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] Two Questions
[X] "Maybe I'd be able to know more about Space if I had a book about it to read? I know you're busy uncle, and there's so much to cover."
[X] "I have a question, though, I'm not sure that it'll be relevant. I was wondering, if you were reading someone's nature using Mind magic, and you found something a little odd…"
 
[X] "I've been curious about my religion and magic. Are there any books looking into that sort of topic?" she asked, trying to keep her voice careful, as if this wasn't as important as it was.
[X] "The Astral Realms, just...what all is in there?"

Don't want to ask for help with Virginia, it's more fun if we figure it out ourselves.
 
[X] Two Questions
[X] "I'd like to learn more about Mind magic, if possible."
[X] "Maybe I'd be able to know more about Space if I had a book about it to read? I know you're busy uncle, and there's so much to cover."
 
[X] Two Questions
[X] "I've been curious about my religion and magic. Are there any books looking into that sort of topic?" she asked, trying to keep her voice careful, as if this wasn't as important as it was.
[X] "I have a question, though, I'm not sure that it'll be relevant. I was wondering, if you were reading someone's nature using Mind magic, and you found something a little odd…"
 
[X] Two Questions
[X] "I've been curious about my religion and magic. Are there any books looking into that sort of topic?" she asked, trying to keep her voice careful, as if this wasn't as important as it was.
[X] "I have a question, though, I'm not sure that it'll be relevant. I was wondering, if you were reading someone's nature using Mind magic, and you found something a little odd…"

We can have these books for a month, which should be a long enough period of time to actually read them. They also reflect Miriam's personality, as both faith and curiosity are involved along with the latter being an obsession.
 
[X] "The Astral Realms, just...what all is in there?"
[X] "I have a question, though, I'm not sure that it'll be relevant. I was wondering, if you were reading someone's nature using Mind magic, and you found something a little odd…"

Could be, I guess? The second seems more likely; spirits are often rather noticeably one-note. Unless she's being ridden by a magath, in which case fuuuuuuck.

Not terribly likely, tbh; I think we'd recognize the "other side" of an Uratha's personality rather easily.

Weirdly plausible; the comment on "things worth having require sacrifice" and focus on living while you can seems very Sin-Eater. Dios de los Muertos and all that.

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
 
Vote Tally : The Roaring Age (nWoD) | Page 58 | Sufficient Velocity
##### NetTally 1.7.9

[X] Two Questions
No. of Votes: 12

[X] "I have a question, though, I'm not sure that it'll be relevant. I was wondering, if you were reading someone's nature using Mind magic, and you found something a little odd…"
No. of Votes: 12

[X] "I've been curious about my religion and magic. Are there any books looking into that sort of topic?" she asked, trying to keep her voice careful, as if this wasn't as important as it was.
No. of Votes: 11

[X] "Maybe I'd be able to know more about Space if I had a book about it to read? I know you're busy uncle, and there's so much to cover."
No. of Votes: 2

[X] "The Astral Realms, just...what all is in there?"
No. of Votes: 2

[X] One Question
No. of Votes: 1

[X] "The Thread-Shearers, have you heard of them?" "Oh...oh yes I have" Oxford said. "Do you have a book on them?" "Oh, do we. We got it in less than two years ago, it's a doozy."
No. of Votes: 1

[x] "What is the Silver Ladder?" Miriam asked. "I'd tell you eventually," Jack said, but Oxford cut him off, "Well, there are books on it...though do you want a positive view, or a skeptical one? Both could teach you quite a bit."
No. of Votes: 1

-[x] Skeptical. Well, what do you think?
No. of Votes: 1

[X] "I'd like to learn more about Mind magic, if possible."
No. of Votes: 1

Total No. of Voters: 16
 
Vote Tally : The Roaring Age (nWoD) | Page 58 | Sufficient Velocity
##### NetTally 1.7.5

[X] Two Questions
No. of Votes: 12
veekie
djd
Edkose
Indivisible
keios
Kelirapc
Kingofbooks
mori
Neptune
Nevill
Scia
Zeitgeist Blue

[X] "I have a question, though, I'm not sure that it'll be relevant. I was wondering, if you were reading someone's nature using Mind magic, and you found something a little odd…"
No. of Votes: 12
veekie
djd
Edkose
GardenerBriareus
Indivisible
keios
Kelirapc
Kingofbooks
NemoMarx
Neptune
Nevill
Zeitgeist Blue

[X] "I've been curious about my religion and magic. Are there any books looking into that sort of topic?" she asked, trying to keep her voice careful, as if this wasn't as important as it was.
No. of Votes: 11
veekie
djd
Indivisible
keios
Kelirapc
Kingofbooks
kitsune9
Neptune
Romv
Scia
Zeitgeist Blue

[X] "Maybe I'd be able to know more about Space if I had a book about it to read? I know you're busy uncle, and there's so much to cover."
No. of Votes: 2
Edkose
mori

[X] "The Astral Realms, just...what all is in there?"
No. of Votes: 2
Romv
GardenerBriareus

[X] One Question
No. of Votes: 1
NemoMarx

[X] "The Thread-Shearers, have you heard of them?" "Oh...oh yes I have" Oxford said. "Do you have a book on them?" "Oh, do we. We got it in less than two years ago, it's a doozy."
No. of Votes: 1
Scia

[x] "What is the Silver Ladder?" Miriam asked. "I'd tell you eventually," Jack said, but Oxford cut him off, "Well, there are books on it...though do you want a positive view, or a skeptical one? Both could teach you quite a bit."
No. of Votes: 1
Nevill

-[x] Skeptical. Well, what do you think?
No. of Votes: 1
Nevill

[X] "I'd like to learn more about Mind magic, if possible."
No. of Votes: 1
mori

Total No. of Voters: 16
 
Page 20: Required Reading
Page 20: Required Reading

Miriam looked at Oxford, and then at her uncle, aware that she was being put on the spot to some extent. What did she want to know? Everything was a simple answer, but she knew that she had to choose. It was part of learning, knowing how to narrow it down. And ultimately, there was something that mattered more than anything else. "I've been curious about my religion and magic. Are there any books looking into that sort of topic?"

She didn't bite her lip, or touch her hair, feeling as if she was giving an answer in an interview, almost.

Oxford looked at her for a moment, tilting his head as if examining the question from another angle and said, "Yeah, I think there's something that would fit that. And anything else?"

"I was wondering, and I'm not sure how it'll be able to be answered, but I was reading someone's nature using Mind magic--"

"A very simple spell, truly, if you want a rote for it, I could hook you up for very little," Oxford said, cutting her off. She didn't know what a rote was, precisely, but then again there were a lot of things she didn't know yet.

Jack coughed, and he blushed, "Sorry, just trying to sell. But what did you have to say?"

"And I noted that someone seemed to have two natures. I felt one at first, and then I felt other traits. I thought they were a...Sleeper or something like that, and then my senses told me something different, and then they told me they were a sleeper."

"Inconstant like that? I can think of two or three things that might do it, but in order to fully nail it down, you're going to have to come in for a consultation. How it'll work's simple, really." He gave a shrug, "We send in someone to give you a few possible answers to look into, and while you're meeting, they'll give you the book you request. We will set up the meeting through Dancing Shadow, and if you don't arrive we'll leave at the designated time." He sounded bored as he rattled it off, "For safety reasons any envoy brings no more or fewer books, information, or artifacts than have been requested for lease or purchase, and thus acting against an envoy gets one nothing except our enmity. Do you intend to obey and follow the rules of the loan, to the best of our ability?"

He was staring at her, suddenly intense, "I do."

"Alright, then," Oxford said, his face suddenly growing slack and distracted as he began to rifle around in his pockets, before pulling out what looked like a small volume. He thumbed it open while moving his leg upwards, until he was balanced on one foot. And then he held out his hand to Miriam. She hesitated for a second, and then took it. "So," he said, hopping forward slightly, flourishing the small book, "Do you swear to return the book you shall get within a month, or be struck blind, and do you swear that you shall honor the peace that the Envoy will grant in order to provide the information?"

"I do," Miriam said, feeling remarkably silly. His hand was very warm, a little sweaty in fact, and she felt something then. It was hard to define, but she did smell shoe leather and hear the flapping of books for a moment. It felt as if it was the sign of the spell, though she was just guessing as she removed her hand.

"Well, that was pretty easy. The next meeting will be, say, tomorrow. I'll give Shadow the time and place," Oxford said, giving a soft smile, "Enjoy your reading once you get it."

Miriam nodded, "I will, and thank you."

******

"Miriam, what is with your hair?" her Mom asked, hands on her hip, that night.

"Was just trying something out. I'm not going to keep it like this. It's just fine the way it is." She touched it, face a little flushed. It was not wrong, or at least it didn't have to be wrong. But she didn't like her hair like this. Or rather, she knew she wasn't supposed to, and being merely 'okay' with it didn't count as liking. She'd never been a girl who had to fight against the sins of vanity, though her mother had told her stories of her own youthful vanity, long passed.

Miriam never really got the urge to dress up, unless forced by an outside force, a newtonian impulse that her uncle had always encouraged, despite his own obvious taste for fashion.

Some of it was that she really didn't see the point. Was she trying to impress someone? Who, exactly, who would not be impressed by merely dressing neatly and well, and acting in a polite and helpful manner? It always baffled her, at least when she bothered to think about it.

"Ah, that Virginia," Mom said, but with rather more fondness than when she talked about, say, Uncle. "Looks strange on you, girl."

"Don't I know it," Miriam admitted, frowning, "What's for dinner, Mom? Can I help?"

"Oh, of course you can," her mother said, tapping a wooden spoon thoughtfully, "Stir the stew while I work on the sides."

******

Summer was a time of relaxation, normally at least, but in this case there was far more study than she might have expected. Still, the hot nights and the even warmer days, the way the city seemed to have loosened a few belts, like it always did in the summer? It was nice. There was no such thing as a time when Chicago wasn't busy. Big shoulders and a big appetite. Always busy, one way or another.

She ran through the tarot, time and again, trying to think of new ideas of what to do with her magic. She knew that with the few practices she could do now, it was limited, but she imagined, for instance, using Space as a telescope. If higher levels could warp space itself or allow her to scry someone from halfway across the city, then it should be within her capabilities to, say, enhance her ability to see things at a distance.

That and other ideas flitted through her head, though she didn't want to try them out, not just yet. Right now she still had so much more to learn. And she also had an awareness that she didn't have a point to her magic yet. It was amazing to do, or at least, it felt right, and the awakening had felt even more certain, but she didn't have a goal. A purpose.

She was still working on that.

******

A back alley wasn't where she expected to be, and a man wearing a flat steel mask that seemed to have strange runes etched on it wasn't who she was expecting, either. The runes seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place them. Maybe they were high speech, but if so, they were subtly different, or perhaps she was not any good at reading them. He wore grey robes that covered almost all of his body, and his hands were tucked into the robes. He was taller than her, but her uncle behind her didn't seem all that worried.

"Hey, envoy," Jack said, holding up his hands, "We're here, as promised."

"Very well," the envoy said, their voice a rumble that was clearly masculine, but also seemed oddly bland, and too deep. "First, you may ask your question."

"I met someone who seemed to have two shifting natures, and two shifting states to their mind," Miriam said, "I am curious what could have caused it."

"There are several things. First, a number of entities can possess someone. A spirit or astral being can do so, and if the possession was not so strong, it could flicker in and out, at least in the eyes of a novice who lacks certain skills of interpretation."

Miriam nodded, not offended in the least.

"Second," he said, holding up a finger, "There are a number of ways that a human can temporarily turn into an animal, even those who are not Mages. Sometimes this can echo in someone's mind."

Miriam considered this. If Virginia really could turn into a bird or a dog, she would have showed it off by now, and as for the first matter? She'd known Virginia long enough that she'd like to think she'd know if possession was going on. At the same time, she didn't want to be arrogant about her knowledge of her friend. So, it was certainly possible. So she nodded.

"Third, what do you know about demons?"

"Which kind?" Jack asked, and she didn't have to look to know that her uncle had a grin on his face, "Goetia are called demons, and so are abyssal creatures, and spirits, and ghosts if they're scary enough, so what sort of demon are we talking."

"Astral Demons."

Miriam remembered that her uncle had mentioned demons of this sort before, right before they'd entered her friend's mind. They were beings of the Temeros, the collective minds of the world, though she knew nothing more than that, and even that was offhand.

"One of them might be possessing her?" Jack asked, frowning.

"It is said that 'Many know small secrets, but few know great secrets'," the envoy said, his voice a smug boom, "Have you heard of demon-spawn, or the children of perdition, or...they have many names, and few of them are known to the unwary mage."

"I've heard of them...perhaps," Jack said, frowning, "Yes. Yes." She could smell the cigarette smoke, one sign of Jack's magic. "So that is a possibility?"

"What is a...child of perdition?"

"Sometimes demons make deals with people. To mark them, or to mate with them, or to curse their descendants through a thousand generations. Or at least that's the rumor, right?"

"Yes. Those descended of such beings have the chance of power, within the world of the astral. Sometimes. Study of them is as study of the vampires, or other strange beings. Rare and hard to prove with any certainty. But the flickering certainty would fit. For it is only in their dreams that such a child, if they have not realized their power, is aware of magic. So in their waking world they are as anyone, but there is a dream self, a demon that is their own fears...waiting for them to take the first step. It is a power that many never grasp."

"Ah. Is there a spell to be able to tell if someone is a demon-spawn?" Jack asked.

Miriam was uncertain, now. Was...what did demons do? If Virginia was the child, or grandchild, or her parents had been cursed by or...well, the origins seemed quite broad. Certainly, it'd be more reassuring than if she was possessed, and Miriam hadn't noticed.

"Yes, actually. Are you willing to pay the cost to be taught? It is not expensive, because it is a small enough trick, a matter of knowing which signs to look for using magic that you yourself could do easily enough," the envoy said, "In exchange, can you merely tell us what happened last saturday? A perspective would be valuable."

Jack looked over at her for a moment, and then nodded. "And her book?"

The envoy's hand appeared, and she found that, oddly, she could not make out any details. Small or large, thin or skeletal, what he was wearing, it was a sort of blank. She just knew that a hand was reaching out, and that in it was a rich green volume, rather thick, with the title, written in gold, 'Up From Eden'.

"Thank you," Miriam said, with a curtsy.

"Keep to the deal, and may knowledge always be your guide."

******

The book opened with a section called apologies, which seemed to be followed by a chapter called 'What is the apple?'

"I begin with apologies to God, who exists in all times, and knows the fates of all men. From the moment I was born You knew I would write this, and yet You also knew that it would be inadequate. That I have spent many years learning nothing, and that I write nothing that others have not known just as well, for just as long. And that You will see many flaws, and know that many will be misled by its flaws, and so I must apologize to You, in the understanding that," it read, the words in cursive, "the world might get better. Those who are the seekers of knowledge, like a man awakened from a long nap, are perhaps closest, but one blade of grass may be closer to the sun than another, without being able to call itself exalted upon high.

I am the blade of grass that, while not the tallest, might have some understand, but then I must also apologize to many young men and women who read it. You know the answers already, and your confidence that I have little to teach you is valid. For if you are brave and wise and humble and your ability to understand the universe with your abilities is without bounds, if you have never stumbled but that it didn't save your life, then I have little to teach you. You are perfectly right, and my fallible and limited understanding is nothing more than an impediment.

If you claim that God is dead and that man might take his place, I will nod and say that you are far more likely to be right than me. And if you say as well that the mistakes of the past will not be repeated, and that with a little more knowledge, all can be solved? Then I would be a fool to deny your vision. But then again, I am a fool.

If, on the other hand, you are old, and worn down, until your mind is like a child's, and you stumble drunk through the world trying to make sense of it, or you are younger still, so young that you look with baffled eyes on the world, then perhaps I have some little knowledge to teach you. Merely the most basic of understandings of the universe, and our place in it, as I have essayed to figure out.

Many decades of work have gotten only the first few seeds of truth, and yet, the young men and women whose righteousness cannot be denied might yet plant them into rich soil, and even if they do not, the eyes of the blind can gaze upon the seeds and see their potential, judge it as worthy or not, even if it never finds root in any rich soul.

Eden is where a story begins, or where a thought on the story begins, with the question of what it is that man can now, as might have once been impossible, do great things."


There was a break, and on the next page it said, simply, 'Anexes, 1895.'

She flipped forward to the first chapter, where he began by talking, in moderate detail, about the origin of the myth of the garden of eden, and the myth of the flood, including some story she had never heard, about other origin myths. It read to her as an academic tome might, except it occasionally made careful reference to what seemed to be a description of the way history and stories were made.

She frowned, her head already aching a little bit. She couldn't read parts of it, because they were in greek, though a translation was carefully preserved in the margins. Other parts seemed to have been written merely to confound, and yet on the fifth page it said something interesting 'If God knew the snake would tempt, the snake on legs, the dragon as some might say, then He meant for mankind to be tempted, as regrettable as it was. Why?'

She didn't have much time to read it, when she started, because she had dinner to get down to, but he seemed to be proposing that symbolically, the first Mage was related to Adam and Eve, and that this was significant and important.

The thought filled her with uncertainty, for if that was it, then wasn't it a sin that cast humanity down? Or was there more? She struggled with the text, less because she was not smart enough but because she hadn't expected it to be like this. Once she got a feel for it, on the other hand, it seemed surprisingly readable, if cryptic at points. What could the well be, in the desert?

Or…

She closed the book, placing a mark in it, and resolved to continue when she could.

******

The next day, her uncle came to visit her once more. He walked up the stairs carefully, and when he opened the door, she was still reading the book. It was talking about how there was a tie between the history in the bible and a parallel symbolic reading of...that part she wasn't sure. The arcana, perhaps, and the place of Mages in the world? Either way, it focused on the way that Israel had been God's chosen kingdom, and how such a thing had only existed because man had fallen in the first place.

So, was the first Awakening meant to be a historical event, or merely a symbolic reading of--

Either way, she'd read enough to know that this was certainly not orthodox Protestantism in any form, but also enough to be oddly fascinated by it.

"Is it a good read?"

"Interesting," she said, which was the best word for it.

"So, I was wondering if you'd like to go with me, to visit our cabal. It will be a bit of a trip, but I think it'd benefit your learning."

Miriam nodded, "I would."

"Before we go, though, I must explain a few things. First off, mana. It's something that I've hesitated to long on explaining. All mages have access to a source of power, and when doing a spell outside of their two strongest arcana, they have to spend mana to force it. Mana feels like a sort of warmth to some, or like a shimmering in your being, but either way, you likely have some mana in you right now, drawn from the supernal realms, just sitting in your pattern, in, essentially, you."

Miriam frowned, "So, it's a fuel for magic? Then how is it gained?"

"There are several ways to gain it, and many ways to use it. Mana can be gained via what we call pattern scouring. Now, this is going to be complicated to explain, and it's going to hurt." He walked over towards her, and held her hand. "Close your eyes, and focus on your body."

She did, imagining herself, trying to focus like she had before.

"Now, imagine a tear. Imagine that you're unraveling yourself a little. Picture it."

She felt something now, something that, rather than warm, was instead startlingly cool. Cool like an ice-filled drink on the hottest summer day. Refreshing, oddly. She felt it deep in her, and she realized that that had to be mana, that feeling, that sensation. She'd not realized it was there the whole time, and it was subtle, weak compared to what it might become.

"Can you feel your mana now?" he asked.

"Yes," she said.

"No picture tearing a chunk out of yourself, and then picture it flowing into you. There are several forms of scouring, but right now I'm going to teach you the one that will be least likely to mess things up for you. But it will hurt quite a bit. And it won't stop hurting. And it can't be healed with magic. It will be days before you're entirely better if you do this. There are other options, but they might impair you for today."

"What other options?"

"You're scouring your body of something. In one case hurting yourself, though the scars are rarely visible. In another case, you're making yourself weaker, or less able to forge on. If you focus, instead, for instance, on your lungs, on your breathing, perhaps a slight dip would be less, and then focus on your form, its strength its--and then tear."

It took three minutes, and then she felt it. It was horrible. Not pain, so much as a sort of shrinking, diminishing feeling. She felt dizzy for a moment, and then when she opened her eyes she feel the cool, strange energy as it flowed into her. She couldn't see it, but she knew it was there.

She stood up, frowning, "Odd." That was the least possible word she could say for it. She felt less, in some way she couldn't quite define.

"Yes. I'd advise you don't run around too much, you'll probably get worn out faster, and don't scrape your knee, it'll hurt more than you think. It lasts a day, and you can only do it once per day, but if you do so, then that's a way to get mana. The other main way is at a Hallow. A hallow is a sort of well of magical energy, to make it simple. A place where magic bubbles up in one form or another."

"A well?" Miriam asked, thinking back to the book.

"Yes. if one performs a ritual at it, one can harvest magic from it, and if one doesn't, it eventually crystallizes, like an oil well forced to burst even though nobody is there to gather it up. Access to a hallow, in other words, is one of the most vital parts of being a Mage. A mage without such access is magically limited, which is one reason why cabals are so common."

"Do people fight over hallows, can people make hallows?"

"Yes, and yes, if they have the right sorts of magic. Our own cabal has a hallow near a small house that we maintain, at the edge of Chicago, as a sort of neutral ground. That's where I want to take you. It's also where one of our two demesne are. Those are places where, because of the presence of a soul stone, magic can be performed without risk of paradox."

That sounded powerful, and she nodded, "So, will all of the rest of them be there?"

"Yes, they wish to meet you."

******

It was a long journey, but also a pleasant one. They rode the lines as far as they'd go, and then once they hit the outskirts of Chicago, she walked. True to his warning, she found herself getting tired long before she normally would, but she tried to ignore it, and the looks she occasionally was given, along with her uncle, as they walked down the sidewalks. The houses were nice, if old, and there was a surprising amount of greenery in the area.

Fences divided off the lines of demarcation, but every house had at least a tree or two in the back yard, and the house they stopped at, a very, very large house by the way she accounted things, had more like eight or nine trees, the backyard filled with rich green.

The house itself was two stories tall, with a red, shingled roof and lacy curtains in the windows, build in an oddly cramped manner. It seemed almost to lean or tilt a little when she looked at it, and despite that it was clearly a very nice house. Nicer than any she'd ever lived in, or just about anyone she knew at school.

"Don't be nervous," Jack said, "We are more welcome here than most. I understand what your concern is, or at least, what your fears are."

"I'm trying to ignore them," Miriam said. The feeling of being out of place had been very strong, especially when they'd passed a man walking a dog who had stared at them for a long moment as if trying to figure out if they'd attack. "But…"

"I understand. There are tricks that you can do with greater experience, to blunt that if you do not wish to face it, but they are not important at the moment. Now, let's go and meet some people...and in the waking world, this time."

So, what does Miriam do? (Choose 2)

[] Down in the basement, it is always damp, and the water seems to seep into everything, with the bone deep chill of death. There, Miriam may practice her magic, and through a single crack that peeks at something deeper down, she may draw a very little bit of mana, a tiny and strange secret, of sorts.
[] Amid the trees lay the hallow, which is a small bush that cannot be hacked away or destroyed, at least not for long. There she meets Wat, a member of The Uprising, who talks to her about the hunt for Seers, and just why they are so dangerous, and shows her a small bit of shapeshifting, among other things.
[] Aerie, a philosophical member of the Mysterium, started a debate with her at the dinner table, one that stretched far beyond simple disagreements into a complex discussion of the nature of magic and souls.
[] Coninunctio takes Miriam aside and offers to teach her something about her mind, or one way that it can be viewed, and to explain his own Legacy and goal.
[] Civitas, the leader of the Cabal, is powerful and wise beyond Miriam's ability to understand, and he called them together to discuss the specific details of an ongoing project. And out of courtesy, she was allowed to watch in for a little bit.
[] Dour and brooding, Hone seems to live in the house, at times, along with Aerie at other times, and he talks to her for a while about politics and the importance of cabals and other such groups, as well as the rules that govern joining a cabal.

*****

Spell Construction:

Done as a Rote, so 3 free Reach. One for speed of spell, one for knowing when it's broken, one for duration to get it into advanced, and one for Potency to get it some of that sweet Withstand bonus.

Gnosis 3+Fate 4+3 (Old Stories Rote Mudra)+1 (Order specialty)+2 (Second Yantra: High Speech)+1 (Tool: A Piece of paper, a list of sorts…)=14 dice-6 (One Month)=8 dice=3 sux, got it.

Now, Paradox is one over.

2 dice=1 sux

Contain paradox: 5 dice=1 sux, it's contained.

Intelligence+Student=3 sux

A/N: Alright, so, here we go. I hope it's acceptable.
 
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I'm quite pleased with how the choices turned out, although I'm still not sure how we're going to discover what's up with Virginia? Invite her around to our house when our uncle is there, so he can cast the spell? Thematically given the amount of information Laurent wrote, it's pretty likely to be the Astral demon so I'm wondering how this effects things or what Virginia can do? We know she was interested in dream stuff given she gifted us a book in the first place, and it could be interesting with Miriam's astral adept merit that still has ??? on it.

[X] Aerie, a philosophical member of the Mysterium, started a debate with her at the dinner table, one that stretched far beyond simple disagreements into a complex discussion of the nature of magic and souls.
[X] Civitas, the leader of the Cabal, is powerful and wise beyond Miriam's ability to understand, and he called them together to discuss the specific details of an ongoing project. And out of courtesy, she was allowed to watch in for a little bit.

I think a debate suits Miriam well with her intelligence, particularly if she can relate it back to the book she's currently reading so she has more understanding about what it's talking about.

The second choice gets us more of a group interaction with them all which should help solidify them in our minds, and the project discussion could be enlightening.
 
I begin with apologies to God, who exists in all times, and knows the fates of all men. From the moment I was born You knew I would write this, and yet You also knew that it would be inadequate...

Cut-outs from books are always hard. I particularly liked this one: you nailed a voice and a particular way of thinking. Miriam's personal quest to align her religion with her new knowledge of magic is fascinating, so I'm voting for Aerie for sure. I'm torn between Civitas and Hone—I want to choose something where she gets to learn about cabals, either by observation or directly through conversation—but I'll vote Hone for now.

[X] Dour and brooding, Hone seems to live in the house, at times, along with Aerie at other times, and he talks to her for a while about politics and the importance of cabals and other such groups, as well as the rules that govern joining a cabal.
[X] Aerie, a philosophical member of the Mysterium, started a debate with her at the dinner table, one that stretched far beyond simple disagreements into a complex discussion of the nature of magic and souls.

EDIT: Oh! and I liked the follow-up to the hair episode from last chapter!
 
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