gold-green session one

<Quaker> -
<Quaker> -
<Quaker> -
<Quaker> -
<Quaker> -
<Quaker> -
<Quaker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bCCF3rg8lA
<Quaker> Here is how everyone finds themselves going to the Free Council Assembly at McKinley Park on a Thursday afternoon, in the spring:
<Quaker> Houdini was supposed to be in the antechamber for a lesson, and she was, but her tutor found his path blocked by Anthony, returned from some meeting. In that way of his, where he stands too close, without any of the good humor that would lessen his condescension, the Curator told the Daduchos Inferior that the harassment of the Athenaeum by the Free Council was unacceptable. Find the idiot behind this and put an end to it before it
<Quaker> becomes a matter to bother the other Orders with, he said. So.
<@Ferrinus> Did Sharp have to cancel the lesson?
<@Ferrinus> If he did, he warned Houdini that he'd be looking into the past to determine if Houdini had her homework done here and now, the next time they met, so she'd better beware.
<Quaker> The young Arrow found the meditation room empty. Her tutor was sitting out on the back porch. There’s a matter he’d like her to investigate, if she wouldn’t mind the interruption of her lessons. Someone is rumored to be selling guns illegally to anyone with money, down in the area between Sacramento and Stockton. Someone told him that the bullets are tipped with silver, or etched with runes that shouldn’t be public knowledge
<Quaker> She should look into it, and he’ll send her more details when he can. In the meantime, doesn’t she know people in the Mysterium? Tell them, too, before the Censorium arrives from the East. And ask around the next time she’s at a public gathering. Discreetly, if she can. She’s free to use whatever contacts she’s made so far.
<Quaker> The lesson was canceled. Houdini left immediately.
<Crion|> Ooookay.
<Quaker> The veteran Free Councilor was invited, of course. He doesn’t need a reason to see old friends. It’s his duty to remain active in the community he bled for. And the food’s always good.
<Crion|> Gun runners is...well, a co-ed from Georgia probably is going to stick out a little bit around the illegal arms trade in California. Maybe she can play it off like she just loves the damn NRA.
<Quaker> The aspirant know what she’s supposed to do, and even if she didn’t, Red Cat stopped her outside Dormition’s office and made his superior’s intentions clear: Ingratiate herself with the Mysterium, and make herself known to the rest of the city, in any way she sees fit. There will be a mystagogue at the Free Council Assembly in the afternoon. Find a way to make herself close. She wants to be a self-starter? Here it is.
<Crion|> She definitely knows at least one dude in the Mysterium, though. Not sure if that's just assumed because they both came from Chicago, or because she's living on campus at UC Davis, or if she's getting a reputation for hanging out with the book-learnin' folks.
<mirdath> Hapax takes a quick inventory before heading out. Wearing pants: check. Makeup: check. Multiple cases of jerky: check.
<Quaker> The apostate has no duties. No one will call on her to do anything anymore. There are old friends in the city, and new ones that might be headed there. Or she might ignore it all, and keep living like a shadow in a ruin.
<@VoxPVoxD> Tempting.
<@VoxPVoxD> But if that was her plan, she could've taken the soldier's way out years ago. She chose life, so now she has to choose to live. But nobody tells you how much work there is between the first step and the second.
<Crion|> She'll file away that bit about the Censorium for later, mainly impressed that she remembered what the hell it was.
<Nicolae> It's been a while since Murphy has been to Assembly. But you know how Sleeper life gets: oh, professor, we need you to teach Intro to Mechanics this semester, we need you to write your contribution to this manuscript...
* trenchfoot (ian@sorcery-e8u8bt.in.comcast.net) has joined #SonsAndDoctors
<@Ferrinus> It may well be that Sharp's never been to Assembly, but this is what happens when you have enough authority to speak for your Order but not enough authority to speak to it. Fortunately, he hasn't got much to bring there besides his own person and the usual contents of his pockets.
<Nicolae> Still, it's always nice to pick up some free food. Council events are usually better-catered than department events, at least.
<Crion|> Ace shows up with her earbuds still in, trying to ignore how completely off the charts her danger sense rote is blinking in a gathering like this. She considers turning it off, but that would like...defeat the entire point. She's mostly learned to tune it out when it's friends or coworkers, anyway, but there's probably a lot of new faces here.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp's long since stopped bothering with a portable music player; at this point, reception of one kind or another is so ubiquitous that he can telepathically load up and listen to any number of Youtube playlists. What's the Assembly look like from the outside?
<@VoxPVoxD> So while the morning drinks wear off, she'll get ready and head out to McKinley Park. She's going to show up in a sweater and jeans. She'll bring the good bag though, the one her wand fits in lengthwise.
<Crion|> Ace could probably learn to do that too, but the Arrow -- especially the Chicago Arrow -- frowns on using magic frivolously like that. Besides, she's kind of expected to be on her phone 24/7. You know. Millenials.
<Nicolae> Murphy arrives to Assembly dressed in a suit. Black jacket, vest, slacks, tie. The usual.
<Quaker> The parking lot is about a quarter mile from the sand beach, and the long line of reeds and oaks block it from view. There’s a path leading to the grounds, and by the time  the mages arrive, there’s the smell of cooking meat, and the sound of people laughing and speaking loudly. A few people are getting things from their cars - lawn chairs, water noodles, food wrapped in plastic and carried in tupperware- and the new arrivals ge
<Quaker> a few long looks from Free Councilors as they slam their trunks shut.
<Crion|> Anyway, no familiar faces y-- oh shit.
<Crion|> Professor Crocell. "...Professor Crocell!"
<Crion|> Nice suit, though.
<@VoxPVoxD> Well, we're here. Might as well mingle, namely by the potato salad.
<@Ferrinus> Here's what Sharp looks like from the outside: he's a skinny, dark-haired man in his early twenties wearing a t-shirt, cargo pants, and an array of spells in at least three Arcana. His nimbus is a soft blue glow that glimmers in his irises and limns his body, particularly haloing his head. He hasn't brought any food, and looks uncertain of whether he's allowed to have any.
<Quaker> Murphy, of course, is a known face, which is why the two Syndics walk up to him as they head towards the beach. Boomer has her hands full with chairs, and her mouth full with a hamburger. “Hrgh Mrge!” Sooner is carrying a huge sack of hamburger buns. “Hi, Murphy!”
<mirdath> Beach party, huh. This is less formal than Hapax expected. A lot less formal. At least she's only kind of overdressed by comparison with the guy in the suit.
<Quaker> Down the path, on the banks of the river, there’s the beach, and the Free Councilors are spread around on it. There are long tables, people working barbecues, a line of people sitting in chairs with their feet in the sand, people grazing on the food that’s been piled on top of a tableclothed bench. Four people are playing with a beach ball, trying to keep it in the air for as long as possible.
<Nicolae> Murphy comes in, whistling a tune. He breaks into a smile as he sees the Syndics and gives them a wave. "Hello ladies!" he says brightly, he walks over to help Boomer with the chairs. Then he hears a voice calling him and turns. He's not used to hearing his true name at Assembly.
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë's got some food now, so she has something to focus on if people avert their eyes. They've been known to do that in the past, though it's long ago enough now that there's some strangers in the mix.
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë's nimbus is wreathed in chains of black iron, and shadows flit between them, occasionally stopping to stare an onlooker dead on as the shadow splits into blank and baleful eyes and an improbably toothy grin. But there's pickles in the potato salad!
<@Ferrinus> Sharp's instinct is to busy himself admiring the decor, which in this case means sending his attention roving around the contours of the beach party in order to investigate what, if any, magic has been cast across the place. How paranoid is the Council now the war's over?
<Nicolae> Not paranoid enough, insists Murphy!
<Quaker> The two dozen Free Councilors look relaxed and at ease. Nobody stops the Diamond mages as they come nearer, or asks them what they’re doing at Paradise Beach. A few times, heads come together as they ask each other what’s up with the newcomers, but mostly their presence is regarded with shrugs and returns to food.
<Crion|> Ace is an athletic teena--whoops, 20 year old who looks more like a runner now than she did when she played high school baseball. She's got her brown hair back in a pony tail pulled through the back of an Atlanta Braves cap, wearing jeans and a plain tee. When you're near her you can hear the soft but distinct strains of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" on a stadium organ. It is, after
<Crion|> all, just about that time of the year.
<Crion|> To Murphy: "Hi. I didn't expect to see you here. I'm...in your class. You knew that. I should have introduced myself at the start of the semester. Given. You know. Stuff."
<Nicolae> Murphy's Nimbus isn't obvious visually, or auditorially, or in any sensory way. But it's hard not to shake the sensation that everything near him is somehow, ominously, an accident waiting to happen. You see him carrying folding beach chairs, for example, and think, just for a moment, that they're going to collapse and pinch someone's finger off.
<Quaker> Above them all, Sharp can see the Forces spell confining sound that begins in this place, to this place, and its resonance is a softly tolling sound of an object striking metal every few seconds, so low and deep that it blends in with the background noise of birds and the wind moving through the trees. It’s the same as the nimbus of magic surrounding the man in a chef’s apron and rolled up shirtsleeves.
<Nicolae> Murphy turns and nods. "Courtney, right? Yeah, you're a quiet one. I'm Murphy around here," he says, nodding in the general direction of Assembly.
<Crion|> She nods back and fidgets. "I'm Ace, then."
<Crion|> "..."
<@Ferrinus> Hmm, thinks Sharp, standing with his hands in his pockets and his head craned to better allow him to squint at the sky. Looks pretty sensible. Is it anchored to and inflated by a complex inscription, or is that chef guy just so powerful that he can casually sustain a spell that stretches across an entire beach?
<Crion|> "...IsourpaperduetomorroworMonday"
<mirdath> Hapax hefts the box she's carrying on her hip onto an empty bit of table near Atë. "I've got a few more of these in my car. Can you lend a hand?"
<Quaker> The ends of the beach are deserted. It’s not crowded in the middle, but the chairs, tables, and people walking around in the sand don’t stray too far in either direction. While Sharp’s looking, he can see that the blanketing Forces spell is ragged and strange the farther away it goes- did that duck just fly backward- is someone breaking into his house? It almost feels like the warning spell has triggered…but it hasn’t.
<Nicolae> "Ace, huh? I like it." Murphy laughs. "Monday. I hate using my weekends to grade."
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë looks up. Huh. Don't recognize her. "Sure thing." She peers. "Would asking what's in the box spoil the surprise?"
<Crion|> The pipe organ plays a triumphal sting. "Oh thank god."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp frowns to himself here, shaking his head to himself a bit and then reaching his hands up to around his head as though he were adjusting an invisible hat. Hmm. The- ...hmm. Well, okay. (?)
<Crion|> "I should--" She sees someone familiar in nerd pants frowning at the scenery. "HEY SHARP"
<Quaker> It’s all the chef guy. There’s nothing anchored to inscriptions here.
<mirdath> "Meat." Hapax grins. "Someone gave us entirely too much jerky, so I brought some to share."
<@Ferrinus> Pretty cool.  Well, Sharp might go ask him about it... uh, although those weird peripheral effects are a bit more interesting at the moment. He'll go roving towards the nearest edge of the beach, curious as to whether there's some war-born paradox raging there or something.
<Crion|> To Murphy, without precisely waiting for Sharp to respond: "Are you Mysterium, or...?"
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë: "So you're the poor soul Dormiton dumped that onto?"
<Nicolae> Murphy shakes his head. "Free Council. Relic-hunting was never my thing, you know? You?"
<@Ferrinus> Let's see, that breakdown effect looks like it's - huh? Oh- "Huh? Oh-" Sharp turns, blinks, and then looks back in the direction he was about to wander once more before walking briskly over to Ace and her professor. "Hey."
<mirdath> Hapax: "The same. I'm -" Pause. Nearly forgot. Again. "-Hapax." She extends a hand.
<Crion|> Ace grins. "Arrow." To the other kid her age: "Hey, Sharp. This is Murphy. He's one of my professors at UC Davis."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Oh, uh, that so? What of?" He eyes Murphy's spells appraisingly a moment before thinking to check whether the man's trying to a handshake or not.
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë takes it. "Atë."
* mattbaby (chatzilla@sorcery-c1cl4r.dc.comcast.net) Quit (Connection closed)
<Quaker> It’s not raging, but time is flowing strangely, like everything’s slightly lagging behind, and now and then things speed up for a moment or two - Ace sees two young women come up to Sharp. “Hey, Sharp! Why are you here?” Boomer and Sooner are both wearing shorts and flip-flops.
<Nicolae> Murphy is wearing Time at the moment, and if the next few seconds prodict that Sharp will accept a handshake, he goes for it.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp's more anxious about leaving someone else hanging than keen on having a handshake for handshake's shake, so it's really anyone's call what social gestures do or do not transpire in the next minute or so. He's still listening for Murphy's answer when (B/S)oo(m/n)er's voice sounds behind him.
<@Ferrinus> The mystagogue half-turns. "Uh... possibly you?"
<mirdath> "You're with the Council?" Hapax asks Atë. "Or another guest?"
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë: "I'm... just here on my own, I suppose. Thought I'd check in with some old friends. Mostly I wanted to get out of the house."
<@VoxPVoxD> "I don't recognize you. You must not've been here long."
<Quaker> Boomer: “I’m seeing somebody, sorry.” Sooner: “You couldn’t have texted?”
<Quaker> Sooner coughs into her hand. “Not that you’re not…you know, welcome.” She looks at the other young woman who isn’t her sister. “Hi. Who are you?”
<Crion|> Ace arches an eyebrow at the two Free Council mages but quickly smooths it back out. Don't want to step on Sharp's game here."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp, who saw that one coming: "Aha. No but I have to figure out who to talk to to get you people to stop yelling at Athenaeum."
<Crion|> She'll grin at that, though. "Hey. I'm Ace."
<Quaker> Sooner: “Technically, we’re yelling in Athenaeum.” Boomer waves at Ace. “Hi. Are you with the Mysterium?”
<Crion|> Ace: "Nope! Arrow."
<mirdath> Hapax: "Yeah, I got sent in from Indiana a couple weeks back. Still getting used to life out here." The last box goes up on the table. That's the jerky disposed of, at least.
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë: "What do you miss most?"
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "I mean, I hope not, because that'd mean you got a lot farther than - DO you know who I could talk to about that, though?"
<Quaker> A chubby, stubbled 20-something in sunglasses and a stained, yellow Hawaiian shirt that’s open at the belly button walks by - “What, do they not feed you in the Diamond?” - and Sooner turns to kick sand at him - “Shut up, Reck!” - while Boomer thinks about it. “I mean…we’re just running errands for the Lorehouse. Hey, come on, let’s go sit down. I’m hungry.” She points at the crowd settling in at the tables.
<mirdath> Is that- no. Just small talk. You're being paranoid. "I'm not sure yet. Do you guys get actual winters out here?"
<Nicolae> Murphy has already wandered off from the conversation to deposit the chairs he's still carrying and mingle with the rest of the Councilors present.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp says "Right," and follows the sisters over.
<Quaker> While they’re walking over, Sooner points at Hapax, talking to Ate. In a whisper: “Hey, also, who are they…?”
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë: "Naw, not like you'd see in the Midwest. It gets gray here, rains a lot. We're closer to Seattle than not, mind."
<Crion|> Ace still has to talk to Sharp about the guns, but she'll leave him to the ladies for now.
<Crion|> Maybe she should get some f--
<Crion|> She sees Atë almost turn her way and instead turns and wanders off to the other end of tables.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp, on the way to the tables, looks over. "Uh, older lady's Atë - she's an Arrow, I saw her just the other day. Dunno who the other one is."
<Crion|> Immediately regrets it and feels bad. She's gonna have to face her again.
<mirdath> Hapax: "I was afraid of that. There any beer, or is this a dry party?"
<Crion|> Might as well get it over with.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp's kind of lagging in following Boomer and Sooner, as he's turning the other way and trying to figure out if Ace is coming with or what.
<Crion|> Yeah, she'll tag along.
<Crion|> Might as well get it over with...you know, tonight. Not necessarily now.
<Nicolae> Murphy is getting himself a burger and some potato salad and then most of a bag of potato chips and chatting with some of the other Councilors over by the food table.
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë snorts. "Not a real party if it's dry, if you ask me. There's coolers a couple tables down. You want me to grab you something?"
<Quaker> Boomer and Sooner stop at a cooler filled with beers, and grab bottles for everyone. They sit down at the heart of the group, twenty feet away from the grill and its steward. The guy in the hawaiian shirt is eating a hot dog. “Huh!” he says, and tries to look disgusted as they sit down. “Huh! Some Assembly. Are we letting just about anybody in?” Boomer reaches over and throws his hot dog into the grass. “Hey!”
<Crion|> Awwwww.
<Quaker> As he goes to get it, Sooner waves her hand at his vacated seat. “Yeah, siddown.”
<Crion|> Ace will gladly accept the beer, and even manage not to like, obviously look around for cops or whatever.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp looks at the guy. "Who're you?" What kinda nimbus he got, and has he got so much mana swirling around in it that he's clearly really powerful?
<mirdath> Hapax: "Please- oh, looks like we've got company."
<Crion|> Ace will steal his seat.
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë: "Couple more out-of-towners, too. Let's pull up some chairs."
<Quaker> His nimbus is the sound of distant waves, and he only has a spell that’s keeping him cool in the sun on him. There’s plenty of seating room, anyway, so he sits down next to Ace and sorts his plate. “I’m Reck. Who’re you?”
<@Ferrinus> "Sharp," says Sharp. "I'm from the Mysterium and I'm basically here on... I guess a minor diplomatic mission? Was there some better way to look you guys up?"
<Quaker> At the food table, two old men are looking down at the spread while Murphy talks to friends. One is wearing a suit even nicer than Murphy’s. He’s a little old man, bent over and nearly bald except for a few wisps combed over his skull. He peers down at the food through pince-nez, and his hands raise up and lower down in indecision. “They…why do they make so much food? I can never quite decide on what I want…”
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë pulls a couple of wayward but sturdy lawn chairs from other tables and wedges them in between Boomer/Sooner and Sharp. "They let anybody into these things nowadays."
<Crion|> Ace jumps a little bit and immediately shoves some food in her mouth.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp nods at Atë and gives her a slightly careful hello in the middle of answering Reck.
<Quaker> The other is taller, tanned, and with a face full of deep creases. As Murphy approaches, the professor notices him noticing being noticed, and he looks away from Ate, who he was staring at. He’s wearing a clean white dress shirt, and tan shorts that end above his knees. The Acanthus gets a nod. “Murphy.”
<@Ferrinus> He's helped himself to a beer and a couple hot dogs, which don't constitute magical knowledge and therefore won't damn him in the Mysterium's eyes for not being repaid.
<mirdath> Hapax: "Which, well." She gestures at herself and Atë. "Here's to lowering property values, I guess."
<Nicolae> Murphy nods back. Who are these two men?
<Crion|> Ace glances over at the new woman, but spends most of her time since Atë sat down staring at her plate.
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë points everyone out in turn. "These here are Boomer and Sooner, they're the only actual Libertines at the table. That's Sharp and Ace, there. They came out from your neck of the woods. Chicago, if I remember right. Folks, this is Hapax, thearch out of... was it Indiana, you said?"
<mirdath> Oh, thank god someone who knows anyone stepped up to make introductions. "Indianapolis, yeah."
<Quaker> Sotheby, the man in the suit, looks up. “Oh, Murphy. Hello. How is Yuba City?” Oasis Child, in the shirt picks up a beer. “It’s Davis, not Yuba City.” Sotheby screws his face up. “Oh. My mistake. Good to see you again.”
* autopsy-turvey (autopsy-tur@sorcery-reij2i.cable.rcn.com) has joined #SonsAndDoctors
<Crion|> Ace: "Hey! I'm actually from Georgia originally. Which you might have been able to guess, when I opened my mouth."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp nods and/or waves, as appropriate. "Cool. Huh, we're only like a point short of a pentacle, here."
* autopsy_turvey (autopsy-tur@sorcery-reij2i.cable.rcn.com) Quit (Ping timeout: 121 seconds)
<Quaker> Reck finally finishes his hamburger, and reaches for the potato salad. “You coulda…well, fine. What’s the diplomatic miss- a thearch?!? Are you - I was just joking around earlier, but - ugh! So long!” He picks his food up and moves down ten feet, into another group’s orbit.
<@VoxPVoxD> "Prick."
<Crion|> Ace: "Well that dude's a shithead."
<Nicolae> Murphy smiles. "Good to see you two again. Been a while." Was Sotheby in the war too?
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "What's his deal?"
<Crion|> She makes sure not to say it soft enough you can't hear her ten feet away.
<mirdath> Hapax shrugs. "It'd have been weirder if everybody had been welcoming right off the bat, honestly. Given the situation."
<Quaker> Boomer and Sooner both turn to look at Hapax. “He’s Sotheby’s assistant. Harmless.” Sooner pushes the food around her plate. “No offense, Hapax, but…I didn’t know the Silver Ladder was on speaking terms with us.” Her voice is a bit more chilly than it was a moment before.
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë's eyes flash. "Hapax is, at any rate. You oughta show her the same respect she's showing you."
<Quaker> They both were, although Oasis Child was with the Arrow, as Murphy knows, and going by another name. He ducks away while Sotheby carefully puts cheese on crackers. “It has been. You should come by the Lorehouse. It’s grown tremendously. And as soon as we persuade the Mysterium to share their findings with us, it will be even more impressive.”
<mirdath> That's more like it. "My understanding is it's not just you -- I'm under the impression that we're not particularly well-liked by anyone in the area at the moment."
<@VoxPVoxD> "It's been a hard war. Nobody's got any business taking that out on you."
<Crion|> The Ladder in Chicago were alright, but Ace spent more time hanging out with the Mystagogues and Free Councilors. She wonders if they're lame enough out here to call themselves "Freeks" like they did back in Chicago.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "What brings you out here?"
<mirdath> Hapax: "Well, I'm definitionally a carpetbagger. It's understandable."
<mirdath> Hapax: "It... wasn't my idea." Let's just leave it at that for now.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Yeah? Same here, actually."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Yeah? Same here, actually."
<Crion|> "Thirding that."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "I wouldn't say I, uh, specifically mind - I've got to be a mystagogue somewhere - but they shipped me out here as soon as it was clear things had settled down."
<Quaker> Sooner looks at Ate, and holds her tongue, looking down at her food with a shake of her head. Boomer coughs, and looks embarrassed. The man in the apron powering the dome of one-way silence sits down next to her, finally freed from putting food on other peoples’ plates. “Who doesn’t like the Silver Ladder? I don’t have a problem with them.” He smiles at each non-Libertine in turn. “Hello.”
<Crion|> Ace: "...Hey."
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë: "Afternoon, Bell. Heck of a turnout."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Hi. I'm fine with the Ladder."
<mirdath> Hapax: "What even happened in Chicago? If it's not, you know, classified or whatever. I keep hearing about it but I'm pretty sure it happened before I got up to speed with things."
<Quaker> Bell’s smile is like standing under a heat lamp on the coldest night of the year. “Hello, Ate. You want to herd cats, you shake their food bowl in front of them. Hello, Sharp. I’m Bell.”
<Nicolae> Murphy pops open a beer as he talks with Sotheby. "Yeah? Hey, did you guys ever track down that set of grimoires you were telling me about a few months ago?"
<@VoxPVoxD> "Spray bottle's never done me wrong," says Atë.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Nothing cataclysmic - or at least, not that I was told. It's more that there's so much to do here that my Order wanted to set up proper teaching and investigation infrastructure as quick as it could."
<Crion|> Without making eye contact: "Something like that."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp nods at Bell, then points a finger skyward. "I like the sound dome."
<Crion|> Ace is still trying to get over the distinct sensation she was sent away for fucking something up, and Paladin just wrapped it in Fate magic to be nice about it.
<Quaker> Sotheby chews on ice. His dentures crack the cubes in two noisily. “The pair dealing with changing velocity into light, and light into velocity? We did. They were in the basement of someone’s house. Poor things. Imagine if we hadn’t been the first to find them.”
<Quaker> Bell looks up. “Thanks! Discussion can get heated. Although its less heated when everyone just lets our syndics do their job. What brings you here?”
<Nicolae> Murphy smiles and bites into a potato chip. "Ha! Has the Mysterium come around asking about them yet?"
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Well, we in the Mysterium were hoping to put a stop to whatever was leading libertines to... visit our headquarters and demand stuff."
<Quaker> Sotheby shakes his head solemnly. “Oh, they were bitterly disappointed. Make no mistake: the Reno Censorium makes little noise, and casts a large and unpleasant shadow.”
<Quaker> Sooner: “We weren’t demanding anything…”
<Quaker> Bell frowns. “What were we demanding?”
<mirdath> Oh, this should be juicy.
<Crion|> "I just tagged along," Ace sorta-lies, and dives back into her food.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "I guess not, but they sent me out here regard-" He looks over. "Someone wants us to sign an agreement guaranteeing mutual, unrestricted Lorehouse slash Athenaeum access to all parties."
<@Ferrinus> 12Sharp: "Which, buddy, they won't even let me into some of the wings."
<Quaker> The Councilor laughs and takes a drink. “Haha! Well. Not my department, as they say.”
<@Ferrinus> 12Sharp: "D'you know whose it might be?" 12He glances over at the thaumaturge sisters in case they have something to volunteer.
<@VoxPVoxD> oh my god I just realized
<@VoxPVoxD> there's like seven people at this table
<@VoxPVoxD> five of them are obrimos
<@VoxPVoxD> ugh
<Nicolae> 3Murphy shakes his head. "Ah, you've dealt with them before, right?"
<Quaker> Boomer and Sooner, simultaneously: “Sotheby.” Bell scratches his cheek and folds his elbows on the table in front of him. “The Lorehouse is run by Sotheby…” He leans back and looks around. “The elderly man in the suit, talking to the other man in the suit, by the food.”
<@VoxPVoxD> "Well I'll be damned. Is that Murphy? I think it is."
<Quaker> Sotheby grunts. “The best way to handle a bully, Mr. Murphy, is to ignore him…”
<@Ferrinus> 12Sharp turns in his chair. "Hmm. Well, okay... I guess I should just- does this event have a schedule or anything? Is he due to like, present something or rush off soon?"
<Nicolae> 3Murphy does a little head-tilt-one-shoulder shrug. I don't know what that gesture is called. "Eh... I think that only works if the only thing the bully wants is to make you feel bad. But I'll swing by the Lorehouse sometime soon, yeah? Do a little safety inspection, if you want."
<Quaker> Bell: “We’ll vote in a little while. Whenever we feel like it. I’m sure you two can straighten things out before that-“ Boomer leans back and shouts: “HEY SOTHEBY-“
<Quaker> Sotheby: “Mr. Murphy, we’re both veterans of wars, so I think that I know what I’m asking when I beg you not to think as a one-trick pony, but as a scholar, to boot- eh!” He drops a cracker in surprise, and turns, taking his walking stick from under his arm and putting it on the ground or balance. “What is it?”
<Quaker> Boomer: “HOW ARE YOU VOTING?”
<Quaker> Sotheby: “On the issue of the Hollow’s usage?”
<Quaker> Boomer: “YEAH”
<Quaker> Sotheby: “Yes.”
<Quaker> Boomer: “OKAY.” She sits forward again. “Okay, well, now he doesn’t have to vote later.”
<@Ferrinus> 12Sharp: "What's the Hollow?"
<@Ferrinus> 12As a thaumaturge, Sharp could read how it was spelled right out of the air.
<Crion|> 4Showoff.
<@Ferrinus> 12So can the other four thaumaturges! Sheesh.
<Quaker> Sooner: “We’re voting on whether one of our Hallows should be opened up to a Cabal that’s been rotating some people out between here and Antioch. It’s like…a little grove. The Hollow’s just a nickname.”
<@Ferrinus> 12Sharp: "Ah. Well, look, I should probably see about this sooner instead of later. Sorry if whoever gets this chair's a downgrade." 12Having finished beer and hot dog both, Sharp brushes his hands off on his pants, stands up, and moves to approach this Sotheby person.
<Quaker> Sotheby turns back to Murphy. “Would that there was no such thing as the ‘outside voice’.”
<Crion|> 4Ace watches him go anxiously. Running out of reasons not to talk to the woman whose house she recently left in tears.
<Crion|> 4Kinda embarrassing.
<Quaker> Bell looks at Ace. “Aren’t you the Arrow out of Chicago? Superb’s mentee?”
<Crion|> 4She'll snap back to what's at hand. "Sure. Uh, I mean yeah. Ace."
<Nicolae> 3Murphy turns to look at Boomer just before she shouts. "You know me, Sotheby. If something can go wrong... just saying." 3After some brief deliberation, he gets himself a spoonful of baked beans and somehow manages to apply it to his plate, which looks like it's about to topple even if you can't perceive his nimbus. "Good talking to you, though. See you at the Lorehouse one of these days, yeah?"
<Quaker> Bell: “Oh. Howdy. Hope everything’s been okay so far.”
<@Ferrinus> 12Sharp clears his throat once he's within inside-voice range of Sotheby, having followed his last few sentences. "Excuse me? You're... Sotheby, they tell me? You run the Lorehouse?"
<Crion|> 4Ace: "Yeah. No one's asked me to hit anything yet. Hear y'all took care of that problem around here a few years back."
<Nicolae> 3Murphy wraps up his conversation just as Sharp steps up, with that annoying Acanthus timing. He heads back over to the table with the Syndics, Bell, and one less Obrimos. "Afternoon. Hey Bell." 3He sets his plate down on the table.
* Quaker_ (Quaker@sorcery-notlbc.frokca.sbcglobal.net) has joined #SonsAndDoctors
<Crion|> 4Ace: "Yeah. No one's asked me to hit anything yet. Hear y'all took care of that problem around here a few years back."
* Quaker (Quaker@sorcery-notlbc.frokca.sbcglobal.net) Quit (Ping timeout: 121 seconds)
* Quaker_ is now known as Quaker
<@VoxPVoxD> 10One of Atë's chains burns bright.
<Nicolae> 3Murphy wraps up his conversation just as Sharp steps up, with that annoying Acanthus timing. He heads back over to the table with the Syndics, Bell, and one less Obrimos. "Afternoon. Hey Bell." 3He sets his plate down on the table.
<Quaker> Sotheby waves goodbye to Murphy as he goes. “Yes, one of these days…” As Sharp approaches, he stabs his walking stick into the ground in front of him, puts his hands behind his back, and starts to stalk a circle around the young man. “Black hair - combed - not stinking of cigarettes, skinny, very young - you must be Sharp, as they tell me. You labor in the Athenaeum?”
<Quaker> Bell: “Hey, Murph. Which problem was that?” He drinks his beer. “You mean the Seer problem?”
<@VoxPVoxD> 10Atë: "Murphy, I'll be damned. Haven't seen you in a while. You got a good tailor now."
<@Ferrinus> 12That 'combed' is accurate speaks of the attitude of general respect with which Sharp has approached this affair. "That's me, yes. Daduchos of the Sacramento Mysterium, working at the Athenaeum at UC Davis."
<@Ferrinus> 12Sharp: "I'm here regarding... communications received... regarding our respective, uh, establishments."
<@Ferrinus> 12Well, he used 'regarding' twice there, but Sharp doesn't feel like he's doing too badly yet.
<Quaker> Sotheby picks his walking stick up and nods. “Yes. Have you come to sign in person? Oh, excuse me. Have you eaten?”
<@Ferrinus> 12Sharp: "More or less, yeah. I'm to understand that the, uh - the contracts we're being offered, those come from you? Ultimately? You're the right man to talk to?" 12Just how puissant does Sotheby appear, anyway? What kinda spells he wearin', and what's the most impressive Practice among them?
<Nicolae> 3Murphy looks down at his suit and smiles. "Yeah, I wanted to buck the trend of getting shabbier after tenure." 3He gives her a solemn nod. "Been too long. How's things with you?"
<Quaker> Sotheby isn’t wearing any magic. “I’ve been elected by my peers to maintain the Lorehouse of this region, yes. And, yes, the words on the paper are mine.”
<@Ferrinus> 12Has he got a titanic amount of Mana on hand or is Sharp just at a loss with regards to how much of a badass he is? "Okay. Well... maybe word hadn't gotten back to you before, but on behalf of the Mysterium I've got to turn down your offer."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp clears his throat a bit. "Sorry."
<@VoxPVoxD> Two of the chains burn now. Hapax can hear the cackling voices in Atë's ear so close. Today they repeat Existence is War and Service is Mastery, drowning out all of the apostate's other surface thoughts. "Retirement, I suppose."
* trenchfoot_ (ian@sorcery-e8u8bt.in.comcast.net) has joined #SonsAndDoctors
<Quaker> Sotheby: “What do you mean?”
<Crion|> Ace isn't expending the energy -- magical or otherwise -- to eavesdrop on Sharp's conversation with the old fucko, but she is keeping an eye on it.
<@VoxPVoxD> "What on earth do they let you teach? Are there courses on how to wreck everything now? Building, what's it called. The chain reaction things."
<Quaker> Bell turns to Hapax. “Are you the new Thearch from Indianapolis?”
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "We won't give you or your Order unrestricted Athenaeum access, for basically any reason. It goes against certain of our principles."
* trenchfoot (ian@sorcery-e8u8bt.in.comcast.net) Quit (Ping timeout: 121 seconds)
<mirdath> Hapax starts, caught up in whatever's going on with Atë. Not something she's seen before. "Hapax. Nice to meet you."
<Quaker> Sotheby: “Which ones?”
<Quaker> Bell: “Likewise. How’s it going?”
<Nicolae> Murphy: "You mean Rube Goldberg machines? Oh, man, I wonder if I could write up a syllabus for that..."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Well, I could go into it at some length if I needed to, but put short... knowledge has a price."
<Quaker> The old man looks through his pince-nez. “A price.”
<Crion|> Ace answers Atë's question: "Engineering 141B. Catastrophic Failures and Complex Systems."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Right. And that means a lot of things, actually. Um, there's the price it exacts on us when we mishandle it, the price we pay to become worthy of it, and so on. But basically we hold that unrestricted access to magic by mages does disservice to - directly endangers, even - both magic and mages."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "It's sort of non-negotiable. So, we can't, in good faith, sign such an agreement as you've proposed." He pauses, then adds again: "Sorry."
<Crion|> As means of explanation: "I've got a paper due Monday."
<Crion|> One of Ace's bigger pet peeves about Sharp is his tendency to apologize for things he is not, actually, sorry about in the slightest.
<mirdath> "Oh, I can't complain. Too much, at any rate." Hapax shrugs. "Dormition sends his regards, by the way." He didn't, of course, but her job is to make friends...
<Nicolae> Murphy nods in response to Ace, with a mouthful of potato chips. "They let me make up a class for my pet interests."
<Crion|> Ace: "I'd say it was a coincidence I happened to sign up for it, but both of us have enough Fate magic to know the deal with those."
<Crion|> Ace: "Really weird to come in on the first day and realize your professor's got spells on, though."
<Quaker> Sotheby: “I shall return, then, to the cemetery that holds the mortal remains of thirty-four Free Councilors, and inform their spirits that their lives were insufficient recompense for reading a few spellbooks.”
<Quaker> Bell: “Nice. Why jerky?”
<@Ferrinus> Sharp blinks. "Wh- hang on, that's."
<Quaker> Sotheby: “Or we could discuss mutual restricted access, in their memory.”
<@Ferrinus> The mystagogue centers himself and clears his throat. "...they wouldn't be, though. Blood's no more fitting a price for magic than money is."
<Nicolae> Murphy nods. "I was a little confused at first. Usually the only mages I see on campus are Mysterium nerds and these two whenever they want to bug me--" he says in a friendly way, jerking his thumb at the sisters.
<mirdath> Hapax: "I'm halfway convinced it's some kind of hazing. I ask Red Cat if there's anything I can bring so I'm not just turning up uninvited and emptyhanded, and he loads me up with this."
<Crion|> Ace nods. "College is kind of my...cover? I guess? For being out here. So I show up for class most of the time and try to do the work when it doesn't conflict with responsibilities, or training. I mean. Not your class, Prof--Murphy. I do the work for your class."
<@Ferrinus> After taking a breath, Sharp continues. "Now - now, technically, you've got restricted access to Athenaeum already. After a fashion, since anyone's entitled to request, you know, basic lessons, introductory materials... if you want to go deeper, you do the same thing that we do. You prove yourself worthy, and you honor the price."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "It's sort of... it's tricky for us to sign a complicated agreement outlining under which circumstances we'll share which artifacts or pieces of lore because our entire Order is such an agreement, already. See?"
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "And it's not like we bear the Pentacle any ill will, or aren't at all times ready to aid it according to our existing precepts, as we always have."
<mirdath> Wouldn't do to attribute it to the boss, after all, he's got to come out of this looking good. And in her heart of hearts, Hapax isn't at all sorry to throw Red Cat under the bus a little.
<Quaker> Sotheby stares at Sharp. It’s a moment before his shoulders start to shake. Then, his nimbus appears, the phantom images of brown, dying leaves drift onto him like a mantle, and Sharp can see a Mind spell work its way around his head.
<Quaker> His, being Sotheby’s.
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë's not gonna step on Hapax's game re: the jerky, but she knows well enough to know what a Dormiton-ass move that is. "You like teaching, Murph?" Seems a less loaded question than asking Ace if she likes the class.
<@Ferrinus> Well, what's it do? Sharp's always searching for spells, and has Prime sight.
<Nicolae> Murphy nods and takes a bite out of his hamburger, and moves it away just in time for a splotch of relish to land on his plate and not his suit. "You do, that's true. You put in more effort than some of the engineering majors, even."
<Quaker> It’s a simple spell of Ruling mind, and it clears Sotheby’s growing rage. His shoulders still. “I see. Thank you for your time. Goodbye.” The old man puts his walking stick on the ground, and starts to slowly shuffle away.
<Nicolae> To Atë: "I like it all right. It's, uh... it's an honor to be able to properly educate new minds." He gives her a shit-eating grin she's probably familiar with. "I have kind of a reputation as a downer, though. Weird, right?"
<Quaker> Bell pulls a packet of jerky out of his pocket, and tosses it onto the table. “Hey, it’s good. Tell your bosses I said thanks. Tell ‘em they’re welcome to come to the next picnic, too. You have any plans in the immediate future?”
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Ah - yeah. Thanks for hearing me out. But, just - that wasn't posturing. We actually are committed to bolstering the Pentacle with magical knowledge. If your people think we can help you, or if you've got something you think we need, you're free to get in touch."
<Crion|> Of course she does. One does not cut corners in a class when the teacher's a Fate mage.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Just, you'd be subject to the same standards I am. Oh, and you probably wouldn't be allowed to actually go in, that's operational protocol. But, uh, yeah, see you-"
<@Ferrinus> If Sotheby hasn't got any crushing rejoinders or last requests, here, a somewhat sheepish Sharp makes his way back to the central table.
<Quaker> Sotheby doesn’t stay to hear. As he passes the rest of the group, Bell looks backwards at the old man. “How’d it go? You two figure it out?”
<Nicolae> Murphy scootches over a bit to make room for Sharp. "I see you've met Sotheby."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Well, I didn't agree to anything and I'm pretty sure I pissed him off."
<Quaker> He doesn’t slow down. “Reno claims another mind for idolatry. I’m going to go drink at my house. Goodbye, all of you. Thank you for the hospitality, Bell, as always.”
* mattbaby (chatzilla@sorcery-c1cl4r.dc.comcast.net) has joined #SonsAndDoctors
<Crion|> To Sharp: "Looked like a fun chat. I got you another beer." She pops the lid on the table edge.
<Crion|> She also got herself another beer.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "But like I told him, if you people need lore or tuition or something you can just... ask. There's hoops to jump through for advanced or dangerous material but you don't have to renounce the Council or something."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "How are you running your Lorehouse, anyway?"
<mirdath> Hapax: "I'm still trying to get a feel for things, honestly. The high-ups haven't been especially forthcoming, for all they dragged me out here, but I suppose that's life."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp thanks Ace in between his report and his question, taking a sip of his new drink. He doesn't appear particularly enthused, but it certainly goes well with the heat of spring and a fresh burger.
<Quaker> Bell, to Hapax: “You like movies?”
<Nicolae> Murphy nods. "Disagreeable and pissed off. Sounds like the full Sotheby experience. He's all right once you get to know him. I mean, he doesn't *change* so much as you just get used to it."
<mirdath> Hapax: "Now and again, sure."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "What's, uh - what's his deal? Like what Path's he on, how long's he been out here..."
<Quaker> Boomer answer’s Sharp’s question: “If you can vote, you can check something out. I mean…some of the stuff in there you have to convince Sotheby you know what you’re doing. Or Ocean. Or, uh…” She looks over at Bell.
<Nicolae> So what IS Sotheby's deal?
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Sounds like it isn't too far from ours."
<Quaker> Bell: “We’re having a movie night in two weeks-“ The Councilor looks back: “Huh? Sotheby?”
<Quaker> “He’s the been here the second longest of any of us.”
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Who trumps him, then?"
<Quaker> Bell: “I do.” To Hapax: “You ever seen The Heiress?”
<Quaker> From behind Ate, someone speaks quietly. “Hello, Ate.” Oasis Child has wandered over.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Dang. Well, I guess I rate low enough on the Mysterium's totem pole that my telling him no is some kind of administrative gaffe, worst comes to worst."
<mirdath> Hapax: "Never heard of it. Old or obscure or both?"
<Nicolae> Murphy: "Or low enough to fit underneath a bus." He nods helpfully and gestures with a plastic forkful of baked beans.
<@Ferrinus> It takes Sharp a moment to get that one, but he shrugs while chewing another mouthful of burger once it clicks. "Basically. But I guess he did a lot of the actual fighting, huh? Or at least, uh, commanding?"
<Quaker> Bell: “Well, after a while the first contributes to the second.” To Sharp: “I guarantee that he wasn’t even speaking to you, Sharp, even as you stood in front of him. Don’t worry about it.”
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Guess I won't."
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë stiffens only briefly. "Oasis Child. You're looking good."
<Quaker> The Councilor is about to say something else when the sky changes color, and the people around them turn their heads to look. There’s a thick peal of thunder, and, high above, a sudden gust of wind starts to push the clouds out of the sky. If anyone has Forces, they can see that a huge wave of energy, some of it not even fully converted into wind out of fire and what looks like electricity, with strange coiling lights dancing alon
<Quaker> each forked prong.
<Crion|> Ace stands up. To Sharp: "You seeing this?"
<Quaker> Oasis Child can only get out “I’m looking old,” and bookend it with an awkward smile, before everyone is murmuring and pointing upwards. The clouds are starting to turn a deep red, and the sky is acquiring a strange, pink-orange hue.
<Nicolae> The Acanthus is completely missing all of this, of course. Fortunately he's sitting with about a half-dozen Obrimoi. "That's not you, Bell." It's only barely a question. What does Fate tell him about this turn of events? Is it harmless or is this the part where, metaphysically speaking, the soundtrack picks up some low ominous strings?
<Quaker>  If anyone has Forces, they can see that a huge wave of energy, some of it not even fully converted into wind out of fire and what looks like electricity, is coming from the west, with strange coiling lights dancing along each forked prong.*
<@Ferrinus> Sharp's lookin the same way Ace is, though he's still seated. "Sure am. I thik it's, uhh- uhh-"
<@Ferrinus> Does this appear to be the work of magic? Is the energy actually transforming as we watch, as by Patterning, or are we talking, rather, a massive explosion of some kind which is just driving the wind ahead of it?
<Crion|> Is it close enough to properly scrutinize?
<@VoxPVoxD> Atë's on her feet by reflex. "Someone picked it apart." To Bell: "How are you doing? Short on Mana?"
<Crion|> Ace is already, mentally, treating it as an attack and running through how to defend Sharp, Hapax, Atë, etc., from its predations.
<Crion|> Most of her ideas currently center around redirecting the wind. Or trying to, at any rate.
<Quaker> It isn’t close enough at first. The fire and electricity coursing eastwards through the clouds, now turning a deep purple, flicker and fall downwards, until the great seams erupt in color and popping bursts of light: all Forces, bound together under an incredible pressure, released at once, finding release.
<Quaker> Bell stands up. “It’s not going to hit us. It’s from out west. Stay calm, everyone.” To Boomer and Sooner: “I gotta go. Take a vote and wrap this up, please.”
<Nicolae> Murphy stares up at it, smiling as he eats another potato chip. "Out west? Seers again?"
<Crion|> Giant announcement explosions in the sky doesn't seem like Seer aesthetics.
<@VoxPVoxD> "Someone dispelled Bell's magic."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp's standing now, leaning slightly toward and staring at the explosion or wavefront or whatever it is. Besides basically identifying its component forces, he can't quite manage to pick apart their interaction as of yet - but his training goes a lot farther than that.
<Crion|> Ace shotguns the rest of her beer.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp's second drink, half-empty, is still standing on the picnic table.
<Quaker> Bell: “That wasn’t mine.” The Dome is still up, until Bell blinks, and it falls down around them. The proper dimensions of sound going outward come back to them. “Nice meeting you all.” He takes a step backwards, and then the Obrimoi can feel the light around him bend, and he vanishes, and then they can feel the force of the wind as he carries himself west through the sky. The falling evidence of magic has mostly faded as
<Quaker> it falls close to them, but here and there the air and light explodes in little firework displays. Boomer raises her hand and bats one away from them, and it fizzles on the grass.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "He's just... flying out to meet it, huh?"
<Nicolae> Murphy nods. "He's pretty hands on when he needs to be." The wind blows a potato chip off the table and he catches it without looking.
<@VoxPVoxD> "That's Bell."
<Quaker> When Murphy consults the Fate of the wave, he sees: it poses no threat to him, and also, it might kill him. It wasn’t meant for him: something important and imbued with meaning was just prematurely destroyed.
<Quaker> When Sharp and Ace stare at the dissipating wave of energy, they can see that it’s traveling west-to-east, that it’s the aftereffects of a great Forces ritual, dispelled, and that the force driving it across the sky is pregnant with Prime as it Unmakes whatever it just took apart.
<Crion|> Hooboy.
<Crion|> Are we looking at any Paradox fallout?
<Quaker> No. It’s falling cleanly. Even as they look at it, the lights and colors are fading. The clouds are already back to red.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Huhhhhh. Well, let's see here-" He holds one arm out at the huge roil of energy, not quite fully extended, and brings his other hand to his cheek such that his index finger curls to a stop right at the outer corner of his eye. There's a soft blue glow that illuminates his line of sight and flickers with the rhythmic ticking of a clock.
<@Ferrinus> Any Acanthus, and any other Obrimos, can tell that he's Ruling Time, and specifically that he's looking into the explosion's past if they pay a bit more attention.
<Quaker> The past of the wave leaks into Sharp’s mind.
<Crion|> Nerd.
<Quaker> He sees:
<Quaker> A field. A twelve-foot tall pillar of fire, a burning figure in its center, raise a sword that’s fading in and out of the mundane world, as a man on the ground scrambles backwards on all fours, a circle that’s been dug out of the muddy ground around him already hissing and fading, the man raising a hand when the sword comes down-
<Quaker> Someone is looking back at him looking back. He can feel the thread of his spell examined, sympathy established, and he can see someone watching him as he sees the past. Someone in a black and golden mask smiles. And they Unmake his spell.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp, staring into the middle distance through eyes that glow blue from edge to edge: "Hey-!!"
<Crion|> Ace glances over...?
<@Ferrinus> Sharp cried out at the exact moment that the light in his eyes switched off completely - didn't even fragment or explode or anything. "Yeah? Yeah? Well that's still a spell, hang on-" He's searching furiously now for some hint of the nimbus of whoever did that, trying to get their resonance down in hopes of being able to recognize it later.
<Quaker> Boomer and Sooner have wandered over to the water, making sure that anything falling near the picnic gets punted out into the river.
<Nicolae> Murphy, realizing that this is not a matter of immediate concern, doesn't worry. "What's up, Sharp?" he asks around the last bite of hamburger.
<Crion|> Ace, realizing that this is not a matter of immediate concern, deflates a little bit. Just when it looked like something interesting might be happening...
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "I saw the start - two people. One hanging in the middle of a pillar of fire, holding a sword that was phasing in and out, the other one kind of crawling backwards out of what I guess was a ritual circle. ...then someone in a mask noticed me looking and Unmade the augury."
<Crion|> Well. A huge magic explosion in the sky is interesting. Just not her kind of interesting.
<Crion|> Ace: "Whoa. Like, saw you? Through time?"
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Which squares... because I think that explosion's, like, fallout from a really violent dispellation."
<@VoxPVoxD> "Yep."
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Yeah, if you're looking at the history of something someone else with Time is looking at, they can tell..." Can Sharp pick up any of the character of the masked dispeller's nimbus, or were they Unmaking that, too?
<Quaker> The nimbus hurts to consider. A million masks in black and gold, all speaking at once, and then they smile, too, and the resonance is gone.
<Quaker> Oasis Child has left Ate’s side in the commotion.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "...I'm not sure if the mask was the mage or the nimbus, actually. Anyone know anyone whose aura's all masks? Black and gold?"
<Crion|> Ace: "Sounds creepy as shit. I'd think I'd remember."
<Quaker> It falls on Hapax, and she knows where it’s going. The energy field will dissipate entirely forty miles east of here, in the Sierra Nevada. It had lost its nascent meaning before it was even fully cast. She knows where it came from. There’s a field outside of Novato, to the southwest, north of San Francisco.
<Quaker> Ace sees the mask. The person wearing it is standing in front of them. The air around them is colorless where a nimbus should be. Her presence wears a mask.
<Quaker> She stepped out of the air.
<Crion|> Wha? This is here and now? Ace's grip on the now-empty bottle shifts to a mudra.
<@Ferrinus> Sharp: "Hey, that-"
<Quaker> Well, it was here and now, but it’s somewhere else, now. The sun is black. The sand is red. It’s just the five of them.
<Quaker> NEXT TIME: The Mark