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Sunday morning I phoned Val up, checked to see if it was okay to visit, and then drove over. Told her about Thomas thwarting hitmen that were gunning for him and her alike, and that there'd likely be more coming in the future. (Worm did have a Lotus Evora after all, and that's not a cheap vehicle. In fact, I kind of covet it. I wonder.... Theoretically, I could probably rip off his credit card or bank account. That might do a world of hurt to someone who seems to buy his way out of trouble. And rather than steal it, maybe I'd just scatter the money into a host of local non-profits.) Val said someone shot one of the ravens she brought in a year or three ago. And she's only been able to round up Bartok and one other female raven, Faster-than-the-Cat. All the others? Non-responsive or missing or dead. I advised her to round up what she could and relocate to the glade up north with Twinkle-Toes (another Corax that hangs at that particular node). Lay low. Stay safe and keep the ravens safe. I'd call her when the garou were getting ready to move on Worm so she could extract vengeance. (She's unusually bloodthirsty over this, though I guess I can see that if she considers those ravens to be her personal pets--or kids even. Personal /pests/ is more like it. The whole time I was visiting, Bartok was destroying things in the other room.) Val seemed to take my advice to heart, so that was good. It's the sensible thing to do.
I worked one case for the PI firm and managed to close it out (thanks for talking about your affair over a cell phone!) with recorded evidence in under two hours. Easy money seeing as I get paid a minimum of 2 days. Eh. I might chuck in a 25% discount because the poor guy just got handed confirmation that his wife of 14 years is cheating on him. I'd like to think they could make up and do a fresh start, but if you're hiring a PI firm to snoop on your wife, and she's cheating repeatedly on you with her old high school flame.... It's kind of over, really. There's no trust to be had in that relationship. But, hey, stranger things have happened--and will continue to happen. On a whim, I swung by WalMart on the way home, bought a crock pot and a bunch of groceries, and started making a batch of vegetarian chili. How hard can it be? And it'd be nice to have a home-cooked meal, too. The rest of the day I spent examining Euclidean proofs and theorems, puttering around with pen and paper to sketch various things out. I was tempted to hit the umbra so I could draw in 3D, manipulable images without being confined to a 2D field measuring 8.5 by 11 inches, but a nagging voice told me to hold off. So I did. Val texted later that evening to say she'd changed her mind and would be shacking with Brad for a while instead of leaving town.
That evening I got a text from Thomas asking to meet up in a private spot. We met up at Lake Arthur. Long story short, he'd been talking with Silvertip, the mention of a mage maybe understand more of what happened to him--HER--occurred. Thomas did the whole "I might know a guy" routine.... In short, because I figure Jacinta is going to tell him anyway, I figured I might as well get it done and over with and come out looking like a good guy in the process. To be on the safe side, I consulted my magic 8-ball, asking if Silvertip would behave at the meet-up. "Outlook Good." Okay, then. (Still makes me nervous, even with the 8-ball's reassurance.) Told Thomas to tell Silvertip that his mage contact agreed to meet with Silvertip--alone--in the umbra off of I90 out in the woods. (It was about 4 miles away from the driveway to my cabin, and further out into a wooded area, so likely a reduced chance of dealing with something nasty turning up accidentally.) Wrapped up the meeting and went back home to bed. Didn't sleep well at all. In fact, I ended up awake half the night, brain racing, thinking about how to handle things. I spent most of Monday going through scenarios in my head. What if this? What if that? I made a couple grab bags up. Relocated the Winnebago to the WWNP campground in case I needed to flee the area. And then thinking. Lots and lots of thinking.
When Monday @ 8pm rolled around, I'd been in the umbra for half an hour already. I jedi-jumped about 40' up onto a tree limb. (Seriously, how cool is this shit? And I swapped out my grey longcoat for my light brown jedi robe that I purchased ages ago and never wear except around the cabin.) Hugged the tree trunk close so I'd be hiding behind it. Used forces to project the illusion of a similarly cloaked and hooded figure standing with its back to where I figured Silvertip would appear--about a quarter of a mile from where I was hidden. Basically, I'd planned to make it look like the illusionary figure was the mage Silvertip was meeting, intentionally put it in a vulnerable position where it'd be a piece of cake for Silvertip--or a group of angry garou--to "strike it down" in the event they were hostile. And use it as a distraction if I needed to get away. This plan? It was awesome.
Silvertip arrived, in homid, by stepping though into the umbra,.Laughing. (Uh oh.) He--SHE--ignored the illusion, turned right towards where I was hiding, up in a tree a quarter mile away, and yelled that she saw me.
Fuck a duck.
Note to self: Do not play hide and seek with an Uktena or a Wendigo in the woods. I must have missed something, somewhere, while I was distracted maintaining that illusion.
I figured if he'd--SHE'D (dammit)--spotted me before crossing over, she could have just as easily gotten the drop on me and killed me if she'd wanted. That.... kind of changed the whole tone of things. I'd be dead if she wanted me dead. She clearly didn't. So.... I dropped the illusion, floated down out of the tree, and pulled my hood back to reveal who I was. She was amused (a lot), said she had thought I was actually a corax like Val (because I was skinny and hung out with her a lot), but hadn't expected me to be a warper. After the Ha Ha moment wore off, he--SHE (dammit)--quickly got down to business, offering objects of power, valuable information, and spirit helpers if I could improve his--HER (dammit)--situation. I actually hadn't expected payment at all, so I just asked for his--HER (dammit)--silence regarding me.
We moved away from where the highway was located, further into the forest--for quiet and to be harder to spot. Even using a passive Mind effect to comprehend and speak Yup'ik better, we still had some difficulties expressing ourselves. I asked to use magic similar to the Mindspeak gift the garou use, and I promised not to pry into his--HER (dammit) mind. She countered, saying she wanted to look at my thoughts first to see what my intentions were. That gave me pause: I wasn't terribly keen on that. (This is why Mind magick, especially the more invasive stuff, just feels a little rapey to me.) I consented, ready to slam the proverbial door in her face if she attempted to go to deep. She didn't and seemed satisfied with my intentions. I used a stick to draw a large oval we could both enter to better communicate with one another. I certainly didn't need one, but there's power in symbols, and sometimes those symbols work well with whatever magic I'm crafting. Plus? Better to make the Uktena think that X is required for a magic trick to work--even when it is not. She then relayed how she'd gone to the Flux realm and how.... pretty much, she's lucky to even be alive. But it changed her. She finally imposed her will upon things, a gateway appeared, and she went for it. One of the caern totems found/rescued her, and somehow that's when the Time distortion happened, affecting both her and the spirit.
(Note to self: Ask if the caern totem spirit is okay and see if that needs fixing as well.)
With that background given, I asked her to lay down on the ground so I could examine her. She went to wolf (which, frankly, made things a little easier with managing skin contact without her being all naked and weird. I took my time, checking out how the magic was affecting her and looking for weak points. The Time-centric effect was easiest to dispatch, so I went with that first and dispelled the energy into the stick I'd used earlier rather than just loose it into the spirit world. It rotted the stick when I grounded the effect. That gave me a better look at the magic that'd messed with her gender and gave her an extra permanent tail. Life magic. Crap. I suck at Life magic. I took more time to study things. Knew this would be a rough one. Told the wolf to brace herself for pain. Then when she went stiff I tried yanking apart the magic. I went with the tail first--that was the least complex. I got most of it. /Almost/ all of it. The tail dropped off and left just a small nub. I went for the gender-altering magic immediately, wrestling and yanking at it in the hope of.... But I couldn't do it. I damaged it a little bit. It's "leaking" a little more than it was before. So that should shorten the time she spends time as a woman. The--uh--transition phase later on might be a little weird though.
In hindsight? I probably should not have tried so hard on the latter bit. Silvertip might have flipped out over the pain, thought I was trying to kill her, and attacked me or even frenzied. Nick, old boy? You need to be less stupid in the future.
Even though the wrangling had hurt her, Silvertip sucked it up. (I imagine they're quite familiar with pain.) I again got an offer for payment in return for my services--I suspect this may be cultural--and a thanks for what I was able to do. (No longer being a Veil breach is a good thing.) I said payment could be silence, peace, and respect. Apparently that wasn't acceptable and she's going to find something suitable. She left, still clearly hurting a bit from the 'operation.' Whatever she comes back with later, try to be gracious, Nick. Even if it's a mauled dead thing. Oh, god. I hope it's not Eskimo ice cream.
I waited a while, then tidied up the area, jumped from limb-to-limb back to the umbral clearing near my cabin. (Jedi-jumping = cool. Not as efficient as flying, but still fun.) I spent the rest of the night with a small fire providing energy to craft 3D shapes in the air--and then bending the "work area" on itself. Pushing some boundaries with Euclidean geometry . I packed it in an hour before dawn. My phone'd gone off. Message from Javid. He's looking for Rhys. Easy enough request to accommodate.
I worked one case for the PI firm and managed to close it out (thanks for talking about your affair over a cell phone!) with recorded evidence in under two hours. Easy money seeing as I get paid a minimum of 2 days. Eh. I might chuck in a 25% discount because the poor guy just got handed confirmation that his wife of 14 years is cheating on him. I'd like to think they could make up and do a fresh start, but if you're hiring a PI firm to snoop on your wife, and she's cheating repeatedly on you with her old high school flame.... It's kind of over, really. There's no trust to be had in that relationship. But, hey, stranger things have happened--and will continue to happen. On a whim, I swung by WalMart on the way home, bought a crock pot and a bunch of groceries, and started making a batch of vegetarian chili. How hard can it be? And it'd be nice to have a home-cooked meal, too. The rest of the day I spent examining Euclidean proofs and theorems, puttering around with pen and paper to sketch various things out. I was tempted to hit the umbra so I could draw in 3D, manipulable images without being confined to a 2D field measuring 8.5 by 11 inches, but a nagging voice told me to hold off. So I did. Val texted later that evening to say she'd changed her mind and would be shacking with Brad for a while instead of leaving town.
That evening I got a text from Thomas asking to meet up in a private spot. We met up at Lake Arthur. Long story short, he'd been talking with Silvertip, the mention of a mage maybe understand more of what happened to him--HER--occurred. Thomas did the whole "I might know a guy" routine.... In short, because I figure Jacinta is going to tell him anyway, I figured I might as well get it done and over with and come out looking like a good guy in the process. To be on the safe side, I consulted my magic 8-ball, asking if Silvertip would behave at the meet-up. "Outlook Good." Okay, then. (Still makes me nervous, even with the 8-ball's reassurance.) Told Thomas to tell Silvertip that his mage contact agreed to meet with Silvertip--alone--in the umbra off of I90 out in the woods. (It was about 4 miles away from the driveway to my cabin, and further out into a wooded area, so likely a reduced chance of dealing with something nasty turning up accidentally.) Wrapped up the meeting and went back home to bed. Didn't sleep well at all. In fact, I ended up awake half the night, brain racing, thinking about how to handle things. I spent most of Monday going through scenarios in my head. What if this? What if that? I made a couple grab bags up. Relocated the Winnebago to the WWNP campground in case I needed to flee the area. And then thinking. Lots and lots of thinking.
When Monday @ 8pm rolled around, I'd been in the umbra for half an hour already. I jedi-jumped about 40' up onto a tree limb. (Seriously, how cool is this shit? And I swapped out my grey longcoat for my light brown jedi robe that I purchased ages ago and never wear except around the cabin.) Hugged the tree trunk close so I'd be hiding behind it. Used forces to project the illusion of a similarly cloaked and hooded figure standing with its back to where I figured Silvertip would appear--about a quarter of a mile from where I was hidden. Basically, I'd planned to make it look like the illusionary figure was the mage Silvertip was meeting, intentionally put it in a vulnerable position where it'd be a piece of cake for Silvertip--or a group of angry garou--to "strike it down" in the event they were hostile. And use it as a distraction if I needed to get away. This plan? It was awesome.
Silvertip arrived, in homid, by stepping though into the umbra,.Laughing. (Uh oh.) He--SHE--ignored the illusion, turned right towards where I was hiding, up in a tree a quarter mile away, and yelled that she saw me.
Fuck a duck.
Note to self: Do not play hide and seek with an Uktena or a Wendigo in the woods. I must have missed something, somewhere, while I was distracted maintaining that illusion.
I figured if he'd--SHE'D (dammit)--spotted me before crossing over, she could have just as easily gotten the drop on me and killed me if she'd wanted. That.... kind of changed the whole tone of things. I'd be dead if she wanted me dead. She clearly didn't. So.... I dropped the illusion, floated down out of the tree, and pulled my hood back to reveal who I was. She was amused (a lot), said she had thought I was actually a corax like Val (because I was skinny and hung out with her a lot), but hadn't expected me to be a warper. After the Ha Ha moment wore off, he--SHE (dammit)--quickly got down to business, offering objects of power, valuable information, and spirit helpers if I could improve his--HER (dammit)--situation. I actually hadn't expected payment at all, so I just asked for his--HER (dammit)--silence regarding me.
We moved away from where the highway was located, further into the forest--for quiet and to be harder to spot. Even using a passive Mind effect to comprehend and speak Yup'ik better, we still had some difficulties expressing ourselves. I asked to use magic similar to the Mindspeak gift the garou use, and I promised not to pry into his--HER (dammit) mind. She countered, saying she wanted to look at my thoughts first to see what my intentions were. That gave me pause: I wasn't terribly keen on that. (This is why Mind magick, especially the more invasive stuff, just feels a little rapey to me.) I consented, ready to slam the proverbial door in her face if she attempted to go to deep. She didn't and seemed satisfied with my intentions. I used a stick to draw a large oval we could both enter to better communicate with one another. I certainly didn't need one, but there's power in symbols, and sometimes those symbols work well with whatever magic I'm crafting. Plus? Better to make the Uktena think that X is required for a magic trick to work--even when it is not. She then relayed how she'd gone to the Flux realm and how.... pretty much, she's lucky to even be alive. But it changed her. She finally imposed her will upon things, a gateway appeared, and she went for it. One of the caern totems found/rescued her, and somehow that's when the Time distortion happened, affecting both her and the spirit.
(Note to self: Ask if the caern totem spirit is okay and see if that needs fixing as well.)
With that background given, I asked her to lay down on the ground so I could examine her. She went to wolf (which, frankly, made things a little easier with managing skin contact without her being all naked and weird. I took my time, checking out how the magic was affecting her and looking for weak points. The Time-centric effect was easiest to dispatch, so I went with that first and dispelled the energy into the stick I'd used earlier rather than just loose it into the spirit world. It rotted the stick when I grounded the effect. That gave me a better look at the magic that'd messed with her gender and gave her an extra permanent tail. Life magic. Crap. I suck at Life magic. I took more time to study things. Knew this would be a rough one. Told the wolf to brace herself for pain. Then when she went stiff I tried yanking apart the magic. I went with the tail first--that was the least complex. I got most of it. /Almost/ all of it. The tail dropped off and left just a small nub. I went for the gender-altering magic immediately, wrestling and yanking at it in the hope of.... But I couldn't do it. I damaged it a little bit. It's "leaking" a little more than it was before. So that should shorten the time she spends time as a woman. The--uh--transition phase later on might be a little weird though.
In hindsight? I probably should not have tried so hard on the latter bit. Silvertip might have flipped out over the pain, thought I was trying to kill her, and attacked me or even frenzied. Nick, old boy? You need to be less stupid in the future.
Even though the wrangling had hurt her, Silvertip sucked it up. (I imagine they're quite familiar with pain.) I again got an offer for payment in return for my services--I suspect this may be cultural--and a thanks for what I was able to do. (No longer being a Veil breach is a good thing.) I said payment could be silence, peace, and respect. Apparently that wasn't acceptable and she's going to find something suitable. She left, still clearly hurting a bit from the 'operation.' Whatever she comes back with later, try to be gracious, Nick. Even if it's a mauled dead thing. Oh, god. I hope it's not Eskimo ice cream.
I waited a while, then tidied up the area, jumped from limb-to-limb back to the umbral clearing near my cabin. (Jedi-jumping = cool. Not as efficient as flying, but still fun.) I spent the rest of the night with a small fire providing energy to craft 3D shapes in the air--and then bending the "work area" on itself. Pushing some boundaries with Euclidean geometry . I packed it in an hour before dawn. My phone'd gone off. Message from Javid. He's looking for Rhys. Easy enough request to accommodate.
