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It's about a 15 hour drive from Saint Claire to San Fran, so I didn't make it until March 2nd--late in the day. I checked in with Tyler, an Akashic Brother I did parkour with a few times, to alert him I'd made it and was utterly beat. March 3rd, he filled me in over lunch. The chantry his cabal had established was about to be attacked. Evelyn, a Cultist of Ecstacy, had foreseen their chantry coming under attack by Nephandi--but couldn't give much in the way of details because (1) the future is always a little fluid and (2) she died within seconds of the attack. The chantry was calling in mages they knew for quintessence, favors, and support in order to defend it, the node, the mages, and their attached sanctums. In a word: keee-rap. (I debated calling in Mouse or Salem or Val, but.... they're up to their eyeballs in their own shit right now and I don't think this cabal would have been particularly keen on mixing in /that/ random of an element.)
Fortunately I'd brought a hefty stash of tass with me, which I shared with the rest of the cabal and a few other mages when I met up with them. I told Tyler I wasn't keen on doing offense, so I got designated as the countermagick defense. That... turned out to be more dangerous than I'd expected. But I'm jumping ahead. As more people and resources came, Evelyn's visions of the outcome became more and more positive--even though she kept dying, even as the battle tipped towards our favor. I was nowhere near as skilled in Time as Evelyn, but could sense the battle's outcome would ultimately be in our favor. Time was running out and we couldn't pull in any more resources, so we got to work preparing rituals and spells. Then time ran out. Evelyn, the cabal's most powerful mage, stayed--even though she was almost certain she'd die in the battle. That old lady had some serious balls.
It was fast and brutal. Four nephandi. They dematerialized a couple walls to gain access and surprise, probably thinking they'd rape the chantry's node for all its worth, slaughter those present, and make off with anything that was worth making off with. We ambushed them as they reached the node, letting the one Nephandus wielding vulgar Matter build up paradox. All hell broke loose. I have never seen so much vulgar magick lashing out before. It was stunning. Horrific. The smells. The Nephandi had a powerful Life mage with them, and he turned Evelyn into a steaming pile of red goo and bones before I could counter him. I prevented him from doing the same to Tyler, but then the Nephandus turned on me--sensing I was working to thwart his magic--and I got blasted with vulgar Life magic. I could feel my insides twist into knots as he got past my countermagic defense--damn, he was good and slippery!
Someone killed him--I don't know who because I was reeling from the pain--and then the pain mostly stopped. I was able to help countermagick the two remaining Nephandi, both about to go down by then, when one took a shot at me with a pistol--an act of desperation, I'm sure--and grazed my shoulder. (I think my magic silk shirt actually helped that wound from being worse than it might have been.) As the chantry and its allies killed the two remaining Nephandi, I barfed.
Now when I say that I "barfed," I mean the nastiest, grossest.... Have you ever read a Colonial or pre-Colonial text that discusses human anatomy and/or medicine and the balancing of "bile" in the body? Ever read the term "black bile?" That. That's what I spewed. It was like tar, shit, nuclear vomit and--I can only describe the taste as "chunky liquid evil"--coming up. A parting gift from the Nephandus who would have killed me if he'd had a handful more seconds to use vulgar magic to twist my guts into nothing but goo. I heaved black bile until there was nothing left to heave--and I still heaved for a good 10 minutes. I want to puke just thinking about it.
The cleanup and aftermath was a quiet, somber, sordid affair. Evelyn--what was left of her at least--was buried behind a run-down amusement park, which was one of her favorite places to visit. In hindsight, the way that Nephandus came at her--as if intent on killing her specifically and in such a brutal way.... I think they knew one another. I think there was history there. And I think, maybe, she stayed even though she suspected strongly that she would die because she needed to face him.
Tyler didn't say it outright, but I think he's pissed at me for not using offensive magic to attack the Nephandi rather than trying to defend against them--because I failed to shield Evelyn. There's no denying I helped the cabal out, but.... I think, in Tyler's eyes (and maybe the rest of the chantry's eyes), they might believe I was pulling my punches and not helping as much as I could have been.
And maybe they're right.
Either way, they just lost the oldest, most powerful mage within their chantry.
We all went our separate ways after the funeral and some minor healing courtesy of Tyler. (I think he intentionally may have not healed me as much as he could have--as punishment/spite. But it might have been from just being cautious about not incurring paradox's wrath.) He said the vomiting should stop in a few days to maybe a week, and the bullet wound was clean and would heal on its own. Until then, a handful of times per day, I get to heave up a load of black bile. Fortunately, I can feel it building up and generally have 15-30 minutes to get to a bathroom--rather than spontaneously spewing the foul shit everywhere. The original flavor (aka "medicine and alcohol") Listerine mouthwash helps tremendously in cleaning the taste out. But that's the state I found myself in as I drove back to Saint Claire.
Cleverly, I'd been so preoccupied, I'd forgotten to check my phone for messages. Val'd texted to let me know that whatever had been chasing her had managed to track her to my houseboat--when I'd dropped anchor out in a cove instead of left it at the dock--and despite the wards I'd had on it. That... is disconcerting. Val evacuated LOLcat to a vet for boarding. I've exchanged e-mails with Mouse regarding temporary housing at the Walkers' hideout--I clearly can't go back to my houseboat. Mouse and company are dealing with Val's stalker tonight (before I get back into town), but Mouse cautions there might be others around even if they defeat this stalker. I'm meeting up with Val as soon as I get back into town.
But first, I think I'm going to go have a nice, big ol' puke followed by a Listerine chaser.
Fortunately I'd brought a hefty stash of tass with me, which I shared with the rest of the cabal and a few other mages when I met up with them. I told Tyler I wasn't keen on doing offense, so I got designated as the countermagick defense. That... turned out to be more dangerous than I'd expected. But I'm jumping ahead. As more people and resources came, Evelyn's visions of the outcome became more and more positive--even though she kept dying, even as the battle tipped towards our favor. I was nowhere near as skilled in Time as Evelyn, but could sense the battle's outcome would ultimately be in our favor. Time was running out and we couldn't pull in any more resources, so we got to work preparing rituals and spells. Then time ran out. Evelyn, the cabal's most powerful mage, stayed--even though she was almost certain she'd die in the battle. That old lady had some serious balls.
It was fast and brutal. Four nephandi. They dematerialized a couple walls to gain access and surprise, probably thinking they'd rape the chantry's node for all its worth, slaughter those present, and make off with anything that was worth making off with. We ambushed them as they reached the node, letting the one Nephandus wielding vulgar Matter build up paradox. All hell broke loose. I have never seen so much vulgar magick lashing out before. It was stunning. Horrific. The smells. The Nephandi had a powerful Life mage with them, and he turned Evelyn into a steaming pile of red goo and bones before I could counter him. I prevented him from doing the same to Tyler, but then the Nephandus turned on me--sensing I was working to thwart his magic--and I got blasted with vulgar Life magic. I could feel my insides twist into knots as he got past my countermagic defense--damn, he was good and slippery!
Someone killed him--I don't know who because I was reeling from the pain--and then the pain mostly stopped. I was able to help countermagick the two remaining Nephandi, both about to go down by then, when one took a shot at me with a pistol--an act of desperation, I'm sure--and grazed my shoulder. (I think my magic silk shirt actually helped that wound from being worse than it might have been.) As the chantry and its allies killed the two remaining Nephandi, I barfed.
Now when I say that I "barfed," I mean the nastiest, grossest.... Have you ever read a Colonial or pre-Colonial text that discusses human anatomy and/or medicine and the balancing of "bile" in the body? Ever read the term "black bile?" That. That's what I spewed. It was like tar, shit, nuclear vomit and--I can only describe the taste as "chunky liquid evil"--coming up. A parting gift from the Nephandus who would have killed me if he'd had a handful more seconds to use vulgar magic to twist my guts into nothing but goo. I heaved black bile until there was nothing left to heave--and I still heaved for a good 10 minutes. I want to puke just thinking about it.
The cleanup and aftermath was a quiet, somber, sordid affair. Evelyn--what was left of her at least--was buried behind a run-down amusement park, which was one of her favorite places to visit. In hindsight, the way that Nephandus came at her--as if intent on killing her specifically and in such a brutal way.... I think they knew one another. I think there was history there. And I think, maybe, she stayed even though she suspected strongly that she would die because she needed to face him.
Tyler didn't say it outright, but I think he's pissed at me for not using offensive magic to attack the Nephandi rather than trying to defend against them--because I failed to shield Evelyn. There's no denying I helped the cabal out, but.... I think, in Tyler's eyes (and maybe the rest of the chantry's eyes), they might believe I was pulling my punches and not helping as much as I could have been.
And maybe they're right.
Either way, they just lost the oldest, most powerful mage within their chantry.
We all went our separate ways after the funeral and some minor healing courtesy of Tyler. (I think he intentionally may have not healed me as much as he could have--as punishment/spite. But it might have been from just being cautious about not incurring paradox's wrath.) He said the vomiting should stop in a few days to maybe a week, and the bullet wound was clean and would heal on its own. Until then, a handful of times per day, I get to heave up a load of black bile. Fortunately, I can feel it building up and generally have 15-30 minutes to get to a bathroom--rather than spontaneously spewing the foul shit everywhere. The original flavor (aka "medicine and alcohol") Listerine mouthwash helps tremendously in cleaning the taste out. But that's the state I found myself in as I drove back to Saint Claire.
Cleverly, I'd been so preoccupied, I'd forgotten to check my phone for messages. Val'd texted to let me know that whatever had been chasing her had managed to track her to my houseboat--when I'd dropped anchor out in a cove instead of left it at the dock--and despite the wards I'd had on it. That... is disconcerting. Val evacuated LOLcat to a vet for boarding. I've exchanged e-mails with Mouse regarding temporary housing at the Walkers' hideout--I clearly can't go back to my houseboat. Mouse and company are dealing with Val's stalker tonight (before I get back into town), but Mouse cautions there might be others around even if they defeat this stalker. I'm meeting up with Val as soon as I get back into town.
But first, I think I'm going to go have a nice, big ol' puke followed by a Listerine chaser.
