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Got in touch with Mouse last night--she was out at Edgewood for a change--and met her there in person to talk about an idea I'd had. Val was present and mentioned something about a young girl she was trying to keep tabs on--apparently she's the one painting umbral maps everywhere. I figure it's not a mage-related thing or she'd have told me more about it. Sounded like she wanted to deal with it, not the garou. Corax business, perhaps? Whatever that might entail....
The discussion turned towards Val wanting to help out at the caern during the reawakening ritual. I mentioned I also had plans to discuss with Mouse in aiding (which was why I'd come to talk to Mouse to begin with). Val needed to be present in order to be of any use, though. Me? Val said she might or might not have something on her plate (probably involving that girl) when the ritual was to occur, whereas I told Mouse I'd clear my schedule completely to aid in getting the caern working again and minimizing any fatalities--no higher priorities. I think I scored some points with Mouse there, but it left me wondering about what might be more important to Val than the caern? And then it occurred to me that she has zero access to it, and likely never will with the garou there.
Mouse even said as much--that the garou would not be as tolerant of Val and me as she and Salem were. I guess it's the traditionalist woodsy folks Mouse is mostly talking about, but then she mentioned how Reggie, when he'd learned that an unknown sniper had taken out a fomor last week, had... his first response was "let's find it and kill it."
And then Jacinta showed up. Of course, I didn't know it was her. She came over, gave Val the stink eye, and looked like she was half-considering breaking the bird in half. I sidled over to Mouse--both for protection and to show I was with her. Jacinta called Reggie an idiot who could scarcely see past his own muzzle (she'd caught wind of the last part of the conversation). Val asked if she could act as an aerial ambulance, helping to patch up garou in the upcoming fight (even though it was at the caern) and Jacinta said yes--though it seemed like a reluctant yes. (Perhaps she takes the "look past your own muzzle" thing to heart? Or they really do need all the help they can get.) Val took off after that bit of good news, probably to hammer out the fine details later.
Introductions went pretty well. I thanked Jacinta for her service as Warder to the sept, she complimented Mouse's accomplishments. I asked if there was anything the kinfolk could do to contribute--and not get underfoot. Jacinta said she'd think about it and get back with me somehow, which I'm pretty sure means "you all are useless, but I appreciate your useless offer." We had some a decent little back and forth and I even tried to smooth things over between her and Val, letting Jacinta and Mouse know that when she was working with the SCPD she'd buried a lot of evidence and misdirected investigations that might have endangered the Veil. I don't think they'd known about that stuff, so I think I scored a few points for the residentcrow raven. ;)
Mouse mentioned she'd learned that gift that allows her to take people with her into the umbra, and she gave me an invite to do so. (Jacinta looked really impressed.) I said I'd love to, but not until after the caern was revived and after Rina had first dibs--she has seniority--and mentioned the Harbor Park glade as an ideal place for the excursion. (I am so damn eager to experience what a node feels like from the spirit world without that "gauzy" feel I get with my current level of incompetence with Spirit magic.
After a bit more discussion, Jacinta took her leave, turned into a wolf, ran back towards the woods, took to the air, flew over the tree tops, and then started changing colors so that she blended in and was hard to see. I figured she was trying to impress me because, when Val changed and flew off, I'd commented on how that never got old. So after Jacinta was gone, I said to Mouse, "She's a lot shorter than I imagined." Because, you know, mages see flying, color-changing werewolves all the time. (And Jacinta is rather short, but BUILT. Would not want to wrestle with her.) Mouse laughed and said that Jacinta was just showing off.
Truth be told, it was a rather impressive display of static magic.
Mouse and I had the discussion I'd initially driven out there for. I asked her to work with me about a week in advance of the rite so that we could spend about 4-8 hours together developing a flowchart of events and ideas and possibilities for how the rite might unfold. I'd use the flowchart's development to help prognosticate possibilities with Time 2 in an extended ritual. I might be able to give Mouse--and perhaps the sept--a bit of an edge in making the right decisions beforehand or which backup plan to develop as a fall-back. I might even go vulgar with this one so Mouse might be able to pull a miracle out of her ass. We should do this in the umbra to minimize a paradox backlash. This'll be an all-nighter for sure.
Mouse said that even if I foresaw that she would die but the caern would awaken, she was still going to go through with it, and she wanted me to be okay with that. I told her I'd understand, but wouldn't like it, and wanted to work to make sure she had the best possible odds of not ending up in that position. She reminded me a lot of Evelyn, the former Cultist who was head of a chantry there. She knew there were four Nephandi coming to try and steal the chantry's power and wipe out the members. She could see she would die, no matter what strategy we used, and she ended up choosing to stand, fight, and die--while saving the chantry and minimizing the harm to its members (and myself). Would that we all had that kind of strength and conviction.
That evening, I went to the Tenement to drop off the other half of the comic books I found at an estate auction. Sewall was there, monitoring the security feed, and being about as charming as a dead fish again. Bitter. Yes, he just seems bitter about.... everything. I feel kind of sorry for him, and I'd like to make him feel better, but I just don't know what might make him happy. That's no way to go through life, but maybe he'll grow out of it.
I met Rai, who's a cliath Walker theurge who's new to the area--and excited about the comic books. It sounds like Salem checked him out, but no one set him up with a room yet. I loaned him mine on the 3rd floor. I think.... it'd be weird to move him into Flint's room on the 5th floor so soon after his death.
Dammit. Now I've made myself sad. Time to lose myself in the books.
The discussion turned towards Val wanting to help out at the caern during the reawakening ritual. I mentioned I also had plans to discuss with Mouse in aiding (which was why I'd come to talk to Mouse to begin with). Val needed to be present in order to be of any use, though. Me? Val said she might or might not have something on her plate (probably involving that girl) when the ritual was to occur, whereas I told Mouse I'd clear my schedule completely to aid in getting the caern working again and minimizing any fatalities--no higher priorities. I think I scored some points with Mouse there, but it left me wondering about what might be more important to Val than the caern? And then it occurred to me that she has zero access to it, and likely never will with the garou there.
Mouse even said as much--that the garou would not be as tolerant of Val and me as she and Salem were. I guess it's the traditionalist woodsy folks Mouse is mostly talking about, but then she mentioned how Reggie, when he'd learned that an unknown sniper had taken out a fomor last week, had... his first response was "let's find it and kill it."
And then Jacinta showed up. Of course, I didn't know it was her. She came over, gave Val the stink eye, and looked like she was half-considering breaking the bird in half. I sidled over to Mouse--both for protection and to show I was with her. Jacinta called Reggie an idiot who could scarcely see past his own muzzle (she'd caught wind of the last part of the conversation). Val asked if she could act as an aerial ambulance, helping to patch up garou in the upcoming fight (even though it was at the caern) and Jacinta said yes--though it seemed like a reluctant yes. (Perhaps she takes the "look past your own muzzle" thing to heart? Or they really do need all the help they can get.) Val took off after that bit of good news, probably to hammer out the fine details later.
Introductions went pretty well. I thanked Jacinta for her service as Warder to the sept, she complimented Mouse's accomplishments. I asked if there was anything the kinfolk could do to contribute--and not get underfoot. Jacinta said she'd think about it and get back with me somehow, which I'm pretty sure means "you all are useless, but I appreciate your useless offer." We had some a decent little back and forth and I even tried to smooth things over between her and Val, letting Jacinta and Mouse know that when she was working with the SCPD she'd buried a lot of evidence and misdirected investigations that might have endangered the Veil. I don't think they'd known about that stuff, so I think I scored a few points for the resident
Mouse mentioned she'd learned that gift that allows her to take people with her into the umbra, and she gave me an invite to do so. (Jacinta looked really impressed.) I said I'd love to, but not until after the caern was revived and after Rina had first dibs--she has seniority--and mentioned the Harbor Park glade as an ideal place for the excursion. (I am so damn eager to experience what a node feels like from the spirit world without that "gauzy" feel I get with my current level of incompetence with Spirit magic.
After a bit more discussion, Jacinta took her leave, turned into a wolf, ran back towards the woods, took to the air, flew over the tree tops, and then started changing colors so that she blended in and was hard to see. I figured she was trying to impress me because, when Val changed and flew off, I'd commented on how that never got old. So after Jacinta was gone, I said to Mouse, "She's a lot shorter than I imagined." Because, you know, mages see flying, color-changing werewolves all the time. (And Jacinta is rather short, but BUILT. Would not want to wrestle with her.) Mouse laughed and said that Jacinta was just showing off.
Truth be told, it was a rather impressive display of static magic.
Mouse and I had the discussion I'd initially driven out there for. I asked her to work with me about a week in advance of the rite so that we could spend about 4-8 hours together developing a flowchart of events and ideas and possibilities for how the rite might unfold. I'd use the flowchart's development to help prognosticate possibilities with Time 2 in an extended ritual. I might be able to give Mouse--and perhaps the sept--a bit of an edge in making the right decisions beforehand or which backup plan to develop as a fall-back. I might even go vulgar with this one so Mouse might be able to pull a miracle out of her ass. We should do this in the umbra to minimize a paradox backlash. This'll be an all-nighter for sure.
Mouse said that even if I foresaw that she would die but the caern would awaken, she was still going to go through with it, and she wanted me to be okay with that. I told her I'd understand, but wouldn't like it, and wanted to work to make sure she had the best possible odds of not ending up in that position. She reminded me a lot of Evelyn, the former Cultist who was head of a chantry there. She knew there were four Nephandi coming to try and steal the chantry's power and wipe out the members. She could see she would die, no matter what strategy we used, and she ended up choosing to stand, fight, and die--while saving the chantry and minimizing the harm to its members (and myself). Would that we all had that kind of strength and conviction.
That evening, I went to the Tenement to drop off the other half of the comic books I found at an estate auction. Sewall was there, monitoring the security feed, and being about as charming as a dead fish again. Bitter. Yes, he just seems bitter about.... everything. I feel kind of sorry for him, and I'd like to make him feel better, but I just don't know what might make him happy. That's no way to go through life, but maybe he'll grow out of it.
I met Rai, who's a cliath Walker theurge who's new to the area--and excited about the comic books. It sounds like Salem checked him out, but no one set him up with a room yet. I loaned him mine on the 3rd floor. I think.... it'd be weird to move him into Flint's room on the 5th floor so soon after his death.
Dammit. Now I've made myself sad. Time to lose myself in the books.
