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t h e . w a y w a r d - e v e n t s

 

[return to the events page] Sanctum Aeternam::The Prince of Atlanta::VII. Enter the Oracle. < Previous Page Next Page > Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leaving the air-conditioned lobby of The Mariot recreated the initial shock of the hot Atlanta summer. A quick intake of breath from the young woman in a field coat as the spinning doors releases her into the blisteringly humid heat; And like that, the coat is off again, tied around her waste in a deft manuver. A college-man beside her takes off his jacket as well, wiping a few initial beads of sweat from his brow, but the rest of the group seems wholly unaffected. He swings the jacket over his shoulder, saying something to the woman. Lampposts dot the street from a high vantage point, making the people amongst them seem like gnats, swarming around the remainder of the light left from the day. There is hardly a person in sight save the wandering group, and the occassional reckless driver with little consideration for his own safety in the night. And there they are, alone, again... The streets are clear as the final car turns the bend. But they are being watched. The figure shuffles on the rooftop to get a better look, then disappears back into the shadows. He pauses for a moment, then disappears completely into the stairwell, a slight smile on his face. Edited by: NeuroMortis at: 8/14/01 4:53:46 pm Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom looks sidelong at Kat, smiling slightly. "Wanna go with me on the bike? Be cooler than being cooped up in the car." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kat watches Wisdom for a second, her smile wisping across her face again (she had been cross ever since she found out Sara would be joining their ranks.) A brief moment of consideration, then her smile breaks out in full force. "You bet. Been awhile since I've been on a motorcycle." With a casual swing of her field-coat up, she hooks it on her thumb, pulling upwards. "We'll meet you guys there. It's only a short ride anyways." A wave, then Wisdom and Kat are walking towards his motorcycle. --- Siegfried Von Hauten 10th Generation Ancillae Tzimisce Metamorphosist Priest of the Sabbat Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Let the children have their fun, Magnus, they're both capable of handing themselves. Besides, they'll keep each other out of trouble." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnus considers the likelihood of Kat and Wisdom keeping each other out of trouble, and bursts out laughing. "Heh... uh... oh... sorry... that was... that was... heh... I didn't know you had a sense of humor..." He starts laughing again. Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom nods at Clortho's words and cocks an eyebrow at Magnus as though saying 'Yeah, up yours buddy.' He turns away before giving Magnus a chance to react, offering the crook of his elbow to Kat. Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clortho mutters to himself. "All the world's a joke, and we Malkavians are the only ones who get it." He turns to look at magnus a little more directly, and speaks, an amused, but serious tone to his voice. "I'm a MALK, of course I have a sense of humor! What, you think GOZER was the center of my existance of my entire life? Comedy is one of the few things that's come out of this world that's worth saving." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I've known many malks in my day, and they were not guaranteed to have a sense of humor. Especially, as it turned out, the 'driven and dedicated' types... which you seem to be. So you're something of a rarity. It's a compliment." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kat accepts the offering, looking over her shoulder with a mischevious grin at Magnus, slightly disappointed by his lack of apparent enthusiasm (or jealousy). She shrugs, her arm hooked with Wisdom, and as they reach the motorcycle, she hops on the back, stretching her arms upwards. Then, a smile at Wisdom. "Come on, slow poke!" --- Siegfried Von Hauten 10th Generation Ancillae Tzimisce Metamorphosist Priest of the Sabbat Edited by Siegfried Von Hauten at: 8/11/00 1:07:21 am Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom tosses her his helmet and throws one leg over the bike, turns the key and fires the machine up. "Ok, you know where we're going? "After all, we don't have to go RIGHT there, do we?" Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "No, I don't think they'd miss us too much if we took a diversion for some... mortal neccesities." With a wink, Kat points down the street two or three blocks to a rundown building in the center of the commerce section. "It's IN there... but we can take the LONG way." --- Siegfried Von Hauten 10th Generation Ancillae Tzimisce Metamorphosist Priest of the Sabbat Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I figure by the time they're finished flirting with each other, we'll have been there for hours and the sun will be starting to rise..." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom looks over his right shoulder at her. "Mortal Necessity, eh? What did you have in mind?" Slight chuckle Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clortho hollers at them as they ride off. "Try not to be TO long, Kiddies." then smiles at magnus. "Those crazy kine, eh? go figure." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Her lips but inches from Wisdom's ear. "I'm sure we could figure SOMETHING out." She turns around, and looks over at Magnus and Clortho, still watching the two. "Maybe... we ought to go see the Oracle." A peng of regret and sudden sadness, then a quick hopeful addition: "We'll have plenty of time to do mortal stuff.. like eat... drink... *SLEEP*... later." --- Siegfried Von Hauten 10th Generation Ancillae Tzimisce Metamorphosist Priest of the Sabbat Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "that's a good point, your days still have twenty four hours." Glances to the night sky, then to Magnus. "we kindred do tend to forget that, don't we?" Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom leans back. "Oh, alright. But sleep is good. I like sleep. Let's go see the vampire version of an Oracle." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The motorcycle speeds off towards the oracle, carrying the college-student and the young woman. It is a short distance, and the destiny and origin can both be surveyed from the figure's vantage point. He smiles slightly, pulling out a notepad, and he scribbles down something quickly and furiously. Then, back into the darkness. "Freeze!" The figure stands rigid. "Who the hell are you? What're you doing in this building?" Not a word. His sinewy and powerful form is highlighted by the moon's rays in the sky. Yet he does not turn around. "Come on, turn around, and put your hands up!" The figure turns, his hands raising. A security guard. "Answer me. What are you doing in here?" The guard's screams were never heard by the group. --- Siegfried Von Hauten 10th Generation Ancillae Tzimisce Metamorphosist Priest of the Sabbat Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom guns the engine of the huge bike for a second and tears off down the street...in the opposite direction of the Oracle. "I'm gonna go 'round the block a few times. Cool off a bit. It's gonna be a bit 'fore the old timers make it to the building. Then we'll be meeting them there." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnus watches Wisdom tear off in the opposite direction of the Oracle's apartment. "Somehow I knew he'd do that." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- She pummels Wisdom's side lightly with a chiding blow, and giggles throatily. "Bad Wisdom!" It doesn't seem like she objects too much, though. The summer's breeze, though humid, does offer a refreshing touch. The two round the corner, and are out of the sight of the elder folk. A whistling can be heard from above. Kat looks up, squinting her eyes. "Holy... S--t!" A figure crashes into the ground twenty feet in front of them, the pavement tearing apart as he lands at an impossible velocity. He tumbles over three times, and bounds up, facing the motorcycle. Wisdom slams the breaks and skids the motorcycle sideways, (luckily Kat had already taken the liberty to hook her hands onto Wisdom's waist, so she didn't go flying off), stopping five feet in front of the figure. It erects itself to a full 9 feet, and lets its gaze fall upon the two. Bitter hatred and anger glares in its red eyes, a canine snout protruding from just below the harsh red stare. The unpopulated street bares a small group of passerbyers that, upon immediate sight of the beast, scream in terror and shock, or simply refuse to acknowledge it's existence. Kat, unknowingly, digs her fingers into Wisdom's side, trembling as she eyes the creature before them. Wisdom grimaces at this, but watches the creatures eyes, undaunting. It growls, causing him to inadvertantly lean the bike backwards. "Wh..Who are you?" Kat's words come out frightened, choppy, like a timid little girl. His voice comes like a stern repremand, a voice of hatred, angst, and nightmares, balled into the body of a semi-mortal shape. "I am Dred Lasargix. And I am here to kill Siegfried." --- Siegfried Von Hauten 10th Generation Ancillae Tzimisce Metamorphosist Priest of the Sabbat Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom's mind stops working temporarily...or most of it does. Somewhere in the reptilian part of his brainstem, instinct, blind and pure takes over for a moment. From the dim reaches of the collective unconsciousness terror takes hold. For a moment. A shining figure, robed and brilliant,appears just as Wisdom is ready to throw off the womanweightburden from his waist and start running 'Now Mikey,' the figure says, 'that's no way to treat a lady'. The voice comes from deep in the cowl. Muscled hands extend from the rippling incandescent garment's sleeves to pull back the cowl. Michael Wisdom's face appears as the fabric is pulled away. 'Do you really think I'd let some random nastiness eat you? I have big plans for you. One of those big plans is to look horror in the face and not give ground.' The panic disappears, mist in the morning sun. Fear remains, a cool cloth covering his skin, but manageable now. "Ummm...Siegfried, right?" Wisdom says. "Don't know where the guy is. Don't really know who he is. Don't particularly care." More methodically, controlled, Wisdom starts checking the fabric of reality for a small tear or snag he can exploit if necessary. His hands and wrist are poised to speed he and his precious cargo away at a second's notice. Fear no longer commands. Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He eyes the man warily, and snarls. "You are being followed by him. I smelled him since I came here. I will kill you as I will kill him. Show me to him NOW." A frantic slobbering issues forth, the mad-cap lunacy of the werewolf frothing forth in dribblets of spit. He growls menacingly, his eyes gleaming with terrible insanity. And then he lunges forth. Without another word, Wisdom is pinned to the ground, as is Kat. It was done between breaths. In the speed of a millisecond. "I will eat you from gizzard to crotch. You will pay for your insolence..." "Leave them alone." The voice comes from behind them, loud, demanding... powerful. Dred turns and looks at the source of the voice. "SIEG-fried..." "They are not your target, you rambling baffoon. You should have never stopped tracking the undead. Now GO." "I'll KILL you, you little bastard..." Dred's words come in final defiance, and he lunges off of the two, approaching Siegfried at impossible velocity. And, with that, Dred bites air. He snarls angrily, looking about. "Where did you go, foul demon-witch?" He says witch as an insult. Siegfried's voice just chuckles in the night. "You are a pitiful creature. Off with you." And, like that, Dred is off into the night. Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hold on, it's time to go." With that, Wisdom wrenches back on the throttle to his powerful bike, reversing direction back to the elder vampires. Upon reaching them he stops. "You'll never guess who we just ran into." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I give up." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile.... --- Dred lunges forward, frothing at the mouth, his jaws clamp down on Siegfried's hand, tearing it off of his body. Siegfried does not flinch. He watches Dred, speculating, and the garou growls menacingly. His hand grows back within an instant, and he sighs warily. "Dred, you fool. Why do you fight me so? With both the stones, we will complete this. We need only find Myrmydon's. If we kill him, then this shall be a simple matter. Do you have it, then?" Dred's breathing slows, shallow, hissing breaths. He looks like he is about to lunge forward again, but then he thinks better of it. His visage shrinks, back to homid, and even the unclothed form has some sort of imposing quality to it. He watches Siegfried, and his heavy breathing stops entirely. In his hand, he holds a spherical shape. He holds it across his chest. "Yes." His words come out distasteful at the vampire, and Siegfried nods. "Good. If I am not mistaken, the 'noble' dog has the other, or at least knows where it can be found. Go, find them, and ... put some pants on, you disgust me." A snarl, Dred's eyes fill up with rage. He looks as if he is ready to lunge again, but he thinks better of it. Dred walks off down the alleyway. A quick lunge left, his hand fills with the gore of a passerbyer. One of the few at this hour, so it is not noticed by anyone else. The man drops to the ground, clutching his throat, but no sound comes. Dred begins to undress him. Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom looks behind him. "Umm two somebodies really. What's nine feet tall, covered in fur and has a three foot snout full of teeth? And while you're pondering that little question, the other was Siegfried himself." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnus turns around, scanning the street behind worriedly. "A Lupine and Siegfried, eh? Not a good combination." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile.. Kat is trembling, holding herself so close to Wisdom, it would nearly suffocate him were she smothering his frontside. Tears are almost ready to flow forth, but she looks too frightened to do even that. She whispers into Wisdom's ear, over and over, delerious... "Don't let him kill me.. Don't let him kill me. Don't let them kill everyone in the villiage. Don't let them kill us." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom reaches back and pats her head awkwardly. "Hush...no one's going to kill you. Your village is safe now." He looks to the others somewhat embarrassed and contiues to try to calm her. Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Her form pressed so hard against Wisdom's, her flesh begins to lose color and grow white from lack of circulation. Finally, it breaks, and she lets loose racking sobs. "I'm sorry.. I'm sorry..." Over and over again. Her pennance for her failure in the eyes of terror. Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quickly Wisdom's mind raced back to the semester of Psyche 202 he took. Remembering nothing useful, he continues as best as he is able. "Shhhh....it's going to be alright." He repeats the mantra men have told crying women since the dawn of time. "Everything's going to be alright." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Her terror subsiding, she seems to zone out. Her eyes unfocus, the gaze on the three vampires. Her grip loosens slightly on Wisdom, but her head is still dead-weight on his upperback. Sara watches the two, biting her lower lip, her hands twirling folds of fabric. A shuddering sigh emits. "That she could be so placated disturbs me so very greatly. I'm beginning to wonder if I would have been safer jumping off the building." Her voice is wry and touches on humor, but just barely. She shows no signs of a smile, though. Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Strange priorities, you have." To everyone else. "Ok, we need to get to someplace safe, quickly. Garou are not to be trifled with..." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom nods in agreement. "Ok, where to? And I still want an answer to my question. What's nine feet tall, covered in fur and has a three foot snout full of teeth?" He looks back at Kat to ascertain her status. Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It, young mage, is a Garou -- more popularly known as a Werewolf, in one of its three forms... a fusion of man and beast. I doubt very much we'd be able survive an assault if it decided to attack." Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- an instant without the mask. "The buggers burn better than most wood, but I'd prefer not to waste fuel." and Miguel is restored Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom panics slightly. "Well, Gee. That's just fine for you guys. You can do what Siegfried did and turn to mist. Me, I'm in serious trouble, as is Kat." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- She lifts her head up gingerly from Wisdom's back, and slides off the motorcycle. Walking hazardously towards the rest of the group, her knees buckle, but she pulls herself up before hitting the wet pavement. A soft moan, and then her head shakes back and forth. "Alright... Where to?" Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "That is a populer misconception. Still, you're right. We had best hasten our pace." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom gets off the bike, taking Kat's arm to hold her upright. "Nononono. That's no misconception. I saw it. The slick bastard turned right to mist. I know what I saw." Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- " He may be able to, but I know I can't, yet." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "First, we book it to the Oracle. "Second... who turned to mist? The Garou or Siegfried?" Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Siegfried did." Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Did we not hear that Seigfreid is a Tzimice? That is most uncharacteristic. If he's progressed that far in a dicipline outside of his blood, he must be extreamly dangerous." The Miguel mask frowns in tandem with the face below. Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Well, that means he'd had plenty of time to practice. A shape shifter who can float around unseen..." Magnus looks around warily. "So he could theoretically be watching us now." Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "That's a bit ambiguous. Technicly, I could fit that description. Anyway. Let's just assume he is, and step to." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom looked about, testing for entropic life tears in the pattern him. His shoulder hurt, distracting him somewhat. Fighting to concentrate through the pain, he is aware of only three gatherings of quintessence that match his internal definition of vampire, Magnus, Sara & Clortho. "We are clear for the moment. I don't detect Siegfried's presence anywhere in the area. God only knows what the pattern of a werewolf looks like and I wasn't going to stand there and study it. "We best get while the gettin's good." Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Have I not been saying that?" Clortho glances along the street, in the general direction they've been traveling. "I'd already be moving, if I had any idea where the place is." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "All right then. Follow me." Canis heads toward the Oracle. Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thus follows Clortho. Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leading her gently, Wisdom guides Kat in following Magnus and Clortho. Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The small band walks off, travelling towards the Oracle's rundown apartment. A brief walk through darkened streets with (thankfully) little activity, and they arrive at his doorstep. A brief pause, and Kat (who, as of now, has fully regained her senses from the Delerium and is happily and boldly striding forward) creaks open the doorway. A quick walk down a familiar (For Magnus and Kat) and a not-so-familiar (For the rest) hallway of grime and unpleasantry, and they arrive at the last door again. Kat knocks a few times. The door creaks open, and they walk inside. The Oracle looks genuinely pleased and surprised of their coming. Without a word, he sits down in his chair and eyes them expectantly, as if he already knew their motive and just wanted them to put words to it. His young frame seems to now have grown old and sagely, powerful eyes replacing the innocence of an embraced child. His hands clasp lightly together in front of him, and he leans forward, his smile widening. Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnus hesitates for a second, then speaks. "Oracle, when we first met you said that I would meet three, and one of us would die. Well... 'die' seems to have been a figure of speech. One has been dragged into another realm. I need to know how to bring her back here... "And, how to ensure that Christoph is, in fact, actually dead." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He watches Magnus curiously. "Introductions please." The comment is directed towards the two newcomers, despite his never-faltering gaze at Magnus. The oracle lifts his hand, a cup of red liquid floating over and near to Kat. The woman squeals delightedly, and accepts the offering with a smile. She pauses for a moment, about to ask a question. The oracle responds before she even gets it out. "Yes, I killed the donor. And I have more waiting for when you come back, my sweet." Kat grins, nodding, and greedily sucks down the contents of the cup. Two chairs float up and through the apartment, landing a foot behind the other two guests, and the couch shuffles slightly near Kat and Magnus. "Well, make yourself comfortable, then.. and after introductions, we can begin." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom looks around and sits down in the chair provided. "I'm Mike Wisdom, but you can call me Wisdom, nearly everybody does." Megawattage smile is firmly in place. Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The oracle's eyebrow raises. "And you are of what clan?" Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnus looks amused. "No clan, Oracle. He is a death-mage of some kind. Can't you recognize one of your mortal bretheren?" Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom pulls out a beer from his jacket and cracks it open. "Man, even just the little bit of time outside warmed it up a little." He tips it in a salute to the Oracle. "Really, you're an Oracle, eh? Huh. I've never met a demi-god before. How's it going man? "What sphere are you?" Looking at his hand, Wisdom notes the still pale coloration of his skin. "Ahhhh...I see why you thought I was a vampire. Well, I'm incognito." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For Sieggy: A quick pause, then a wary sigh. [/i]"No, I will never be an oracle in the conventional sense. I tell the future, the present, and the past; nothing more. I was fortunate enough to be trained in long-dead temporal magicks of Thamaturgy. Half a mortal's blood must be utilized in the act of time sight, which leaves me rather drained. So you wonder why I do not perform parlor tricks for you?" The statement is directed at Magnus. "Because every time I do something for you, another innocent, carefree person will DIE on the streets for you. I've learned to live with it, now you will as well." Kat eyes the child nervously. "Come on, he was only kidding.. Sean, lighten up." The Oracle shakes his head back and forth, his eyes clouding over in deep thought. Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnus frowns. "When did I ever give you the impression I wanted parlor tricks, sir? You are the one, on our first meeting, who chose to greet me with phrases that went to the effect of 'I told you he would come' and other such trivialities. If you believed in getting straight to the point, why the 'parlor trick' of moving chairs and couches with your mind? We're just as capable of going to them. "I do not appreciate it when people cast their own failings onto me... I have enough of my own, thank you very much, and unlike the Christian God I am not in the habit of bearing the sins of others." Edited by Magnus at: 8/16/00 12:36:55 am Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Forgive my failing memory, but I beleive we have a reason for being here." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "SILENCE, wretch! You speak of things you can only DREAM of understanding on the most infinitesemal level! Your pathetic understanding of reality cannot even begin to conceive a partial understanding for Temporal Magicks. I am not adverse to create hospitality for my guests by offering them seats through lesser magicks, but I will NOT use parlor tricks to understand your motives!" Kat growls, fiercely. "Listen Sean, you're being a royal f**knut," Putting it eloquently as always, she lets that sink in. Then, calmer, "What's going on? Why are you so uptight?" The figure of the boy collapses into the chair, his hand coming up to the bridge of his nose. He grimaces, unmoving, and speachless. Then... "They are one away." --- Siegfried Von Hauten 10th Generation Ancillae Tzimisce Metamorphosist Priest of the Sabbat Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I beleive crypticism of that magnetude prompts an explination, Thaumaturge, if you feel so inclined?" Clortho tilts his head quizicly towards the oracle. Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The oracle shakes his head back and forth." "I should start at the beginning, then.. Perhaps Magnus would care to chime in from time to time, hmm?" The Oracle shoots a glance at the man. "Kat finding you was NOT coincidental. Tyr's finding you was. But I'll live with what I can get." He turns back to the rest of the group. "Two thousand five-hundred years ago...." --- He is dangling from the cliffside, one hand the only thing between life and death. His face betrays him; a smiling, impish grin cuts neatly between his ample cheeks, and his eyes dart forward with immense joy. "Is that the BEST you can do, Callawin?" The boy across from the cliffhanging child growls menacingly, his leg set for another lunge. Quickly, the cliff-trodden boy pulls upwards, landing himself feet in front of Callawin with a brief intermitant pause. "Want to go again?" His question is answered with a primal scream of rage, and he is nearly toppled of the cliff again by the wild charge of his adversary. Laughing all the way, he thrusts to the right, catching onto Callawin's sleeve, toppling him to the ground and then off the cliff himself. Their positions reversed, Callawin's eyes betray him; from rage to terror, and then helpless defeat. The other boy pats his arm with one free hand, then yanks upward, casting Callawin unto the sparse grass of the cliffside. After a brief bout of laughter that finally subsides, the child watches Callawin with immense concentration. The defeated boy's panting slows to a stop, and then he looks up. "How did you do THAT?" Two small chuckles, then quiet. "Seriously. I must know! That was incredible!" The victor's face grows stern. "You must promise to never tell a soul." A vigorous and emphatic nod. "Not even your brother." Nod. "Your mom," Nod "Your dad.. Nobody." Nod. "Alright. It was magic." Callawin watched his eyes carefully, seeing if they would betray him. Finally, his curiousity turned to concern. "You're not joking? How did you use magic?" "Swear to me that you won't tell anyone." "I swear, Myrmydon." A conspiratorial glance; side-to-side. Then, the boy leans in. "Alright. I'll show you..." --- Sean leans back, sighing. He stops his story for a brief moment to collect his thoughts. "Myrmydon was a dabbler in the arts of the Order of Hermes. He had stolen a tome of knowledge from the local 'wizard' outside of town. Evidently, I now know, it awoken him; the thrill of the chase. His avatar shone brightly. Far more than any I have ever seen in past-sight. Callawin could never learn what he knew; he just did not have the internalized power. He would never join the Order of Hermes as Myrmydon did later... But that is unimportant. What is important, is what happened to Myrmydon twenty years later..." --- Older-Myrmydon walked briskly through the meeting room, his hard-soled shoes clapping harshly on the stone floor. He took his seat halfway through, and respectfully turned to the head of the House. "First order of business." The Mage's voice commanded authority. It boomed across the hallway through mystical means, carrying a far greater purpose than the simple attention of those assembled. "It has been brought to my attention that a member of this house has practiced unauthorized magicks. That they have been drawing from the very node that this house sits upon to create a magical artifact for no purpose other than progressing their own powers." Myrmydon blanched. His gaze lowered to the table in front of him as all eyes turned towards him. A quiet, uncomfortable pause. Then, the outburst. Myrmydon stood up, looking towards the leader of the house with pleading eyes. "No, you don't understand.. The Stones are for the powers of Good, not Evil. They give the wielders tremendous power, allowing ANYONE to attain the gift of magic. Even my friend Callawin could feel what it's like to have the power inside of him.." The master of the house stood up, angry words barked. Callawin could not hear them. Myrmydon did not know that he stood in the doorway, shaking his head sadly, listening to his words. Callawin had found his own magic, despite that his avatar would never shine again... Eternal boy that he was. He watched as Myrmydon was dragged from the meeting room towards the holding chamber for criminals against the House. He watched as Myrmydon, in a fit of rage, went vulgar against those holding him captive. He watched as Myrmydon ran from the burning ashes of the group. He followed as Myrmydon left that place, to find shelter in a Labyrinth not far away.. To have his shining avatar corrupted by the Nephandi. To be turned to them. He watched as the stones saw the same fate, each trapping inside of them a soul of his formerly beloved Order of Hermes, changing dramatically.. twisting. And, shaking his head sadly, as Myrmydon slept, he took the stones and scattered them to the land, keeping them from ever congregating again. Such power was not befit for any one man. And they finally met again, years later. "Callawin, how could you betray me so? All I wanted was to help you see what I saw... Love what I loved..." "You cannot force that upon a person, Myrmydon." He stepped into the light, a brief gasp from his friend. "You are but a child still." "I found my magic, Myrmydon. I found it amoungst vampires. This is the path you have led me down, Myrmydon. I am now without a clan, a Caitiff, because of my own greed. And what are you?" "I will never forgive you, Callawin. The next we meet, only one of us will survive." "And I know which one that will be. Goodbye, Myrmydon." A whisp of darkness, and through the window, never to meet with the man again... --- Sean draws in another breath. "Myrmydon's stones have remained seperated til this day. I watched them over as Callawin; I watched them as my name changed to Sean, and I joined the newly formed Tremere. I watched them as the world underwent an industrial revolution, and magick became a 'thing-of-the-past'. But now, I can no longer see them. The Weaver's insanity has prevented me from dipping into the fabric of reality anymore. My prophecies are garbled and are falling more and more worthless as the days pass. And now, the greatest disturbance in my web of protection comes to me as but a small ripple in the static waters of reality. Two of the stones are obtained by the powers-that-be. I know not who they are, nor does it matter. Myrmydon is controlling them to his own ends, this I can assure you. He would not allow outsiders to get their hands on such power. If Myrmydon regains the power of the stones, all will be lost. EVERYTHING. We will have ourselves a new God on this planet. One to rival the powers of the Antedeluvians, the Oracles, The Greater Celestine, Gaia herself. They must be destroyed; In lasting so long, they have only grown in power as every death on this Earth donates another partial soul to their collective power. They are infinite in their properties now- All three together would tear reality assunder." And Sean stops, abruptly, returning his hand to the bridge of his nose. And, like that, the story is over. Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "GOZER cometh unto us." Clortho examines Sean as he speaks. "This is a lot more serious than I was lead to beleive." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Oh, bloody hell." Magnus stares at the Oracle unhappily. "Those things again? Was Christoph involved in this, too, or is this something else entirely?" Magnus looks at the other people in the group. "This is, to put it mildly, not a good thing." He looks back at the Oracle. "I thought Myrmidon was dead. You're telling me he's still alive?" Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom takes a huge swallow from his beer. "All's I know is that I'd like to get my hands on those stones. Wow! Instant Godhood." Looks around the room at faces varying from shock to disgust. "Hey....I was only kiddin'." Edited by Wisdom at: 8/17/00 12:07:38 pm Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The oracle watches everyone with deep concern, his face contorting at the last comment. "You are not far from the truth, young Euthanatos. Therein lies the crux of the matter: Those who would take the stones for their own powers are quickly corrupted. The stones represent ultimate power and ultimate corruption; both at the same time. Myrmydon knows this, but is too far gone to care. He only wants power... And yes, he is still alive." Sean pauses for a moment, his skin paling and his eyes fluttering noticibly. A brief, uneasy silence, and then he continues. "Euthanatos, you have met the two that hold two of the stones. Now they are formed in an uneasy alliance to find the third and harnass its power. The third is that which you must seek, as those assembled here are not strong enough to battle those two. It is held by a woman of great stature. The vision I had was very obscure, but anyone with common-sense could determine who it was. She has used its power to keep the Sabbat at bay against all odds, in a seemingly impossible method. Nobody knew how, but now the pieces fall to place. Yallin had tried to seduce her so he could claim the stone for his own dark master in the Umbra, to assure his awakening; That plan was cut short. She is powerful and noble, but like all things, is slowly getting corrupted by the power of the stone. August Tremedor, Prince of Atlanta, is slowly going insane." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "A woman of great stature? Weezy Jefferson has the third stone? Oh gawd, we gotta go get it back." Ignoring the looks of distaste. "Ok, we go find this August person...or would that be august personage...and take it. Everything in life is simple. Know what you want to do, figure out how to do it, then do it. So simple. You guys need to relax. Here...have a bee...urr...nevermind." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Simple when you say it. Very difficult when you try to do it. "August is the Prince of Atlanta. That means that, to a certain extent, she can command every Cainite in Atlanta, and every mortal influenced by ever Cainite -- including, mostly likely, the police, fire department, various hospitals, courts, newspapers, TV Stations and Radios -- to act against anything she percieves as a threat. "Not to mention, she will be powerful in her own right -- and with the stone, she will be even more so. She is highly regarded by the entire Camarilla, the fact that she has held Atlanta in the middle of Sabbat territory is nothing short of remarkable. "I might add that she is also ruthless. She would have you killed immediately for being mortal, she would have me killed simply for being what I am -- more than likely -- would probably have Clortho killed for having ties to the Sabbat... would kill Kat for being a rogue ghoul, and might consider killing Sara simply for associating with us. "And if the stone is driving her insane,then any chances that she will choose not to attempt to kill us are greatly reduced. "So I would disagree." Edited by Magnus at: 8/18/00 4:43:54 pm Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom shakes his head in disagreement. "You're looking at it the wrong way. We will succeed. How do I know? Because if we don't, the entire multiverse is threatened." This, the most serious thing Wisdom has said is followed by: "Sides, I like the idea of taking on a challenge" Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnus smiles -- a genuine smile, which some find a bit disconcerting -- marvelling (and envying) at the supreme confidence of youth. "I didn't say it was impossible, Wisdom. I said it was dangerous. And success is no guarantee for emerging unscathed. Are you confident enough of your powers and skill to take on the Lupine you met earlier? Consider that the Prince of Atlanta has been keeping entire packs of Garou out of the City for the length of her reign here. "That might put our situation in perspective." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom's face splits into furrows of concentration. "Well, I wasn't in the position where I HAD to fight Mr. Furry-n-Nasty. I think I could have done it...if necessary. Edited by Wisdom at: 8/18/00 5:13:25 pm Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Anyone can fight when necessary. The question is, can you fight and win? I have fought Garou before. I never won... I simply survived. I'm lucky. "This is all beside the point. I say there are difficulties and dangers involved, you don't believe me. That's your choice. When you come back with the stone, unharmed, I will happily offer my apologies and admit that you were, in fact, the better man." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Here's how it works. You have a goal, right? To take the stone from said mean-n-evil vampire. Ok, what do you have to do to achieve that goal? "a)Steal it "b)Kill her and loot it "c)Convince her to give it to you. "Now you have three goals. Figure it out for each one and continue down the line. "I never said it would be easy....just simple. Seems like the simplest stuff is often the hardest." Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I know what you mean. I've spent the past century trying to open a door." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You just like arguing, I think. As I said, simple when you say it. Difficult when you try and do it." Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Go easy on the kid, Magnus, we can't all be devinely inspired." Clortho leans up against the wall "Well, I'm all for this world getting destroyed, but the rest of the multiverse is where I plan on spending my retirement. I think I'm in this for the multiverse." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mischievious Grin "No, dammit, I do not like arguing." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Oracle watches in amused silence, then lets out a dramatic and drawn out sigh. "And THESE people are our hope for the future." Kat blushes slightly, patting Sean on the back. "Err.. They work alot better together when something big and evil is attacking us." Sara wails in exadurated pain. "I would have been better jumping out the window on the 18th floor.. I know it..." --- Siegfried Von Hauten 10th Generation Ancillae Tzimisce Metamorphosist Priest of the Sabbat Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clortho glances at Sara as she speaks. "And what good would have come of that, dear lady? Aside from a respite from that perticuler whine, and our moving along slightly sooner, I can think of none. Most things considered, I'd think this merry band the better for your company," then glances to the rest of those present "but then, I've been acused of being a masochist. Anyway," his eyes settle on the oracle. "with this gem of knowledge related to us, I've but one question." adressing the room in general. "Now what? I've still got to retrieve the grimore de ZUL, and pull Theda from the bowls of the SLOR, but that's just me, and I suspect it takes a back seat to the stone issue. Let's lay our standing priorities on the table, eh?" Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Slor? Zul?" Wisdom plants his forehead in his hand. "My Gawd...you're the type of people my mother warned me about. Crazy dead people. My God in heaven...you've delivered me into the hands of crazy dead people. "Although, some of them can be rather cute. But she's not dead yet, so that doesn't count." Edited by Wisdom at: 8/21/00 3:18:23 pm Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clortho looks to wisdom, a grimace showing through his mask. "Why would you wish to follow a god that permits his children to slaughter themselves over a few measly feet of dirt? One that draws his followers into holy wars to prove their love for him? One that embodies hypocracy at it's finest? Please, do not refer to that deity in my presence, such makes me wish that I could still retch." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One eyebrow raised "Do not confuse the actions of the worshippers with the actions of the worshipped. There is a distinct difference." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnus sits deep in thought, considering his options. "We have two problems here -- and I tend think that they're at least somewhat related. "First -- that this 'Siegfried' and the Garou Wisdom described have two of the stones, and are going after the third, is a very bad thing. The Prince of Atlanta has the third, and it's driving her insane -- this is also a very bad thing. "Christoph Yallen was trying to get the third stone, and we don't really know if he's dead or not. He and your partner" Indicates Clortho "are currently in some other sphere, doing who knows what." "If Yallen is still alive, he is a threat where this stone is concerned. Just as Siegfried and the wolf are. What we need to decide is, what is the most important thing to deal with first? We go take care of Yallen, retrieve your partner, then try and recover/destroy the stone from the Prince, or we try and recover/destroy the stone from the Prince and then go take care of Yallen and retrieve your partner." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Almost immediately Wisdom pipes up: "I vote for going after the partner." To Kat: "Really, I know something about the Shadowlands...I wouldn't wanna be stuck there. The way they treat each other...hideous. Much worse than anything I've ever heard of...and I've heard stories of barrabi and widderslainte attempts at converting Tradition Mages." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kat nods slightly, somewhat timidly, but her brash nature slips quickly over it. A brief pause, then she turns to Magnus. "You're right... Should we split up, or should we go for one at a time?" Sara immediately voices her opinion. "I say we visit August. She can't be completely insane if she still runs this city with efficiency. Mayhaps we can negotiate this situation before it becomes catastrophic." --- Siegfried Von Hauten 10th Generation Ancillae Tzimisce Metamorphosist Priest of the Sabbat Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "My vote is go after our mystery party guest first. I don't even know her and I but I can say unequivocally that I wouldn't want to condemn anyone to that place before they're time. "And Sara, I know you're not particularly eager to see our number grow, but consider. She did acquit herself fairly well against Yallin, even dealing the Finaldeathblow. Now, do you want such a potentially useful ally away from us any longer than is absolutely necessary? Or would you prefer to further handicap ourselves?" Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What would be involved in retrieving her, and how long would it take? And how would we get her back? "There might be value in splitting up, on the other hand it might just lead to everyone meeting their final death that much faster..." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom's shoulders slump, and he winces at the pain. "That's the problem. We'd have to go there to get her. Into the Shadowlands. How long it would take? Well, depends on how far she's travelled. It also depends on either finding someone who can open and sustain a gateway or my learning how to do so myself. I'm just not that advanced yet." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Well, you may not know how... but some others might." Looks at the Oracle. "Do you know how such travel is performed? Or do you know who knows who might help us?" Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He watches Magnus's eyes, clearing his throat. "There is a man who lives on the outskirts of Atlanta with whom I share a tenuous relationship. He is a Cainite, and a dabbler in the spirit world. The problem? His name is Anthony. Anthony Giovanni. Coming to a compromise with a Giovanni usually involves selling your soul without you finding out until much later. But if you are still interested, I can give you directions." --- Siegfried Von Hauten 10th Generation Ancillae Tzimisce Metamorphosist Priest of the Sabbat Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clortho considers the situation for a moment. "Yallin must have had some knowledge of such things, in order to put his soul 'up for market' as it were. Perhaps the key lies in his occult collection, if not in the grimore de ZUL itself?" Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon hearing the name 'Giovanni,' Magnus looks... on edge. "Dealing with the Giovanni would not, I think, be a good idea. Not for me, anyway. I'm far more tempted to place my faith in the text of infernalists than to rely on the good graces of one of them." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Giovanni? Don't they make jeans or something? I know those fashion designers can be brutal, but how much trouble can a bunch of effeminate guys with tape be? 'Stop it, or I'll dress you in plaid.' Really, please." At the last Wisdom looks vaguely disgusted. Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A nod. "If you would return to me in an hour, I would be more than happy to discern the location of his secret library. Spiritual enlightenment, I've found, does not come through books, however. It may be worth a try, as I can see little else for option." --- Siegfried Von Hauten 10th Generation Ancillae Tzimisce Metamorphosist Priest of the Sabbat Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- and says to the Oracle: "Very well. We will return in an hour." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the group prepares to leave, Wisdom asks, "So, what can we do for an hour?" Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "We can go check out his less secret library. Beta was, after all, kind enough to provide us with its address." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom made a face. "Oh gawd! I hate libraries....although I do make it to the one on campus...man, if you could only see the libraria...nevermind." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I swear, Wisdom, you're the only mage I've ever met who doesn't like studying. You must be a pariah among your kind." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A rare, but serious look crosses Wisdom's face. "Yeah, I know. But I hate the idea of studying things that aren't real." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnus looks a bit confused. "You're studying things that aren't true? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "That's why I don't like to study. Reality has been controlled for far too long. Now if I had my druthers, reality would be far more variable. "You know, in a way, that's what Magick is...the ability to look reality in the eye and say 'I don't think so, Tim. I think it should be like this...' and believe it so strongly it becomes the new reality." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I see your point, Wisdom. Apparently we have more in common than we thought. I spent centuries trying to 'change reality.' Unfortunately, I failed." His words are tinged with bitterness. "Utterly." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brow furrowed in concentration "Now keep in mind, metaphysics, consensual reality and such aren't really my strong suit, but here goes. "You change reality everyday of your lif...everyday. Aleister Crowley once wrote 'Magick is the art and science of causing reality to conform with will.' "Everytime you turn on your car...everytime you flick on a light switch, you 'do' magick...at least the Technocracy's version of magick. This would be a good thing, if it weren't for the fact they would turn us into faceless, mindless, grey automatons happily working together like cogs in a wheel. "Hell, your very existence helps forestall their victory. Vampires and the like don't fit within their sterile version of the universe too well, which is why, in part, they're attempting to remove the Shadowlands and the other parts of the Umbra. "You're fighting the Technocrats and you don't even know it, ultimately helping Mankind to Ascend to a greater state of being." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What the devil are Technocrats? I was talking about other Cainites. This must be a movement that came into being during my... retirement." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now it's Wisdom's turn to laugh. "Technocrats...the Technocracy. A mage sect that believes mankind will best be served by utterly controlling the majority, ruling by the minority. They think that mankind isn't capable of taking care of itself...and looking around, I can see why. "However, while you might despise other cainites, I rejoice in their existance...for everyday that they wake in the evening, that's one more day that reality resists Technocratic control. "The Technocratic Conventions are using the magick known as science to further this end. Computers, drugs, money...they all are part of their master plan to control everything. Imagine a world where everyone was no more free to act than robots. A world without color, decoration, recreation...nothing that's not on their 'Approved List', and believe you me that list is pretty small. You, my friend, are also most definitely not on the list...nor am I." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnus shakes his head in wonder. "When did this happen? The last I knew about mages, they were still trying to unlock the secrets of the Philsopher's stone... calling lightning from the sky to destroy their enemies... that kind of thing." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Oh, about a billion and a half years ago. "See, for as long as there's been such a critter as man, there's been magick. As long as there's been magick, there's been differing ideas on how best to use magick on mankind's behalf. "Now, if you're referring to the Technocracy, I can be a bit more definitave. Remember though, I'm not a history major. Along about twelve hundred something or another, there was this fight see, the mage in one area really rode his peasants hard. A group of mages didn't like that....thus began the technocracy. They started attacking the mages they didn't like on two fronts...magickal and through public opinion. The public opinion one was more effective...much more effective. "Magick is dictated by a consensual paradigm. What everybody believes is so...is so. That bein' the case, these technocrats started first saying magick was bad...then saying magick was impossible. Enough people believed them that the pendulum started to swing that way. "Nowadays, you can't hardly to spit for magick without being punished. It's called Paradox...when you do something magickal that defies the consensual paradigm. "Unfortunately, techno-magick, or science, is soooo pervasive that it will be difficult, if not impossible to teach mankind that there is another way...." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "That that's what was going on. I didn't actually think much of it at the time... I was... preoccupied with other things. "I have never encountered these beings, at least not to my knowledge. I will, however, file that information. I don't know that I'd want to meet them, given the opportunity. "Of course, now that interest in mysticism is on the rise yet again, I imagine they'll find themselves in bad shape in another 50 years or so..." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I really hope so, I truly pray that you are right... "However, I suspect a plot...one to help discredit magick by appearing to support it then expose it for the 'fraud' it is." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It could be, but in so doing they underestimate the mortal will. "It sounds to me like this Technocracy is making the same mistake that Cainites made a long time ago -- they have underestimated the will of mortals to survive and not be cast in another's image. "Once we walked the earth as gods and lords, not in the open, but certainly not under the viel of secrecy we do now. Mortals were viewed as food and playthings, and they rebelled against that, and their priests hunted us down and destroyed us with faith and fire. "Now, some mages attempt to destroy belief? Impossible. They may be able to repress it, but it always stays alive in pockets, in secret, until the 'ignorant' masses tire of being looked down on and practice their beliefs openly, defiantly. "Regardless of how much the 'proper' religions despise what they call 'ignorance' there will always be sects who dance with snakes in the name of whatever god they worship. And there will be priests who claim to heal the sick in their gods name. And there will always be mystics who claim to speak with the dead, or to tell fortunes. "Even the most openly fraudulent of mystical deceivers are embraced by the public, even as the public tell themsleves they do not believe. Everyone reads their horiscope, telling themselves it's just a game but gasping in pleasure when, by chance, it turns out to be right. "And nothing -- not science, not the Great Enlightenment, not the Renaissance, nothing has been able to stamp this belief out, and nothing will. Mortals grasp, in the back of their minds, that there are things out there which can never be explained, and a tiny part of each one -- even those in the Technocracy, I'd imagine -- adds fuel to the fire of that belief. "That is not to say that such belief cannot be supressed. It sounds as if the people you mention do a fine job of that. But the pendulum swings in both ways, and the more they hold back the counterswing, the greater momentum it will have when it slips out of their grasp..." Edited by Magnus at: 8/24/00 5:13:02 pm Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Very true...which is why, for the most part, the Technocrats are not trying to squish belief, but control who people believe in. "They'd rather have the Sleepers believe in a stale, sterile, faceless God than a more humanistic one...but would rather atheism than agnosticism. "They prefer to channel belief into science and logic than art and emotion. In short, the war isn't going to be settled with guns or spells...but the belief in the human soul. "At one time, magick and science could co-exist...because they are in truth the same thing. Sadly, it is no longer so." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You'd be surprised. Johannes Kepler, one of the founding fathers of astronomy, was an avowed believer in Astrology. Renee Descartes, one of the forefathers of Logic, was a devout Christian. Soren Kierkegaard, the father of existentialism, also a Christian mystic. "Physics today becomes less and less a pure science, and more and more like the ramblings of a Kabbalist. It is definately coming around..." Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "All the more reason to scrap the entire thing and start over." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I cannot deny what you're saying...especially about the scientists....remember, however, that they were doing mysot of their postulating during the Renaissance, and pre-Rennaisance eras, back when they still burned witches. "But, remember too, the Technocrats also influence the Media...how many anti-Psyhic, anti-UFO, anti-Spiritualism "expose's" have you seen in the last year? Make no mistake, while there is some resistance, we're still the underdogs." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnus nods in agreement. "I'm not saying they're not dangerous. They might even be able to win, in a worst-case scenario... I simply suspect they are not as powerful as they think they are. I'll bet you 90% of the people who watched those exposes agreed with their conclusions completely, but still read their horoscopes the next morning. Because even the rationalists and athiests want to believe..." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Lemme give you an example....the Umbra. "Time was that just about anyone so inclined could jaunt on over to the Middle Umbra, that of the "spirit" realm. Now, the High and Low Umbras, or the realms of thought and the dead, were harder to cross, but not a big deal. "One of the things that the Technocrats did first was to make it MUCH harder to cross over...They did this by influencing consensual reality. They convinced people that either a) there were no such things as spirits, b)spirit travel is the work of the devil, or c) while there might be such things as spirits, we could never cross over into their realm. "When was the last time you saw a Unicorn? Or a Dragon? Time was that they gallavanted around pretty normally...now the only way you can see one up close and personal is in the Umbra. We're talking entire species of Sentient beings wiped out because the didn't fit the plan...so they convinced people that they weren't real. If one were to cross over right now, within a week, it'd be dead from disbelief." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I'd heard of dragons, but I never saw one. It was always 'a friend of a friend saw a dragon flying of the shores of Crete.' And I'd never seen a Unicorn... then again, I was never a vestial virgin, either." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom nods in agreement. "Yeah, I never did see one in the wild, but I've met 'em in the Umbra and boy are they pissed. In fact, there's a 'College Chantry' that has one living in the woods nearby. I tell you what...you wanna talk bitter? Eyorgle has any racist, fascist, whatever-ist beat hands down." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What exactly is an eyorgle?" Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Eyorgle is the name of the 'resident' dragon. 'Course, he was there 'fore the chantry even came about, but you know. "At any rate, the thought of the destruction/exile of a sentient species because it 'didn't suit' the Black Hats and Mirrorshades really torques my noodle." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "That's understandible." He hesitates. "I think." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Yeah...well...so what's your beef with the Kinfolk? All of 'em I've met so far, well, ok other than the ones that have tried to kill me, are pretty ok." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I fought in a very important war. I lost. They won." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Really? Which war? WWI or WWII?" Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Neither. This war was fought more than 500 years ago, and you've never heard of it. It was a war amongst Cainites. "Remember the Spanish Inquisition? Well, originally it was not Catholics torturing Protestants and Heathens. Originally, it was the priests of the Christian God hunting down and exterminating Cainites. "We didn't expect it, and the elders of our kind sent their childer out on suicide runs, to slow the approach of the Inquisition, so that they might escape. "Some of us recoiled at that act. Not so many from my clan, and not so many at my age, but we decided to band together and fight. We no longer wanted to be ruled by elders who did nothing but play political games and use us as pawns. "We fought for a long time, but they eventually banded together and defeated us. It was a bitter day when it ended. Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Nononono...the Inquisition was run by the Cabal of Pure Thought. It was part of their plot to destroy the Tradition Mages. It couldn't have been about vampires. Nope, it was the Pogrom, pure and simple." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnus cocks his head to one side, a curiously calm expression on his face. "I was there." There is an edge to his voice. "They were killing us in droves, mage. With fire. With faith. They called us demons, not witches. They certainly knew what we were, and they certainly knew we were not mages of any kind." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Who do you think sniffed out the vampires? Normal people? You're talking about folks who haven't been more than a day's walk beyond thier village. "Priests? Don't think so. I seriously doubt that all those priests had faith strong enough to find you. "Remember what I was saying about the Technocrats wanting to remove your kind completely? The Cabal became the Men in Black....and no, they don't have squat to do with the movie. They make the CIA look like Hogan's Heroes. They ran the whole thing from behind the scenes. They pointed the fires in the direction of their goals. It wasn't about greed...it wasn't about right...it wasn't about religion. In the end, it was about the war over the Ascension of mankind. Edited by Wisdom at: 8/25/00 1:17:13 am Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnus growls. "You are very young, so will for the moment ignore the condescending tone of your voice. "First, you were not alive then, so you clearly do not fathom the power of faith. You have obviously never seen it in action, or seen the terror it can provoke in my time. "Second, they didn't need to hunt for us. In those days we did not hide from your kind, as we do now. It is as a result of those days that we do hide from you. "Third, in the beginning it was Cainites who were targeted. Specifically. Directly. Swiftly. It was only later that mortals directed attention towards themselves, and that was the only thing that saved us." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Really, I don't see what you're getting so upset over. Obviously it's going difficult for you to be objective about a time that you lived through. But consider it from outside your point of view. "And faith? What others call faith is really magick with the coincidental effect of faith. Otherwise how could you reconcile so many 'miracles' performed by people from different, sometimes diametrically opposed, religions? "Who do you think directed it? Vampires? They must have been hiding at that point then, or the first fires would have been started with the potential controllers. Just simply makes sense the other way. 'Sides, how do you reconcile all those daytime trials?" Edited by Wisdom at: 8/25/00 1:25:20 am Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Grow up, boy." Waves of barely controlled anger emanate from Magnus. He stands rigid, fighting for control. "The Inquisition began long before it is mentioned in the history books. In the beginning there were no trials. The was only fire and death. The trials began after the Inquisition turned on itself, after the humans began to use it as a tool for their own political gain. And that is when it first appeared in the history books. "Say what you wish about the True Faith, but it exists, boy. And when a truly devout man wields it, it inflicts such pain as I've never felt in my life. It is not weilded by mages. It requires no training -- none at all -- to use. All it requires is that you believe in whatever God you worship. "Did the inquisition go after your mages? I'm sure they did, in time. But for you to stand here, you, barely old enough to shave, and tell me that the Inquisition did not come after my kind, when I heard their dying screams as they were set to the fire, is almost beyond my ability to bear. I almost wish that I could rip the memories out of my head, and put them in yours. Apparently the only way you will believe is if you see it with your own eyes -- such is the blind arrogance of youth... "You have much to learn before you can live up the name you bear so proudly." Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Really? Then how is it I am able to weild it, Youth? Your 'Beleif' that faith holds no true power does not change the power it gives me." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom shakes his head sadly "You, Elder Vampire have just as far to go. You only heard what you wanted to hear...or didn't want to hear which is just as bad. "I never said they didn't come after your kind...if you'll recall, I stated the fact that they did. It is historical fact that they did. I'm just saying the goal wasn't just to kill vampires...or even mages they disagreed with. It was a war with a deeper purpose...to control reality." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Oh? So you're not the one who said 'Nononono...the Inquisition was run by the Cabal of Pure Thought. It was part of their plot to destroy the Tradition Mages. It couldn't have been about vampires. Nope, it was the Pogrom, pure and simple' ? I suppose it was the Evil Wisdom, standing right there in front of you." Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "There is a little saying. 'What is, is.' Reality cannot be controlled. Manipulated, schemed, confused, perplexed, torn inside out and painted pink pokadots, yes. Controlled, no. Control of reality is something that mere will cannot acomplish. To control reality would mean that you could create and destroy reality. To create and destroy reality, would mean that you would have to exist outside of reality. To exist outside of reality, then you would have to not BE real." a marginal grin "We have a name for things like that. They're called 'Daydreams'." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "And if you'll recall, it was I, not Evil Wisdom, who also said, 'Who do you think sniffed out the vampires?' and brought up the point that in their current Pogrom against the supernaturals, anomolies they call you folk, they are continuing a very old agenda. If you're gonna use my words, use all of them, not just the ones you wanted to hear. "The first wars of my kind were fought well before the reputed birth of Christ. 600 years before, my tradition was at war with the Akashics...before that, there were the wars against the Greeks. Vampires and werewolves are pretty low on the priority list of the Technocracy...reality is the ultimate goal, not 'purifying' the planet." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The will of one man? No, the will of ten men? No, but the 'faith' you speak of, backed by the will of the entire planet? Absolutely. Perception is reality. "If for example, you perceive that a box is too heavy to move, it will be. No matter what you do, you will not be able to lift it. Mothers, weighing in at 98 pounds, have been known to lift entire cars off their children. Why? At the time, they were not percieving the weight of the car. Their minds were focused on one thing, everything else was just fluff. If you had them try just 5 minutes later, they'd just laugh at you and never be able to duplicate it. Did the car lighten itself then get heavier? Don't think so." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You make no sense. You tell us the Technocracy began to be formed in the 1200s... that they started to band together and move against Mages they didn't like. 1200 is also the century the Inquisition against us began... an Inquisition led by an organized, powerful church. "Are you telling me that the Technocracy, who considers Vampires low on the list, who were just starting to be formed, who weren't really an organization per se, somehow managed to sieze control of the entire church and all it's resources in the span of decades? As I said, it makes no sense at all..." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You presume too much. What I said was that as a group, the technocracy organized in the 1200's. But as individual "traditions"? They've been around since the dawn of time. The Artisans built the first tools, the Void Engineers were the priests of Babylon and Egypt, charting the heavens. Ever since there's been man, there's been magick. Shortly thereafter, came traditions. Individual traditions had been instrumental in the founding of the church. Child's play for them to control it." Edited by Wisdom at: 8/25/00 2:18:02 am Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "All schools of thought, all mortal, all, ultimately, transitory." Clortho looks to Wisdom, the humor gone from his voice. "Like it or not, accept it or not, You and your kind have only seen the prelude. Stick with me, kid, and you may survive to see the final act." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Would that I could rip the images from my head and show them to you... let you feel what happened. But you cling to your rote, like any novice does, as I did... Except that my rote was that Cainites were behind all of history. And that we were the ones pulling the strings, and bending the world to our will. "Does this sound familiar to you? "And now, for the Camarilla, whenever something terrible happens, it is because of the Sabbat. And for the Sabbat, their calamities are because of the Camarilla. And both blame their misfortunes on the secret movements of the Antediluvians. "Every group has a boogeyman, every boogeyman is all-powerful and indefensible, and all control everything. "But they can't all control everything. So which one is right? Why the one you learned about, of course. "You say that mages created the church. Well, the Ventrue will tell you that it was their meddling, adn the Malkavians, who created the church when they ruled Rome! And they will talk about the supreme irony of their own creation turning on them... "The truth is more complicated. There are forces behind everything, but those forces rarely hold absolute sway over what they are behind. Most of the time, they simply manage to grab onto its coattails, and take advantage of the situation as best they can." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "No wait a minute, you don't understand, the Tech...ok, I see your point. Perhaps between us, we can come up with a better sense of what's right and what's bullshit." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnus opens his mouth to counter Wisdom's argument... then realizes what Wisdom said. He thinks. He closes his mouth. He thinks some more. "Ok," he says finally. Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He is only marginally listening to this conversation. His thoughts are elsewhere- In a higher perceptive reality. He then turns to look at the group. "It's becoming increasingly difficult to concentrate with this mindless chatter. "The Church" was developped before all this came to be. A caveman sat up in his cave, scratched his head, and begin to wonder if there was more to life. That is when The Church started- And another caveman said to him that it was an unreasonable idea. That is when the Technocracy started. There is nothing special about either, nor is there anything special about us. We are what we are." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ooc/ we had to talk about something 'till you came back, now, didn't we? <grin> /ooc Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /ooc I didn't say I didn't like it: The Oracle isn't me in real life. :-) ooc/ Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Show us the way to Christoph's Library, that way we can continue to converse without making the Oracle so snippy." To Wisdom: "I know you think my problem is that I'm an old fossil, but compared to everyone else my age, I'm Peter Pan." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Oh, so you want to be a Toys-R-Us kid, eh?" Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What does Peter Pan have to do with a toy store?" Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Oh, c'mon...'I don't wanna grow up, I'm a toys-r-us kid..." Don't tell me you've never heard of it." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Ok, I see what you mean. Not exactly. In comparison, only in comparison..." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "That is indeed truly sad. I don't think people should ever grow up. I think it's bad for the psyche." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I can agree with you, to a point. Though I think there's a difference between keeping your youthful outlook and belittling anyone whose outlook is different than yours. "But in truth, the older you get the harder it is to maintain the passions you held on to when you were young. Especially if you're dead... "Most Cainites my age are either sleeping beneath the earth or hiding themselves away as they move their tools around, jockeying for power. Lust for power is the only thing that sustains them. Or they wind up like the Oracle here... cranky and impatient and somewhat presumptuous. "After a certain length of time, simply existing loses its savor, and the only thing that sustains you is power and respect and the trappings that go with it. Unless you rediscover the beliefs that ignitited your passions in the first place... or unless you give in to the darker urges that dwell within you, but that path leads to madness." Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clortho thinks for a moment, then snaps his fingers. "Of course, I left my map in the cab. I hope that cabbie is still under." He heads for the door, halting in front of it for a moment. "Come on, this way." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Lead on." Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clortho swings open the door, and steps outside, back to the hotel where he left the cab. and a few seconds later, on a complete malkotic inducement, he starts to wistle 'it's off to work we go.' Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He watches the group incoming with somewhat detatched interest. A quick yawn, and then he turns to go. Clortho steps up in time to stop him. The back of the cab seems empty, and the cabbie watches Clortho with anticipation. Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clortho smiles beneath his mask as he remembers that the cabbie wouldn't recognize this guise. "Excuse me, sir. Por favor, could you give my friends and I a lift?" Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom looks puzzled. "Ummm....we have vehicles....why exactly are we taking the cab again?" Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clortho glances about for a moment, then looks up at wisdom. "I don't think it'd be that easy to fit four people into this cab, amigo. No reason ustedes can't take your own rides." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom nods in agreement. "I'll go get my bike. Be back in a sec." With that, he dashes off for his favorite vehicle. Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The cabbie looks up and nods slightly, a brief smile. It widens. "Si, un momento señor. Tengo que cambiar el registro." He pats the seat twice. "sietanse, sientanse!" Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clortho circles around, frowning slightly beneath his mask. note to self, next time, I don't hint at knowing a language unless I actually know it. He opens the door, and sits, as the cabbie had indicated. "Gracias, senor. We may consider waiting a moment. One of me amigos may deside to join us." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magnus climbs into the cab after Clortho, holding tightly to the bag holding his gladius. Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A roar, then the blasting engine of the motorcycle draws closer, light-in-the-tunnel graduation from faint to blaring. With the recklessness of youth and the abandon of the adreniline obsessed, Wisdom speeds forward, neatly parking behind the cab. A trained observer will note that his eyes were closed the entire time. "Ahhh...nothing like a brisk jaunt on a summer evening." Looking at Kat, he says, "Who wants a ride?" Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The cabbie looks behind his shoulder, and smiles a toothy (incredibly white) grin, then pulls out, narrowly avoiding oncoming traffic with a quick pull, and narrowly avoiding the parralel-parked cars with another. He straightens out then jets the engine. Without another word, Kat sports her whimsical smile and nimbly jumps on to the back of the motorcycle. "Lesgo." She leans forward, anticipating the motorcycle's forward thrust, and breathes softly onto the back of Wisdom's neck. One of the first living souls to breath on the back of his neck since nightfall. Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "120 Cherry Valley Road. It should be just outside of town." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like a good New York Cabbie should. But this is Atlanta. The little traffic there is swears at him silently through multi-panes of glass, but he ignores their violent pleas for his speed to decrease. Invariably he takes the troupe's lives into his hands moreso than any other venture of the evening prior. Wisdom speeds along at a similarly haphazard pace to keep up with the psychotic-driver. He weaves in and out of traffic, Kat apologetically waving towards everyone the cabbie and, by association, Wisdom has chagrined. But, luckily, as all things do, the drive comes to an end. And there they stand, the small yellow cab idling blissfully in final release from it's slave-driving master, and the motorcycle behind it. In front of nothing less than a mansion. If a man lived in modesty, Yallin would certainly not be him. The door is creaked open, and footsteps of most careless nature trail inside the mud from the furious yet short-lived rainstorm prior. There appears to be a scrambled mess of them- far more than a single set, most definately. Perhaps as many as ten different sets of footsteps, but it is very difficult to tell in the scrambled nature in which they entered. The door shudders quietly against the wind, and then pushes forward once more, only to be tossed back towards its original not-so-openned position. Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clortho extracts a fifty from his pockets, and hands it forward. "This should more than cover the fare. If you wait for us to come back out, you can keep the change, and you'll have another fare." He opens the door, steps out, and looks up at the mansion. "It's a good thing I'm not jealous. I've aparently been honoring the wrong gods." Magnus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Christoph honored no gods, though he seemed to think himself one." Magnus looks at the muddied footprints. "It appears as though someone else came through here, and they didn't seem to care much about being discrete." Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clortho sets off towards the house. "Well, if we run into them, we can ask them if they found what they were looking for." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He smiles slightly, twisting the 50 into a small roll between his fingers. He leans his shoulder onto the passenger-seat headrest, and watches with immense interest. He shakes his head back and forth, "Dios Mio. Los locationes locos que visito....." He trails off. Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wisdom eases off the throttle...slightly and races in behind the taxi, braking into a controlled slide. "We made it. I'm just that much closer to my bet." Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kat briefly lets loose a shuddering sigh, then slips from Wisdom's hips unto the ground. She draws her index finger fast across his shoulder blade then skips slightly away. "Why does it feel like everytime we go for a ride we risk life and limb?" Said in a teasing manner; not chastising. She pushes her field coat off of her shoulders and swaggers towards the rest of the group. Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I don't know what you mean. Seriously though, it's only moments nearest death that you feel most alive. And being alive, isn't that what it's all about anyway?" Wisdom looks almost apologetically at Magnus and Clortho. "Oh, gee fellas, sorry. I'm sure being dead has it's moments....I guess." Canis Nobile -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It's moments are few and far between. But they do happen." He turns and follows Clortho into the house. "I cannot protect you from Gozer's Mad Prophet. I can, however, protect you from myself. Lower your weapon and release her, and I will not raise my sword against you. But if you harm her I swear to you, you will see the sun rise again." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Being able to suck up gunshots like they were gumdrops has it's distinct advantages. 'Course, I can do the same thing with a half-second of preparation. "Not having to worry about little things like Cancer or Senility is kinda nice too. You'll never have to go shopping for Depends or Ensure... "Seems to me that being dead has the benefits in the line of 'Things I'll never have to worry about...'. Whereas being alive has the benefits of 'Things I get to do and do often....'. Like...I dunno...sex is pretty big on that list." Canis Nobile -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He chuckles. "That's a pretty fair assessment. Although, it is possible for the undead to, um, 'do the deed,' as it were. Not that we derive any physical pleasure from the act, though some apparently take a perverse glee in going through the motions." "I cannot protect you from Gozer's Mad Prophet. I can, however, protect you from myself. Lower your weapon and release her, and I will not raise my sword against you. But if you harm her I swear to you, you will see the sun rise again." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Now that's just plain sick and wrong...kinda like drinking non-alcoholic beer." Canis Nobile -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You're right, I've never understood it myself. It's a waste of time and vitae. "Although, some Cainites have the ability to re-ignite passion in the dead -- or enhance it in the living to unheard of degrees. And they will, what's the modern phrase, 'play the sex card' for all it's worth. In that respect, sex becomes a power play rather than an act of pleasure, and I suppose on that level the ability to... perform has some use." "I cannot protect you from Gozer's Mad Prophet. I can, however, protect you from myself. Lower your weapon and release her, and I will not raise my sword against you. But if you harm her I swear to you, you will see the sun rise again." Edited by Canis Nobile at: 9/7/00 3:07:56 pm Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "A skill that Theda has developed to an impressive degree." Clortho glances at the path, then back to the group. "Shall we be off?" Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Really? That's the...uh...lady we saw before, right? So that's something she's good at, eh?" Wisdom's eyes glaze over slightly. Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- She eyes his warily as the discussion begins, and when it hits Theda, she punches him playfully. Playfully, but hard. "Lets try to stay on focus, kay?" And, with that, she runs into the house. As the rest enter, they experience the same awe-struck gaze that Kat does. The building is draped in elegance far beyond the scopes of whatever illusion the building outside could have maintained. The size increases tenfold in the simple foyer, and it is unknown where the other places lead. Whatever magicks at work here are potent; dwarfing castles of old. As Kat speaks it, the thought seems to resonate with the entire group: "Where do we begin?" Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At Kat's swat Wisdom visibly shakes himself from his reverie. "Oh, yeah...business...right. I'm with ya." Looking around at the manse; "Um...folks, there's some heavy juju going on hereabouts." Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Oh, my." Clortho looks about in awe. "What I couldn't have done with a place like this." His gaze crosses the room, bit by bit examining its architecture, noting layout, design, doors. "Now, if I can just remember my classical architecture, maybe I can cut down our search time. Places like this usually have a library in the...." he pauses, searching his memory. Siegfried Von Hauten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- She pushes her way in silently, awed by the archetecture for a brief moment. She comes to rest quietly behind the group. Kat looks about, a brief shuddering sigh emitting. "Yea... Miguel... if you could think where the library would be, it would definately cut down on the search time." Her commentary is cut short, a crash through the rest of the house in the upper levels it seems. A few curses uttered, then silence again. She whispers just barely loud enough to be heard of the group, "Who the hell...." Clortho -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I beleive that would be the other trespassers." Wisdom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I just hate unannounced guests...especially when I'm messing around where I probably shouldn't be." < Previous Page Next Page >