Re: Seattle, Labyrinths and New Plans IC Thread 41

[Jeremy Silverstein]

[Steelhaven Basement]

Colin smiled wryly, "That's fair. I only speculated that either she failed to emphasize the Second Protocol adequately, or you failed to pay enough attention to her lessons... I'm willing to take your word for it being the latter case. I'm sure your Mentor will be keen to hear this admission, too."

"My mentor never failed at anything. I'm the only failure." Serge said adamantly.

He frowned, "Good. You ought to thank Lady Crexia for her generosity, too. Once more, that is."

"I'll thank her again when I see her next, Sir." he said plainly.

He frowned, then sighed, "Alright, Lady Mara is probably not going to be as... unreasonable about gift exchanges as more pure-blooded Fae would be, but you had better make sure you create a wonderful Christmas gift for her, if you did not give her anything in return... and where she is concerned, I would advise you to keep a running tally of gifts exchanged with her, too - as a precaution. Even I make sure I do not owe her a gift for long, and make sure to try to stay ahead on gifts, just in case. More so after I received instruction on negotiating with the Fair Folk from... well, that's besides the point."

Serge simply signed and, deciding not to argue, said "I don't think it's that big a deal sir. She gave it to me as a piece of home that I could take with me outside. To feel the safety of friends and family no matter where I was. But regardless, I did promise to repay her one day."

He pondered for a moment, "But, I believe this slip requires a practical lesson. I'm not going to give you a punishment, but I will give you a task, as your Cabal Leader: you are to find time before New Year's to speak with every full member of the Chantry who is no longer an apprentice, and ask them what they would ask for instruction in an Initiate-rank spell, and what they would offer for the same, to a guest from another Chantry, or to a resident of another Chantry they are visiting for unrelated reasons. Then I want you to think carefully on what these prices implicate, as there will undoubtedly be quite different fees asked between Initiates and Masters."
He arched an eyebrow, "And, of course, use these guidelines to assess where you think a fair price for instruction would be when you give or receive it. Does this sound like a fair task?"

"Yes sir. It'll kill me inside but I'll try to get the task done as soon as I can." Serge said, looking quite bothered at the thought of doing such a task. After a bit of thought he realized, "Wait...dont I fall under that umbrella as well?"

[Adley]

[Basement - Ritual Room 2]

The tiny spirits fixed the floor rather quickly, scratches was not something that took to long. They all stomped their feet happily when you thanked them then the brood left the ritual room and headed out in search of anything else to fix, it was their purpose after all, you heard the tink, tink, tink of all those little crystal feet on the stone floor as they left. Harry remained for a moment, then he suddenly gave this little dance, wriggling his all but hairless but for a few moments before he rushed after the others to catch up.

Adley smiled a bit and waved his fingers at Harry, as if to say goodbye. "See you soon, friends." The ritual room cleaned, he went back upstairs towards the Security office. They still had to help the two spirit angel guardians and he wanted to see if his pater needed him to do anything.

// I don't know if you missed my reply in my previous Warp.
ooc2: feel better soon Nic
ooc3 : I've never seen a blue tarantula before cool

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Steelhaven]

Adley smiled a bit and waved his fingers at Harry, as if to say goodbye. "See you soon, friends."

Once his happy dance was done, Harry hurried after his friends to find something new to repair.

The ritual room cleaned, he went back upstairs towards the Security office. They still had to help the two spirit angel guardians and he wanted to see if his pater needed him to do anything.

You got to Jeffry's office and knocked on the door. Your Mentor opened the door, and waved you in, his phone was in his hand.
"I am trying to get us permission to go to Seattle."
He explained with a sigh that said he did not enjoy this task.
"What can I do for you mea filius."

(OOC: That species even comes in purple, I so want one but they are really expensive, aggressive and a bit more complicated to keep than the one I got, but they sure are pretty.]

[Adley]

[Steelhaven - Security Office]

You got to Jeffry's office and knocked on the door. Your Mentor opened the door, and waved you in, his phone was in his hand.
"I am trying to get us permission to go to Seattle."
He explained with a sigh that said he did not enjoy this task.
"What can I do for you mea filius."

Adley raised an eyebrow at that and nodded to him. He wrote out on the tablet: I finished assisting my amicus. I will see my other cabalmate the Cultist before we leave also, but for now he is busy. Are there new orders for me now? Is the guardian situation ok? Also my spider friends seem to be growing and are about to molt. I will make them an area in my bookshelf to do that but the imps and other spirits need to be told to leave them alone during this time.' He offered the tablet out to him so he could read and reply while apparently he was on hold. It was not a common sight, his mentor frustrated at something seemingly simple.

// my post got eaten! All that talk of hungry spooders lol

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Steelhaven]

Jeffry took the tablet and read what you had written.
"Very well, the wheels are in motion to get us ready to go after the Labyrinth."
The older Flambeau wrote, then he showed you.
"Nothing new have happened with the Guardians thus far."
He could inform you.
"Hum...molting...ah yes spiders do that it makes sense that spider spirits do the same, I hope all will go well with that."
The old war mage wrote up.
"I will talk with my imps and get them to stay away from the spider spirits also yes making them an area where they can molt in peace is a good idea."
Jeffry handed the tablet back and sigh.
"It seams to be a complicated matter to get those permissions, I have gotten into contact with a old Verbena Master who is more positive than the Etherite I spoke with first but she naturally worry about her people and whatever or not our actions will inflame things with the local vampires and put her Tribunal in danger."
Jeffry explained to your curious look.
"Which means jumping through allot of hoops on our part."

(OOC: Perhaps a spider ate your post. )

[Adley]

[Steelhaven - Security Office]

He read over the reply. 'I see; very well. Please contact me when things are more resolved as to plans. My amicus should stop by shortly. I will resume patrol, stop in at my room and gather some things we may need. Is there anything you anticipate? I assume vampires are involved so will we need stakes again and similar kit to before? How are we to get there?'

[Warpmind]

[Basement - Ritual Room 2]

"Well we can certainly not house it, the spirit is of the highest realms of the Umbra and with some of our shards we would not make a good home, however the gentler the new spirit is birthed the less harm it will do and the medicine made for our daughter can help ease the discomfort, gently coaxing the new spirit out will be far better than cutting it out or just straight up banishing it. But the Fire Angle is strong, she will withstand her ordeal, and so are our son. Unfortunately when we are in pain, or what can be called so, our host feel it as well, as a most gruesome torment it will not be pleasant, but it can be made easier."
Mia replied gently.

'Yes and my pater will assist also. We have some plans on how to hopefully will make things a bit less traumatic (also haha very funny /s). I think it would be better for it to stay where it is until the time comes. It would at best only move the pain to you. At worst it might complicate things and expose it to energies that are not good for it, no offense. Plus, it was my choice I would not wish others to suffer for something I chose. I feel bad enough my avatar will remember it but I hope she shares with me the sense of hope and reasoning that I do. I appreciate your offer of helping though I told you mostly in the event that I started acted weirder than normal. I have your back and you have mine basically.'

Colin nodded, "Mia agrees it would not be safe for the spirit to be hosted by us; however, a bit of anesthesia and gentle coaxing will be far better for you both than the ephemeral equivalent of a c-section. But she has faith in your enduring it - all three of you, as it were. It's not going to be a pleasant experience, though..."

[Steelhaven Basement]

Serge simply signed and, deciding not to argue, said "I don't think it's that big a deal sir. She gave it to me as a piece of home that I could take with me outside. To feel the safety of friends and family no matter where I was. But regardless, I did promise to repay her one day."

He nodded thoughtfully, "That's a mighty gift indeed, from someone who is part Fae - she just might have marked you as hers with that, though I would think more likely as her family than her property. That's just me hazarding a guess, mind, and asking her for clarification is probably not going to clear the question up much. I should think it is a big deal, just not one we should be overly worried about."

"Yes sir. It'll kill me inside but I'll try to get the task done as soon as I can." Serge said, looking quite bothered at the thought of doing such a task. After a bit of thought he realized, "Wait...dont I fall under that umbrella as well?"

He smiled thinly, "Good catch, but that was why I specified you should use what you get from everyone else to work out what you think you should offer or ask for yourself. On that note, I can give you a head start - as for myself, I'd start out by offering an even exchange: a spell for a spell. Failing that, a favour or practical service, preferably of a professional nature, in exchange for a much desired instruction. From me, that could be a helicopter ride over the city, or the crafting of a specialized Focus, and from others, that would depend on what their expertise would be in - for a Mercere, it might be the confidential delivery of a parcel, and for an Etherite, it might be an improved furnace for my workshop."
He leaned back, "With that said, you've learned to protect a mind... Do you think you could place three layers of memory around my mind, like an onion, that an intruder would have to expose themselves to before they could reach the, hm, chewy center?"

((OOC: Yup, I goof'd, but responded now.))

[Nicole Bouchard]

[Nicole's Apartment]

Anja's Post:

A moment's silence as Nicole tried to get her head round this. 'Well... I suppose the risk of them finding out is slim we we limited the vaccinations to only those at high risk.' giving a sigh. 'But you at least get that this could cause me quite a lot of... issues?'

[Thanks. I'm fine as long as I don't go outside, get cold or do anything strenuous. Though I think I'll be up to 90% by tomorrow.]

[I think Serge should have to ask that question IC to Adley and Nicole... *smirks*]

[Adley]

[Basement -Ritual Room 2]

Colin nodded, "Mia agrees it would not be safe for the spirit to be hosted by us; however, a bit of anesthesia and gentle coaxing will be far better for you both than the ephemeral equivalent of a c-section. But she has faith in your enduring it - all three of you, as it were. It's not going to be a pleasant experience, though..."

'I cannot describe how uncomfortable I already feel just with the way you keep describing this situation. I will need assistance afterward, probably. I will not be able to maintain my duties while I recover, unfortunately. This troubles me as well. But for now let us keep the world going.'

// np

[Jeremy Silverstein]

[Steelhaven Basement]

He nodded thoughtfully, "That's a mighty gift indeed, from someone who is part Fae - she just might have marked you as hers with that, though I would think more likely as her family than her property. That's just me hazarding a guess, mind, and asking her for clarification is probably not going to clear the question up much. I should think it is a big deal, just not one we should be overly worried about."

"If it's nothing to be worried about then I don't see how it's a big deal." Serge said with a shrug, clearly not seeing the ring to be any sort of problem. "Marked as family has such a negative connotation, but we are all family aren't we?"

He smiled thinly, "Good catch, but that was why I specified you should use what you get from everyone else to work out what you think you should offer or ask for yourself. On that note, I can give you a head start - as for myself, I'd start out by offering an even exchange: a spell for a spell. Failing that, a favour or practical service, preferably of a professional nature, in exchange for a much desired instruction. From me, that could be a helicopter ride over the city, or the crafting of a specialized Focus, and from others, that would depend on what their expertise would be in - for a Mercere, it might be the confidential delivery of a parcel, and for an Etherite, it might be an improved furnace for my workshop."

Serge shook his head. "I'll do this task for you. I'll stomach my distaste for money and business and negotiate price for services when I'm the buyer. But I will never under any circumstances ask for payment for my own services. No matter what, I will never treat magick like some kind of boring business transaction if I have the power to not too." he said with a frown. "I want anyone and everyone to feel like they can approach me. To ask for my help if they feel like I can offer it. I don't want to drive people away by making them worried about what they need to pay me or that they won't be able to afford my price. My price is zero. And it always will be."

He leaned back, "With that said, you've learned to protect a mind... Do you think you could place three layers of memory around my mind, like an onion, that an intruder would have to expose themselves to before they could reach the, hm, chewy center?"

"Yeah..." Serge said lethargically, the constant scolding clearly not putting him in the greatest of moods. "That's basically just doing the spell three times. Although your gonna have to be specific when you say mind. What do you mean by that? Cause Lady Crexia was very adamant in that the spell she taught me was to protect a specific memory and nothing more."

(OOC: Don't think Serge will have the time to do it now. But it'll certainly be an interesting scene in the next free time section )

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Steelhaven - Security Office]

He read over the reply. 'I see; very well. Please contact me when things are more resolved as to plans. My amicus should stop by shortly. I will resume patrol, stop in at my room and gather some things we may need. Is there anything you anticipate? I assume vampires are involved so will we need stakes again and similar kit to before? How are we to get there?'

Jeffry accepted the tablet and he read over it then he wrote back.
"I will know more when I know the status of when our reinforcements arrive, we can not raid a Labyrinth while leaving Steelhaven defenseless. Very well I will discuss things with him. Good, we need to know the Chantry is safe. It is hard to know what the Labyrinth might have, as we are hitting that first, unless I can arrange for these permissions before the arrival of the reinforcements, but having something to deal with Massassa is wise in either case."
The old mage said and he handed you the tablet back.

[Nicole's Apartment]

A moment's silence as Nicole tried to get her head round this. 'Well... I suppose the risk of them finding out is slim we we limited the vaccinations to only those at high risk.' giving a sigh. 'But you at least get that this could cause me quite a lot of... issues?'

"If plan A do not work, and once this treatment is fully developed it will be given to all who are at risk, not just our most vulnerable, we do not know yet if it will work as a vaccine though so far it have just shown to beat them sickness back in the afflicted, so for now it is a treatment not a vaccine, if a vaccine can be developed though it should be given to all of those with implants and if it can be mass produced also be given to sleepers."
Dr Hadermann replied.

(OOC: Being sick sucks, good you are getting better.)

[Adley]

[Steelhaven - Security Office]

"I will know more when I know the status of when our reinforcements arrive, we can not raid a Labyrinth while leaving Steelhaven defenseless. Very well I will discuss things with him. Good, we need to know the Chantry is safe. It is hard to know what the Labyrinth might have, as we are hitting that first, unless I can arrange for these permissions before the arrival of the reinforcements, but having something to deal with Massassa is wise in either case."

'I will see what I can find, that we might use without leaving the chantry without necessary tools. Of course you know if you should need me here I would stay and defend our home, but there is no harm getting a head start on basic preparations.' After he showed that to him, unless he had more to add, he cleaned the board, bowed and said, "Very well sir, good luck." And then he went to patrol the floors on up to his own room, where he would make a pit stop.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Steelhaven]

Jeffry took the tablet and read what you had written then he simply nodded. About that time he seamed to get into contact with someone after he had been put on hold and he said.
"Yes Master Clary was it? Yes I am here...I have spoken with the Preaco and she told me to contact you about a task my Chantry need to perform in your Tribunal...

That is as much as you heard before you left the office after Jeffry had given you a grateful nod at your well wishing. In the hallway you met Arn and Dion they had clearly been out with Charlie to let the puppy do his thing. Charlie was carrying a fallen leaf in his mouth looking like he had found a treasure, he wagged his tail enthusiastically when he saw you, the two younger magi gave you polite bows as you passed them.

When you got up to the second floor you saw Richard taking to someone, you walked into Jon before you saw it was your Virtual Adept Cabalmate the Akashic was conversing with.
"Umf...hi Adley."
Jon said after you had stepped on his food.
"Richard gave a slightly amused smile.
"Yeah...hi Adley."
He echoed.
"Ok then I will check our supplies and confer with Master Sharaya on it."
Jon said to finish us his conversation with the doctor. Richard nodded.
"Thank you Jon."
The Virtual Adept turned towards you.
"Okey...ehm...I was actually going to look for you Adley, I have a question do you have a moment?"

[Adley]

[Steelhaven]

Adley nodded to Arn and Dion and smiled at the puppy, continuing on his way, walking along before he registered Jon by brute force of impact. He took a few steps back, startled, and looked as if he were ready to fight something invisible like a spirit before he realized it was him, hands already outward. He then looked down abashedly at his feet, standing in whatever was his dinner or snack. "Ah...damn, sorry about that..." he said to Jon and then nodded to Richard, flustered.  

he Virtual Adept turned towards you.
"Okey...ehm...I was actually going to look for you Adley, I have a question do you have a moment?"

"Sure, I was heading towards my rooms while keeping a lookout, if you want to go with me we can talk there. Sorry but I don't have anything to replace your dinner...unless you like oatmeal." He started walking towards his apartment, every once in a while looking over at Jon as if to fix him in place so he wouldn't forget he was there. "Er, has your arcane been getting stronger...is that a thing that can happen?

// I realize this was probably a typo for foot, but food also works and it made me laugh. He also probably did step on his foot though xD

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Steelhaven]

Adley nodded to Arn and Dion and smiled at the puppy, continuing on his way, walking along before he registered Jon by brute force of impact. He took a few steps back, startled, and looked as if he were ready to fight something invisible like a spirit before he realized it was him, hands already outward. He then looked down abashedly at his feet, standing in whatever was his dinner or snack. "Ah...damn, sorry about that..." he said to Jon and then nodded to Richard, flustered.

Jon shrugged and picked what had been a ham and cheese sandwich up from the carpet and sigh.
"Not a problem, it happens all the time I should have held onto it better."
The Virtual Adept said.
"I can make another one, or drop by the kitchen for some of that stuff Arn made."

"Sure, I was heading towards my rooms while keeping a lookout, if you want to go with me we can talk there. Sorry but I don't have anything to replace your dinner...unless you like oatmeal." He started walking towards his apartment, every once in a while looking over at Jon as if to fix him in place so he wouldn't forget he was there. "Er, has your arcane been getting stronger...is that a thing that can happen?

Jon nodded and joined you.
"I just grabbed something. I have not had the time to sit down and eat, with Master Sharaya partly out of commission and Freddy preparing for...surgery I have had to pick up the slack here I can."
He said.
"It is not important I will make some more, and yes it get worse when I attract Dox."
The Virtual Adept confirmed as he went with you to your room.
"Which sucks but hey what can you do it is what it is."

(OOC: I did mean foot and it was a typo but let us roll with it.)

[Adley]

[Steelhaven chantry]

I just grabbed something. I have not had the time to sit down and eat, with Master Sharaya partly out of commission and Freddy preparing for...surgery I have had to pick up the slack here I can."
He said. "It is not important I will make some more, and yes it get worse when I attract Dox."
The Virtual Adept confirmed as he went with you to your room.
"Which sucks but hey what can you do it is what it is."

"Sorry...well, there might be something in Bee's fridge or fruitbowl she wouldn't mind if I grabbed you a snack. I'll just replace it for her later." He got to his room and he opened the door for them and let them inside. He switched on the light and scanned his room, then moved out of the way so Jon could get in. He waved towards the couch or the chairs at the kitchen table, wherever he might want to sit if he wanted to do so. "What can I help you with?"

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Adley's Room]

Jon nodded.
"Yeah sure that would be great, if you don't think Bee will mind, after all she needs to eat more."
He said with a concerned look in his eyes.
"She have gotten so thin and it is not like she was round before."
The Virtua Adept said then he sat down on your sofa and pointed at his phone and got to what he wanted ot talk with you about.
"The Chantries over at Worcester are sending us reinforcements, they are all meeting at Chantry Bluespring, and then teleporting here, the one doing the teleporting is a Hermes dude, a member of House Thig, and he sent me the following instructions."
Jon said and he read from his phone.
"If you got a portal room or a ritual room over at SH, then put a tablet in the center of the room, draw on it a invoking air hexagram with the seal of Mercury in the center and I will take care of the rest."
The Virtual Adept raised an eyebrow clearly confused.
"I understood as far as draw on a tablet, but what is a invoking hexagram of air and what on earth is a seal of Mercury...what do planets have to do with this?"

[Warpmind]

[Basement -Ritual Room 2]

'I cannot describe how uncomfortable I already feel just with the way you keep describing this situation. I will need assistance afterward, probably. I will not be able to maintain my duties while I recover, unfortunately. This troubles me as well. But for now let us keep the world going.'

Colin smiled wryly, "Well, it's a dad's job to make the kids a little uncomfortable, I suppose... though only to an extent. Just know that we'll be here to help you as best we can - Mia is good when it comes to communicating directly with Avatars, though she leaves me out of the loop, too. And for now, yes, let us keep the world going, and avoid the nightmare that awaits if we can't get that Forest..."

[Steelhaven Basement]

"If it's nothing to be worried about then I don't see how it's a big deal." Serge said with a shrug, clearly not seeing the ring to be any sort of problem. "Marked as family has such a negative connotation, but we are all family aren't we?"

He shook his head, "Oh, I think it is a big deal, but not in an outright negative sense. More like, say, you were the only child on the block to recognize the real Santa Claus in the crowd of mall Santas, and he winked to you and asked you to keep it a secret."

Serge shook his head. "I'll do this task for you. I'll stomach my distaste for money and business and negotiate price for services when I'm the buyer. But I will never under any circumstances ask for payment for my own services. No matter what, I will never treat magick like some kind of boring business transaction if I have the power to not too." he said with a frown. "I want anyone and everyone to feel like they can approach me. To ask for my help if they feel like I can offer it. I don't want to drive people away by making them worried about what they need to pay me or that they won't be able to afford my price. My price is zero. And it always will be."

He shook his head, "No, you'll work out what will be a fair price for teaching a spell - but, only for teaching it, not for working magic on others' behalf. As a businessman, you need to have the stated price ready at hand, as a reference. Besides, that makes it even sweeter when you offer to forgo payment - which you will always be free to do."

"Yeah..." Serge said lethargically, the constant scolding clearly not putting him in the greatest of moods. "That's basically just doing the spell three times. Although your gonna have to be specific when you say mind. What do you mean by that? Cause Lady Crexia was very adamant in that the spell she taught me was to protect a specific memory and nothing more."

He nodded thoughtfully, "When I said my mind, I meant the whole thing, not just specific memories. I can't rely on quick reactions like with Siege if they have a mind reader there looking for whatever I am planning on doing, I need to lock down everything at once. I shall speak with the good Lady, then."

((OOC: I agree, Serge should ask Adley and Nicole that question IC. But not now, he's got until New Year's to do so. ))

((OOC: Also, good that you're recuperating, Nic.))

[Nicole Bouchard]

[Nicole's Apartment]

Anja's Post:

Another short silence. 'I see. What about the Union? We could easily contain the plague within the Traditions, only to find they were unable to and it goes pandemic anyway.'

[I was thinking of the next Downtime. Might be an idea for each of us to start making lists on what we think our PC should/needs to do in it. While 'full RP days' like this is good, I found the 'Little Moments' were also good for character growth. And to explain away some of the bigger XP spends etc.]

[Am around 80% now...]

[Jeremy Silverstein]

[Steelhaven Basement]

He shook his head, "Oh, I think it is a big deal, but not in an outright negative sense. More like, say, you were the only child on the block to recognize the real Santa Claus in the crowd of mall Santas, and he winked to you and asked you to keep it a secret."

"Fair enough. Guess Deacons don't just mark anyone." Serge conceded. "Deaconess O'Connor also told me some other stuff about the banshee fae ghost princess. I could report it to you now if you want. It's pretty much everything you expect."

He shook his head, "No, you'll work out what will be a fair price for teaching a spell - but, only for teaching it, not for working magic on others' behalf. As a businessman, you need to have the stated price ready at hand, as a reference. Besides, that makes it even sweeter when you offer to forgo payment - which you will always be free to do."

"Any price is an unfair price. Magick should never have a price. It's not some corporate product. It's magick." Serge muttered. "I'll figure out the average price for a spell to be taught is but only because of the task you gave me. But I will never imply that my magick costs that much to learn. Anyone will be able to learn from me for free right from the get go for anyone who wants to learn from me. Poor, Rich, Powerful, Weak. Doesn't matter to me."

He nodded thoughtfully, "When I said my mind, I meant the whole thing, not just specific memories. I can't rely on quick reactions like with Siege if they have a mind reader there looking for whatever I am planning on doing, I need to lock down everything at once. I shall speak with the good Lady, then."

"Actually it depends on what you want those memories to do." Serge said quickly, realizing that what he said was a little inaccurate. "If you wanted those memories to fool an intruder into reading false information than it would need to be for a specific memory. Since creating a false memory to encompass all possible things things a mind reader might look for is....difficult. But if you wanted to shove scary memories into the face of whoever reads your mind, than it's doable. That's just a matter of laying the trapped memory over top your own mind."

(OOC: I got one of my bigger xp expenditures explained pretty early on. And yeah the 'Little Moments' were quite fun.)

[Warpmind]

[Steelhaven Basement]

"Fair enough. Guess Deacons don't just mark anyone." Serge conceded. "Deaconess O'Connor also told me some other stuff about the banshee fae ghost princess. I could report it to you now if you want. It's pretty much everything you expect."

Colin nodded, "Quite. Please do."

"Any price is an unfair price. Magick should never have a price. It's not some corporate product. It's magick." Serge muttered. "I'll figure out the average price for a spell to be taught is but only because of the task you gave me. But I will never imply that my magick costs that much to learn. Anyone will be able to learn from me for free right from the get go for anyone who wants to learn from me. Poor, Rich, Powerful, Weak. Doesn't matter to me."

He shook his head, "It's not about treating magic as a corporate product, it's about teaching how to use it to those who don't yet know. You're not charging for magic, you're charging for tutoring, essentially for the time you've spent improving someone else. Not really different from college students having a small side income tutoring high school kids during weekends. And our society, like it or not, puts a value on our time for such endeavours, far higher than the modern world puts on honest work, so loudly proclaiming that you'll always teach for free will put you at a particularly disadvantaged position. I'm not saying you should set your price to 'an average' of what everyone else would charge, either. There's a going joke about women who have never exchanged sex for money, only for dinner and a movie - there's always something you'll want, that you'll consider fair exchange for a bit of your time, and you can put that up as the going rate, even if no-one else puts much of a value to it."

"Actually it depends on what you want those memories to do." Serge said quickly, realizing that what he said was a little inaccurate. "If you wanted those memories to fool an intruder into reading false information than it would need to be for a specific memory. Since creating a false memory to encompass all possible things things a mind reader might look for is....difficult. But if you wanted to shove scary memories into the face of whoever reads your mind, than it's doable. That's just a matter of laying the trapped memory over top your own mind."

He nodded, "Three horrible memories, one worse than the other, to dissuade anyone trying to pry..."

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Nicole's Apartment]

Another short silence. 'I see. What about the Union? We could easily contain the plague within the Traditions, only to find they were unable to and it goes pandemic anyway.'

"That it not a good reason to not act, we all can only do what we can, and we must do all we can to stop this."
Dr Hadermann said firmly.

(OOC: Everyone did so before the last downtime so yes we will do no before the next as well. We have little moments where the characters do their own thing all the time but as started before full on downtime will not be as frequent. Having a few little moments scenes set to occur after the current story we can do though, either in this thread or a little moments thread if you want in order to have little scenes for characters to play off one another, might be a good idea when someone is tied up in a scene but what to play more than that scene allow as well.)

[Nicole Bouchard]

[Nicole's Apartment]

Anja's Post:

'Yes. And it's possible that if the worst happens, we might have to tell the Union what to do so they don't cause a pandemic.' Nicole replied, making it clear in tone she really didn't like that idea.

[That's a thought; to have a kind of 'micro-Downtime' slipped in where the story permits. My 'make a list' point was a recognition that the RL time before a IC time-skip is still quite far away - might forget about it by the time we get to do it.]

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Nicole's Apartment]

'Yes. And it's possible that if the worst happens, we might have to tell the Union what to do so they don't cause a pandemic.' Nicole replied, making it clear in tone she really didn't like that idea.

"If...the worst happens Scientist Bouchard, I will tell them, I am the senior Scientist of this Tribunal, I will accept the punishment for bringing information to the Union. I have no sympathy with them, but I will do so to protect the sleepers."
Dr Hadermann said he did not sound to happy about the prospect either.
"But let us hope it will not get to that."

(OOC: We can have little scenes places in time before or after the current game just for character interaction and development just as long as we keep track of what happens when so that a relationship built three months from now do not come into play before it's time. Well making lists are always a good idea. Lists are good.)

[Adley]

[Steelhaven Basement - Ritual Room 2]

Colin smiled wryly, "Well, it's a dad's job to make the kids a little uncomfortable, I suppose... though only to an extent. Just know that we'll be here to help you as best we can - Mia is good when it comes to communicating directly with Avatars, though she leaves me out of the loop, too. And for now, yes, let us keep the world going, and avoid the nightmare that awaits if we can't get that Forest..."

He rubbed at the side of his face with the stylus and then nodded, erasing it all. "Thanks, I'll keep you posted."

[Adley's Room]

"Yeah sure that would be great, if you don't think Bee will mind, after all she needs to eat more."
He said with a concerned look in his eyes.
"She have gotten so thin and it is not like she was round before."

"I'm sure she would be okay with you taking an apple. She made cookies earlier, god that was this morning..." He shook his head. "Hopefully though she'll have her appetite back soon. It's a good thing some of us can cook, at least." While Jon started to explain the problem, he hastily pulled down some of the books on the top bookshelf and stacked them neatly on his desk. Then he took out a small wooden box and put some little gemstone bits inside and tucked it up on the top shelf as well with some cotton balls and bits of cloth, to attract the spiderlings.

"The Chantries over at Worcester are sending us reinforcements, they are all meeting at Chantry Bluespring, and then teleporting here, the one doing the teleporting is a Hermes dude, a member of House Thig, and he sent me the following instructions."
Jon said and he read from his phone.
"If you got a portal room or a ritual room over at SH, then put a tablet in the center of the room, draw on it a invoking air hexagram with the seal of Mercury in the center and I will take care of the rest."
The Virtual Adept raised an eyebrow clearly confused.
"I understood as far as draw on a tablet, but what is a invoking hexagram of air and what on earth is a seal of Mercury...what do planets have to do with this?"

"Worcester," he made a bit of a face. "Where I landed unexpectedly, that was...something else. Oh, huh...he's not talking about this kind of tablet, is he?" Adley asked, walking back over to Jon and showing him the wax tablet.  "Do you have an electronic one?" He sat down nearby on the couch and then tried to explain. "Hermes, or Mercury, is a travelling godform, he protects travellers. To invoke or call forth that energy of him you make a specific kind of hexagram in a particular direction, the direction when you draw it is important, with a seal for his planetary influence. This represents his characteristics. There are reasons that his seal looks the way it does and not another way but to delve into that would be like you trying to teach me how to program something, but you can think of it in basics as calling forth a particular vibration that is sympathetic to the working. In this case, imagine that the sound or vibration represented by the sigil is the focus for my sodalis to teleport the others here and not somewhere else in the Tellurian. Six is a common number for representing the four cardinal directions, plus above and below, similar to coordinates. Drawing the hexagram in one direction from a particular starting point you can think of turning on, or drawing in, while drawing it the opposite is banishing, or turning it off and removing it. I can draw the figures for you, and I can also show you how to draw them and what they should look like," he offered.

// Worcester, pronounced Woostah locally xD

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