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July 15--Meeting up with a cabal of Hollow Ones
The drive out to Portland was uneventful, but it gave me time to think about how I'd set things up to intercept Santa Claus, Black Peter, Beast of War, The Nothing, or whatever the hell is randomly bothering locating and bothering me at 3am. More on that later, though.
The chantry down in San Fran had pointed me at some Hollow Ones from Portland who'd contacted them looking for someone to mentor them in Forces. The San Fran crew turned them down because the Hollowers didn't want to relocate to San Fran to make the tutelage easier and because the Portland Hollowers were not exactly well known. So there was not much to be gained by any mentor out of San Fran. Hollowers, however, are basically Orphans (with bad fashion sense, a bad case of pessimism, and stuck in the 1990s); so I figured I'd offer to visit and see about lending them a hand. Where would I be if Peter Kenward (Order of Hermes and a freakin' MASTER of Forces) hadn't offered me a hand when I was a young and stupid shithead?
I checked in to a motel, dropped off my stuff, and went to meet up with the Hollowers at a local nightclub for "goth night." (Wow, it has been years since I was in a nightclub and aaaaaages since I went in goth attire.) But, as a nod to the Hollowers and goth night (and my own brief stint as a Hollow One for a little over half a year before I came to my senses), I did wear black khakis, a blue silk button-down shirt, cats-eye contacts, and dyed my hair black with a shock of electric blue streaked through it. (Okay. Fine. I admit it. It was kind of cool to get dressed up all crazy like that again.) The cabal has three members: Shade, Briar, and Vlad.
Shade is a guy, a scrawny young thing who likely got into the club with a fake ID. An Apprentice of Prime and Matter. He's trying WAY too hard to be goth. Briar, the lone female in the group, is the most accomplished, being a Disciple of Life. She's kind of the typical snarky, jaded vamp/vixen type of goth. Vlad is the oldest, seems to be the leader, but is still in his early-mid 20s. Apprentice of Prime, Matter, Life, and Entropy. He's clearly into the vampire style, what with the fake fangs and all. I was a little surprised when Vlad broke out a well-worn violin and played counterpoint to The Cure's "Fascination Street." He's a savant with that thing.
They seemed impressed that I was an Adept of Forces. They'd recently lost their fourth and oldest member, Dragon, who'd been a Disciple of Forces and had helped to locate and train all the members of the cabal over the past half decade. They'd accidentally drawn the attention of a powerful and evil vampire, Marcus LaCroix, who was a serious threat to them. So they'd inacted a ritual to take Marcus and his entourage out. They all knew a smidgeon of Forces and Correspondence from Dragon, so they performed a ritual from the building across the street from where Marcus holed up during the day, trying to set their enemies ablaze. They succeeded, but pushed too hard in the process. Dragon spontaneously combusted (holy crap!) and died before Briar could get close enough to heal him. Backlash. Something that went wrong or pushed too hard or maybe a combination of both. But Marcus and his goons (at least the ones in the building at the time) were dead and the remaining members of the cabal were safe because of Dragon's sacrifice.
They basically wanted me to take Dragon's place, teaching them more about Forces first, then Correspondence next. So they could better defend themselves in the future.
I asked a variety of questions about the incident and pointed out that killing people (or vampires) is generally not a good idea because whoever gets killed likely has friends or allies who will want to avenge the death. Kill enough people (or vampires) and eventually you're going to have more and more and more people (or vampires) looking to kill you. Best to lay low and keep your head down, not.... burn down a building with your enemies in it. (Granted, I've done that before. In Seattle. But the building had vampires-rendered-dead in it, not "live" vampires and their human guards.) And why not ask a local mage instead of an outsider? (They knew of three others, none of which knew Forces, and none of which who wanted to associate with Hollowers/Orphans.) I told them I'd think about it and that I had other business in town that night, but I'd get back with them.
I'd like to help them, but something feels a little off. I can't put my finger on it. I think I'm a little unnerved by how their cabal acted so violently in response to a threat. On one hand it makes sense. On the other hand, I find it a little shocking that such extreme measures were needed. Maybe I've just had a little too much red wine, which is not my normal alcoholic beverage of choice, but what the Hollowers were all drinking?
Anyway. Work to do tonight. Wards to put together. Spirit-demon thing to vex and hex if it bothers to show up.
The drive out to Portland was uneventful, but it gave me time to think about how I'd set things up to intercept Santa Claus, Black Peter, Beast of War, The Nothing, or whatever the hell is randomly bothering locating and bothering me at 3am. More on that later, though.
The chantry down in San Fran had pointed me at some Hollow Ones from Portland who'd contacted them looking for someone to mentor them in Forces. The San Fran crew turned them down because the Hollowers didn't want to relocate to San Fran to make the tutelage easier and because the Portland Hollowers were not exactly well known. So there was not much to be gained by any mentor out of San Fran. Hollowers, however, are basically Orphans (with bad fashion sense, a bad case of pessimism, and stuck in the 1990s); so I figured I'd offer to visit and see about lending them a hand. Where would I be if Peter Kenward (Order of Hermes and a freakin' MASTER of Forces) hadn't offered me a hand when I was a young and stupid shithead?
I checked in to a motel, dropped off my stuff, and went to meet up with the Hollowers at a local nightclub for "goth night." (Wow, it has been years since I was in a nightclub and aaaaaages since I went in goth attire.) But, as a nod to the Hollowers and goth night (and my own brief stint as a Hollow One for a little over half a year before I came to my senses), I did wear black khakis, a blue silk button-down shirt, cats-eye contacts, and dyed my hair black with a shock of electric blue streaked through it. (Okay. Fine. I admit it. It was kind of cool to get dressed up all crazy like that again.) The cabal has three members: Shade, Briar, and Vlad.
Shade is a guy, a scrawny young thing who likely got into the club with a fake ID. An Apprentice of Prime and Matter. He's trying WAY too hard to be goth. Briar, the lone female in the group, is the most accomplished, being a Disciple of Life. She's kind of the typical snarky, jaded vamp/vixen type of goth. Vlad is the oldest, seems to be the leader, but is still in his early-mid 20s. Apprentice of Prime, Matter, Life, and Entropy. He's clearly into the vampire style, what with the fake fangs and all. I was a little surprised when Vlad broke out a well-worn violin and played counterpoint to The Cure's "Fascination Street." He's a savant with that thing.
They seemed impressed that I was an Adept of Forces. They'd recently lost their fourth and oldest member, Dragon, who'd been a Disciple of Forces and had helped to locate and train all the members of the cabal over the past half decade. They'd accidentally drawn the attention of a powerful and evil vampire, Marcus LaCroix, who was a serious threat to them. So they'd inacted a ritual to take Marcus and his entourage out. They all knew a smidgeon of Forces and Correspondence from Dragon, so they performed a ritual from the building across the street from where Marcus holed up during the day, trying to set their enemies ablaze. They succeeded, but pushed too hard in the process. Dragon spontaneously combusted (holy crap!) and died before Briar could get close enough to heal him. Backlash. Something that went wrong or pushed too hard or maybe a combination of both. But Marcus and his goons (at least the ones in the building at the time) were dead and the remaining members of the cabal were safe because of Dragon's sacrifice.
They basically wanted me to take Dragon's place, teaching them more about Forces first, then Correspondence next. So they could better defend themselves in the future.
I asked a variety of questions about the incident and pointed out that killing people (or vampires) is generally not a good idea because whoever gets killed likely has friends or allies who will want to avenge the death. Kill enough people (or vampires) and eventually you're going to have more and more and more people (or vampires) looking to kill you. Best to lay low and keep your head down, not.... burn down a building with your enemies in it. (Granted, I've done that before. In Seattle. But the building had vampires-rendered-dead in it, not "live" vampires and their human guards.) And why not ask a local mage instead of an outsider? (They knew of three others, none of which knew Forces, and none of which who wanted to associate with Hollowers/Orphans.) I told them I'd think about it and that I had other business in town that night, but I'd get back with them.
I'd like to help them, but something feels a little off. I can't put my finger on it. I think I'm a little unnerved by how their cabal acted so violently in response to a threat. On one hand it makes sense. On the other hand, I find it a little shocking that such extreme measures were needed. Maybe I've just had a little too much red wine, which is not my normal alcoholic beverage of choice, but what the Hollowers were all drinking?
Anyway. Work to do tonight. Wards to put together. Spirit-demon thing to vex and hex if it bothers to show up.
