever, but Newton's first law could be applied - an Avatar will remain in its current state until and unless acted on by an outside force. An Avatar in its right state can be made to Fall, and a Fallen Avatar can be restored, but it cannot do so entirely on its own."

"I am not happy about it Colin, but I will trust you."
Bruce said and frowned.

"I do not particularly favor being kept in the dark for my own good like a child Colin but like I said I am not going to pry."
The large Orphan said and frowned.

He nodded, "Likewise."

"Ah, alright then, just let me know if I can do something to help, then"

He nodded, "Certainly."

"Yeah I have seen her brought down a corridor, poor woman."
Bruce muttered and shuddered.
"Well a Nephandus without an Avatar could still be working for the Nephandi that is Nephandus enough for me."

He frowned, "Hypothetically, I suppose... They do have Linear Magi as Pawns, true enough, but a former Nephandus... I'm not so sure..."

He frowned. He'd known about this already but was still extremely displeased.

Bruce looked at you and blinked then he shook his head.
"Shit Colin you can't put this at Bee's feet, you know she would fight, if she is able to there is no way she would run an hide when the Chantry is in danger."
He said and shook his head.
"We have to make sure we get reinforcements and that when this battle comes it do not go the same way and someone have to fight at Beatrice's side so that she is protected! The future be damned we are not loosing her now!"

He shook his head, "I am not going to tell her now, before she's recovered a fair bit. But i am not going to deprive her of agency when the time comes; I've already got a few promises of reinforcements, and will be exchanging personal favours if necessary to secure more - and I am going to assume she will want to fight, but that does not mean I accept her death as inevitable. We have the advantage of knowing she'll be at risk of death - and that means we can do more to protect her in particular; I've already denied death several times over, for Anna, for Rodger Tasselwell, for the whole bloody group that retrieved Liv Bergen from the vampire's apartment in Chicago; I am not going to simply roll over and let Bee die, either."

"So we"all reach that point so soon? But wait, this will be a battlecruiser captain with only 20 years? And he will be with the Union?

I'd appreciate more insight over how you'll have it harder and how acurate or true your visions are"

He shook his head, "No, that battle will be an attack by the Nephandi. The Battlecruiser's captain will probably be an adult, but the Handler will be a mere teenager, if we are unable to change that particular part of the timeline. As for how accurate my visions are - so far, 100% up to the point where I act on the information to change the outcome. That vision informed me of Chief Morgan's newly inherited Umbral Shuttle before the Mercere who brought the message arrived, and there have been other visions that have either been ensured or prevented. The most recent saved the lives of my daughter and Mr. Tasselwell, and ensured the capture of our would-be assassins, plus it saved the life of Captain Welder."

Bruce just scowled darkly at this then he sigh.
"So it might be ways to help Bee and the Chief's brat?"
He asked.

He nodded, "No hypothetical about it; it IS possible. The question is whether we succeed or not, but it has been done, and it will be done again. Anna visited from a future point where she had restored her Avatar, and brought munitions for the battle."

Bruce nodded at this.
"Perhaps we can get the space cadets on our side sooner or later they are often more friendly towards us than other Technocrats."

He smiled, "That would be a highly fortuitous alliance, not just for the Umbral superiority we would attain."

"Yeah you said so, shit, well I am glad you are not as injured as Bee or worse."
Bruce said and frowned.

He smiled wryly, "Thank you... Between an attempted Gilgul and a dip in a Caul, my Avatar has been manhandled enough for several lifetimes..."

"I might have to read the book sooner or later Colin...hum....still betrayal is betrayal."
The large man muttered.

He nodded, "Betrayal is betrayal, but it was necessary, however regrettable..."

"You know, things were different back when Guernicus made that spell, I'm not even sure it is the same one, due to the fact the application of it is now different. Back then, people had wellsprings, and they did not commune with their avatars as they do today. It was only hrm...let me see," he thought about Erjne and the time period that he was in, "in medieval times that such a thing started to happen, and no one seems to know why. But I do agree that there has been a dearth of recent research, perhaps someone knows more than we think, but for now it seems they've settled on one...way to deal with them. I am very curious about Lady Dalisse's knowledge, amicus..."

"Actually some of the texts I inherited from my grandfather spoke about that, our ancestor a artificer from before the Order of Reason was formed spoke of his Fount."
Bruce commented. You could remember Ernje's Gift, his Fount and how that felt, to him, up until his last glorious moment it had just been the source of his magick and nothing more. Back then though Gilgul where not performed so much to stop corruption it was just a severe punishment as most mages would rather die than loose their magick and become mundanes and it was a much simpler rote that probably did not do the same as the one today do.

He frowned, "Originally, Guernicus' spell severed the connection; Lady Dalisse knows this intimately - she was one of Guernicus' original test subjects, back in the Schism War... her Fount was severed, but she managed to escape a little while later when he returned as a badly scarred Avatar, a hoary old man with a strong Primordial bent. She revealed him to me; quite the imposing figure... and yes, Lady Dalisse's knowledge of Avatars would be well worth inquiring about, but that's going to be a little... difficult."

"You warm my heart with that knowledge, Colin. Could you help me find this Lady Dalisse? I'd like to ask some questions at her"

He looked at Tane with a blank expression for a few seconds, then smiled wryly, "I will admit, there have been a few moments where I've entertained the idea of sending you careening off into the Deep Umbra on your own, but... I'm afraid Lady Dalisse's legal status is in a bit of limbo right now, so consulting with her before the Quaesitors have fully debated whether contact is legal or not might be... a bit of a gamble. Plus, I don't think either of us would be able to navigate the Deep Umbra on our own, an adequate ship or not - but yes, I do know how to contact her. It's just not entirely safe to do so, nor reliably quick."

As we are, we are doomed. If we are to survive, we have to adapt and that changes us. We can't survive being who we are now, but to survive we have to give up something of what we are.
I just hope mistakes are enough, though.

He arched an eyebrow, "How right you are..."

"I'll need a fucking etherite space craft for that so i'm trying to think of a way to make it easier to pursue"

He frowned, "Well, that's oddly fortuitous - I do have access to one such Deep Umbra research vessel, however, flying her is contingent on my being able to cleanse her of the corruption that permeates the entire ship after it accidentally wound up in the Caul dimension... that's going to take a while to accomplish, if it can at all be done, but at that point, I suppose you could be added to the crew roster for a small such detour."

"I mean also if you enhance your senses to see energies and such and just walk around a mall or something there is so many you see a bit of magick in, I think we might be more numerous than many think it only that most never end up joining a faction or developing their abilities past always being soothing and healing when they tend to their sick family members or always knowing what to cook to put their household in a good mood."
Bruce commented.

He nodded, glancing at Adley, "It seems that a little extra vigilance would be in a class of its own..."

"I think he worked some when he had his ranking test to become acknowledged as a Master of the Art."
Bruce agreed.

He nodded, "So he did."

"Yeah it at times hurt more than actually being shot, I took a bullet to the thigh once, shattered the bone, Master Nassa fixed me up good as new, but the thing is that it did not hurt, one moment I was standing there and then I was on the ground feeling sick and I could not feel my leg at all."
Bruce said and frowned.
"Well in either case my armor spread the impact out a bit more than than causing less injury but there might still be bruising."

He smiled wryly, "Sounds like your armour would put most mundane Kevlar variants to shame, then."

"I would be most interested in that formula Colin."
Bruce said his eyes growing wider with excitement.
"Where did you hear about such a thing?"

"I am a bit curious too, though I admit that I do not understand much of what you just said."

He arched an eyebrow, "I spoke with Miss Kelly, the daughter of Dr. Kelly, about it when I borrowed the fuel tanks from her Ethership. 44 drams of highly corrosive, corrupted Quintessence. Disgusting stuff, but highly effective for taking down the defenses of the Chicago Labyrinth once wielded by someone who could do so without risk of Jhor. The good Miss Kelly has a... harness of the material, owing to a serious injury that would otherwise leave her paralyzed; with her harness, she's fully mobile."

"Yeah that would be the problem."
Bruce said and frowned.
"So I need to get more skilled."

He nodded, "Or merely more powerful. Hum, I suppose investing more time and labour into each item might make it possible to squeeze a little more out of your work, but there would be a time where you'd hit severely diminished returns..."

"There is a computer game to, pretty good actually but one of the locations look like a Labyrinth with living walls full of eyes and mouths that eat people."
Bruce said and smiled.

He frowned, "Alright, Numenera is out of the question."

He laughed. "An average mage...at any rate, one or so, but we're all so different I figured that it might apply each to us differently."

He nodded, "Your mileage may vary, indeed..."

Serge nodded at that. "Yeah. We're capable of so much yet hold ourselves back too often. Only showing our true strength when adrenaline is high and we have everything to lose."

Leaning back in his chair, Serge thought about something for a moment and said, "I wonder if I can add that to the armor. The painless part. I'm not as good at enchanting items as you guys. Hell I only learned how to do something like it two days ago. But it could be a fun thing to try."

"Painless might not be good in a fight, that might disassociate you from what is happening but a way to reduce pain so it do not disturb concentration and ability to move would be most useful."
Bruce agreed.

"That's true. I've been hospitalized a couple of times because of that. Not realizing what state my body was in until I passed out from dehydration or starvation that I didn't feel." Serge said as if that was a normal thing to happen to a person.

"But yeah that's what I meant. Something that makes you ignore pain so it doesn't get in the way of your concentration. You'll essentially be fighting at full strength regardless of your injuries."

He frowned, "I'd recommend not going that far. Pain dampening, yes, but not negation. That's ridiculously dangerous."

Bruce gave you a very odd look.
"Ehum...okey then, perhaps some sort of alarm to remind of you such needs would be a good idea."

He nodded, "Seconded - could be done with a self-induced mental compulsion, I think; making your subconscious ring a proverbial bell when it has been a certain number of hours since you ate or rested..."

"Someone should create a spell that causes everyone to fight by Hollywood rules." Serge said with a smile. "Wouldn't that be something? Guns firing everywhere but nobody gets hit. All cover is impenetrable. Nobody needs to reload. Explosions happening everywhere. Stuff doesn't happen unless it happens dramatically.....maybe I'm the only one who'd enjoy that."

He shook his head, "That... would not be good; that would mean only small nicks or very serious, probably fatal wounds. An all-or-nothing scenario in a fight is not something you would want. Being laid out for a couple of weeks from an injury is pretty unpleasant, true, but it's far preferable to dying."

"Now would not Wrinkle love that one kid."
Bruce said and grinned.
"I think you are missing the point of fighting Mr Yager it is not to be cool but usually for some purpose desperate enough that you are willing to kill...or die to achieve it."

"Sorry, sorry. If we're only taking about life and death combat then yeah your right. The only point is to fight desperately for what you want, ready to kill or be killed in the process. No fun and games." Serge apologized secretly thinking that he had won the argument for getting Bruce to admit there was more types of combat than just the one the Orphan had described.

He sighed, "Wrinkle, alas, would not care one bit. If any Paradox spirit were to take an interest in that, it would not be one that would be bothered with politely discussing the error of your ways."

"Now hold on there. That's one point of fighting. The most common one. But I think your wrong in saying that's the only reason people fight." Serge said glancing at Bruce. "It is not always desperation or killing to achieve a goal. Gladiators fought to entertain a crowd and even tried to win without spilling blood as that required more skill. Hell even fights between martial artists are pretty entertaining to watch and in those they are typically trying to show off their skills rather than kill each other. Same with MMA fighters. Doubt they're trying to kill each other."

"I was not talking about Martial Arts contests Mr Yager which are sports and not actual combat and off course there are many reason why someone might fight, some are thrill seekers, others might try to rob someone or they have some goal in mind, but most only fight life and death when they are desperate and gunshots and the like that you describe that is not a part of a martial arts contest."
The large Orphan said and grunted.

He frowned, "Duels and performance fights are not the same as bloody war... And most duels and tournaments frown upon using, hm, performance enhancers. "

'It can feel that way if you get in the way of the morning joggers and you're not running," he said, with a bit of a wry look. "A good amount of paranoia is probably healthy for us, but we can't afford to be so afraid that we get in our own way either. It's difficult."

He smiled wryly, "The invitation to tag along with my morning run remains open; it's a brisk way to work up an appetite for breakfast."

"We ganged up on those oil men. I think we did at least. Their was a lot of them but more of us. That fight was a while ago." Serge said trying to recall that strange fight.

He grimaced, "Ah, yes, Dr. Jace's... kitten. The less said about the man's work, the better."

"Nine different heads I was thinking, I guess they could be different colors as well but it would look neater with all of the dragon being one color and then they might have nine different colored flames."
Bruce said.

"I'll go multicolored like this crayon." Serge said pulling out one of the mystical crayon he had gotten from the Deaconess.

He arched an eyebrow, "Where in the world did you acquire such a crayon?"

"Well as Queen Victoria was actually a celebrated Master of the Art her amusement though would be important."
Bruce said and grinned.

He frowned, "Yes, well, she was also Etherite before the Etherites defected to our side..."

He chuckled at Colin's remark and then replied to Bruce first. "Related to foundation, but also taking some of the symbolism of a forge and crucible, although I suppose it would be more of a factory...I enjoy a good pun and layered meanings. Not all of us are martial, I agree with Colin, though swords are also a symbol of mental arts, the tongue is the sword of the mouth, and swords without the S are words," he said with a tired smile.

He arched an eyebrow, "So, Swords of Duct Tape and Determination? Hum, come to think of it, what's the Tarot association of Nine of Swords?"

[Nicole's apartment, 7PM Thursday, October 1st]

'I think...' brow creasing in effort '... the one where it's moving from another dimension into ours. Though the other type is a worry too.'

He nodded, then pondered, "I think perhaps Rodger Tasselwell could help you with something for that, actually; he's an Etherite Umbral pilot. Don't know if he's been fully sober since World War Two, but he flies as straight as one could hope for. I don't think I could help you much in that regard, in any case, since I can't control seeing spirits - or more to the point, I'm unable to not see them."

'I might be a dropout, but even I know there's lots of the world which ain't Europe. And those parts only had a "pretty good" time 'cos they exploited the rest for wealth. And who said "economic growth" was the be-all and end-all for human happiness? How much fucking stuff does one person need?'

He nodded, "The parts under Soviet influence were rather roughly shagged, true, and there's the whole issue with the United Fruit Company and all the bloody banana republics, but economic growth, when distributed as widely as possible, is a benefit for the whole country. Hoarding all the profits in the hands of a the one percent is not the same as economic growth. To put it in perspective, if someone profits a quarter million per year, it takes four years to become a millionaire; that same person will need four millennia to become a billionaire, so when someone has billions in their bank account, that's hoarding that's harmful to society as a whole, counter to healthy economic growth."

[Jeremy Silverstein]

[Cabal Meeting]

"No sorry kid, I do not think I have much use of that."
Bruce said and he shook his head.

"Well darn. The only thing left is me owing you a favor if you ever needed my help in the future. But since I'd do anything if you asked me, regardless of if I owed me a favor or not, that's not really that helpful." Serge said looking a bit disheartened.

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Remind me not to causally peer at your sketchbook."

"Sketchbook is fine. Just remember to not go into my room uninvited." Serge said with a grin. "Or actually please do. Please! I wanna see if it works."

'It can feel that way if you get in the way of the morning joggers and you're not running," he said, with a bit of a wry look. "A good amount of paranoia is probably healthy for us, but we can't afford to be so afraid that we get in our own way either. It's difficult."

"Yeah I know. That's the main philosophy of the Ecstatics." Serge said scratching the back of his head nervously as he remembered the many times his mentor had said those exact same words to him. "Once I get settled in I might try and hunt down an art store."

Bruce gave you a very odd look.
"Ehum...okey then, perhaps some sort of alarm to remind of you such needs would be a good idea."

He nodded, "Seconded - could be done with a self-induced mental compulsion, I think; making your subconscious ring a proverbial bell when it has been a certain number of hours since you ate or rested..."

"That easy enough to do, although my version would work differently. It's easier to do than the sensory deprivation thing in fact." Serge said. "But you guys do realize I don't have to get rid of all of your senses all together right? I can just cause you to ignore bodily pain and trauma. You can still feel hunger or thirst...they just won't distract you in the middle of battle."

He frowned, "I'd recommend not going that far. Pain dampening, yes, but not negation. That's ridiculously dangerous."

"Yeah that! I'm just making you ignore the searing pain of a bullet. Ignoring it so strongly it's like it's not even there. Sort of like injuries that only begin to hurt when you realize that you have them" Serge explained.

"That can be useful in an emergency, like you said, being injured means you aren't performing well. But the other side of it is, if you push yourself more than you should, since your pain is not there to remind you, then you could hurt yourself worse. Even die. I had to watch out for that when I used that potion and honestly, I was very lucky not to have made things very much worse than they were. If I had to have done, I would have pushed myself until I died if it meant that we got through those battles alive. I would have had little choice. I am glad that you are alright, Mr Yager that does not sound pleasant."

"Don't worry. Just a few art and netflix bingeing sessions gone a bit too far. It wan't anything too bad." Serge said reassuringly.

"Yeah that would be quite useful to put into an armor."
Bruce agreed and nodded.
"You can do this kid?"

Serge nodded. "Yeah, I should be able too. Enhancing or diminishing the senses is a specialty of the Cult of Ecstasy. I'd just need to find a way to draw on clothing. Can't say I'm used to drawing on that sort of medium though so their might be issues. Could make for a fun experiment though."

He shook his head, "That... would not be good; that would mean only small nicks or very serious, probably fatal wounds. An all-or-nothing scenario in a fight is not something you would want. Being laid out for a couple of weeks from an injury is pretty unpleasant, true, but it's far preferable to dying."

"You don't have to follow all the rules. Just the ones that benefit you." Serge said with a shrug. "Nameless mooks go down immediately. Guns seem to jam and the environment gets in the way of the bad guys to give the good guys time to escape. Good guys always win. Not all Hollywood battles are the super climatic battle against the final villain. Some are just the first act battles to show how cool and strong the protagonist is. And those typically end in a stomp for the good guys."

He arched an eyebrow, "Where in the world did you acquire such a crayon?"

"Deaconess O'Connor gave it to me. It's made with material given by a unicorn. Or it was made by the unicorn. One of those two." Serge said looking at the crayon. "It's pretty sweet. Draws well. I always get a rush of inspiration and creativity whenever I use it. Although I typically save it for more...expressive drawings."

"There is no need to apologize kid."
Bruce said and sigh.
"It is perfectly fine to say something others do not agree with."

"Yeahhhh. I've been doing that a lot lately." Serge said in a tired voice.

He frowned, "Duels and performance fights are not the same as bloody war... And most duels and tournaments frown upon using, hm, performance enhancers. "

"That's the whole point though. I'm not saying their the same. I'm saying that they're all types of fighting done for different purposes, one of which is entertainment." Serge said. "And yeah I wish they did allow drugs. It'd be cool to see what the human body could do when freed from it's limitations."

[Serge's Adventure]

'They're not real 'cos that what happens there changes nothing out here.' Nicole replied, gesturing to the street in general. 'Unless you'd like the Union to continuing to hassle everyone.'

"Hey!" Serge said sounding annoyed. "That's a bit closed-minded of you. Everything is connected no matter where you are or what your doing. The things I do there can certainly have an effect here. And the things here can have an effect there. Thoughts shape reality and then reality shapes thoughts. In an endless cycle. The thing is that everyone's doing. So any one change doesn't last too long."

'Yes... but very unlikely. Like betting that a toss of a coin will end up not heads or tails.' starting to walk down the sidewalk.

"Yeah but unlikely is pretty commonplace for us. Our whole situation was quite unlikely. I'd take that coin bet. If this were a tv show I'd win it for sure. Mostly due to the fact that you said it's unlikely. " Serge said with a mischievous grin as he walked alongside Nicole down the sidewalk.

(OOC: As a completely off topic question for Anja, would a month be enough time for Serge to master the next level of Entropy?)

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Adley, Colin, Nicole, Tane and Serge] (Cabal meeting 10 in the morning Wednesday 30/9 2015)

He nodded, "Likewise."

Bruce just nodded at that.

He frowned, "Hypothetically, I suppose... They do have Linear Magi as Pawns, true enough, but a former Nephandus... I'm not so sure..."

"Perhaps not, we are however getting far off topic."
The other Orphan stated.

He shook his head, "I am not going to tell her now, before she's recovered a fair bit. But i am not going to deprive her of agency when the time comes; I've already got a few promises of reinforcements, and will be exchanging personal favours if necessary to secure more - and I am going to assume she will want to fight, but that does not mean I accept her death as inevitable. We have the advantage of knowing she'll be at risk of death - and that means we can do more to protect her in particular; I've already denied death several times over, for Anna, for Rodger Tasselwell, for the whole bloody group that retrieved Liv Bergen from the vampire's apartment in Chicago; I am not going to simply roll over and let Bee die, either."

"Good after all she have been through Bee deserve better than to be killed by the Union."
Bruce said and frowned.
"We are going to protect her."

He nodded, "No hypothetical about it; it IS possible. The question is whether we succeed or not, but it has been done, and it will be done again. Anna visited from a future point where she had restored her Avatar, and brought munitions for the battle."

"Your time travel escapades are giving me a headache Colin but hum...if you say so I will accept it as possible, the question then is how do we accomplish it?"
The artificer asked.

He smiled, "That would be a highly fortuitous alliance, not just for the Umbral superiority we would attain."

"Agreed, the question again is how do we do that?"
Bruce said and frowned.

He smiled wryly, "Thank you... Between an attempted Gilgul and a dip in a Caul, my Avatar has been manhandled enough for several lifetimes..."

You felt a humph from Mia as Bruce nodded.
"Let us try to avoid a repeat of that, how are you feeling by the way are you okey?"

He nodded, "Betrayal is betrayal, but it was necessary, however regrettable..."

"Perhaps so, but there have to have been other ways Teomim could have gone about it."
Bruce protested.

He frowned, "Originally, Guernicus' spell severed the connection; Lady Dalisse knows this intimately - she was one of Guernicus' original test subjects, back in the Schism War... her Fount was severed, but she managed to escape a little while later when he returned as a badly scarred Avatar, a hoary old man with a strong Primordial bent. She revealed him to me; quite the imposing figure... and yes, Lady Dalisse's knowledge of Avatars would be well worth inquiring about, but that's going to be a little... difficult."

"Poor woman, being a test subject can not have been fun."
Bruce said and frowned.
"This is the Handler of the Nephandi ship you told us about?"

He smiled wryly, "Sounds like your armour would put most mundane Kevlar variants to shame, then."

Bruce grinned a little at that.
"I would be a poor mage if I did not have a few tricks up my sleeve now would I not Colin."

He arched an eyebrow, "I spoke with Miss Kelly, the daughter of Dr. Kelly, about it when I borrowed the fuel tanks from her Ethership. 44 drams of highly corrosive, corrupted Quintessence. Disgusting stuff, but highly effective for taking down the defenses of the Chicago Labyrinth once wielded by someone who could do so without risk of Jhor. The good Miss Kelly has a... harness of the material, owing to a serious injury that would otherwise leave her paralyzed; with her harness, she's fully mobile."

"Hum...and you could wield it safely due to the rote you have been talking about Colin?"
He asked then he nodded and smiled.
"Most interesting I would love to talk with the person who made that metal and have a look at that harness."

He nodded, "Or merely more powerful. Hum, I suppose investing more time and labour into each item might make it possible to squeeze a little more out of your work, but there would be a time where you'd hit severely diminished returns..."

"I do think that right now I am more limited by a lack of understanding than a lack of power."
Bruce said.
"But I will need to improve both eventually."

He frowned, "Alright, Numenera is out of the question."

Bruce grinned at that.

He frowned, "I'd recommend not going that far. Pain dampening, yes, but not negation. That's ridiculously dangerous."

"Agreed."
The large Orphan said.

He sighed, "Wrinkle, alas, would not care one bit. If any Paradox spirit were to take an interest in that, it would not be one that would be bothered with politely discussing the error of your ways."

"Ah...well that is even better then."
Bruce grunted.

He frowned, "Yes, well, she was also Etherite before the Etherites defected to our side..."

"Unfortunately that she was, I doubt she would have been plesant to encounter."
Bruce said and frowned.

"Well darn. The only thing left is me owing you a favor if you ever needed my help in the future. But since I'd do anything if you asked me, regardless of if I owed me a favor or not, that's not really that helpful." Serge said looking a bit disheartened.

"If it was something simpler I would do it, but such a coat takes allot fo time to create, and then there is the upkeep to keep it enchanted and the fact that I will get Paradox if you ever have to use it's effect, that is a bit much for you to feel cooler, sorry."
Bruce said.

"Yeah that! I'm just making you ignore the searing pain of a bullet. Ignoring it so strongly it's like it's not even there. Sort of like injuries that only begin to hurt when you realize that you have them" Serge explained.

"It do not work like that Mr Yager, yes metal focus and not thinking about pain can help reduce how affected you are but the reason why some wounds only hurt after a while is that the nerves are stunned and take some time to recover enough to send pain impulses to your brain."
The Orphan commented.

Serge nodded. "Yeah, I should be able too. Enhancing or diminishing the senses is a specialty of the Cult of Ecstasy. I'd just need to find a way to draw on clothing. Can't say I'm used to drawing on that sort of medium though so their might be issues. Could make for a fun experiment though."

"There are pens that you can draw on cloth with and then seal it by hot ironing it in, and then there is embroidery."
Bruce said and shrugged.

"You don't have to follow all the rules. Just the ones that benefit you." Serge said with a shrug. "Nameless mooks go down immediately. Guns seem to jam and the environment gets in the way of the bad guys to give the good guys time to escape. Good guys always win. Not all Hollywood battles are the super climatic battle against the final villain. Some are just the first act battles to show how cool and strong the protagonist is. And those typically end in a stomp for the good guys."

Bruce sat his cup down on the table with a loud bang as he gave Serge a very stern look.
"Get one thing straight kid there are NO nameless mooks in real life, every person in a fight, every single one have a name, they have dreams, hopes and usually family, when you aim your weapon at someone and take their lives their hope dies, their dreams dies and their mothers cry themselves to sleep, we are not protagonists, there are no good guys or bad guys, there are people who have goals and at times those goals crash and at time violence rise from that, but to the Union for example we are the bad guys. So no a spell to make a real life fight into a fucking movie shoot out would not be cool, do not take light on the death and suffering of the so called bad guys, fights are not dramatic, they are not cool they are gory, horrible things when you are so scared you want to piss yourself, sometime you do piss yourself, fighting others who feel the same way, an when it is over there are pain and death, that is what combat is!"
The large man said and he still glared at Serge sternly.
"Are we clear Mr Yager?"

(OOC: If he spent the entire month studying then I would allow the spend of EXP on it.)

(OOC: Ok Nicole leaves the scene.)

[Steelhaven Hall, Monday September 28th]

Colin nodded, "I would think so - Israel is a major orange producer, I believe."

Anna nodded at that.
"That is cool dad, oranges tastes good."

He smiled sadly, speaking softly, "I was indeed a member... I was, in fact, the leader, Heylel Teomim, who had our two Avatars torn to shreds. It took five centuries to rebuild an Avatar from the scraps, this time without that part that would become Moloch. But I greatly fear that Moloch-part has also come about in this age as part of something else... the Union's Computer. But that battle will come soon enough; right now, all I can do is beg your forgiveness for the betrayal so long ago. I swear upon my power, that part of history will not repeat itself."

"I have heard that the Traditions can destroy an Avatar...a terrifying concept."
Captain Welder said and frowned.
"And a sacrilege to destroy a piece of God, the manifestation of the Holy Ghost itself."
She added and her frown deepened.
"So this betrayal was done to force the hand of the Traditions to stop the person you speak of from becoming his Moloch, it sounds like it was a needed act, terrible but needed, I would forgive you but as I do not remember this Sister Bernadette past a few flashes I can not say if she would."
The Knights Templar said then she nodded.
"So you are saying this Moloch will rise again and we are tasked with finding the other reincarnations of the members of the First Cabal and stop him?"
She asked.
"It seams my Lord have led me to a most...strange path indeed but perhaps a needed one."

[Adley]

"Perhaps so, but there have to have been other ways Teomim could have gone about it."
Bruce protested.

"Oh really? How do you know? Perhaps all the other options were exhausted, and this was his last one, or the only one the thought that would actually make a difference. I'm not saying what he did was right, but what if there were no good choices and you still had to make one? Would you not make any choice, one of the ones laid out before you that you thought would probably fail, or would you make the one that affected the fewest amount of people for the most benefit you could imagine? Those situations are easy to say after the fact, well, they shouldn've done it that way...I'm sure they wished there was another way, too." He frowned, and picked at the edge of his coat, pulling off one of the loose threads.

"I guess you are right about that Adley we give out our name and birthrate on every form there is, and knowing what can be done with them that is a bit scary."
Bruce agreed.

"Thanks, Technocrats. If you think they're not using numbers to control people, you're just not paying attention. They might scoff at numerology but they use them."

"Yeah sorry about that."
The Orphan said and he scratched his head.

"I wouldn't let the Chief hear it."

"I can bring the books over to your room if you will, and thank you."
Bruce said and smiled.

"Sure," he agreed with a nod.

"So we"all reach that point so soon? But wait, this will be a battlecruiser captain with only 20 years? And he will be with the Union? I'd appreciate more insight over how you'll have it harder and how acurate or true your visions are"

He sighed. "They've been pretty accurate so far."

As we are, we are doomed. If we are to survive, we have to adapt and that changes us. We can't survive being who we are now, but to survive we have to give up something of what we are.
I just hope mistakes are enough, though.

"Hum...I can not really say I get what you are taling about here Mr Karyak, in what ways are you claiming we need to change?"
Bruce said skeptically.

"I don't know what you mean by that. The Order of Hermes has survived quite a long while and though I agree some things can benefit from some changes, there is still something good as well that we each bring to the table. It would be nice if the Technocracy would stop trying to eradicate us."

He shook his head, "I am not going to tell her now, before she's recovered a fair bit. But i am not going to deprive her of agency when the time comes; I've already got a few promises of reinforcements, and will be exchanging personal favours if necessary to secure more - and I am going to assume she will want to fight, but that does not mean I accept her death as inevitable. We have the advantage of knowing she'll be at risk of death - and that means we can do more to protect her in particular; I've already denied death several times over, for Anna, for Rodger Tasselwell, for the whole bloody group that retrieved Liv Bergen from the vampire's apartment in Chicago; I am not going to simply roll over and let Bee die, either."

"You have Colin and not all of those manipulations with time have come easily. I just...I just..." He shook his head, scowling. It was clearly hard for him to accept that just as they got started trying to help Bee, that she recovered, she'd be in battle and then quite possibly, even likely, die.

He smiled wryly, "Thank you... Between an attempted Gilgul and a dip in a Caul, my Avatar has been manhandled enough for several lifetimes..."

"Forever, preferably."

He frowned, "Originally, Guernicus' spell severed the connection; Lady Dalisse knows this intimately - she was one of Guernicus' original test subjects, back in the Schism War... her Fount was severed, but she managed to escape a little while later when he returned as a badly scarred Avatar, a hoary old man with a strong Primordial bent. She revealed him to me; quite the imposing figure... and yes, Lady Dalisse's knowledge of Avatars would be well worth inquiring about, but that's going to be a little... difficult."

He looked thoughtful and then surprised as he said that Dalisse was one of his subjects. He winced. "I see, well...that does support my thoughts on the matter. It severed the connection but did not destroy here avatar, though it obviously was damaged. Even now, with the version of the spell we've seen, it breaks it into shards, some of those may survive. There was once an upper limit on magic, that fell under the realms of God...now we have developed so many ars that put that limit to the side, yet I wonder if an upper limit for us is destruction or creation of an avatar. We've learned how to break them into pieces, sever their connections to their vessels, brand them, all of this are like children hammering on the finest of creations, or cavemen painting on walls...no, I feel it's unwise to often take those measures. To cleanse one from what's happened when they go through the caul, that I think is a much more worthy investment then smudging one's highest vibration with crude scratches to show they've done wrong in their human life."

He nodded, glancing at Adley, "It seems that a little extra vigilance would be in a class of its own..."

"Yes, well...it's quite taxing and unnerving at times to go around with your senses turned up all the time. It would have spared me some surprises though...perhaps I could have acted sooner, in at least one case," he said.

He arched an eyebrow, "I spoke with Miss Kelly, the daughter of Dr. Kelly, about it when I borrowed the fuel tanks from her Ethership. 44 drams of highly corrosive, corrupted Quintessence. Disgusting stuff, but highly effective for taking down the defenses of the Chicago Labyrinth once wielded by someone who could do so without risk of Jhor. The good Miss Kelly has a... harness of the material, owing to a serious injury that would otherwise leave her paralyzed; with her harness, she's fully mobile."

"I see."

He arched an eyebrow, "So, Swords of Duct Tape and Determination? Hum, come to think of it, what's the Tarot association of Nine of Swords?"

He seemed amused at the first part and then said, "Swords are of Air and often seem to have a negative impact, like cutting away of the wheat from chafe or misfortune," he said, and consulted his phone to remind himself of the two decks he'd seen most to see if his memory was accurate. "When I was an apprentice, I studied a few decks as meditation. One had a weeping woman with swords hanging above her. In the other deck, it was known as the Lord of Despair and Cruelty. It represented the price of pride and severity without mercy but also could mean ridding oneself of a difficult burden. We're more like the nine of wands, injured from battles, but we won and are ready to fight again if we have to do so because we've not yet reached our goal." He toggled off the page. "Wands are just torches that are waiting to be lit."

"Sketchbook is fine. Just remember to not go into my room uninvited." Serge said with a grin. "Or actually please do. Please! I wanna see if it works."

"You might want to tell the Cheif that, since he's got keys to everyone's rooms in case of an emergency in there. I don't think I want to test your alarm system," he said. "I have too much to do to be passed out for several hours."

"Yeah I know. That's the main philosophy of the Ecstatics." Serge said scratching the back of his head nervously as he remembered the many times his mentor had said those exact same words to him. "Once I get settled in I might try and hunt down an art store."

"If I get some time, I can drive you there. Kyle might like to go, perhaps he will find some healthy outlet there to help him."

"Don't worry. Just a few art and netflix bingeing sessions gone a bit too far. It wan't anything too bad." Serge said reassuringly.

"You passed out from watching too much TV?" he asked, sounding incredulous.

Jeremy wrote:
"I'll go multicolored like this crayon." Serge said pulling out one of the mystical crayon he had gotten from the Deaconess.

He arched an eyebrow, "Where in the world did you acquire such a crayon?"

"Deaconess O'Connor gave it to me. It's made with material given by a unicorn. Or it was made by the unicorn. One of those two." Serge said looking at the crayon. "It's pretty sweet. Draws well. I always get a rush of inspiration and creativity whenever I use it. Although I typically save it for more...expressive drawings."

He looked over at what was in Jeremy's hand. "Very interesting. A unicorn, hrm? Well, perhaps that will help you find us some symbols."

Serge nodded. "Yeah, I should be able too. Enhancing or diminishing the senses is a specialty of the Cult of Ecstasy. I'd just need to find a way to draw on clothing. Can't say I'm used to drawing on that sort of medium though so their might be issues. Could make for a fun experiment though."

"There are pens that you can draw on cloth with and then seal it by hot ironing it in, and then there is embroidery."
Bruce said and shrugged.

"I've drawn on clothing before for minor enchantments, you might try making a patch of clothing that can be affixed to your garments on the inside of them," he suggested.

"You don't have to follow all the rules. Just the ones that benefit you." Serge said with a shrug. "Nameless mooks go down immediately. Guns seem to jam and the environment gets in the way of the bad guys to give the good guys time to escape. Good guys always win. Not all Hollywood battles are the super climatic battle against the final villain. Some are just the first act battles to show how cool and strong the protagonist is. And those typically end in a stomp for the good guys."

Bruce sat his cup down on the table with a loud bang as he gave Serge a very stern look.
"Get one thing straight kid there are NO nameless mooks in real life, every person in a fight, every single one have a name, they have dreams, hopes and usually family, when you aim your weapon at someone and take their lives their hope dies, their dreams dies and their mothers cry themselves to sleep, we are not protagonists, there are no good guys or bad guys, there are people who have goals and at times those goals crash and at time violence rise from that, but to the Union for example we are the bad guys. So no a spell to make a real life fight into a fucking movie shoot out would not be cool, do not take light on the death and suffering of the so called bad guys, fights are not dramatic, they are not cool they are gory, horrible things when you are so scared you want to piss yourself, sometime you do piss yourself, fighting others who feel the same way, an when it is over there are pain and death, that is what combat is!"
The large man said and he still glared at Serge sternly.
"Are we clear Mr Yager?"

"It's very hard to compare movie violence with what really happens and those who have experienced the latter...well, I suppose we know too well that sometimes we're alive because we were lucky, not because we were 'the good guys.' I fight and know that thankfully, other people I care about don't have to go through that."

[Warpmind]

[Steelhaven Hall, Monday September 28th]

"I have heard that the Traditions can destroy an Avatar...a terrifying concept."
Captain Welder said and frowned.
"And a sacrilege to destroy a piece of God, the manifestation of the Holy Ghost itself."
She added and her frown deepened.
"So this betrayal was done to force the hand of the Traditions to stop the person you speak of from becoming his Moloch, it sounds like it was a needed act, terrible but needed, I would forgive you but as I do not remember this Sister Bernadette past a few flashes I can not say if she would."
The Knights Templar said then she nodded.
"So you are saying this Moloch will rise again and we are tasked with finding the other reincarnations of the members of the First Cabal and stop him?"
She asked.
"It seams my Lord have led me to a most...strange path indeed but perhaps a needed one."

Colin nodded, "I will not falsely claim to agree with your definition of an Avatar... but I do agree with your opinion on harming one. Even a Fallen Avatar can be restored to its proper state in the Light; destroying it is in almost every case a disservice to us all..."
He smiled thinly, extending his hand, "A strange path indeed; that does sound like Bernadette... I pray that, if and when you remember more, you will not judge me harshly in this life for what had to be done in the previous. And... if you like, there are more familiar souls I would like to introduce you to, once you are up and running, whose paths crossed ours back then."

[Cabal Meeting, 10 AM, Wednesday September 30th]

"Perhaps not, we are however getting far off topic."
The other Orphan stated.

He smiled wryly, "So we are..."

"Sketchbook is fine. Just remember to not go into my room uninvited." Serge said with a grin. "Or actually please do. Please! I wanna see if it works."

"You might want to tell the Cheif that, since he's got keys to everyone's rooms in case of an emergency in there. I don't think I want to test your alarm system," he said. "I have too much to do to be passed out for several hours."

He frowned, "Seconded, the Chief needs to know... Searching Mr. Bergen's room for traps was unnerving enough, what with the lethality of the wards there, but yours... I expect you've got some nasty mental trickery that would get me lost for hours."

"Good after all she have been through Bee deserve better than to be killed by the Union."
Bruce said and frowned.
"We are going to protect her."

He nodded, "So we are."

"Your time travel escapades are giving me a headache Colin but hum...if you say so I will accept it as possible, the question then is how do we accomplish it?"
The artificer asked.

He smiled wryly, "The Union will make a surprise attack. We will completely bugger that up by being prepared; we know the day, I can possibly get a little more information about their attack plan, but the important thing is to get additional support here in time."

"You have Colin and not all of those manipulations with time have come easily. I just...I just..." He shook his head, scowling. It was clearly hard for him to accept that just as they got started trying to help Bee, that she recovered, she'd be in battle and then quite possibly, even likely, die.

He nodded, "I know, Adley... I know exactly. There's always a price to pay, and this one... I may have to pay in twenty years. Hopefully, that day can still be saved, too..."

"Agreed, the question again is how do we do that?"
Bruce said and frowned.

He smiled wryly, "Diplomacy and patience, I'm afraid. The Union may well be souring the waters for the Engineers, but after what happened to the Adepts, there may be some... reluctance to part ways with the Union all the same."

You felt a humph from Mia as Bruce nodded.
"Let us try to avoid a repeat of that, how are you feeling by the way are you okey?"

"Forever, preferably."

He smiled wryly and patted his chest absentmindedly, "I'm... fine, much as can be. She's a little displeased with my calling her 'manhandled', it appears... And yes, forever is a good amount of time."

"Perhaps so, but there have to have been other ways Teomim could have gone about it."
Bruce protested.

"Oh really? How do you know? Perhaps all the other options were exhausted, and this was his last one, or the only one the thought that would actually make a difference. I'm not saying what he did was right, but what if there were no good choices and you still had to make one? Would you not make any choice, one of the ones laid out before you that you thought would probably fail, or would you make the one that affected the fewest amount of people for the most benefit you could imagine? Those situations are easy to say after the fact, well, they shouldn've done it that way...I'm sure they wished there was another way, too." He frowned, and picked at the edge of his coat, pulling off one of the loose threads.

He frowned, shaking his head, "There were no other ways, outside of Falling - Teomim's Avatars had to be torn apart, lest they become Moloch. That path had to be completely blocked, and to ensure Gilgul, striking a balance between severe enough, and not so severe as to tear the Traditions apart was... difficult. Again, Salonikas' prophecy is quite enlightening on the subject... But, this was 545 years ago; we'd best concentrate on the present and the future, rather than debate what-might-have-beens in the Renaissance."

"Yeah I know. That's the main philosophy of the Ecstatics." Serge said scratching the back of his head nervously as he remembered the many times his mentor had said those exact same words to him. "Once I get settled in I might try and hunt down an art store."

"If I get some time, I can drive you there. Kyle might like to go, perhaps he will find some healthy outlet there to help him."

He arched an eyebrow, "There's a small, cozy store some four blocks down from here - Beatrice sent me there for some new paintbrushes a while ago; the shop is too small to carry a very wide range of stock at any given time, but they do take special orders and are able to deliver in a timely manner and at tolerable prices. As for Kyle, he does play Magic: The Gathering; he'll end up teaching Anna. And, of course, he's fond of his video games."

"Poor woman, being a test subject can not have been fun."
Bruce said and frowned.
"This is the Handler of the Nephandi ship you told us about?"

He looked thoughtful and then surprised as he said that Dalisse was one of his subjects. He winced. "I see, well...that does support my thoughts on the matter. It severed the connection but did not destroy here avatar, though it obviously was damaged. Even now, with the version of the spell we've seen, it breaks it into shards, some of those may survive. There was once an upper limit on magic, that fell under the realms of God...now we have developed so many ars that put that limit to the side, yet I wonder if an upper limit for us is destruction or creation of an avatar. We've learned how to break them into pieces, sever their connections to their vessels, brand them, all of this are like children hammering on the finest of creations, or cavemen painting on walls...no, I feel it's unwise to often take those measures. To cleanse one from what's happened when they go through the caul, that I think is a much more worthy investment then smudging one's highest vibration with crude scratches to show they've done wrong in their human life."

He nodded, "Indeed, Lady Dalisse, once of the Order of Hermes, and House Diedne... and the early experiments she suffered were not yet refined enough for a permanent severance. As for an upper limit... perhaps we will see if there truly is one..."

"Hum...and you could wield it safely due to the rote you have been talking about Colin?"
He asked then he nodded and smiled.
"Most interesting I would love to talk with the person who made that metal and have a look at that harness."

He nodded, then frowned, "The rote works perfectly, and I'm sure I could arrange a meeting with Miss Kelly. Dr. Kelly, though, is... not likely to be available; he's been in a Jhor-induced coma since his ship emerged from... well... have you ever seen the movie Event Horizon? That's pretty much what happened to the Mary's Seraphina..."

"Yes, well...it's quite taxing and unnerving at times to go around with your senses turned up all the time. It would have spared me some surprises though...perhaps I could have acted sooner, in at least one case," he said.

He nodded, "A small amount of vigilance when you see a new crowd for the first time might be advised, yes... How is she doing now, by the way, do you know?"

He seemed amused at the first part and then said, "Swords are of Air and often seem to have a negative impact, like cutting away of the wheat from chafe or misfortune," he said, and consulted his phone to remind himself of the two decks he'd seen most to see if his memory was accurate. "When I was an apprentice, I studied a few decks as meditation. One had a weeping woman with swords hanging above her. In the other deck, it was known as the Lord of Despair and Cruelty. It represented the price of pride and severity without mercy but also could mean ridding oneself of a difficult burden. We're more like the nine of wands, injured from battles, but we won and are ready to fight again if we have to do so because we've not yet reached our goal." He toggled off the page. "Wands are just torches that are waiting to be lit."

He grimaced, "Nine of Swords is out, then... Though the Nine of Wands does sound more appropriate. Hum, there seems to be a lot of lanterns and torches popping up..."

"I do think that right now I am more limited by a lack of understanding than a lack of power."
Bruce said.
"But I will need to improve both eventually."

He nodded, "Don't we all... Hum, one thing that might help, though - my workshop is my Sanctum; that attunement to my work does help. Have you made any such enhancements to your forge, to make it truly your own place where others can only work freely by invitation?"

Serge nodded. "Yeah, I should be able too. Enhancing or diminishing the senses is a specialty of the Cult of Ecstasy. I'd just need to find a way to draw on clothing. Can't say I'm used to drawing on that sort of medium though so their might be issues. Could make for a fun experiment though."

"There are pens that you can draw on cloth with and then seal it by hot ironing it in, and then there is embroidery."
Bruce said and shrugged.

"I've drawn on clothing before for minor enchantments, you might try making a patch of clothing that can be affixed to your garments on the inside of them," he suggested.

He nodded, "A regular permanent marker should do the trick. Though you might want to consider the issue of deformation when clothes are being worn."

"You don't have to follow all the rules. Just the ones that benefit you." Serge said with a shrug. "Nameless mooks go down immediately. Guns seem to jam and the environment gets in the way of the bad guys to give the good guys time to escape. Good guys always win. Not all Hollywood battles are the super climatic battle against the final villain. Some are just the first act battles to show how cool and strong the protagonist is. And those typically end in a stomp for the good guys."

Bruce sat his cup down on the table with a loud bang as he gave Serge a very stern look.
"Get one thing straight kid there are NO nameless mooks in real life, every person in a fight, every single one have a name, they have dreams, hopes and usually family, when you aim your weapon at someone and take their lives their hope dies, their dreams dies and their mothers cry themselves to sleep, we are not protagonists, there are no good guys or bad guys, there are people who have goals and at times those goals crash and at time violence rise from that, but to the Union for example we are the bad guys. So no a spell to make a real life fight into a fucking movie shoot out would not be cool, do not take light on the death and suffering of the so called bad guys, fights are not dramatic, they are not cool they are gory, horrible things when you are so scared you want to piss yourself, sometime you do piss yourself, fighting others who feel the same way, an when it is over there are pain and death, that is what combat is!"
The large man said and he still glared at Serge sternly.
"Are we clear Mr Yager?"

"It's very hard to compare movie violence with what really happens and those who have experienced the latter...well, I suppose we know too well that sometimes we're alive because we were lucky, not because we were 'the good guys.' I fight and know that thankfully, other people I care about don't have to go through that."

He frowned, "Mr. Yager... I like that you are quite innocent in many ways, but that attitude to battle is... dangerous. I would like to invite you to draw a few battles from my memory; for example a recent fight with the Fallen up near the Verbena Life Tree in Boston. That might be unpleasant for you, but perhaps the safest way to impress upon you what a real fight is..."

"Deaconess O'Connor gave it to me. It's made with material given by a unicorn. Or it was made by the unicorn. One of those two." Serge said looking at the crayon. "It's pretty sweet. Draws well. I always get a rush of inspiration and creativity whenever I use it. Although I typically save it for more...expressive drawings."

He looked over at what was in Jeremy's hand. "Very interesting. A unicorn, hrm? Well, perhaps that will help you find us some symbols."

His eyebrows furrowed for a moment, then a flicker of hilarity crossed his face, "A unicorn... I'm almost afraid to ask what part of the unicorn it came from."

"That's the whole point though. I'm not saying their the same. I'm saying that they're all types of fighting done for different purposes, one of which is entertainment." Serge said. "And yeah I wish they did allow drugs. It'd be cool to see what the human body could do when freed from it's limitations."

He shook his head, "What the human body can do when 'freed from its limitations' is pretty much the reason why drugs are banned from athletic contests... Sure, there's a boost to performance, but the price is high, often to the extent of a shortened lifespan. There are no free lunches, as they say."

"Unfortunately that she was, I doubt she would have been plesant to encounter."
Bruce said and frowned.

He smiled wryly, "Oh, I hear tell she was quite pleasant to encounter, unless she had a reason to not be amused by you. As Traditionalists, I suppose we would give her a very good reason, though..."

[Adley]

He nodded, "I know, Adley... I know exactly. There's always a price to pay, and this one... I may have to pay in twenty years. Hopefully, that day can still be saved, too...

"I just want to protect her," he finished.

He frowned, shaking his head, "There were no other ways, outside of Falling - Teomim's Avatars had to be torn apart, lest they become Moloch. That path had to be completely blocked, and to ensure Gilgul, striking a balance between severe enough, and not so severe as to tear the Traditions apart was... difficult. Again, Salonikas' prophecy is quite enlightening on the subject... But, this was 545 years ago; we'd best concentrate on the present and the future, rather than debate what-might-have-beens in the Renaissance."

"True enough." He still looked a bit concerned though.

He arched an eyebrow, "There's a small, cozy store some four blocks down from here - Beatrice sent me there for some new paintbrushes a while ago; the shop is too small to carry a very wide range of stock at any given time, but they do take special orders and are able to deliver in a timely manner and at tolerable prices. As for Kyle, he does play Magic: The Gathering; he'll end up teaching Anna. And, of course, he's fond of his video games."

"That would be a good place to start then," he said with a nod. "I don't feel we'd need a delivery but good to know there are options. There are also lots of bigger stores around the Art university, I'm sure."

He nodded, "Indeed, Lady Dalisse, once of the Order of Hermes, and House Diedne... and the early experiments she suffered were not yet refined enough for a permanent severance. As for an upper limit... perhaps we will see if there truly is one..."

"Wait, she was a Diedne?" he said and sat up a little. "Shit. All of this stuff about avatars, and the...Schism War...is that one of the links we've been missing, the connection between the two...sort of the origin of the problem, and now it's tumbled down through history to us..."

He nodded, "A small amount of vigilance when you see a new crowd for the first time might be advised, yes... How is she doing now, by the way, do you know?"

He looked down at the table. "Not good Colin," he said. He pulled out the tablet and wrote out: 'She is in the hospital Richard works at, in a coma. I don't know if she will make it, or what problems she might face if she does make it. She was linked to her brother so strongly that when he died...I wish we would have thought about it, she told me that killing her might impact him, but I didn't see it, that it could do the same for her. I hope she will be okay in time, she did not deserve all of this bad fate.' He passed over the tablet to him.

He grimaced, "Nine of Swords is out, then... Though the Nine of Wands does sound more appropriate. Hum, there seems to be a lot of lanterns and torches popping up..."

"Indeed it has..."

[Jeremy Silverstein]

[Cabal Meeting]

"You might want to tell the Cheif that, since he's got keys to everyone's rooms in case of an emergency in there. I don't think I want to test your alarm system," he said. "I have too much to do to be passed out for several hours."

"You wouldn't pass out, you'd be mesmerized." Serge corrected. "Stood still staring at a picture, transfixed on it's never-ending nature, devoting all your focus to staring at it and trying to find an end that didn't exist."

"If you see Master Morgan anytime soon feel free to tell him. You see him a lot more than I do."

"If I get some time, I can drive you there. Kyle might like to go, perhaps he will find some healthy outlet there to help him."

He arched an eyebrow, "There's a small, cozy store some four blocks down from here - Beatrice sent me there for some new paintbrushes a while ago; the shop is too small to carry a very wide range of stock at any given time, but they do take special orders and are able to deliver in a timely manner and at tolerable prices. As for Kyle, he does play Magic: The Gathering; he'll end up teaching Anna. And, of course, he's fond of his video games."

"That would be a good place to start then," he said with a nod. "I don't feel we'd need a delivery but good to know there are options. There are also lots of bigger stores around the Art university, I'm sure."

"That could be a fun trip. I can get more pretentious art supplies and play Magic with Kyle." Serge said with a smile. "Count me in. Wouldn't mind looking around the Art University as well."

He frowned, "Seconded, the Chief needs to know... Searching Mr. Bergen's room for traps was unnerving enough, what with the lethality of the wards there, but yours... I expect you've got some nasty mental trickery that would get me lost for hours."

"I haven't finished that piece yet." Serge said with a wry grin.

"You passed out from watching too much TV?" he asked, sounding incredulous.

"Turns out after about three days your body needs water or it'll pass out from dehydration. It was either that or sleep deprivation." Serge said nonchalantly. "My magick can make me ignore sleep and all my bodily needs. So it can be easy to get carried away."

"If it was something simpler I would do it, but such a coat takes allot fo time to create, and then there is the upkeep to keep it enchanted and the fact that I will get Paradox if you ever have to use it's effect, that is a bit much for you to feel cooler, sorry."
Bruce said.

"No problem, I understand. It was wishful thinking anyways." Serge with a grin.

"It do not work like that Mr Yager, yes metal focus and not thinking about pain can help reduce how affected you are but the reason why some wounds only hurt after a while is that the nerves are stunned and take some time to recover enough to send pain impulses to your brain."
The Orphan commented.

Serge gave a Bruce an odd look before saying, "Maybe that's how it works for you. My world is a lot different."

He looked over at what was in Jeremy's hand. "Very interesting. A unicorn, hrm? Well, perhaps that will help you find us some symbols."

His eyebrows furrowed for a moment, then a flicker of hilarity crossed his face, "A unicorn... I'm almost afraid to ask what part of the unicorn it came from."

"That's what Rosa said! Why does everyone keep questioning that? Your making me worried." Serge exclaimed as he gave a nervous glance to the crayons and placed them back in his pockets.

He seemed amused at the first part and then said, "Swords are of Air and often seem to have a negative impact, like cutting away of the wheat from chafe or misfortune," he said, and consulted his phone to remind himself of the two decks he'd seen most to see if his memory was accurate. "When I was an apprentice, I studied a few decks as meditation. One had a weeping woman with swords hanging above her. In the other deck, it was known as the Lord of Despair and Cruelty. It represented the price of pride and severity without mercy but also could mean ridding oneself of a difficult burden. We're more like the nine of wands, injured from battles, but we won and are ready to fight again if we have to do so because we've not yet reached our goal." He toggled off the page. "Wands are just torches that are waiting to be lit."

He grimaced, "Nine of Swords is out, then... Though the Nine of Wands does sound more appropriate. Hum, there seems to be a lot of lanterns and torches popping up..."

"Nine Wands sounds the best. What better way to describe a group of magick user's than with the classic symbol of wizardry. Each one stylized to our liking and producing an effect symbolic of our own magick." Serge added. "Wands as torches is also cool. It's perfect for standing against the darkness if that's the motto we choose."

"There are pens that you can draw on cloth with and then seal it by hot ironing it in, and then there is embroidery."
Bruce said and shrugged.

"Those'll do." Serge said with a nod. "The pen I mean. I don't know anything about embroidery."

"I've drawn on clothing before for minor enchantments, you might try making a patch of clothing that can be affixed to your garments on the inside of them," he suggested.

He nodded, "A regular permanent marker should do the trick. Though you might want to consider the issue of deformation when clothes are being worn."

"I'd rather the drawing be on the outside of the clothing, in full display to the world. The magick would work either way but I prefer the art to be seen." Serge said. "If it's white clothing it shouldn't be too hard to draw with a permanent marker."

He shook his head, "What the human body can do when 'freed from its limitations' is pretty much the reason why drugs are banned from athletic contests... Sure, there's a boost to performance, but the price is high, often to the extent of a shortened lifespan. There are no free lunches, as they say."

"If the person is willing to deal with the consequences shouldn't they be allowed to do it?" Serge argued. "If they're properly informed of the danger and are still willing to go through with it than who are we to stop them."

Bruce sat his cup down on the table with a loud bang as he gave Serge a very stern look.
"Get one thing straight kid there are NO nameless mooks in real life, every person in a fight, every single one have a name, they have dreams, hopes and usually family, when you aim your weapon at someone and take their lives their hope dies, their dreams dies and their mothers cry themselves to sleep, we are not protagonists, there are no good guys or bad guys, there are people who have goals and at times those goals crash and at time violence rise from that, but to the Union for example we are the bad guys. So no a spell to make a real life fight into a fucking movie shoot out would not be cool, do not take light on the death and suffering of the so called bad guys, fights are not dramatic, they are not cool they are gory, horrible things when you are so scared you want to piss yourself, sometime you do piss yourself, fighting others who feel the same way, an when it is over there are pain and death, that is what combat is!"
The large man said and he still glared at Serge sternly.
"Are we clear Mr Yager?"

"It's very hard to compare movie violence with what really happens and those who have experienced the latter...well, I suppose we know too well that sometimes we're alive because we were lucky, not because we were 'the good guys.' I fight and know that thankfully, other people I care about don't have to go through that."

Serge deserved it but it still hurt to be talked down upon. He shrunk down in his seat and his face turned red with embarrassment as he glanced back down at his notepad wanting to avoid eye contact with any of his new cabal mates. "I understand sir." Serge said nervously, his pencil tapping on the notepad as Serge desperately tried to think of something to distract him from the current situation.

He frowned, "Mr. Yager... I like that you are quite innocent in many ways, but that attitude to battle is... dangerous. I would like to invite you to draw a few battles from my memory; for example a recent fight with the Fallen up near the Verbena Life Tree in Boston. That might be unpleasant for you, but perhaps the safest way to impress upon you what a real fight is..."

Serge was looking at his notepad but still spoke, this time in a timid voice unlike his cheerful one moments before. "The last time I saw someone going through your memory it didn't end well for him. Are you sure you want me to do that?"

(OOC: Yay! Now I really want Nicole to take that bet. )

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

(Talking with Captain Welder)

Colin nodded, "I will not falsely claim to agree with your definition of an Avatar... but I do agree with your opinion on harming one. Even a Fallen Avatar can be restored to its proper state in the Light; destroying it is in almost every case a disservice to us all..."

"That is where faith comes into the picture Mr Wainwright I do not think anyone knows what an Avatar is, but to me it is the Holy Spirit, it fit with the idea from the Bible that we will all do the wonders of Jesus through the Holy Ghost and what more God created man in his image, I think our Avatars are the image of God in us all, however perhaps we all can only hope to find our own personal truth for what these wondrous beings are, so my truth might not be the same as yours."
The Templar said then she gave you a confused look.
"A Fallen Avatar can be restored? I have never heard about such a thing Mr Wainwright."

He smiled thinly, extending his hand, "A strange path indeed; that does sound like Bernadette... I pray that, if and when you remember more, you will not judge me harshly in this life for what had to be done in the previous. And... if you like, there are more familiar souls I would like to introduce you to, once you are up and running, whose paths crossed ours back then."

"I would certainly like to meet these individuals Mr Wainwright."
Captain Welder said.
"And like I said I can not promise forgiveness from a woman I do not know, but if she was Christian then she would know that while we do not have to forgo on anger, forgiveness is divine."

(OOC: Sorry I will have to wait with the rest until tomorrow I am feeling a bit iffy an I do not feel like doing a hour and a half long post right now. Feel free to post amongst yourselves in the meantime.)

[Warpmind]

[Steelhaven Hall, Monday September 28th]

"That is where faith comes into the picture Mr Wainwright I do not think anyone knows what an Avatar is, but to me it is the Holy Spirit, it fit with the idea from the Bible that we will all do the wonders of Jesus through the Holy Ghost and what more God created man in his image, I think our Avatars are the image of God in us all, however perhaps we all can only hope to find our own personal truth for what these wondrous beings are, so my truth might not be the same as yours."
The Templar said then she gave you a confused look.
"A Fallen Avatar can be restored? I have never heard about such a thing Mr Wainwright."

Colin nodded, "There's a reason you haven't heard of this miracle... A political one. Suffice to say, I have seen proof... I have proof that it has been done, and can and will be done again in the future."

"I would certainly like to meet these individuals Mr Wainwright."
Captain Welder said.
"And like I said I can not promise forgiveness from a woman I do not know, but if she was Christian then she would know that while we do not have to forgo on anger, forgiveness is divine."

He nodded, "She was, and she did... as for me, I remember the pain of Teomim's sentence, and how right it was to suffer so at the end. We knew the price we had to pay then, but we never intended for the rest of the Cabal to pay so dearly, as well..."

[Cabal Meeting, 10 AM, Wednesday September 30th]

"I just want to protect her," he finished.

He smiled, "We all do. The hard part is going to be to make sure Master Nassa doesn't get himself killed while protecting Beatrice, too - his newest apprentice will need him, perhaps more than Beatrice ever has..."

"You wouldn't pass out, you'd be mesmerized." Serge corrected. "Stood still staring at a picture, transfixed on it's never-ending nature, devoting all your focus to staring at it and trying to find an end that didn't exist."

"If you see Master Morgan anytime soon feel free to tell him. You see him a lot more than I do."

"I haven't finished that piece yet." Serge said with a wry grin.

He arched an eyebrow, "I am not sure whether I should feel relieved or concerned by that statement."

"That would be a good place to start then," he said with a nod. "I don't feel we'd need a delivery but good to know there are options. There are also lots of bigger stores around the Art university, I'm sure."

He blanked for a moment, "Ah, no, I meant deliver as in deliver on the agreement, not actually delivering a package with supplies. The greatest advantage of the little shop in the neighbourhood is that they can get virtually anything, rather than being limited to standard stock."

"That could be a fun trip. I can get more pretentious art supplies and play Magic with Kyle." Serge said with a smile. "Count me in. Wouldn't mind looking around the Art University as well."

He grinned, "Well, if you go get some Magic cards, would you mind helping out with getting Anna a deck, too? Something built around that Jace character is quite up her alley."

"Wait, she was a Diedne?" he said and sat up a little. "Shit. All of this stuff about avatars, and the...Schism War...is that one of the links we've been missing, the connection between the two...sort of the origin of the problem, and now it's tumbled down through history to us..."

He nodded, "Didn't I ask you to mention her to Master Nassa? But yes, that was her; both Lady Crexia and Master Tolle recognized the name. And I have a wonderful piece of Tass from her, proving the state of her Avatar. It seems this past week has seen many old things come full circle..."

"That's what Rosa said! Why does everyone keep questioning that? Your making me worried." Serge exclaimed as he gave a nervous glance to the crayons and placed them back in his pockets.

He smiled wryly, "Well, I've been on the internet enough to know which end of the unicorn the rainbow-coloured matter usually is shown expelled from..."

"Those'll do." Serge said with a nod. "The pen I mean. I don't know anything about embroidery."

He grinned, "Well, there's a Lich coming to visit next year, she's quite good at embroidery. I'm sure she could be persuaded to show you the ropes, if you ask politely."

He looked down at the table. "Not good Colin," he said. He pulled out the tablet and wrote out: 'She is in the hospital Richard works at, in a coma. I don't know if she will make it, or what problems she might face if she does make it. She was linked to her brother so strongly that when he died...I wish we would have thought about it, she told me that killing her might impact him, but I didn't see it, that it could do the same for her. I hope she will be okay in time, she did not deserve all of this bad fate.' He passed over the tablet to him.

He frowned, "Well, then, I'm going to have to pay a visit to her, then... Hum, do you think Kyle would like to come along, as moral support? Visiting the hospital as a guest might be good for him..."

"Nine Wands sounds the best. What better way to describe a group of magick user's than with the classic symbol of wizardry. Each one stylized to our liking and producing an effect symbolic of our own magick." Serge added. "Wands as torches is also cool. It's perfect for standing against the darkness if that's the motto we choose."

He nodded, then smirked, "Now, why am I reminded of the Shawarma scene from The Avengers"

"If the person is willing to deal with the consequences shouldn't they be allowed to do it?" Serge argued. "If they're properly informed of the danger and are still willing to go through with it than who are we to stop them."

He frowned, "Because there is the expectation of fair play. People watch sports to see who is the best athlete, not to see who has the cleverest chemist. If doping was tolerated, then the Olympics would deteriorate to a chemical arms race rather than a display of physical prowess. Plus, there have been cases of people actually dying in doping scandals, whether by fighting clean against an opponent hopped up on drugs, or by suffering overdoses. Permitting doping in contests is near the height of irresponsible drug use."

Serge was looking at his notepad but still spoke, this time in a timid voice unlike his cheerful one moments before. "The last time I saw someone going through your memory it didn't end well for him. Are you sure you want me to do that?"

His expression softened into a half-smile, "The specific memory Siege found was a particularly horrific one, and incidentally one of his absolutely greatest fears... the memory I would share with you is quite graphic and unpleasant, but magnitudes less traumatic. It even includes meeting Jareth for the first time. I'm not going to pretend you'll like what you find, far from it, but it would be a safer way to teach you the harsh realities of combat than giving you a gun and throwing you into the fray. But, it's up to you. I expect you'll want to consult with Dr. Boudavich first, of course."

((OOC: Quite alright, Anja - you get your R&R, and we'll see you when you're back on your feet. ))

[Jeremy Silverstein]

He grinned, "Well, if you go get some Magic cards, would you mind helping out with getting Anna a deck, too? Something built around that Jace character is quite up her alley."

"Jace is my spirit animal. He has my favorite type of magick and we both use illusions and mind-fuckery. Forget green lantern, he's everything I want to be as a mage." Serge said with a smile. "Sure thing. Blue decks can get kinda complicated for newer players but I'm sure Anna can get a hang of it quickly enough. It'll help her learn the trickier aspects of the game."

He smiled wryly, "Well, I've been on the internet enough to know which end of the unicorn the rainbow-coloured matter usually is shown expelled from..."

"The collective minds of millions of people and that's what the internet decides." Serge said with humorous shake of his head. "Don't you guys have magick sight though? Couldn't you guys figure out what it's made out of?"

He grinned, "Well, there's a Lich coming to visit next year, she's quite good at embroidery. I'm sure she could be persuaded to show you the ropes, if you ask politely."

"Embroidery's not for me. If I were to learn another type of art it'd be either painting, animation, or digital art."

He nodded, then smirked, "Now, why am I reminded of the Shawarma scene from The Avengers"

"Ahh, the Avenger's. Earth's mightiest Cabal." Serge said with a chuckle.

He frowned, "Because there is the expectation of fair play. People watch sports to see who is the best athlete, not to see who has the cleverest chemist. If doping was tolerated, then the Olympics would deteriorate to a chemical arms race rather than a display of physical prowess. Plus, there have been cases of people actually dying in doping scandals, whether by fighting clean against an opponent hopped up on drugs, or by suffering overdoses. Permitting doping in contests is near the height of irresponsible drug use."

"The people who want to watch the best natural athlete can go watch the drug-free section of the olympics. I'm not saying replace everything with drugged up athletes. Separate the clean athletes from the ones who've let go of their limits. We can have the best of both worlds. Their can be different sections for different types of athletes." Serge replied. "I'm sure there's a fair number of people who want to watch the true extent of what human's are capable of. If it was regulated, with an age limit, doctors informing the players of what exactly they were getting into, and making sure they didn't kill themselves in the process, it could be an interesting dynamic to watch."

"Granted I never said this was a good idea. Just an interesting idea to think about. I'm not a fan of taking away a person's options just because some organization wants to control what they think is and isn't right." Serge added afterwards.

His expression softened into a half-smile, "The specific memory Siege found was a particularly horrific one, and incidentally one of his absolutely greatest fears... the memory I would share with you is quite graphic and unpleasant, but magnitudes less traumatic. It even includes meeting Jareth for the first time. I'm not going to pretend you'll like what you find, far from it, but it would be a safer way to teach you the harsh realities of combat than giving you a gun and throwing you into the fray. But, it's up to you. I expect you'll want to consult with Dr. Boudavich first, of course."

Serge thought about it for a bit, silently scribbling nonsense on his notepad in an attempt to appear as if he were drawing something. "No, I don't think that's a good idea. My mentor's in no position to be advising me. She needs her rest. Plus it would defeat the whole purpose of me doing things on my own. I've already seen stuff so traumatic it nearly consumed my mind, so I think I should be able to handle whatever you want to show me."

"That said, the point of this cabal meeting was to discuss some things and come up with a name for the cabal. I think a lesson in the horrors of war might be a bit misplaced. And also I'd rather you not have to recall an unpleasant memory just for me. Perhaps you can traumatize me another time."

(OOC: No problem Anja. Get as much rest as you need.)

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Adley, Colin, Nicole, Tane and Serge] (Cabal meeting 10 in the morning Wednesday 30/9 2015)

"Oh really? How do you know? Perhaps all the other options were exhausted, and this was his last one, or the only one the thought that would actually make a difference. I'm not saying what he did was right, but what if there were no good choices and you still had to make one? Would you not make any choice, one of the ones laid out before you that you thought would probably fail, or would you make the one that affected the fewest amount of people for the most benefit you could imagine? Those situations are easy to say after the fact, well, they shouldn've done it that way...I'm sure they wished there was another way, too." He frowned, and picked at the edge of his coat, pulling off one of the loose threads.

Bruce sigh then he nodded.
"I guess you are right Adley but still Teomim betrayed his Cabal I can not help but think there have to have been something else he could do, but perhaps you are right."

"Thanks, Technocrats. If you think they're not using numbers to control people, you're just not paying attention. They might scoff at numerology but they use them."

"Yeah I would not put it past him."
Bruce said and sigh.
"Damned Union."

"I wouldn't let the Chief hear it."

"I will try to avoid it."
The large Orphan said and grinned.
"I would not want the Chief mad at me."

"Sure," he agreed with a nod.

"Thanks Adley I will bring them over later today."

He seemed amused at the first part and then said, "Swords are of Air and often seem to have a negative impact, like cutting away of the wheat from chafe or misfortune," he said, and consulted his phone to remind himself of the two decks he'd seen most to see if his memory was accurate. "When I was an apprentice, I studied a few decks as meditation. One had a weeping woman with swords hanging above her. In the other deck, it was known as the Lord of Despair and Cruelty. It represented the price of pride and severity without mercy but also could mean ridding oneself of a difficult burden. We're more like the nine of wands, injured from battles, but we won and are ready to fight again if we have to do so because we've not yet reached our goal." He toggled off the page. "Wands are just torches that are waiting to be lit."

"Would you like me to light your wand for your Adley since wands are torches wanting to be lit?"
Bruce joked then he nodded.
"Let us not go for nine swords then, nine wands through might work."
He commented.

He nodded, "So we are."

Bruce nodded solemnly at that.

He smiled wryly, "The Union will make a surprise attack. We will completely bugger that up by being prepared; we know the day, I can possibly get a little more information about their attack plan, but the important thing is to get additional support here in time."

"Agreed, at least now we know they are coming, ad we will be waiting for them."
Bruce said then he looked at Serge.
"Perhaps you get to try out your security system after all kid."

He smiled wryly, "Diplomacy and patience, I'm afraid. The Union may well be souring the waters for the Engineers, but after what happened to the Adepts, there may be some... reluctance to part ways with the Union all the same."

"Yeah...Jon told me that 800 Adepts left the Union but by the time the accepted Dr Spence's amnesty, there where only 200 of them left, and even now the Technocracy is cruller towards the Adepts then towards any other mage."
Bruce said and frowned.
"That is bound to give the Void Engineers pause, after all in the position they are in they are protected even if they might not agree with everything the Union do, it is hard to give that up."

He smiled wryly and patted his chest absentmindedly, "I'm... fine, much as can be. She's a little displeased with my calling her 'manhandled', it appears... And yes, forever is a good amount of time."

"She is a lady Colin and she have her ideas of how she should be spoken to."
Bruce said sounding amused.
"I hope she will stay safe though."

He frowned, shaking his head, "There were no other ways, outside of Falling - Teomim's Avatars had to be torn apart, lest they become Moloch. That path had to be completely blocked, and to ensure Gilgul, striking a balance between severe enough, and not so severe as to tear the Traditions apart was... difficult. Again, Salonikas' prophecy is quite enlightening on the subject... But, this was 545 years ago; we'd best concentrate on the present and the future, rather than debate what-might-have-beens in the Renaissance."

"Yeah you are probably right, we need to stay in the here and now and while we are also nine it is not like what happened to the First Cabal do not matter much to our situation."
The large Orphan agreed.

He nodded, then frowned, "The rote works perfectly, and I'm sure I could arrange a meeting with Miss Kelly. Dr. Kelly, though, is... not likely to be available; he's been in a Jhor-induced coma since his ship emerged from... well... have you ever seen the movie Event Horizon? That's pretty much what happened to the Mary's Seraphina..."

"I have seen that movie yes and ouch!"
Bruce said and frowned.
"I would like to talk iwth Miss Kelly anyway this material you speak about is exiting."
He said and the other Orphan did indeed sound exited about it.

He nodded, "Don't we all... Hum, one thing that might help, though - my workshop is my Sanctum; that attunement to my work does help. Have you made any such enhancements to your forge, to make it truly your own place where others can only work freely by invitation?"

"No not at the forge since there is every chance that eventually it will be siezed by the police, but I have done so at my grandfather's workshop at my parents house."
Bruce said.
"So it is just a forge and you are free to use it as you please, I can bring you out there but like I said we might want to also bring Miss Bouchard."

He smiled wryly, "Oh, I hear tell she was quite pleasant to encounter, unless she had a reason to not be amused by you. As Traditionalists, I suppose we would give her a very good reason, though..."

"The woman cleaned out a Labyrinth in London single handedly at one time when they had kidnapped one of her grandchildren, she kicked ass an we would at the time be her enemies so no I doubt she would be amuse at us."
Bruce said and grinned.

"I just want to protect her," he finished.

"We all just want to protect her."
Bruce said and frowned.

"Turns out after about three days your body needs water or it'll pass out from dehydration. It was either that or sleep deprivation." Serge said nonchalantly. "My magick can make me ignore sleep and all my bodily needs. So it can be easy to get carried away."

"Then perhaps an alarm of some such would be a good idea...Mr Yager."
Bruce said and he gave you another look.

"No problem, I understand. It was wishful thinking anyways." Serge with a grin.

"Perhaps in the future when you have more to trade or I can make the enchantments with more ease."
Bruce said and nodded.

Serge gave a Bruce an odd look before saying, "Maybe that's how it works for you. My world is a lot different."

"Unless you are a Marauder Mr Yager or we are in some unusual reality zone basic biology still affect you."
The large Orphan said and he glanced over at the Cultist.

"Nine Wands sounds the best. What better way to describe a group of magick user's than with the classic symbol of wizardry. Each one stylized to our liking and producing an effect symbolic of our own magick." Serge added. "Wands as torches is also cool. It's perfect for standing against the darkness if that's the motto we choose."

"Indeed and they can be customized, mine can be a hammer or a wrench, yours can be a pencil Mr Yager, I have seen more than one Hermetic use one as a wand when caught without their tools."
Bruce said and nodded.

"Those'll do." Serge said with a nod. "The pen I mean. I don't know anything about embroidery."

"They have them at most hobby stores."

"If the person is willing to deal with the consequences shouldn't they be allowed to do it?" Serge argued. "If they're properly informed of the danger and are still willing to go through with it than who are we to stop them."

"I it is a person who want to do this just for teir own benefit then sure go ahead but we can not have that in organized sports."
Bruce said and frowned.

Serge deserved it but it still hurt to be talked down upon. He shrunk down in his seat and his face turned red with embarrassment as he glanced back down at his notepad wanting to avoid eye contact with any of his new cabal mates. "I understand sir." Serge said nervously, his pencil tapping on the notepad as Serge desperately tried to think of something to distract him from the current situation.

Bruce still just looked at you for a moment then he simply nodded.

He smiled, "We all do. The hard part is going to be to make sure Master Nassa doesn't get himself killed while protecting Beatrice, too - his newest apprentice will need him, perhaps more than Beatrice ever has..."

"Master Nassa is getting a new apprentice?"
Bruce asked sounding surprised.
"And no we do not want our best healer to get killed no."

"The people who want to watch the best natural athlete can go watch the drug-free section of the olympics. I'm not saying replace everything with drugged up athletes. Separate the clean athletes from the ones who've let go of their limits. We can have the best of both worlds. Their can be different sections for different types of athletes." Serge replied. "I'm sure there's a fair number of people who want to watch the true extent of what human's are capable of. If it was regulated, with an age limit, doctors informing the players of what exactly they were getting into, and making sure they didn't kill themselves in the process, it could be an interesting dynamic to watch."

"Granted I never said this was a good idea. Just an interesting idea to think about. I'm not a fan of taking away a person's options just because some organization wants to control what they think is and isn't right." Serge added afterwards.

"Well when drug assisted we are no longer talking about the extent of what human beings are cabable of Mr Yager, and yes one day transhumanism will have to be considered in sports however with the drugs we are talking about they are extreely dangerous and take allot out of the participant, shortening lives, making them more agressive and generally being negative. Now what you are not considering in this Mr Yager is that viewers like to see the most extreme sport, they want to see the best performence so it will be the drugged up athelets getting the most attention and anyone else will be pushed out of the game, this mean that young athletes will be under an extreme pressure to drug themselves in order to get anywhere."
Bruce said then he frowned deeper.
"How man women's sports teams do you know about? There are female themes for about all the sports but they o not even get a fraction of the popularity as women, even top trained women generally can not get to as impressive levels physically as a top trained man and so they are forgotten. The same will happen with non drugged athletes if drugs where allowed, it would no longer be one person choosing to use drugs in their own home which I have nothing against it would mean a young kid with a talent would be told use these drugs that might kill you or kiss that scholarship goodbye, and that is not a situation we want."
The Orphan said and shook his head.

"That said, the point of this cabal meeting was to discuss some things and come up with a name for the cabal. I think a lesson in the horrors of war might be a bit misplaced. And also I'd rather you not have to recall an unpleasant memory just for me. Perhaps you can traumatize me another time."

"We can wait until the Cabalmeeting is done Mr Yager however there have been a few times now where you have spoken about combat in ways that deeply concern me Mr Yager, we have to make sure you understand the realities beore we end up in a combat situation."
Bruce said sternly.
"For everyone's sake."

(OOC: Thanks guys it is the hormone and glandular problem I have been struggeling with, I use herbal remedies to treat it as the doctors can't sea to figure it out and the medicine work for a while and then it stop working and I need a new combination. My docor have said he is willing to treat the thyroid problem blind but that would be dangerous so I prefer to see what I can do with herbal supplements as long as possible. I should be fine in a few days.)

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

(Meeting with Captain Welder)

Colin nodded, "There's a reason you haven't heard of this miracle... A political one. Suffice to say, I have seen proof... I have proof that it has been done, and can and will be done again in the future."

"Ah politics, always far more of a corrupter than the Devil himsself, something have to be done then for that miracle to be known and the red tape cut through."
Captain Welder said and frowned.

He nodded, "She was, and she did... as for me, I remember the pain of Teomim's sentence, and how right it was to suffer so at the end. We knew the price we had to pay then, but we never intended for the rest of the Cabal to pay so dearly, as well..."

"I believe Sister Bernadette would have forgiven you Mr Wainwright and felt compassion for the suffering you have done through, I can not even imagine such a thing and I have to admit to feeling fear when thinking about it. They can nto be easy memories to carry."
The Templar said and she reached out with her hand to though your arm, you noticed that there where bandages around her wrists and up her arm, an she was shaking still weak from her torture.
"I will do what I can to help you find the reincarnations of the other members of this first Cabal Sir, however I also have a...mission here in Boston, I have orders an I can not ignore my mission, I have to complete it before I can dedicate myself to other tasks. I apologize for this but my Order have my uttmost loyalty."
She said apologetically.

[Warpmind]

[Steelhaven Hall, Monday September 28th]

"Ah politics, always far more of a corrupter than the Devil himsself, something have to be done then for that miracle to be known and the red tape cut through."
Captain Welder said and frowned.

Colin nodded, "Some say power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely... I am, like the original Satan, of a different opinion; it is not power that corrupts, but the desire for it. After all, what more could tempt a being of absolute power? Politics, though, is a scene where no-one wields unassailable, absolute power, and yet almost everyone who joins the race tries to attain that... and the rot sets in and spreads."

"I believe Sister Bernadette would have forgiven you Mr Wainwright and felt compassion for the suffering you have done through, I can not even imagine such a thing and I have to admit to feeling fear when thinking about it. They can nto be easy memories to carry."
The Templar said and she reached out with her hand to though your arm, you noticed that there where bandages around her wrists and up her arm, an she was shaking still weak from her torture.
"I will do what I can to help you find the reincarnations of the other members of this first Cabal Sir, however I also have a...mission here in Boston, I have orders an I can not ignore my mission, I have to complete it before I can dedicate myself to other tasks. I apologize for this but my Order have my uttmost loyalty."
She said apologetically.

He nodded, "I know, a judge told me so in the near future; had the assassin succeeded in taking your life, the Traditions' relationship with your Order and the Craft of Mr. Karyak would have suffered badly, and our failure to protect you would have led to... a breakdown in diplomatic channels between what could become a strong alliance. What happens now instead will depend on Mr. Karyak, and what you two conclude, I expect... He is informed that you came to see him, and I expect he will swing by as soon as it is convenient."
He smiled, "No need for an apology, Milady; I am a military war veteran - I fully understand that the mission you are on must take precedence over any other things that come along. There is yet time, in any case; time for you to recover, time to gather more intel, time to meet allies and to resolve other matters..."
He handed her a business card with his personal phone number noted on the back, "When the time comes, I may seek you out, or you can reach me either through my shop or on my personal phone number; for now, you should rest. And... thank you."


[Cabal Meeting, 10 AM, Wednesday September 30th]

Bruce sigh then he nodded.
"I guess you are right Adley but still Teomim betrayed his Cabal I can not help but think there have to have been something else he could do, but perhaps you are right."

He nodded, "There were other options. They were worse. So much worse... and they hoped to avoid the worst of the consequences for their Cabal, which, unfortunately, did not go entirely according to plan..."

"Agreed, at least now we know they are coming, ad we will be waiting for them."
Bruce said then he looked at Serge.
"Perhaps you get to try out your security system after all kid."

He grinned, "You know, that could make for some excellent preparations - some manner of hallucination trap, triggered by an Awakened individual looking at it? How many posters do you think you could put up overnight?"

"Master Nassa is getting a new apprentice?"
Bruce asked sounding surprised.
"And no we do not want our best healer to get killed no."

He nodded, "Fairly soon, too... Though I need to try to get that ritual to summon a Psychopomp translated fully first; that's probably going to help greatly... Er, it's a bit of a complicated story."

"Yeah...Jon told me that 800 Adepts left the Union but by the time the accepted Dr Spence's amnesty, there where only 200 of them left, and even now the Technocracy is cruller towards the Adepts then towards any other mage."
Bruce said and frowned.
"That is bound to give the Void Engineers pause, after all in the position they are in they are protected even if they might not agree with everything the Union do, it is hard to give that up."

He nodded, "We'll essentially just have to wait until the Union pours too much vinegar in the Engineers' coffee..."

"She is a lady Colin and she have her ideas of how she should be spoken to."
Bruce said sounding amused.
"I hope she will stay safe though."

He grinned, "She's a lady indeed; she reminds me a lot of the Lady Violet Crawley in attitude, only younger and more physically agile, if that makes sense for an ephemeral being..."

"Yeah you are probably right, we need to stay in the here and now and while we are also nine it is not like what happened to the First Cabal do not matter much to our situation."
The large Orphan agreed.

He frowned, then nodded thoughtfully.

"I have seen that movie yes and ouch!"
Bruce said and frowned.
"I would like to talk iwth Miss Kelly anyway this material you speak about is exiting."
He said and the other Orphan did indeed sound exited about it.

He nodded, "I'm sure I can bring you along some time when I go to examine the 'cursed ship' a little closer; the material is indeed intriguing, and I am curious about the formula, myself. Just be aware that the Mary's Serafina is... deeply tainted, and quite unpleasant to examine magically. Extremely so, in fact."

"No not at the forge since there is every chance that eventually it will be siezed by the police, but I have done so at my grandfather's workshop at my parents house."
Bruce said.
"So it is just a forge and you are free to use it as you please, I can bring you out there but like I said we might want to also bring Miss Bouchard."

He nodded, "Perhaps you should consider testing if you feel any tangible difference in how easy your work is between your grandfather's workshop and the, hum, public forge, then."

"Jace is my spirit animal. He has my favorite type of magick and we both use illusions and mind-fuckery. Forget green lantern, he's everything I want to be as a mage." Serge said with a smile. "Sure thing. Blue decks can get kinda complicated for newer players but I'm sure Anna can get a hang of it quickly enough. It'll help her learn the trickier aspects of the game."

He grinned, "This is where I kind of wish I actually knew something about the game. All I pretty much know is that Anna is good at not letting others cast spells, and that fireballs are red and cost one red and X mana..."

"The collective minds of millions of people and that's what the internet decides." Serge said with humorous shake of his head. "Don't you guys have magick sight though? Couldn't you guys figure out what it's made out of?"

He smiled wryly, "I suppose I could examine it... I'm just not sure either of us would want to know the answer."

"Ahh, the Avenger's. Earth's mightiest Cabal." Serge said with a chuckle.

He pondered for a moment, "Iron Man would be a Virtual Adept, I think, possibly an Etherite, Bruce Banner would be a Cultist, Black Widow, Captain America and Hawkeye would probably fit the Akashics best, Thor would... probably be a Hermetic, I think; possibly Flambeau?"

"Indeed and they can be customized, mine can be a hammer or a wrench, yours can be a pencil Mr Yager, I have seen more than one Hermetic use one as a wand when caught without their tools."
Bruce said and nodded.

He smiled thoughtfully, "I'm sure Dr. Lee would appreciate a Rod of Asclepius, mine could be a wand of metal... Adley, how does a ruler sound for you?"

"The people who want to watch the best natural athlete can go watch the drug-free section of the olympics. I'm not saying replace everything with drugged up athletes. Separate the clean athletes from the ones who've let go of their limits. We can have the best of both worlds. Their can be different sections for different types of athletes." Serge replied. "I'm sure there's a fair number of people who want to watch the true extent of what human's are capable of. If it was regulated, with an age limit, doctors informing the players of what exactly they were getting into, and making sure they didn't kill themselves in the process, it could be an interesting dynamic to watch."

"Granted I never said this was a good idea. Just an interesting idea to think about. I'm not a fan of taking away a person's options just because some organization wants to control what they think is and isn't right." Serge added afterwards.

"I it is a person who want to do this just for teir own benefit then sure go ahead but we can not have that in organized sports."
Bruce said and frowned.

"Well when drug assisted we are no longer talking about the extent of what human beings are cabable of Mr Yager, and yes one day transhumanism will have to be considered in sports however with the drugs we are talking about they are extreely dangerous and take allot out of the participant, shortening lives, making them more agressive and generally being negative. Now what you are not considering in this Mr Yager is that viewers like to see the most extreme sport, they want to see the best performence so it will be the drugged up athelets getting the most attention and anyone else will be pushed out of the game, this mean that young athletes will be under an extreme pressure to drug themselves in order to get anywhere."
Bruce said then he frowned deeper.
"How man women's sports teams do you know about? There are female themes for about all the sports but they o not even get a fraction of the popularity as women, even top trained women generally can not get to as impressive levels physically as a top trained man and so they are forgotten. The same will happen with non drugged athletes if drugs where allowed, it would no longer be one person choosing to use drugs in their own home which I have nothing against it would mean a young kid with a talent would be told use these drugs that might kill you or kiss that scholarship goodbye, and that is not a situation we want."
The Orphan said and shook his head.

He shook his head, "Human bloody nature - the ones running things would find loopholes, be deceitful and deliberately misinform their doped-up athletes if they thought they could increase profits that way. With no care for the athletes' long-term well-being."

Serge thought about it for a bit, silently scribbling nonsense on his notepad in an attempt to appear as if he were drawing something. "No, I don't think that's a good idea. My mentor's in no position to be advising me. She needs her rest. Plus it would defeat the whole purpose of me doing things on my own. I've already seen stuff so traumatic it nearly consumed my mind, so I think I should be able to handle whatever you want to show me."

"That said, the point of this cabal meeting was to discuss some things and come up with a name for the cabal. I think a lesson in the horrors of war might be a bit misplaced. And also I'd rather you not have to recall an unpleasant memory just for me. Perhaps you can traumatize me another time."

"We can wait until the Cabalmeeting is done Mr Yager however there have been a few times now where you have spoken about combat in ways that deeply concern me Mr Yager, we have to make sure you understand the realities beore we end up in a combat situation."
Bruce said sternly.
"For everyone's sake."

He smiled warmly, "Smart lad. Still, keep in mind, it's an offer, not a demand, and the memory I have in mind is hardly the harshest, or most traumatic; I want you to understand the impact of combat, not break you apart. The day you feel like resuming this train of thought, I'll be here."

"The woman cleaned out a Labyrinth in London single handedly at one time when they had kidnapped one of her grandchildren, she kicked ass an we would at the time be her enemies so no I doubt she would be amuse at us."
Bruce said and grinned.

He grinned, "I'm sure she would at least consider letting us go if we helped protect her grandchild that day... but probably best not to gamble on that, common enemy or not."

((OOC: Raptus this weekend - the int'l comics festival in town. Probably won't be online much all weekend.))

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Adley, Colin, Nicole, Tane and Serge] (Cabal meeting 10 in the morning Wednesday 30/9 2015)

He nodded, "There were other options. They were worse. So much worse... and they hoped to avoid the worst of the consequences for their Cabal, which, unfortunately, did not go entirely according to plan...

"Well if they believed their Avatar needed to be destroyed then there was always vampirism, however if they actually thought that their Cabalmates would not be killed but rather be captured, then having them captured and have the Traditions rally for a valiant rescue would have had a grater impact."
Bruce said and frowned.
"Is that how one refer to a rebis by the way as they? So Nico would be a they?"

He nodded, "Fairly soon, too... Though I need to try to get that ritual to summon a Psychopomp translated fully first; that's probably going to help greatly... Er, it's a bit of a complicated story."

"What on earth is a psycopomp?"
The Orphan said and he scratched his head.
"In either case it might be nice for Bee to get another sister."

He nodded, "We'll essentially just have to wait until the Union pours too much vinegar in the Engineers' coffee..."

"Agreed that is bound to happen sooner or later."
Bruce said and nodded.

He grinned, "She's a lady indeed; she reminds me a lot of the Lady Violet Crawley in attitude, only younger and more physically agile, if that makes sense for an ephemeral being..."

"I got a stern old artificer complete with a tower and a workshop so I guess a nice lady is not so bad."
Bruce commented sounding a bit amused.
"I am still not sure they are not just part of our brains though."

He nodded, "I'm sure I can bring you along some time when I go to examine the 'cursed ship' a little closer; the material is indeed intriguing, and I am curious about the formula, myself. Just be aware that the Mary's Serafina is... deeply tainted, and quite unpleasant to examine magically. Extremely so, in fact."

"The ship might be interesting to study, disturbing but interesting. I have to admit to being more interested in Miss Kelly's harness, if it is a version of Pimium as you say that have the strength but not the magick dampening qualities that is quite the alloy."
Bruce said and grinned.

He nodded, "Perhaps you should consider testing if you feel any tangible difference in how easy your work is between your grandfather's workshop and the, hum, public forge, then."

"There definitively are a difference between my sanctum and the forge at the junkyard."
Bruce said.
"What where you thinking about Colin?"

He pondered for a moment, "Iron Man would be a Virtual Adept, I think, possibly an Etherite, Bruce Banner would be a Cultist, Black Widow, Captain America and Hawkeye would probably fit the Akashics best, Thor would... probably be a Hermetic, I think; possibly Flambeau?"

"Yeah Flambeau is possible for Thor or perhaps even more likely Verbena Storm Wives, they are Verbena war witches that use weather magick, storms and lightening, masters of Forces, sort of the Verbena's answer to House Flambeau."
Bruce suggested.

He smiled thoughtfully, "I'm sure Dr. Lee would appreciate a Rod of Asclepius, mine could be a wand of metal... Adley, how does a ruler sound for you?"

"Adley could always have a stylus."
The large man joked and pointed at the one in the Hermetic's hand.

He shook his head, "Human bloody nature - the ones running things would find loopholes, be deceitful and deliberately misinform their doped-up athletes if they thought they could increase profits that way. With no care for the athletes' long-term well-being."

Bruce gave a sour look and nodded at that.

He grinned, "I'm sure she would at least consider letting us go if we helped protect her grandchild that day... but probably best not to gamble on that, common enemy or not."

"Saving her grandchild might have won us her favor but even so, enemy faction's Masters of the Art tend to be good to stay away from, she must have been some lady though the Etherites still speak about her, and many of her descendants over the years have developed magick and come to the Traditions, secretly off course."

(Meeting with Captain Welder)

Colin nodded, "Some say power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely... I am, like the original Satan, of a different opinion; it is not power that corrupts, but the desire for it. After all, what more could tempt a being of absolute power? Politics, though, is a scene where no-one wields unassailable, absolute power, and yet almost everyone who joins the race tries to attain that... and the rot sets in and spreads."

"You might be right about that Mr Wainwright, it is a good way to put it."
Captain Welder said with a slight smile.

He nodded, "I know, a judge told me so in the near future; had the assassin succeeded in taking your life, the Traditions' relationship with your Order and the Craft of Mr. Karyak would have suffered badly, and our failure to protect you would have led to... a breakdown in diplomatic channels between what could become a strong alliance. What happens now instead will depend on Mr. Karyak, and what you two conclude, I expect... He is informed that you came to see him, and I expect he will swing by as soon as it is convenient."

The woman nodded at that.
"I hope good relations with the Traditions can be maintained Sir, those I represent desire no conflict with the Traditions merely protection from the Technocracy and to stand against the Nephandi."
She said then she sigh.
"I am afraid I am not at liberty to discuss it at length though before I speak with Mr Karyak."

He smiled, "No need for an apology, Milady; I am a military war veteran - I fully understand that the mission you are on must take precedence over any other things that come along. There is yet time, in any case; time for you to recover, time to gather more intel, time to meet allies and to resolve other matters..."

Captain Welder smiled at that and nodded.
"Thank you Sir for your understanding and kindness."

He handed her a business card with his personal phone number noted on the back, "When the time comes, I may seek you out, or you can reach me either through my shop or on my personal phone number; for now, you should rest. And... thank you."

Captain Welder accepted the card then she nodded.
"I can give you my phone number if you have something to write on Mr Wainwright."
She said and Anna handed you a notebook with kittens on the front cover and a blue pecil with a dragon eraser from her bag.
"Here Mentor...and do we give her the cookies now?"
Anna whispered as she looked at you.

[Jeremy Silverstein]

He grinned, "This is where I kind of wish I actually knew something about the game. All I pretty much know is that Anna is good at not letting others cast spells, and that fireballs are red and cost one red and X mana..."

"Blue is the magick of countering stuff. So I'm sure Anna would love it." Serge said with a grin. "There are a lot of videos online on the game. How to play and the philosophies each color represents, both gameplay wise and personality wise. I'm sure you could learn it quickly."

"Agreed, at least now we know they are coming, ad we will be waiting for them."
Bruce said then he looked at Serge.
"Perhaps you get to try out your security system after all kid."

He grinned, "You know, that could make for some excellent preparations - some manner of hallucination trap, triggered by an Awakened individual looking at it? How many posters do you think you could put up overnight?"

"Give me some adderall and gatorade and I can put up as many as you want." Serge said with a chuckle. "Seriously though I can put up a fair bit. Especially in places where people are most likely to pass by. I can think of a few fun little things to do to those Technocrats. Those technocrats are likely to be on edge, expecting anything and everything. Which makes my job a lot easier."

"But I'd like to test the drawings before any actual threats come into contact with them. Remember I've only made them recently. I wanna make sure I understand them properly."

"Then perhaps an alarm of some such would be a good idea...Mr Yager."
Bruce said and he gave you another look.

"That was before I learned how to do those types of alarms. I'm better at controlling my binges now." Serge said ignoring the look.

"Unless you are a Marauder Mr Yager or we are in some unusual reality zone basic biology still affect you."
The large Orphan said and he glanced over at the Cultist.

"Yeah I guess. I wanna work on that problem." Serge said simply.

"Indeed and they can be customized, mine can be a hammer or a wrench, yours can be a pencil Mr Yager, I have seen more than one Hermetic use one as a wand when caught without their tools."
Bruce said and nodded.

He smiled thoughtfully, "I'm sure Dr. Lee would appreciate a Rod of Asclepius, mine could be a wand of metal... Adley, how does a ruler sound for you?"

"I'm just wondering how to arrange on the heraldry. I wanted to do a star formation but a nine pointed star but I'm not sure how good that would look. Perhaps all of their effects are casted inwards, coming together within the center?"

He smiled wryly, "I suppose I could examine it... I'm just not sure either of us would want to know the answer."

"Guess not. It would ruin the whimsical magick if we examined it like scientists." Serge said with a grin.

He pondered for a moment, "Iron Man would be a Virtual Adept, I think, possibly an Etherite, Bruce Banner would be a Cultist, Black Widow, Captain America and Hawkeye would probably fit the Akashics best, Thor would... probably be a Hermetic, I think; possibly Flambeau?"

"Ehhhh.." Serge began incredulously. "Most of those I agree with. Assuming they were a part of the traditions and not the Union that is. Iron man would be more Etherite than VA. Bruce Banner would have to be an Etherite as well though. Genius scientist who got caught in a terrible paradox backlash. It's a perfect fit." he began as he began to draw on his notepad once again producing minimalist version of each of the hero's he was describing.

"Black Widow would be Euthanatos...I think? She's an assassin and that's the Euthanatos's thing right? Captain America and Hawkeye are probably the hardest though. I guess Captain America would be in the Akashics even though that feels wrong. Orphan who volunteered for a progenitor experiment feels more accurate though. Hawkeye also has Euthanatos qualities but Akashic seems good too. Cultist maybe since I remember him learning his archery skills from the circus. Thor I just wanna say is a powerful high-ranking Umbrood from the Umbral Plane of Asgard who materializes on Earth from time to time. But if he must be a mage Hermetic is the most fitting."

"Well when drug assisted we are no longer talking about the extent of what human beings are cabable of Mr Yager, and yes one day transhumanism will have to be considered in sports however with the drugs we are talking about they are extreely dangerous and take allot out of the participant, shortening lives, making them more agressive and generally being negative. Now what you are not considering in this Mr Yager is that viewers like to see the most extreme sport, they want to see the best performence so it will be the drugged up athelets getting the most attention and anyone else will be pushed out of the game, this mean that young athletes will be under an extreme pressure to drug themselves in order to get anywhere."
Bruce said then he frowned deeper.
"How man women's sports teams do you know about? There are female themes for about all the sports but they o not even get a fraction of the popularity as women, even top trained women generally can not get to as impressive levels physically as a top trained man and so they are forgotten. The same will happen with non drugged athletes if drugs where allowed, it would no longer be one person choosing to use drugs in their own home which I have nothing against it would mean a young kid with a talent would be told use these drugs that might kill you or kiss that scholarship goodbye, and that is not a situation we want."
The Orphan said and shook his head.

He shook his head, "Human bloody nature - the ones running things would find loopholes, be deceitful and deliberately misinform their doped-up athletes if they thought they could increase profits that way. With no care for the athletes' long-term well-being."

Serge sighed sadly and said defeatedly, "Yeah your right. In a perfect world maybe but I guess it would never work in the real world. People would abuse it quite fast."

"We can wait until the Cabalmeeting is done Mr Yager however there have been a few times now where you have spoken about combat in ways that deeply concern me Mr Yager, we have to make sure you understand the realities beore we end up in a combat situation."
Bruce said sternly.
"For everyone's sake."

He smiled warmly, "Smart lad. Still, keep in mind, it's an offer, not a demand, and the memory I have in mind is hardly the harshest, or most traumatic; I want you to understand the impact of combat, not break you apart. The day you feel like resuming this train of thought, I'll be here."

"I'll definitely take up that offer one day. I want to experience everything there is to experience." Serge said quietly. "But you guys do have to remember that I've seen the horrors of war very clearly. I've seen and felt with quite vivid detail my mentor on the verge of dying. I've seen the memories of war prisoners and all the gory things they had to endure. Felt what they felt in their darkest moments. I understand the realities you guys speak about, even if at times it doesn't seem like I do."

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Adley, Colin, Nicole, Tane and Serge] (Cabal meeting 10 in the morning Wednesday 30/9 2015)

"Give me some adderall and gatorade and I can put up as many as you want." Serge said with a chuckle. "Seriously though I can put up a fair bit. Especially in places where people are most likely to pass by. I can think of a few fun little things to do to those Technocrats. Those technocrats are likely to be on edge, expecting anything and everything. Which makes my job a lot easier."

"But I'd like to test the drawings before any actual threats come into contact with them. Remember I've only made them recently. I wanna make sure I understand them properly."

"I agree the drawings have to be tested but if they work they could make our job easier if put up in strategic places and if not to many of the Technocrats have remembered to protect their minds."
Bruce said and nodded.

"That was before I learned how to do those types of alarms. I'm better at controlling my binges now." Serge said ignoring the look.

"I take it then that a watch alarm would not have worked Mr Yager?"
Bruce asked.

"Yeah I guess. I wanna work on that problem." Serge said simply.

"The problem of still having to adhere to basic biology or the problem of not being a Marauder?"
Bruce asked dryly.

"I'm just wondering how to arrange on the heraldry. I wanted to do a star formation but a nine pointed star but I'm not sure how good that would look. Perhaps all of their effects are casted inwards, coming together within the center?"

"Them pointing inwards could work."
Was all the large Orphan had to say about that.

"Guess not. It would ruin the whimsical magick if we examined it like scientists." Serge said with a grin.

"Just make sure you wash your hands after handling them kid."

Bruce joked.

"Black Widow would be Euthanatos...I think? She's an assassin and that's the Euthanatos's thing right?

"I would not let any Euthanatoi hear you speak like that kid, they are not assassins, and assassin is someone who kill for hire or kill for an organization the Euthanathos don't do that, they are guardians of the Cycle and when they kill it is just to protect it, for example if some kid would grow up to be a great man but his stepfather abuse him then the Euthanathos might decide this stepfather have to die, but they never kill for hire or for power."
Bruce said and shook his head.

I guess Captain America would be in the Akashics even though that feels wrong. Orphan who volunteered for a progenitor experiment feels more accurate though.

"Captain America would be a Progenitor, what he is are exactly what they do."
The large man said and nodded.

Hawkeye also has Euthanatos qualities but Akashic seems good too. Cultist maybe since I remember him learning his archery skills from the circus.

"The Euthanathos are not assassins as I said but Akashic might fit, he could be a custos though."

Thor I just wanna say is a powerful high-ranking Umbrood from the Umbral Plane of Asgard who materializes on Earth from time to time. But if he must be a mage Hermetic is the most fitting."

"No the Asgardians in Marvel are definitively not spirits, they come from a realm, but from another realm that he would be."

Serge sighed sadly and said defeatedly, "Yeah your right. In a perfect world maybe but I guess it would never work in the real world. People would abuse it quite fast."

"Indeed in a perfect world it world work but such a thing would be abused for profit in the world we live in."
Bruce agreed and nodded.

"But you guys do have to remember that I've seen the horrors of war very clearly. I've seen and felt with quite vivid detail my mentor on the verge of dying. I've seen the memories of war prisoners and all the gory things they had to endure. Felt what they felt in their darkest moments. I know understand realities you guys speak about, even if at times it doesn't seem like I do."

"If you do understand Mr Yager then why do you make comments like the one you just did about a spell to make real fights like movie fights and moving down your enemies like nameless mooks, such comments do not really indicate that you really understand, yes you understand that those you love can get hurt but do you for example understand that those you suggjest are nameless mooks are also someone's loved ones?"
Bruce said and he gave Serge a serious look.

[Adley]

Bruce sigh then he nodded.
"I guess you are right Adley but still Teomim betrayed his Cabal I can not help but think there have to have been something else he could do, but perhaps you are right."

"Sometimes all the options are bad ones, even if you want to make a good choice and try your best to make a good decision."

He smiled, "We all do. The hard part is going to be to make sure Master Nassa doesn't get himself killed while protecting Beatrice, too - his newest apprentice will need him, perhaps more than Beatrice ever has..."

"I suppose we have time to plan now at least."

He nodded, "Fairly soon, too... Though I need to try to get that ritual to summon a Psychopomp translated fully first; that's probably going to help greatly... Er, it's a bit of a complicated story."

"I should very much like to see that ritual."

"You wouldn't pass out, you'd be mesmerized." Serge corrected. "Stood still staring at a picture, transfixed on it's never-ending nature, devoting all your focus to staring at it and trying to find an end that didn't exist."

"That doesn't seem a very productive use of my time, either," he said. "That's quite a powerful charm, Mr Yager. I think I might prefer just passing out."[/quote]

"If you see Master Morgan anytime soon feel free to tell him. You see him a lot more than I do."

"Very well, I will then."

"That could be a fun trip. I can get more pretentious art supplies and play Magic with Kyle." Serge said with a smile. "Count me in. Wouldn't mind looking around the Art University as well."

"Alright. Why don't you see if there are any orientation tours for the campus coming up?"

He blanked for a moment, "Ah, no, I meant deliver as in deliver on the agreement, not actually delivering a package with supplies. The greatest advantage of the little shop in the neighbourhood is that they can get virtually anything, rather than being limited to standard stock."

'Oh, being literal pardon," he said, swiping a hand across his face.

He nodded, "Didn't I ask you to mention her to Master Nassa? But yes, that was her; both Lady Crexia and Master Tolle recognized the name. And I have a wonderful piece of Tass from her, proving the state of her Avatar. It seems this past week has seen many old things come full circle..."

He made a face as he recalled it and nodded. "So you did, and I did tell him, that's right...I didn't know the rest of it though. Hrm..."

"Turns out after about three days your body needs water or it'll pass out from dehydration. It was either that or sleep deprivation." Serge said nonchalantly. "My magick can make me ignore sleep and all my bodily needs. So it can be easy to get carried away."

"I see. Well, I can't say that I've never had a cram session that was a bit longer than it should have been. Still, do be careful."

Colin wrote:
His eyebrows furrowed for a moment, then a flicker of hilarity crossed his face, "A unicorn... I'm almost afraid to ask what part of the unicorn it came from."

"That's what Rosa said! Why does everyone keep questioning that? Your making me worried." Serge exclaimed as he gave a nervous glance to the crayons and placed them back in his pockets.

He smiled wryly, "Well, I've been on the internet enough to know which end of the unicorn the rainbow-coloured matter usually is shown expelled from..."

"The collective minds of millions of people and that's what the internet decides." Serge said with humorous shake of his head. "Don't you guys have magick sight though? Couldn't you guys figure out what it's made out of?"

He chuckled. "If you got that from the Deaconess, then that's something quite special. She's...a bit different than most of us, I can see why you both would get along though. I could tell you it's magickal, and possibly some of it's properties but if it is made from unicorn...something, that I might not be able to determine explicitly. Besides, perhaps in this case the mystery is yours. Rest assured though, the internet is not always true, as they say, trust but verify..." he said, sounding a little amused.

Jeremy wrote: "Ahh, the Avenger's. Earth's mightiest Cabal." Serge said with a chuckle.

The next whole section of conversation went over his head as they talked about comic book movies.

"Nine Wands sounds the best. What better way to describe a group of magick user's than with the classic symbol of wizardry. Each one stylized to our liking and producing an effect symbolic of our own magick." Serge added. "Wands as torches is also cool. It's perfect for standing against the darkness if that's the motto we choose."

"Would you like me to light your wand for your Adley since wands are torches wanting to be lit?"
Bruce joked then he nodded.
"Let us not go for nine swords then, nine wands through might work."
He commented.

"I can light my own wand, thank you...at the appropriate time," he said with a raised eyebrow.

He smiled thoughtfully, "I'm sure Dr. Lee would appreciate a Rod of Asclepius, mine could be a wand of metal... Adley, how does a ruler sound for you?"

"Adley could always have a stylus."
The large man joked and pointed at the one in the Hermetic's hand.

"A ruler? No...the double snake around a wand with wings is a sign of Hermes, the Caduceus but the single one is the rod of Aesculapius which would fit for a healer...and a stylus and pen are too close together, also. A fire wand still could work, simply enough. The hourglass of two triangles, water and fire are also my house sigil. I never thought of a personal insignia," he said, making a face. "I am curious why you thought of a ruler?" he asked Colin, curious. "I do wonder if Bee would like hers to be a tree branch..." He cleared up the tablet as his attention was drawn back to it. "Staves can have all sorts of filials, which is good to make them unique for each of us."

"I'm just wondering how to arrange on the heraldry. I wanted to do a star formation but a nine pointed star but I'm not sure how good that would look. Perhaps all of their effects are casted inwards, coming together within the center?"

"A circle is a good symbol."

"I'd rather the drawing be on the outside of the clothing, in full display to the world. The magick would work either way but I prefer the art to be seen." Serge said. "If it's white clothing it shouldn't be too hard to draw with a permanent marker."

"I suppose, having learned my arts in the occult sense, I prefer to be extremely discreet with my ars...though I doubt that many would understand the patterns nowadays anyway. Or they might just think I'm someone who likes to dress up like Harry Potter."

(Colin) frowned, "Well, then, I'm going to have to pay a visit to her, then... Hum, do you think Kyle would like to come along, as moral support? Visiting the hospital as a guest might be good for him..."

He shook his head. "Probably not, it's not the happiest place and it's under Technocracy watch I'm sure..."

Colin wrote:
He frowned, "Mr. Yager... I like that you are quite innocent in many ways, but that attitude to battle is... dangerous. I would like to invite you to draw a few battles from my memory; for example a recent fight with the Fallen up near the Verbena Life Tree in Boston. That might be unpleasant for you, but perhaps the safest way to impress upon you what a real fight is..."

Serge thought about it for a bit, silently scribbling nonsense on his notepad in an attempt to appear as if he were drawing something. "No, I don't think that's a good idea. My mentor's in no position to be advising me. She needs her rest. Plus it would defeat the whole purpose of me doing things on my own. I've already seen stuff so traumatic it nearly consumed my mind, so I think I should be able to handle whatever you want to show me. "That said, the point of this cabal meeting was to discuss some things and come up with a name for the cabal. I think a lesson in the horrors of war might be a bit misplaced. And also I'd rather you not have to recall an unpleasant memory just for me. Perhaps you can traumatize me another time."...."I'll definitely take up that offer one day. I want to experience everything there is to experience." Serge said quietly. "But you guys do have to remember that I've seen the horrors of war very clearly. I've seen and felt with quite vivid detail my mentor on the verge of dying. I've seen the memories of war prisoners and all the gory things they had to endure. Felt what they felt in their darkest moments. I know understand realities you guys speak about, even if at times it doesn't seem like I do."

"Hrm, Mr Yager would you like to learn how to actually use weapons? If nothing else, it would help your art along to know the proper forms. There are several types of groups, knives and hand to hand. I can even break out some classic shortsword forms for you. Aside from that, I think you has a point here, we've all been traumatized enough for several lifetimes. Let's stick to our meeting agenda for now."

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Adley, Colin, Nicole, Tane and Serge] (Cabal meeting 10 in the morning Wednesday 30/9 2015)

"Sometimes all the options are bad ones, even if you want to make a good choice and try your best to make a good decision."

Bruce sigh and nodded.
"I guess you are right Adley, I guess you are right but it still seam wrong."

"I can light my own wand, thank you...at the appropriate time," he said with a raised eyebrow.

Your Cabalate just grinned at you at that.

"I do wonder if Bee would like hers to be a tree branch..." He cleared up the tablet as his attention was drawn back to it. "Staves can have all sorts of filials, which is good to make them unique for each of us."

"I think she might Adley but we should probably ask her, since we are making the staves unique and symbolic of each of us."
Bruce said and nodded.
"A branch would suit her though."

I think you has a point here, we've all been traumatized enough for several lifetimes. Let's stick to our meeting agenda for now."

Bruce nodded at that.

[Nicole Bouchard]

[Nicole's Apartment]

Colin's Post:

'Yeah, he's helping me brush up on ship repair and maintenance; been some time since I was in Quebec.' Nicole commented, looking around the room for a moment, as though trying to find or remember something. 'And if you're going to fly the shuttle the Chief got, you'll need me to play Scotty. And sort out some form of weapon for it... don't like the idea of going anywhere unarmed, 'specially different dimensions.'

Colin's Post:

'You're forgetting the critical point: capitalism is a crock of shit. It ticks over by making folk want crap they don't need through propaganda, bought with money they don't have, making them all so in hock they have to slave at pointless jobs they hate to keep the repomen from the door. It's only use is that it ties folk to the machine, so hard chasing green they ignore the big issues, like what the the fuck's happening to the world.' the large woman replied fervently.

[Serge's Adventure]

Serge's Post:

'Like to cut straight to the "shaping reality", me.' flexing out her hands as though it was something she could physically touch. 'I'm a mechanic... what do you expect? All the talking-shops and general windbaggery make my feet itch. Fists too, sometimes.'

Serge's Post:

The large woman gave Serge a raised eyebrow, halting on the sidewalk. 'Okay.' She dealt with the top button of her jacket, then shoved her hand down her shirt. Before he could comment, she brought the hand out, clutching a tarnished silvery coin, considerably larger and thicker than the notoriously unpopular Sacagawea dollar. Flicking it up in the air, Nicole caught it in her gloved palm and slapped her hand over it.

'Go on. Call it.' ending with a smirk.

[I'm back. RL fire out. Yay!]

[If Nick's left the meeting, why is she still in the tag at the top?]

[What bet was that?]

[Having a discussion about female athletes without Nick is just rude *sulks*]

[Jeremy Silverstein]

"I agree the drawings have to be tested but if they work they could make our job easier if put up in strategic places and if not to many of the Technocrats have remembered to protect their minds."
Bruce said and nodded.

"God I hate mind shields so fucking much...they ruin all the fun." Serge muttered under his breath.

"I take it then that a watch alarm would not have worked Mr Yager?"
Bruce asked.

Serge just laughed at the suggestion. After a good chuckle he said, "Oh not at all. I'd barely be able to hear that. Anything less than a punch to the face probably wouldn't break me out of that trance."

"Alright. Why don't you see if there are any orientation tours for the campus coming up?"

"Sure thing. I've always wanted to see what kinds of things art students make."

"I see. Well, I can't say that I've never had a cram session that was a bit longer than it should have been. Still, do be careful."

"I will don't worry. If I died my mentor would kill me....and then Ryan." Serge assured the elder flambeau.

"The problem of still having to adhere to basic biology or the problem of not being a Marauder?"
Bruce asked dryly.

"First one." Serge said wondering how he had managed to get three people this week to worry that he was becoming a maurader.

"Just make sure you wash your hands after handling them kid." Bruce joked.

"Your all the worst." Serge said sarcastically.

"I suppose, having learned my arts in the occult sense, I prefer to be extremely discreet with my ars...though I doubt that many would understand the patterns nowadays anyway. Or they might just think I'm someone who likes to dress up like Harry Potter."

"Most of my magicks are imperceptible to anyone without enhanced senses and even then it's hard to realize I'm doing anything at all. My art also typically contains both modern and traditional symbols so it's hard for other mages to realize that it's a focus for magick. So I never really need to worry about being discrete." Serge said with an odd frown as if he wasn't fond of his invisible magick.

"Them pointing inwards could work."
Was all the large Orphan had to say about that.

"A circle is a good symbol."

"Circles are often used to represent unity. Wholeness. Protection. That's an interesting idea." Serge said thoughtfully.

"I would not let any Euthanatoi hear you speak like that kid, they are not assassins, and assassin is someone who kill for hire or kill for an organization the Euthanathos don't do that, they are guardians of the Cycle and when they kill it is just to protect it, for example if some kid would grow up to be a great man but his stepfather abuse him then the Euthanathos might decide this stepfather have to die, but they never kill for hire or for power."
Bruce said and shook his head.

"If we exclude the Men in Black then she would either be Akashic or Euthanatos." Serge said with a shrug.

"Captain America would be a Progenitor, what he is are exactly what they do."
The large man said and nodded.

"I don't know about being a progenitor. Experimented on by them, definitely. But he seems like he'd break free of their control to pursue his own principals and goals."

"The Euthanathos are not assassins as I said but Akashic might fit, he could be a custos though."

"With his accuracy? Nah. He managed to hit the engine of a massive helicarrier in a storm....without looking. Probably trained by the Technocracy but broke free to work on his own." Serge said as he thought more about who Hawkeye would belong too.

"No the Asgardians in Marvel are definitively not spirits, they come from a realm, but from another realm that he would be."

"Hermetic it is then!" Serge said with a smile.

"If you do understand Mr Yager then why do you make comments like the one you just did about a spell to make real fights like movie fights and moving down your enemies like nameless mooks, such comments do not really indicate that you really understand, yes you understand that those you love can get hurt but do you for example understand that those you suggjest are nameless mooks are also someone's loved ones?"
Bruce said and he gave Serge a serious look.

"Because I talk too much." Serge said simply. "I speak what I think without thinking and that often causes weird and sometimes bizarre things to come out of my mouth. I was just sorta joking around when I said all those things. Imagining how neat it would be if we could shape reality like that. I wasn't being serious. I try to look at the humorous things in life so it all seems less dark. Cause if I only focused on the grim harsh version of the world that I'd believe in since I was little, I'd never have been a mage."

"Hrm, Mr Yager would you like to learn how to actually use weapons? If nothing else, it would help your art along to know the proper forms. There are several types of groups, knives and hand to hand. I can even break out some classic shortsword forms for you. Aside from that, I think you has a point here, we've all been traumatized enough for several lifetimes. Let's stick to our meeting agenda for now."

"Yes! Please! I've always wanted to wield a weapon in real life since I was a kid. I could use the experience in my art." Serge said, his mood improving somewhat at the suggestion. "I wanted to ask Dr. Lee to show me some martial arts. But I don't think he has the time to show me something like that. Especially since I don't think I have the physique to properly learn it."

[Serge's Adventure]

'Like to cut straight to the "shaping reality", me.' flexing out her hands as though it was something she could physically touch. 'I'm a mechanic... what do you expect? All the talking-shops and general windbaggery make my feet itch. Fists too, sometimes.'

"I'm an artist. If I couldn't handle people talking non-stop about metaphors and symbolic meaning I would never be able to get through those pretentious art museum tours." Serge said with a chuckle.

"Speaking of Mechanic. Have you made anything cool in your time being here? Death Ray? Freeze Gun? Death Freeze Ray Gun?" he asked curiously.

The large woman gave Serge a raised eyebrow, halting on the sidewalk. 'Okay.' She dealt with the top button of her jacket, then shoved her hand down her shirt. Before he could comment, she brought the hand out, clutching a tarnished silvery coin, considerably larger and thicker than the notoriously unpopular Sacagawea dollar. Flicking it up in the air, Nicole caught it in her gloved palm and slapped her hand over it.

'Go on. Call it.' ending with a smirk.

"Well I can't guess heads or tails now can I?" Serge said with a smile and with full confidence. "So I'm just gonna say that it's neither a head nor a tail."

(OOC: It was the coin bet. Sadly I think Serge lost. But he lost with a smile .)

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