Character Sheet
Name: Miriam Green
Shadow Name: Morata
Age: Sixteen.
Gender: Female

Path: Mastigos.
Gnosis: 3
Mana: 4/12
Wisdom: 7

Arcana: Mind 3, Space 2, Fate 1, (In Progress) Spirit 1

Aspirations: Unlock the Secrets of the Fire.

Obsessions:

Virtue: Faith
Vice: Curiosity

Health: 8/8
Willpower: 7/7
Defense: 2
Destiny (Merit): 4/4

XP: 0
Arcane XP: 1

Attributes:

Strength 3, Dexterity 2*, Stamina 3
Presence 2*, Manipulation 2*, Composure 3*
Intelligence 4, Wits 3, Resolve 4

Aspects:

Promising High School Student (4): She's smart and well liked around school. In fact, she has a pretty good grasp of not merely the basics of high-school learning, but even the things that are up to the senior year. Beyond what a person might learn in a she's a little lost, and so there are limits as to the kinds of things she'd know about, but if it can be found in a textbook she might have read, she's probably read it. As well, she knows how to plan her time, to get along with other people at school and not get into fights, and otherwise do well in this respect. She's best at history.

Preacher's Daughter (3): Growing up with a father who tells the gospel word, you learn how to mimic the way he gives sermons, quote the bible chapter and verse, and know more than a little about how to interact with people and their religions, faiths, and how churches function. Whether it is mingling after church, being a sounding board for her father's sermons, or playing games that involve reciting long passages of the bible from memory, she is good at it.

*A Bit of a Tomboy (2): She's really at the age where you're supposed to outgrow this sort of thing, really. But she still likes climbing things, she still likes running around the school, she still knows a little about getting into a scrap, even if she hasn't actually gotten into a fight since...well, a few years. She's keen, athletic, and very, very interested in baseball (boo, Kansas City Monarchs, boo!) which she read about, not having a radio, and that being fledgling besides. In any wise, it certainly isn't fading with time, and it's given her a set of interests and hobbies that meshes quite interestingly with her obvious piety and (reasonably, mostly) obedient nature.

Breaker of Chains (2): Abraham Lincoln was a swell guy, in her opinion. Her own father's involvement in the NAACP and her engagement in High School history has made it so that she's actually surprisingly knowledgeable on race issues, and quite talkative about them in the right circumstances. She knows how to keep her mouth shut, of course, around older white men or the like, but she has her opinions and she wears them on her sleeve, and that includes knowing a lot of things most girls her age wouldn't know about, academically and otherwise.

A Practicing Mage (2): While Morata has a lot to learn, and has only been practicing magic for a short time, she is now fully settling into magical society. She knows the Orders, and more than that she is starting to understand both the personalities and how magic truly works. It is a long journey, but she has taken another step forward.

Can We Keep Him? (1): She has had dogs and cats before, and currently has one of each, which she of course does all of the work taking care of, because her mom said that if she had to deal with that, she'd throw them out. She has a bit of a way with animals, and after the third or fourth stray, also with people and convincing them to go along with her quite innocent and well-meaning requests.

Problem Solver (1): Kids in her neighborhood and at school tend to trust and like her, or at least she's tried to be liked, and even go to her for help sometimes, whether of an academic nature or just to see what she has to say. She's not exactly a local guru or anything, but she's clever and tends to be able to help people with minor problems, or dispense advice, even if that advice is often enough 'Really, you should tell your parents, they're gonna find out, you know, and if they find out and you didn't tell them, they'll cane your hide raw.'

Sneaking The Cookie Jar (1): She's not a dishonest person, but being someone with a lot of friends means that you sometimes know how to lie for them, and more than that, that you know a little about sneaking an extra quarter here and there. Whenever caught she's full of contrition, and more than that she's not a fundamentally dishonest person, but...well, she knows plenty of people who deserve an extra cookie every now and then.

Mother's Teachings (1): Her mother has tried to at least teach her the basics of cooking, cleaning, and keeping house. The logic that she'll probably need it if she goes to college has been pretty persuasive, and while there are gaps, she's quite self-sufficient when it comes to balancing a budget or all of the other things a modern woman is expected to do, as far as it goes. She's best at cooking meat, and her recipes are all pretty simple, but it's food that'll fill a belly, and that's the most important thing.

To Dream A Dream (1): Morata has become a truly expert in the magic of dreams, and indeed has begun to truly explore what Demons and other denizens of the Astral can and will do. This is merely an extrapolation of what she can already do, hence the discount. Special: Can use Arcane XP for this.

Powers--

Mage Sight (Peripheral, Active, and Focused): She seems to be able to see something that others cannot. Magic itself, and her eyes seem especially attuned to distances and the spaces between things, as well as the minds of other people.

Mage Armor: Mind, Space

Mind 3, Space 2, Fate 2 (In Progress up from 1)

Spirit 1 (Will complete in two weeks)

Rotes--

Dividing the Mind (Mind 1): A rote to divide the mind in two, this means that it has extra reach to add to duration and so on, and that there is a two-dice Yantra that can be done to add to the power of the spell. Involves imagining the split in her mind to enact it.

Scholar's Little Helper (Mind 1): Scholarship is hard work, and it's often difficult to sift through a five-hundred page book on Astral adventures for the single passage on a threatening Goetic demon that's currently ripping the rest of the Cabal apart. Plus, cross-referencing other works can be difficult. Through this tiny little rote, the caster can input a word, phrase, or topic, mentally, and essentially search the book just by holding it up to the light, copying knowledge of what was said in those passages and the passage surround it into their brain without having to search. It does not grant perfect understanding, and sometimes the section requires context to make any sense, but it can save weeks on a big scholarship project. (Rote Mudra, Promising Student, +4) Reach: With each additional Reach, you can search an additional book in the same spell; You can absorb the entirety of the contents of the book, if not always parse its meaning, as if you read the entire book in the instants it took to cast the spell, cover to cover. It may take some hours of thinking and consideration to fully parse the contents, and of course at times understanding and applying it can be more difficult: but an entire book read in less than a second is still something.

Strengthen Mind (Mind 3): It does not, obviously, only effect the intellect, but any aspect of one's mind can be made sharper, as can one's social abilities. The key to doing this, or rather the Mystagogue form of it, involves closing one's eyes and pressing one's fingers against your forehead, as if trying to stimulate thought by motion. When you open your eyes, the spell should be cast. You cannot improve your mind or social abilities to superhuman levels (Rote Mudra: Promising Student, +4), Reach: You may divide the 'Potency' of the spell, eg: Potency 4, enhance Intelligence by 1, Wits by 2, and Resolve by 1; spend a point of Mana: temporarily, for as long as the spell lasts, Attributes can reach supernatural levels.

Scholar's Protection (Mind 3): Adapted from a famous Silver Ladder rote, this grants protection ot the humble scholar. They make a sign with their hands as if their hands are books, their palms pages, and then so long as they neither attack or order an attack, others struggle to gather up the will to attack them. If they do order an attack, or attack themselves, the spell automatically fails… but only for the target, and not any others. Automatons, or beings without thought are immune, but this potent spell makes it so that anyone with a Resolve less than their Mind +1 cannot bring themselves to attack. Those that can still feel hesitation, and it is as if the Mage has two points of Armor. Supernatural beings have an advantage: if they have a supernatural trait, they get +1 to the comparison of Resolve versus Mind, if it is equal to the Mage's, they get +2, and if it is greater, they get +3… even then, a weak-willed but powerful supernatural being might find themselves frozen in fear and doubt. (Rote Mudra: Promising Student, +4) Reach: Spend 1 Mana, the spell may now last for an entire day; You may spend Reach to increase the difficulty of overcoming the Protection, once; Attackers lose 10-again on rolls to attack someone, if that person has willpowered through the magic.

The Dedicated Will of the Just (Mind 3): A spell taught to her by her Uncle, it is in some ways an extension of previous spells. By touching the forehead and spreading one's fingers across it, yours or others, when someone grits their teeth and uses their will, they find it stretching out, like hitting a high note and holding it for longer than a single action, based on the power of the spell. (Rote Mudra, Preacher's Daughter +3) Reach: Willpower when spent can add +2 to all resistance traits; Willpower spent both increases one's ability to endure, and one's ability to 'act'; By spending a Mana, the caster can imagine the benediction and thus enact it in a single breath on themselves or any target, as fast as the speed of thought.

Determined Will (Mind 2): The Mystagogue must go through many hardships for knowledge. Whatever a materialist thinks, anyone experienced in Mind magic knows that willpower exists, and so by a series of invisible taps against either their own or--imagined--someone else's skull. By doing so the Mage can make sure that when they, or others, gather their will for a great task, as long as it isn't magic they will get a bonus to the will-enhanced roll (9-again.) (Rote Mudra: Preacher's Daughter, +3: Inspire others and inspire yourself), Reach: The bonus can be increased; the bonus might be able to be used even to enhance magic, strengthening the will that brings itself to bear in casting a spell.



The Bonds of Fate (Fate 1): It is one thing to look at someone and see them, it is another to be able to look at them and see the destinities, the curses, the broken oaths and more that mark their soul and their persons. Mystagogues imagine a cobweb of connections and strands of fate itself, and carefully reach out a finger to tap at the edges of the cobweb without breaking it, to see what creeps up. (Mudra: Can We Keep Him? (+1), the spider spins its web.) Reach: The Mage can know when someone is possessed, mind controlled, or otherwise has their destiny majorly influenced; the Mage can tell someone's Destiny and Doom, can know when the curse they're affected by will be lifted, or so on.

The Unusual Path (Fate 1) : Fate itself can sometimes intervene in small ways. Through this spell, a Mystagogue can state a goal and then receive omens, sometimes faint and contradictory, on how to begin working towards it… and can even allow them to match strength with strength: subtly twisting fate so that their talents are just the right ones needed to advance upon the goal. Miriam uses it to occasionally leverage her way through a tricky social situation. The Mudra involves tugging on strands and pulling them in with a flip of a hand, as if examining something. (Rote Mudra: Problem Solver, +1) Reach: Can substitute any skill needed while under the spell for another within the same category, e.g. the character's religious passion turns out to be just what it might take to convince the homeless person to tell you where the body is hid, instead of a skill involving the streets or crime; Can, if taken further, substitute any skill for any other skill: your athletic prowess intimidates the homeless man, your knowledge of petty trivia charms the high society lady you need to steal from.



] No Shackles For The Scholar (Space 2): A Mystagogue cannot be stopped merely by a locked door, or being chained up above a pit of sharks while a villain monologues about how the Secret of the Amazon will die with them. So by imagining their own escape, and circling around that thought a few times as fast as possible, they can affect it. Any one barrier: locked door, handcuffs, barred window, or so on is fine… though it cannot get one through a bouncer or through fire. It can also be cast on an object, such as if you want to push a macguffin through a locked door and then face the enemy yourself. (Rote Mudra: Breaker of Chains, +2), Reach: Can pass through even shackles or objects they could not move through, such as being chained up, or trapped in a coffin, or anything else; subject can squeeze through narrow gaps that they should not physically be able to make it through: you can in fact drive a car through an open front door half its width if you cast this spell on it.
Merits--

(**) 'Profession'--Student
1--Gain 9-again on any roll that can be justified as having to do with one's profession.
2--Gain two dots of Contacts related to one's 'profession.'
3--+1 to rolls against any mental, physical or social stress that might get in the way of performing one's profession.[1] This cannot create a positive bonus.

4--8-again on rolls.
5--One special bonus based on the nature of the 'profession.

[1] Okay, in this case, imagine the college student who is good enough at class that he can show up hungover and still get something out of class, or the athlete who can go out not feeling 100% and still actually manage not to fuck everything up forever, even if he's not putting in his best performance.

(***) Parents: It may seem absurd to say it, but having parents in the picture who can help solve moderate problems is a boon. Obviously the drawback is that if they get involved and it's over her head, it could end badly, and that more than that, they obviously are sure they know best, but asking Mom or Dad is totally an option available to her, and one that can enlist their aid and ask their advice.

(***) Contacts:

She has contacts with both People She Knows At Church, a broad group but in some ways self-selecting, and among those kids she knows around the neighborhood, as well as People At School. People are willing to talk to her, ask her advice, and that goes both ways, doesn't it? If she wants to ask around, she could certainly do worse than asking when she's at church, with someone inclined to see her well already.

Egregore--Mysteriorum Arche (•): In a teamwork spellcasting roll in which the character is participating, she does not suffer the –3 penalty to contribute without the necessary Arcanum rating, and adds an automatic success if a full participant. All members of the ritual team must possess this Merit.

(*)Language: Latin

She knows Latin, read and spoken.

(*) Order Status (Mysterium)

She has been initiated in the first mystery of the Mystagogues.

(*) High Speech

She can use High Speech as a Yantra in spellcasting, and knows enough to be (roughly) conversational outside of the very formal language of Spellcasting.

(*) Egregore

1) In a teamwork spell in which she participates, she doesn't take -3 to the roll if she couldn't cast the spell on her own, and if she can she adds an automatic success to her dice roll for the purpose of granting the ritual leader the bonus dice. However, everyone involved in the ritual must have this level of Egregore. This represents her connection to magic, and through it, others of the Order.

(*) Resources:

She has a little bit of spending money saved up. Not much at all, but it's something. And it's more than a lot of people have, and so she knows to be grateful for it.

(****) Destiny

Effect: Miriam does not yet know the specifics, but she is destined for greatness and yet also doomed in some way.

Currently at 4/4.

(***) Astral Adept: Can enter the Astral far easier, by paying just a WP and meditating.

(***) True Friend (Virginia)

Effect: Miriam has a true friend. True Friend represents a trusting relationship that cannot be easily breached. Unless Miriam really does something to deserve it (really, really) Virginia will not betray her, and I, the QM, has to go easy on her in terms of throwing her into danger. Slightly kid gloves with her, as part of an implicit contract, though that does not mean that Miriam's mistakes or actions might not involve her in deeper problems than she should be facing. And any roll, natural or supernatural, that has the purpose of influencing Virginia against Miriam takes a 5-dice penalty. Additionally, once per...let's say week, Miriam can regain a point of Willpower by having a meaningful/heartfelt/important interaction with Virginia.

Consilium Status (*): Consilium--Increasingly she is a known entity, someone whose existence is no secret at all and whose fame is even harder to deny.

Contacts: Vampires (1)--Her work with vampires means she has a greater awareness of where she can go to talk to them, especially once she thinks through what she saw.

Allies (1): Guardians of the Veil--In the aftermath of yet another Interview with a Vampire, she has been contacted by the Guardians of the Veil, who are curious and who are willing to trade curiosity for curiosity.

Trained Memory (1): She has trained her mind to be something like a steel trap, though perhaps rather more effective than that, all things considered: steel traps can rust, because outside of stressful moments she never needs to roll to remember anything… she just remembers, and without Magic at all.

Minor Elements:

--Having studied a Spirit Bestiary, Miriam is now more able to tell some common spirits apart, even without using magic, and can call up basic facts about said common spirits.
--Has the Memories of a vampire in her head, which can be examined/considered later.
 
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[X] Go to the Athenaeum with this new information, and see what comes of it… but taking Tobias along with her would be controversial to say the least.

I like messy drama!
 
Unfortunately I won't be able to update this week. Things have gone crazy and other obligations have pushed at me. This last week has been honestly kinda terrible. But I've begun work on an update, so I expect to be done in time for next Sunday.
 
Page 19: Just Folks
Page 19: Just Folks

The Folk were not that easy to find, really. They were everywhere because they were everyone. It wasn't even that finding an individual Mage of the Folk was hard, though it could be. But while nobody knew where the Athenaeum was, everyone knew that it was the heart of Mystagogue rites in Chicago. Similarly, people knew the few key locations that the Hierarch hung around, and understood just where you could go to find key Silver Ladder officials.

In fact, wasn't that the point? As Morata began to hunt through the city for the Folk, she knew that the Silver Ladder existed to be known in a way that neither the Guardians of the Veil or the Folk did. The Folk at least sometimes wanted to be found, but there was no central organization, no single Mage whose death would truly mean the end of the Folk. There were more or less important Mages, but the only place she could think of was a church.

But there were many choices. The Storefront churches popped up like beautiful blooms of Christian faith, unfolding and flowering with the tide of people like seeds planted into new and unfamiliar environments, and united by a little bit of their native choice: the Storefront Church. It was as beautiful a phenomenon as organized sports, and it was far more moral and holy, and she liked to visit these sorts of churches, these holes in the wall that either shared space with a business on every day but Sunday or shared space that had once been owned by a business. There was no room in the blacker parts of Chicago, but somehow people found the room. There were other poorer churches that were white, but they weren't storefront churches. At least, not to Miriam's mind.

She sent a quick prayer as she headed along towards a very familiar Storefront, once she'd been to, the first one she'd been to in fact. It had changed very little since she'd first been there. Her eyes as always could supply the dimensions, but this time it was nothing about the magic she had, and everything to do with… the fact that even when not working, the magic she had shaped her. She'd gotten used to looking at something and estimating how much space it too up, and so she could say that this was a bigger store than the one next to it, but smaller than it had any right to be. The front of the church had no special signs. It was not advertised, and wouldn't have been even if it wasn't a church run by a Mage. Mages had enemies, and every small layer of obfuscation between Mage and mortal identities was valuable.

It wasn't always possible to do that, but Morata knew that if anything she should be trying a lot harder. But it was difficult: she was a student, and everyone knew that. She liked baseball, and all her friends knew that, and there was very little way to hide the family resemblence between her and the Dancing Shadow (Jack), let alone the familial fondness.

The Folk were far better at hiding some of it… but being a pastor, even of a small church, was not something that could go entirely unnoticed.

On days other than Sunday this storefront church served as a site of secondary worship and community development. Now, the dozens of chairs were sitting mostly empty, though a few had been pulled and pushed together as if there had been a meeting not long ago. She opened the door, ignoring any feeling of she might have: she knew that the door was being monitored with magic, because it'd be foolish otherwise. Miriam didn't bother with these sorts of wards in her own home only because someone else had already done them and keyed them to her, among others. A lot of someones, in fact.

Whatever was here was probably more like a tripwire, and so she made sure not to stop or seem like she'd done anything wrong as she stepped in and looked around. There was no pew, and the back room where the community service--food, aid, teaching children--happened was out of reach if she didn't want to make people rather peeved.

'We're going to a store?' Tobias thought at her, his mental voice something of a whine. She had to imagine he had not seen the inside of a church all that often, or perhaps he just didn't want to admit what was becoming increasingly obvious as Miriam walked forward.

'No, even better. We're going to a church!'

'A… church.'

'Yes.'

'Do you like churches?'

'Actually, yes I do, Tobias.'

'...you are somehow a lot more nifty and a lot duller than I thought. I didn't know you could be both at the same time.'

'I try.' Miriam couldn't have brought herself to be mad at Tobias' disappointment. Even if she had been, what would be the purpose? He was a Ragamuffin, and Ragamuffins were not devout. She could try to convert him, but he'd neither appreciate it nor--if one believed one form of Christian beliefs on souls--would it do any good. Ideas couldn't go to heaven, could they? She didn't think so, not entirely, though it felt a little wrong. Tobias' seemed as real as anyone else, in certain ways. But that was a moral and philosophical conundrum that she could only speculatie on.

'You definitely do. Oh, who's that old lady?'

The tripwire must really have existed, to have drawn in a Mage so swiftly.

'A friend,' Miriam thought, looking at the well-preserved old woman in her sixties. She had dark eyes and dark skin, and dressed with perfect and complete turn of the century modesty, her skirt just barely showing stockings at her ankles and nowhere else. Even that was perhaps a little daring by the old ways.

"Ah, good afternoon. Who am I speaking to, child?" Eve asked. She had a name that wasn't a Shadow Name, but Miriam wasn't ever going to use it, if she could help it.

Morata knew the question and said, "Morata, ma'am."

"Ah, is that so?" She looked Morata up and down. "Has God set you on this path, or the Order?"

"The Order," Morata confessed, quietly looking around. "I don't know how to tell you. Are there any ways someone could be listening in?"

"Ah, is it that serious, child?" Eve asked, blinking benignly at Morata.

"It is very serious," Morata said. "Also I have someone to introduce to you, but he is mostly unrelated."

'Hey, I helped you find out that… whatnot. Whatever it was. I don't really know.'

'That's the idea.'

'Mean.'

'Oh, I am heartless, dear child,' Morata thought with a sort of mental smirk.

"Right, he? Then if I can't see him, then it's a Spirit, or a Ghost, or a Mage, or a Mind Spirit, or… any number of things. In God's world there are many strange things, and each of them is in some way part of a larger Plan," Eve said with complete sincerity and belief.

'Is not! I'm a free agent!'

Morata nodded, sharing the same belief if not always the thought that it would all turn out for the best in the short term. God's plans for the world were more complex than the most labyrinthian Mage scheme, and so it was not enough to merely think that it was all going to work out. "Perhaps. I don't think Tobias likes the idea of being part of a plan," Morata said. "But it is the way of the universe to not always get what you want."

"Well, on that topic, what is it you want, child?" Eve turned and gestured, and Morata followed close behind her as they headed towards the back. Morata couldn't tell whether Eve was casting any magic or not unless she opened up her Mage sight and looked carefully. Even then she might not notice anything.

"Have you heard about the Chicago Fire?"

"What of it?" Eve asked, as they stepped into a backroom, which smelled faintly of old wood and polish and also sweat and dust. "I could tell you of the work that was written on it, the 'Cycle of Damnations' that mentions it. A most Godly work, though one that strays close to madness, as all such inspired works do." Eve hesittaed. "I say inspired, but I do not say correct. We fumble towards the truth, and we see it in many mirrors before at last we come face to face with it."

"What is the cycle of damnations?"

"A woman makes a mistake, a fire burns down places of living and casts people into the cold, something was lost on that day that echoes the fall from Eden, or as an Order Mage would say… of Atlantis."

Morata knew the comparisons well. She'd made them, even, at least in the comfort of her own head. If Atlantis, the perhaps mythical city of Mages had existed, was it simply Eden, or some form of it, a Godly metaphor for a Godly reality of a city that, like so many in biblical history, was raised up by God and then cast down for its hubris and folly.

But echoes? She could imagine it: was it not the truth that there were prefigurations for the coming of Christ?

Why not for the aftermath as well? She was no mistress of the lore of the Time Arcana but she had been made aware of the idea of 'temporal echoes' and Fate scholars delighted in pointing out the patterns. In fact, they liked them more than those who studied Time did, because the patterns were the purpose of Fate. Time was ever-changing, even with echoes, but Fate cropped up again and again, like the cross in the Old Testament.

"Maybe," Morata said. "Though, our mistakes are our own, and who knows who was responsible."

"God does," Eve said.

"That He does," Morata conceded. "Knowledge is what I'm here about: on the day of the fire, a large cache of artifacts and knowledge was lost, seemingly forever. But on the days approaching the anniversary of the fire it seems to reappear… but we aren't sure where, and we want to find it."

What she was telling Eve was probably a little more than she should, but Eve listened carefully, and Morata decided that it was not anything truly secret: the Silver Ladder and the Mystagogues knew about it, which meant it was almost certain that the Guardians knew about it as well. The Arrows might not, and there was no telling about the Uprising… it'd depend in part on who Jack talked to. But the existence of some sort of cache was something that would have to come up with the Folk.

"Ah. And you wish for my help?" Eve asked. Then, with a nod, she added. "No, you want the Folk's help."

'Really, that's what you're going for? A secret lost treasure? That's kinda nifty. But, ah, that's something I know that you wanna hide, then?' Tobias asked, cagily. 'Perhaps… we could work together again?'

Ah.

Tobias was probably not the sort to betray a friend--at least not easily--and she thought she was probably at least a little his friend, but he was tricky and sneaky, and so she would believe that he'd find a way to use the threat of blackmail or revealing information to… worm his way forward.

Ah well. She could deal with it.

"Yes. If at all possible," Morata asaid.

"You're not telling me something," Eve said. "I can tell. Your nostrils are flaring."

Morata considered that, and gave up. Eve couldn't read minds, but she could read body language easily with her magic, and Morata wasn't good at hiding her little expressions. "The Silver Ladder, separately from our Order, also has some interests in finding it. It's something of a friendly… competition."

"Friendly?" Eve asked, and her tone was chiding. "I doubt it. I can take this information to the other Folk, though."

Morata had a bad feeling that it might well come down to a competition for the Folk's favor if they knew that the Silver Ladder might also offer. But she would have to deal with that anyways. She could talk to Eve and try to convince her, but in the end it was down to people far more influential than her to work it out. Getting this to work would be… complicated. She was already overstepping her boundaries.

But what a feeling it was!

She was excited, and she couldn't deny it. Her heart was racing as she spoke, and she knew that even a single wrong word could harm her cause. But it was the cause of the world. After all, the Mystagogues could learn so much that could help others by finding these things. But she was not supposed to be afraid. She was not supposed to be afraid, because she was supposed to fear nothing but God.

She was sweating. "I… believe that we can offer more, but we all want what's best for the world. Knowledge of the world that God created is important."

"You still believe that, then?" Eve looked at her carefully.

"With all my heart," Morata confirmed, hoping she didn't somehow seem to be lying.

"You do. But if we knew God's will, the world would be very different."

"Would it?" Morata blurted out. "Is it that people don't know what's right, or that they don't want to do it?"

"Well, as a mother I'd say it's both, but God does show the way. We'll see, then. What else did you want to show me?"

"Well… may I cast a spell on you?" Morata asked. "Just so that you can hear him."

"Of course, if it's nothing more than that." Eve nodded.

It was not a difficult spell, but Morata was adding another party to the spell, and so she carefully cast it, felt the thrill and the sort of Godly surge of will and drive, and began what would turn out to be… something of a mistake.

*****

'She was fun' Tobias thought, as Miriam Green ate her mashed potatoes.

'Fun is a word.'

'A good one! We had a fun row, didn't we, guv?'

Miriam ate her mashed potatoes and reached for the salt at the same time as he mother, and stopped and let her take it first as she chewed rather sullenly. 'You didn't have to antagonize her ,and she was very polite.'

'I didn't and she was. But it was fun.' Tobias's voice was pitched up an octave higher than usual, as if he was singing, and she tried not to groan or sigh out loud where her Mamma wouldn't know what to make of it. It was pork chops with mashed potatoes: of course she wasn't sighing at that. Virginia said her tastes in food were boring, but they were what they were.

'Maybe. You're going to go soon.'

'Your folks seem alright. Boring, but you're kinda boring-impressive yourself.'

'Thanks.'

'It was actually a compliment.'

Miriam took a bite of peas. 'Then, thanks, for real.'

'The Folk people are kinda strict, but nice.'

'Yes, they are. I'm glad you were able to have a day out, and I'll try to involve you in the future if you want… as long as you don't tell anyone about what's going on.'

'Right, right. I can do that. Just make sure you let me in on all the crazy things you get up to.'

This, it turned out, would be a promise she would later wish she hadn't made quite so easily, but at the time she gave a mental nod, ate some more peas, and agreed.

The next morning, Jack comes to visit… what is Miriam doing when the pace of the morning is interrupted?

[] Helping her father by hearing his Sermon for Sunday out and trying to figure out how to improve some of the phrasing.
[] Helping her mother out by cleaning with her, and giving her mother's knees a rest.
[] She's not even there… she's next door borrowing something for her mother.

*****

A/N: Wonder what he wants to talk about.
 
[X] Helping her father by hearing his Sermon for Sunday out and trying to figure out how to improve some of the phrasing.

I would rather have the father know Jack came over rather than the mother. We can just tell him it is mage business and leave it at that. Her mother would be a lot more annoyed because she does not like Jack and she does not know magic. Going next door might get the neighbors involved, which I do not like. They are not in the know, and personally I prefer to interact with established characters than new ones.
 
[X] Helping her father by hearing his Sermon for Sunday out and trying to figure out how to improve some of the phrasing.

Probably about that murder. Very distantly about the folk. Maybe.

This fire. Hm. As much as I fingered the Seers initially. I imagine they didnt set it.

I see them more as... wanting to take credit for it. To increase their own rep.
 
[X] Helping her father by hearing his Sermon for Sunday out and trying to figure out how to improve some of the phrasing.
We should spend some time with our dad.
 
It was as if each of these stories was subtly marked by something, subtly marked by some fact that Miriam knew nothing about. But she could just be seeing something. Tired, she looked down at the last: six Chicagos had been visited. The seventh was going to be--
The most stereotypical mage patternmatching would be to look for a one-to-one correspondence to arcana. Likely one per arcana.
 
I really do appreciate Miriam's faith. It's rare to get a protagonist that's religious, much less one as sincere and devout in their faith is Miriam, so it's kinda refreshing to see. It's also really interesting the ways she mixes it with magic and Mysterium doctrine, reinterpreting both rather than rejecting either. It really helps to make her feel more real and alive.

[x] Helping her mother out by cleaning with her, and giving her mother's knees a rest.

Unlike her dad, Miriam can't tell her mom about mage stuff, and that strains their relationship a bit. Because of that, I like taking the opportunities for Miriam to spend time with her mom whenever they come up. It's good to try and fight the distance the mage stuff naturally creates.
 
Just started this, and still pretty early on so I figured I should ask, how big/relevant/frequent is the religious stuff gonna be? I know the vote was for Preacher's Daughter and the blurb literally describes her as a 'deeply religious mage' but right now it's just a bit much for me, and I'm having some trouble connecting to the character because every second line seems to be tying back to religion one way or another and it's all just a bit hard to take seriously, maybe this is a culture thing too I guess, I think religion is a much bigger thing in the US?, but still, just wondering if it keeps up the tempo or cools down a bit at some point.
 
Just started this, and still pretty early on so I figured I should ask, how big/relevant/frequent is the religious stuff gonna be? I know the vote was for Preacher's Daughter and the blurb literally describes her as a 'deeply religious mage' but right now it's just a bit much for me, and I'm having some trouble connecting to the character because every second line seems to be tying back to religion one way or another and it's all just a bit hard to take seriously, maybe this is a culture thing too I guess, I think religion is a much bigger thing in the US?, but still, just wondering if it keeps up the tempo or cools down a bit at some point.

Faith is pretty central to her life, but when she's talking about baseball she's generally not thinking much about God. But especially early on, magic as a religious experience takes up a lot of headspace. It doesn't stop being a religious experience, but it does become more 'normal.'
 
Page 20: Purification
Page 20: Purification

"We must look in all moments for God's guidance, but we must not assume that God exists only in subtle signs: we should not become diviners of his will seeking in the movement of a breeze or a shape in the sky the inner light. There is only one place to reliably look to such a guide, and that is the Bible," her father spoke, his voice rich and deep as he looked to an audience that did not exist.

Miriam smiled at his oration, wondering whether he meant anything specifically. "Is this about the Dream books?"

"It may be, just a little bit. But I find that people focus too much on subtle signs," father said, halting his speech at the first comment. "If we forget the Bible as the basis for our decisions, or at least the first place we should look when we want to know what God would think of our actions, then it is easy to fall into obscure methods. And whatever abilities to see the future or know His will that God grants to you and your Uncle, he does not grant them to most people and trying to think that's so will only open them up to malign influences."

Miriam's eyes widened, aware at once that this was in a sense a Sleepwalker thing. Or… something along those lines. "Did anyone…"

"Tell me to say this? No, and I am not going to make any of the points I believe are common sometimes," Father said, looking at Miriam speculatively. "Any more than I'm going to ask what has gotten you so busy and stressed nowadays. You came back from that baseball game looking like you'd played in it yourself."

"I got sidetracked," Miriam admitted. She still had to write up a report on the Folk and the Vampire matter, and yet she wanted to take this Saturday off just a little bit. She'd be going back to work tonight, and she could write the reports over the weekend. "I've started a new project, consider it like being a research assistant on… some important monograph." This wasn't at all true, but it was the kind of thing that, if they found and recovered the treasure, would make the careers of dozens of Mages for their entire lives just studying and categorizing and understanding a fraction of what must be in the hidden treasure, if it could be reached.

Miriam wasn't going to plan or even dream of planning such a thing ahead of time. It would be the basest hubris to do so, though considering the Silver Ladder did not believe in the idea of 'hubris' no doubt their leader was already counting their chickens. Miriam would not give into these flaws.

""Is it as safe as a research monograph would be?" Father asked, knowingly, with a shake of his head. "The main point of the sermon will be picking out a number of the Proverbs to look at. I was thinking of 1:7, 3:35 and 27:17 for a focus on the paths to wisdom, and the external and internal way they flow from the bible."

Miriam nodded eagerly, grasping at once his point and even where it might have a magical implication, or at least in part be addressed to her and--in the way all of his Sermons were--just a little bit to Jack.

As Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. There was no Wisdom that existed entirely and completely without fear of God, listening to your own heart… and community. It was like a trinity in a sense, the way that each… ah.

"Is it?" Father asked, after a moment. "Is it as safe?"

"No, not necessarily. But I'm not doing the important things, not yet. I'm still young, and so you have to prove yourself to get different assignments."

"And yet somehow your first months…" he looked away, his shirt crisp and every part of his pose formal and controlled and so clearly a pose. He was worried for her, and Miriam couldn't even say for sure that he was wrong to worry.

"I know, but most Mystagogue scholars can go months or years without facing any real danger," Miriam said. "They… do not judge people by age, or race, or sex, but they know how old I am and they know what I can and cannot risk."

She leaned back in the chair she was sitting in, just a wooden chair from the kitchen downstairs. She felt a little like it was a pew, which was the right feeling, and she tried to imagine her father before her, saying these words and other words. She thought the sermon would go over well, and there would be useful discussion about what it meant. He did not invoke the pure madness of the holy rollers, but his faith was as strong and as steady as the chair she sat in, made of good wood and unlikely to break from being used. Sometimes the quicksilver minds, the light and airy hearts, could go further and faster but break sooner.

She was young, and no matter how wise she was, no matter how advanced within the Order especially compared to her age, she was still not yet an adult. She felt so young among their councils and discussions sometimes, and perhaps she would feel so even if she were twice as powerful and wise in three years, and just barely now an adult to add to it. She shifted in her seat, and considered what else to say. Her father was watching her, as if he too wasn't sure of the path forward.

"Miriam, if you want to talk about what your assignment is, you can. But I know how to refrain from prying. Your uncle tended to regard lying to me as a joy and something to do in increasingly inventive and unlikely ways. It helped that his abilities were so strange even when I was sure that he was telling the truth." Her father shook his head, and opened his mouth to say more.

There was a knock on the door downstairs, and father hesitated and then startled as the knock continued.

Miriam was frozen where she was, because she knew that knock. Five knocks, then two, then five again. Uncle Jack, and more than that, 'uncle Jack' on some important piece of Mage business.

She hurried downstairs, feet flying over the steps. She hadn't been getting enough exercise lately, but she was fast, and soon enough she was at the door. Then she hesitated: it wasn't a hard code to figure out, so she carefully cast a bit of magic, so easy that she barely had to try, as reality warped around to tell her: who is beyond this door?

Uncle Jack, a single mind and no others. The magic tugged her about and dropped her into the moment as she opened the door.

"Miriam, may I enter?" Jack asked. He was dressed in a white suit, looking as if he'd slept in it but still remarkably flashy. "It is an important matter. I should also talk to Douglass. I'm sorry for interrupting your Saturday morning, but I'm glad you're okay."

"Is there a reason I wouldn't be?" Miriam asked, her heart starting to pick up the pace as she led Jack upstairs.

Her Father was standing in the room, still in his own darker suit, more formal and much better kept, but significantly more old-fashioned. "What is it?"

"There's been an attack," Jack said. "One of the Mages who wasn't a member of any order: shadow name Nantucket, new in town. She did something with the lakes, I think? I'm not entirely sure. You don't know everyone, even when it feels like you do."

He was rambling. More than that, his voice was quivering.

"Jack, what is it?"

"She was burned alive. Nothing but ashes remain, and they've cleared the tracks of everything except a ghostly memory of the burning. No personal details, even to Time and Space and Mind and… just about everything."

Father swayed for just a moment, and then with a grunt sat down on his bed. "Is this a… Banisher thing? Witch-finders? Or… something?"

"It's looking like that's the only thing it could possibly be," Jack confessed. "We don't know what sect, and we don't understand them at all."

Miriam felt like she was going to faint. The way people talked about Banishers…

"So I'd like to ask you to be careful of going out for the next week or two. It shouldn't impact your work in the dream world, because the kinds of Mages or other beings that burn someone alive probably work in the world more often. But by all accounts Nantucket was a quiet sort, but a skilled Mage. No Master, but very good at whatever research she was doing, and hard to track down. She lived beneath the lake part of the time, apparently, and so even finding her would have been difficult… yet she was burned not near the docks, but miles and miles away. Someone captured her and transported her, and--"

"Enough, Jack!" Father yelled, voice loud enough to break the isolating tumble of words surrounding her.

She… wasn't crying. But she wasn't not crying to imagine it. To imagine what kind of death it was. How could such a thing ever be contemplated?

"So, by orders of the Hierarch, all Mages are to exercise caution and watch for signs of Banishers. Moreover, those who are less experienced are advised to… take extreme caution. Movement in pairs is advised, and those who have Cabalmates and can afford to are advised to stay together. You are exempt because this house is as well protected as we can manage. But don't let anyone in unless you're sure of who it is."

"Again?" Father asked, shaking his head.

"It keeps on cropping up. Usually Banishers are… sloppier, because usually Mages are sloppier. Sloppy doesn't mean not dangerous, but it's actually pretty hard to hide all of your tracks as a Mage. It means they have to have at least four or five Mages, all with at least moderate experience, to do it… or some sort of other magical tool. Fires can symbolize many things. But I need you to understand caution. Banishers are feared for a reason, Miriam."

"I can be careful."

"I hope you can be." He looked at her, and opened his mouth as if to say something before shaking his head and repeating. "I really hope you can be."

******

A/N: End of Chapter 1! Vote will come sometime soon to start up the next chapter.
 
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"The main point of the sermon will be picking out a number of the Proverbs to look at. I was thinking of 1:7, 30:35 and 27:17 for a focus on the paths to wisdom, and the external and internal way they flow from the bible."
FYI, Proverbs 30:35 isn't a real verse. Proverbs 30 only goes up to verse 33.

Oh shit, Banishers! And these seem to be some especially scary ones, too. It's hard as fuck to keep secrets from a group of mages, so the fact that they managed to scrub the scene of all evidence says concerning things about both their power and their thoroughness.
 
FYI, Proverbs 30:35 isn't a real verse. Proverbs 30 only goes up to verse 33.

Oh shit, Banishers! And these seem to be some especially scary ones, too. It's hard as fuck to keep secrets from a group of mages, so the fact that they managed to scrub the scene of all evidence says concerning things about both their power and their thoroughness.

Fixed. I think that's the right verse now?
 
Oh shit, Banishers! And these seem to be some especially scary ones, too. It's hard as fuck to keep secrets from a group of mages, so the fact that they managed to scrub the scene of all evidence says concerning things about both their power and their thoroughness.
On the plus side, they haven't managed to scrub the fact that they scrubbed it. (Though that would be what, something like Mind Dynamics or Time Excision?)
 
On the plus side, they haven't managed to scrub the fact that they scrubbed it. (Though that would be what, something like Mind Dynamics or Time Excision?)

Or clever tricks. An obvious one is to use something to cover the absence. That's what a lot of Mages do: cover one action with another. What does it matter if you look back in time if all you see is what they want you to see?

Leaving just... openly nothing is almost arrogant in a way.
 
Or clever tricks. An obvious one is to use something to cover the absence. That's what a lot of Mages do: cover one action with another. What does it matter if you look back in time if all you see is what they want you to see?

Leaving just... openly nothing is almost arrogant in a way.
My favorite Time trick is to do a thing, lock the results I wanted with a Shield of Chronos variant, and then time travel back and not do the thing. Once the timeline finally synch back up, the results basically spontaneously snap into being. Like ... leave your sanctum to break into a building, steal a gem, bring the gem to your sanctum, timelock it, then timetravel back and don't leave your sanctum in the first place. Once you hit the timelock, the gem suddenly appears in your sanctum.

My second favorite is scouting by aborted timetravel: time travel into the past, scout, and then cancel the spell before reaching the Present so that the entire scouting timeline fades away into just your own memories
 
Nex Chapter's Starting Vote
In the next week, Miriam's actions are circumscribed by the violence she faces. She can't go out much, and this loses key time to study… but she can still read what books she has, and via the Astral they are trying to keep some of the lines of communication open. She also prepares her reports on her studies… and on the Vampire offer.

What else does she do?

Research (Choose 2)

[] Look up more about the relation between Vampires and Death and Matter.
[] Try to have at least one Astral meeting with a Folk member to see if there can be some more concrete cooperation.
[] Check out some books--via the Astral if need be--on religion and magic to pass the time.
[] Continue the dream survey work.

Around the Area (Choose 1)

[] Go to visit some of her friends in the neighborhood, but under careful supervision.
[] Visit the Athenaeum at least once to report on progress in person.
[] Go out at least once for lunch, just to try something new while surprisingly homebound.

Miriam isn't perfect, in what ways does she break this week of cautious action?

[] She goes to fulfill some of her duties/obligations to her Cabal, showing up at the mansion to help them with some spells.
[] She insists on going to play some street baseball, and slips the bounds of those watching out for her to do it.
[] Despite being told not to look too deep, she's curious about Banishers and goes to see what information there is on them… though obviously she doesn't intend to seek them out.

******

A/N: Sorry this is short and all, but that's how it be. Vote on stuff and we'll get a new Chapter Started!
 
[X] Try to have at least one Astral meeting with a Folk member to see if there can be some more concrete cooperation.
[X] Continue the dream survey work.
[X] Go to visit some of her friends in the neighborhood, but under careful supervision.
[X] She goes to fulfill some of her duties/obligations to her Cabal, showing up at the mansion to help them with some spells.
 
[X] Try to have at least one Astral meeting with a Folk member to see if there can be some more concrete cooperation.

[X] Go to visit some of her friends in the neighborhood, but under careful supervision.

[X] Despite being told not to look too deep, she's curious about Banishers and goes to see what information there is on them… though obviously she doesn't intend to seek them out.

Lets go talk to the guardians again :V
 
[X] Try to have at least one Astral meeting with a Folk member to see if there can be some more concrete cooperation.
[X] Continue the dream survey work.
[X] Go to visit some of her friends in the neighborhood, but under careful supervision.
[X] She goes to fulfill some of her duties/obligations to her Cabal, showing up at the mansion to help them with some spells.
 
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