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Emma must have gotten in touch with Jacinta, because Jacinta turned up at my cabin last night. We had a very interesting, productive discussion. One that leaves me wondering just how desperate and afraid the sept is right now.
The first order of business, for me, was to gain access to the nodes in the woods--excluding the caern of course. Jacinta said she'd already cleared me to do so earlier: I must have misunderstood her. I feel a bit like an idiot. (Again.) Basically, she said as long as I have an escort and the nodes are not on some pack's territory (which I'd need permission to be on and an escort to let me know that, hey, that was a pack's territory or not), then it is okay with her. I shared the names of those who know I am a mage, asking if they were acceptable as escorts. Jacinta didn't seem entirely thrilled with any of them, but she said they would do. (She seems a little bent out of shape over Silvertip and her secret-keeping in the past.) I need to make a trip soon. I know where one node is--it was on a hilltop with a rock, north of the railroad tracks. It was where Peter Kenward crossed over to the spirit world with other mages from the local chantry. The last place and time when he had any sanity remaining. And now his mostly comatose body slowly decays in a psychiatric ward. (I need to visit him again. It's been months.)
The second order of business was to suggest that the sept reach out to the Bete in the area--Val and Karuvar--to come to the defense of the caern. Jacinta said she did not know Karuvar, which seemed to imply that she didn't trust him at all. Val? She says Val cannot be trusted ("not like a true ally can be trusted"), and that Val's belief that doing good things now can erase misdeeds in the past is faulty. I think Val may essentially be always on the outside looking in when it comes to Jacinta and the sept/caern. Ah, well. I made an effort to promote more cooperation among the different shifter breeds. (Shit. I forgot to mention Thomas.)
The third order of business was to ask about whether or not it would be okay for me to assist not just in defense of the sept, but--in the light of current events--if it would be acceptable for me to aid in the defense of the caern itself. Which led to a "what can you do?" style question. To which I gave a response that I could work magic at the caern, directed to harm foes or protect members of the sept, from the futon we were both sitting on. And that I had not used this power to do anything of that nature--nor spy on the caern--in the past. And that I already knew where the caern was because I'd been there once before when a communally shared vision caused me to awaken there in the presence of a number of garou--back when the caern was infested with giant wasps. Those statements definitely got her attention. I think she fully realized at that point just how dangerous I could have been all these years had I actually been an enemy, but clearly I'd respected their privacy and the sanctity of their caern. Trust means a great deal to Jacinta, I can tell; and I think I just earned a metric fuckload of her trust.
That or the local garou are really and truly desperate--and afraid.
Jacinta gave me permission to use magic to defend the caern itself.
This lead to the fourth order of business, which I didn't expect to be fulfilled. I asked if Jacinta would bring me a pebble from the caern itself, making it easier for me to work my magick there on their behalf. She readily agreed, quickly grasping the concept of resonance with "like links to like." She grasped the concept, so I then offered, as an exchange of good faith, to giver her a lock of my own hair or a small vial of my blood. She--a little surprisingly--declined my offer. (She laughed at my offer. I cannot recall her ever laughing at anything. Was that an "I am amused you think that I would need those things to hunt you down and kill you" laugh, an "I trust you completely and am amused you even made that offer" laugh, or both?) I suspect that's an example of the level of trust she has in me. (But good lord, is that level of trust warranted?)
I decided to press my luck. I told her that getting the opportunity to visit the caern for a while and to meditate there for a time would help me to further attune myself to the location and better aid in its defense. She said she would need to speak to the caern's totems before making that decision, but I got the impression that she was very seriously considering it. I offered to go wearing the shape of a cougar, thus disguising my true identity, and Jacinta could just say the cougar was a warper ally come to aid in the defense of the caern and was not to be disturbed while meditating. Jacinta said it would be far simpler to just have me go as kin, as kin had been allowed in the caern in the past. (I hadn't realized that!) That would be a whole lot simpler than my elaborate ruse.
The last item of business was having a means of alerting me when the caern came under attack. Jacinta said she had a wind spirit friend, Uqenqarkenruk, that she would send to alert me when the attack happened.
We talked, briefly, of other things. Neither of us knew what happened to Mouse, and the Sept of the Green in NYC had been cut off. No communication. Possibly gone. We promised to share news of Mouse if one of us heard something.
After Jacinta left, I also texted Emma to let her know that I had worked my magick and could not see any harm coming to her family's home in the immediately foreseeable future. I hope that gives her some small peace.
Holy shit, Nick. What the hell have you gotten yourself into?
The first order of business, for me, was to gain access to the nodes in the woods--excluding the caern of course. Jacinta said she'd already cleared me to do so earlier: I must have misunderstood her. I feel a bit like an idiot. (Again.) Basically, she said as long as I have an escort and the nodes are not on some pack's territory (which I'd need permission to be on and an escort to let me know that, hey, that was a pack's territory or not), then it is okay with her. I shared the names of those who know I am a mage, asking if they were acceptable as escorts. Jacinta didn't seem entirely thrilled with any of them, but she said they would do. (She seems a little bent out of shape over Silvertip and her secret-keeping in the past.) I need to make a trip soon. I know where one node is--it was on a hilltop with a rock, north of the railroad tracks. It was where Peter Kenward crossed over to the spirit world with other mages from the local chantry. The last place and time when he had any sanity remaining. And now his mostly comatose body slowly decays in a psychiatric ward. (I need to visit him again. It's been months.)
The second order of business was to suggest that the sept reach out to the Bete in the area--Val and Karuvar--to come to the defense of the caern. Jacinta said she did not know Karuvar, which seemed to imply that she didn't trust him at all. Val? She says Val cannot be trusted ("not like a true ally can be trusted"), and that Val's belief that doing good things now can erase misdeeds in the past is faulty. I think Val may essentially be always on the outside looking in when it comes to Jacinta and the sept/caern. Ah, well. I made an effort to promote more cooperation among the different shifter breeds. (Shit. I forgot to mention Thomas.)
The third order of business was to ask about whether or not it would be okay for me to assist not just in defense of the sept, but--in the light of current events--if it would be acceptable for me to aid in the defense of the caern itself. Which led to a "what can you do?" style question. To which I gave a response that I could work magic at the caern, directed to harm foes or protect members of the sept, from the futon we were both sitting on. And that I had not used this power to do anything of that nature--nor spy on the caern--in the past. And that I already knew where the caern was because I'd been there once before when a communally shared vision caused me to awaken there in the presence of a number of garou--back when the caern was infested with giant wasps. Those statements definitely got her attention. I think she fully realized at that point just how dangerous I could have been all these years had I actually been an enemy, but clearly I'd respected their privacy and the sanctity of their caern. Trust means a great deal to Jacinta, I can tell; and I think I just earned a metric fuckload of her trust.
That or the local garou are really and truly desperate--and afraid.
Jacinta gave me permission to use magic to defend the caern itself.
This lead to the fourth order of business, which I didn't expect to be fulfilled. I asked if Jacinta would bring me a pebble from the caern itself, making it easier for me to work my magick there on their behalf. She readily agreed, quickly grasping the concept of resonance with "like links to like." She grasped the concept, so I then offered, as an exchange of good faith, to giver her a lock of my own hair or a small vial of my blood. She--a little surprisingly--declined my offer. (She laughed at my offer. I cannot recall her ever laughing at anything. Was that an "I am amused you think that I would need those things to hunt you down and kill you" laugh, an "I trust you completely and am amused you even made that offer" laugh, or both?) I suspect that's an example of the level of trust she has in me. (But good lord, is that level of trust warranted?)
I decided to press my luck. I told her that getting the opportunity to visit the caern for a while and to meditate there for a time would help me to further attune myself to the location and better aid in its defense. She said she would need to speak to the caern's totems before making that decision, but I got the impression that she was very seriously considering it. I offered to go wearing the shape of a cougar, thus disguising my true identity, and Jacinta could just say the cougar was a warper ally come to aid in the defense of the caern and was not to be disturbed while meditating. Jacinta said it would be far simpler to just have me go as kin, as kin had been allowed in the caern in the past. (I hadn't realized that!) That would be a whole lot simpler than my elaborate ruse.
The last item of business was having a means of alerting me when the caern came under attack. Jacinta said she had a wind spirit friend, Uqenqarkenruk, that she would send to alert me when the attack happened.
We talked, briefly, of other things. Neither of us knew what happened to Mouse, and the Sept of the Green in NYC had been cut off. No communication. Possibly gone. We promised to share news of Mouse if one of us heard something.
After Jacinta left, I also texted Emma to let her know that I had worked my magick and could not see any harm coming to her family's home in the immediately foreseeable future. I hope that gives her some small peace.
Holy shit, Nick. What the hell have you gotten yourself into?
