Yes.
There's no reason why they wouldnt have it running at the beginning of the day.
Yes.
She has the fomor power Unholy Blessing x2, which reduces the DCs of her activation rolls by -4, even before any other buffs like BSM. Due to Unholy Blessing she's rolling at DC5, and with Transcendent Lord of Flies triggering to add another -3DC (wilderness, mortal to protect) buff to her rolls its an autopass.
Ways are used for both paths in the NeverNever, and gates from the NeverNever to Earth.
Im specifically referring to Mab doing this:
"Cat Sith," I called, once Sarissa had left.
From behind me, a voice said, "Yes, Sir Knight?"
I twitched and didn't whirl around like a frightened teenager. I turned in a very urbane and James Bondian fashion, in keeping with my tux, eyed him, and said, "Hell's bells. Do you always come in like that?"
"No," the malk replied. He was sitting on the back of the sofa Sarissa and I had recently vacated. "Generally I do not speak. I simply proceed."
"Are you aware of my orders?" I asked.
"I am aware that you have been given orders. I am to facilitate your ability to comply with them."
I nodded. "I need to get back to Chicago. Right now. And I need a car."
Cat Sith turned and padded down the hallway, toward my bedroom. He stopped in the hall at the door to the linen closet and lashed his tail once, then looked at me. "Very well."
I frowned at him. Then I went to the closet and opened the door.
Autumn air, humid and smothering compared to that of Arctis Tor, flooded into my lair. Brilliant lights shone on the other side of the door, and it took me a few seconds of blinking against them to adjust, and realize that I was being blinded by simple streetlights. Inside my closet, there was a bit of sidewalk and then Michigan Avenue stretching out to the storefront opposite.
I blinked several times. Sith had opened a Way between Faerie and Chicago.
The spirit world, the Nevernever, is vast almost beyond imagining. Faerie is but one part of it, for the most part occupying the realms of spirit that lie most adjacent to the mortal world. The geography of the spirit world isn't like that of the real world. Different places in the spirit world will connect with places with a similar energy in the real world. So dark, spooky parts of the Nevernever hook up with dark, spooky places in the mortal world.
And my freaking linen closet in Arctis Tor hooked up to Chicago—specifically to Michigan Avenue, to the Gothic stone building across the street from the Old Historic Water Tower. It was night. Cars went by occasionally, but no one seemed to take notice of the open portal to the heart of Winter. Arctis Tor was isolated in the Nevernever, difficult to reach without inside help. Even traveling by Ways takes at least some time, and I'd expected a hike back to the real world.
"How?" I asked quietly.
"Her Majesty had it made," Sith said.
I whistled. Intentionally forming a connection from a specific place to a specific place took amounts of energy so enormous that even the White Council of Wizards could rarely manage it—I'd seen it done only once in my lifetime, the year before, in Chichén Itzá. "She had it made? For me?"
"Indeed," Sith said. "In fact, this is, for the time being, the only way in or out of Faerie."
I blinked several times. "You mean Winter?"
"Faerie," Sith stated. "All of it."
I choked. "Wait. You mean all of Faerie is on lockdown?"
"Indeed," Sith said. "Until dawn."
"Why?" I asked.
"One presumes it was done to give you a head start." With that, Sith walked calmly through the door and onto the sidewalk. "Your car, Sir Knight."
I stepped through the door into the Chicago air, and it slugged me in the face with a legion of scents and sensations and sounds that were as familiar to me as my own breathing. After the cool, dry silence of Arctis Tor, I felt like I'd leapt into the middle of an active circus. There were too many sounds, scents, too much color, too much motion. Arctis Tor was as still as the deepest night of winter, twenty-four/seven. Chicago is . . . well, Chicago.
I found myself blinking my eyes very rapidly.
Home.
I know. It's corny. Especially since Chicago is what a polite person would call a colorful place. It's a den of crime and corruption. And it's a monument to architecture and enterprise. It's violent and dangerous, and an epicenter of music and the arts. The good, the bad, the ugly, the sublime, monsters and angels—they're all here.
The scents and sounds triggered a mental avalanche of memories and I shivered at the intensity of it. I almost didn't notice the car that pulled up to the curb beside me.
It was an ancient hearse, a Caddy that must have been built sometime in the years immediately following World War II, complete with rounded tail fins. It had been painted dark, dark blue, and given a flame job in shades of electric purple. It wavered and bobbed drunkenly down the avenue, turned a bit too sharply toward the curb, lurched ahead with a roar of the engine, and then skidded to a halt with the brakes locked, missing the posts along the edge of the road, and the chains that hung between them, by maybe an inch.
From behind me, a voice said, "Yes, Sir Knight?"
I twitched and didn't whirl around like a frightened teenager. I turned in a very urbane and James Bondian fashion, in keeping with my tux, eyed him, and said, "Hell's bells. Do you always come in like that?"
"No," the malk replied. He was sitting on the back of the sofa Sarissa and I had recently vacated. "Generally I do not speak. I simply proceed."
"Are you aware of my orders?" I asked.
"I am aware that you have been given orders. I am to facilitate your ability to comply with them."
I nodded. "I need to get back to Chicago. Right now. And I need a car."
Cat Sith turned and padded down the hallway, toward my bedroom. He stopped in the hall at the door to the linen closet and lashed his tail once, then looked at me. "Very well."
I frowned at him. Then I went to the closet and opened the door.
Autumn air, humid and smothering compared to that of Arctis Tor, flooded into my lair. Brilliant lights shone on the other side of the door, and it took me a few seconds of blinking against them to adjust, and realize that I was being blinded by simple streetlights. Inside my closet, there was a bit of sidewalk and then Michigan Avenue stretching out to the storefront opposite.
I blinked several times. Sith had opened a Way between Faerie and Chicago.
The spirit world, the Nevernever, is vast almost beyond imagining. Faerie is but one part of it, for the most part occupying the realms of spirit that lie most adjacent to the mortal world. The geography of the spirit world isn't like that of the real world. Different places in the spirit world will connect with places with a similar energy in the real world. So dark, spooky parts of the Nevernever hook up with dark, spooky places in the mortal world.
And my freaking linen closet in Arctis Tor hooked up to Chicago—specifically to Michigan Avenue, to the Gothic stone building across the street from the Old Historic Water Tower. It was night. Cars went by occasionally, but no one seemed to take notice of the open portal to the heart of Winter. Arctis Tor was isolated in the Nevernever, difficult to reach without inside help. Even traveling by Ways takes at least some time, and I'd expected a hike back to the real world.
"How?" I asked quietly.
"Her Majesty had it made," Sith said.
I whistled. Intentionally forming a connection from a specific place to a specific place took amounts of energy so enormous that even the White Council of Wizards could rarely manage it—I'd seen it done only once in my lifetime, the year before, in Chichén Itzá. "She had it made? For me?"
"Indeed," Sith said. "In fact, this is, for the time being, the only way in or out of Faerie."
I blinked several times. "You mean Winter?"
"Faerie," Sith stated. "All of it."
I choked. "Wait. You mean all of Faerie is on lockdown?"
"Indeed," Sith said. "Until dawn."
"Why?" I asked.
"One presumes it was done to give you a head start." With that, Sith walked calmly through the door and onto the sidewalk. "Your car, Sir Knight."
I stepped through the door into the Chicago air, and it slugged me in the face with a legion of scents and sensations and sounds that were as familiar to me as my own breathing. After the cool, dry silence of Arctis Tor, I felt like I'd leapt into the middle of an active circus. There were too many sounds, scents, too much color, too much motion. Arctis Tor was as still as the deepest night of winter, twenty-four/seven. Chicago is . . . well, Chicago.
I found myself blinking my eyes very rapidly.
Home.
I know. It's corny. Especially since Chicago is what a polite person would call a colorful place. It's a den of crime and corruption. And it's a monument to architecture and enterprise. It's violent and dangerous, and an epicenter of music and the arts. The good, the bad, the ugly, the sublime, monsters and angels—they're all here.
The scents and sounds triggered a mental avalanche of memories and I shivered at the intensity of it. I almost didn't notice the car that pulled up to the curb beside me.
It was an ancient hearse, a Caddy that must have been built sometime in the years immediately following World War II, complete with rounded tail fins. It had been painted dark, dark blue, and given a flame job in shades of electric purple. It wavered and bobbed drunkenly down the avenue, turned a bit too sharply toward the curb, lurched ahead with a roar of the engine, and then skidded to a halt with the brakes locked, missing the posts along the edge of the road, and the chains that hung between them, by maybe an inch.
Lea does it to summon/open a Gate for the Grey Council, then Ebenezar does it to bring in an army of the not!Tengu ninja
Essentially, if you are a bad enough dude, you can apparently open/create a Gate from one place to another.
Might require preptime though.
1) I took it more along the lines of "no official observers around on the ground".
Because the Red Court has not needed to use actual government troops in their overt operations, and along the border with Colombia and Brazil they can bring in arbitrary numbers of Rampires and mercenaries.
Even Lara in Chicago has like >40 security troops just sitting around Chateau Raith in Small Favor, and she wasnt engaged in active combat operations.
2) Counterpoint: Central Africa in Dead Beat.
Where they got an army of mercenaries close enough to jump a defended Warden medical facility, then hit it with nerve gas.
This isnt a hypothetical, the Reds have done it in this war. Several times. Archangel. Dead Beat. Proven Guilty.
It wont be the first time they have moved significant numbers of supernatural and mortal troops and the Council missed it until they got hit and had to respond.
They had enough forces to notice and run down a native river spirit being used as a messenger.
A native that knew the local magical geography, yet still got run down on the Ways out of the area. Thats pretty strong evidence that they do have the troops necessary to cover that jungle and notice people moving in and out of it.
*rechecks*
We spent more than 15 minutes, less than 30 minutes. Hence we regenerated 1m of Essence in Post 8: Of Gods and Monsters. Which we then spent in Post 9: On The Edge while talking to Odin.
That put us on 11/18, and we spent 2m getting Carlos to Sanctuary. So we're now on 9/18. Half.
Ongoing war zone, and we just entered the area more or less overtly, and we're moving....fast, but not that fast; 67mph is less than routine US highway speeds. Sophia's primary responsibility is keeping Carlos alive; she is going to need a second set of eyes, and Carlos has only mortal nightvision unless he has relevant magic.
Active combat zone, and its night time, so all the freaks have come out to play.
We're basically backseat/escort on a fighter in a warzone; we cant just close our eyes for some shut eye.
The only reason we dont already have the sword out already is to reduce visibility, since a glowing brass sword on a moonless night can be seen for miles with normal human sight.
MHM and AtP both cost Essence to activate, not WP.
Which is why I didnt suggest it.
All Things Betray costs Essence OR WP to activate, so Im using WP.
Sophia could be using Blur of the Milky Eye to make herself hard(er) to detect, but the wording suggests that Carlos might keep disrupting it, so Im not bothering and saving her WP.
Especially since its already night time.
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