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] [1.2x] Go with Uncle Jack to her mind, and they can both look for signs, figure out more about it, while she gets a little bit of a lesson in such things. Learning more about what Astral Demons are and what it means for her friend with someone who knows what he's doing could be the best option, if she's willing to take the time to do it.

Going into her mind could be dangerous, and we don't even know in what way. We should bring Jack with us if we're going to go into her mind.
 
@The Laurent, could we try get a read on Jack's mind to see his emotional state i.e. if he's wary, neutral or whatever and make a judgement from there?
 
[X] [1.2x] Go with Uncle Jack to her mind, and they can both look for signs, figure out more about it, while she gets a little bit of a lesson in such things. Learning more about what Astral Demons are and what it means for her friend with someone who knows what he's doing could be the best option, if she's willing to take the time to do it.

Going into an astral demons mind with limited knowledge of what we're doing and pretty much nothing about what an Astral demon is seems foolish. Jack is an expert at mind magic, so let's actually utilize him as we wouldn't want to be a danger to either ourselves or Virginia.
 
[x] [1.4x] At the same time, that'd take time to find the time in his schedule, and it would involve showing off her best friend's mind to someone she might not be comfortable with reading it. Miriam had been fine with her Uncle in her head, but there were plenty of things--or so she'd been able to guess--that a young girl might not want a random adult guy to see. Or something. It was something of a mystery to Miriam. But she's also curious to check it out herself. So she could just go on herself, and look around. Try to get a feel for what it is, and hopefully figure it out on her own.

Jesse uncle Jack, Rude.
 
[x] [1.4x] At the same time, that'd take time to find the time in his schedule, and it would involve showing off her best friend's mind to someone she might not be comfortable with reading it. Miriam had been fine with her Uncle in her head, but there were plenty of things--or so she'd been able to guess--that a young girl might not want a random adult guy to see. Or something. It was something of a mystery to Miriam. But she's also curious to check it out herself. So she could just go on herself, and look around. Try to get a feel for what it is, and hopefully figure it out on her own.
 
[X] [1.4x] At the same time, that'd take time to find the time in his schedule, and it would involve showing off her best friend's mind to someone she might not be comfortable with reading it. Miriam had been fine with her Uncle in her head, but there were plenty of things--or so she'd been able to guess--that a young girl might not want a random adult guy to see. Or something. It was something of a mystery to Miriam. But she's also curious to check it out herself. So she could just go on herself, and look around. Try to get a feel for what it is, and hopefully figure it out on her own.

Yes! More Astral shenanigans! This time without annoying adult supervision!
 
[X] [.8x] Perhaps, if she really is not quite a Sleeper (though not quite not one either), she could be told about this. Or confronted to see if she knows anything? Of course, it could go really bad, especially without proof, but it would be open, direct, and honest.

Virginia seems like a good friend, and I think she deserves to know before we do something invasive.


Cowards word. :V
 
[X] [1.2x] Go with Uncle Jack to her mind, and they can both look for signs, figure out more about it, while she gets a little bit of a lesson in such things. Learning more about what Astral Demons are and what it means for her friend with someone who knows what he's doing could be the best option, if she's willing to take the time to do it.

Omg no solitary mishaps please. Also I would have voted nope to going into her mind at all but our vice powers you terrible decision makers so I fight vice with vice and also a better decision :V
 
[X] [1.4x] At the same time, that'd take time to find the time in his schedule, and it would involve showing off her best friend's mind to someone she might not be comfortable with reading it. Miriam had been fine with her Uncle in her head, but there were plenty of things--or so she'd been able to guess--that a young girl might not want a random adult guy to see. Or something. It was something of a mystery to Miriam. But she's also curious to check it out herself. So she could just go on herself, and look around. Try to get a feel for what it is, and hopefully figure it out on her own.
 
Vote Tally : The Roaring Age (nWoD) | Page 63 | Sufficient Velocity
##### NetTally 1.7.10.1

[X] Let it wait for the moment, since it might not mean anything, or rather...perhaps it's best just to be polite with her and not violate her friend's mental space?
No. of Votes: 2


——————————————————————————————————————————————
Task: .8x

[X] [.8x] Perhaps, if she really is not quite a Sleeper (though not quite not one either), she could be told about this. Or confronted to see if she knows anything? Of course, it could go really bad, especially without proof, but it would be open, direct, and honest.
No. of Votes: 1


——————————————————————————————————————————————
Task: 1.2x

[X] [1.2x] Go with Uncle Jack to her mind, and they can both look for signs, figure out more about it, while she gets a little bit of a lesson in such things. Learning more about what Astral Demons are and what it means for her friend with someone who knows what he's doing could be the best option, if she's willing to take the time to do it.
No. of Votes: 6


——————————————————————————————————————————————
Task: 1.4x

[x] [1.4x] At the same time, that'd take time to find the time in his schedule, and it would involve showing off her best friend's mind to someone she might not be comfortable with reading it. Miriam had been fine with her Uncle in her head, but there were plenty of things--or so she'd been able to guess--that a young girl might not want a random adult guy to see. Or something. It was something of a mystery to Miriam. But she's also curious to check it out herself. So she could just go on herself, and look around. Try to get a feel for what it is, and hopefully figure it out on her own.
No. of Votes: 8

Total No. of Voters: 17

I think you used ranked voting wrong, unless you intended to manually tally count it. In this case though the option that won is pretty clear.
 
Vote Tally : The Roaring Age (nWoD) | Page 63 | Sufficient Velocity
##### NetTally 1.7.10.1

[X] Let it wait for the moment, since it might not mean anything, or rather...perhaps it's best just to be polite with her and not violate her friend's mental space?
No. of Votes: 2


——————————————————————————————————————————————
Task: .8x

[X] [.8x] Perhaps, if she really is not quite a Sleeper (though not quite not one either), she could be told about this. Or confronted to see if she knows anything? Of course, it could go really bad, especially without proof, but it would be open, direct, and honest.
No. of Votes: 1


——————————————————————————————————————————————
Task: 1.2x

[X] [1.2x] Go with Uncle Jack to her mind, and they can both look for signs, figure out more about it, while she gets a little bit of a lesson in such things. Learning more about what Astral Demons are and what it means for her friend with someone who knows what he's doing could be the best option, if she's willing to take the time to do it.
No. of Votes: 6


——————————————————————————————————————————————
Task: 1.4x

[x] [1.4x] At the same time, that'd take time to find the time in his schedule, and it would involve showing off her best friend's mind to someone she might not be comfortable with reading it. Miriam had been fine with her Uncle in her head, but there were plenty of things--or so she'd been able to guess--that a young girl might not want a random adult guy to see. Or something. It was something of a mystery to Miriam. But she's also curious to check it out herself. So she could just go on herself, and look around. Try to get a feel for what it is, and hopefully figure it out on her own.
No. of Votes: 8

Total No. of Voters: 17

I think you used ranked voting wrong, unless you intended to manually tally count it. In this case though the option that won is pretty clear.

Um? It wasn't ranked voting? It's weighted voting. But even without the weight, go herself would have won. But I would have manually given the additional weight if it wasn't clear.
 
Page 24: Her Best Fiend, Part 1
Page 24: Her Best Fiend, Part 1

This was perhaps a bad idea. She understood that ahead of time. She'd smiled at her uncle and then moved to act in a way that might be unwise, and yet she couldn't resist it. She wanted to know, and more than that, as she sat on the bed and looked down into her hands, tracing the lines of them, as if she could read the future in them, she knew that she'd done it out of more than just a desire to understand. There was also a fear.

One of her friends had turned out not to be her friend, to have been hurt. So she wanted to protect someone else...but she also wanted to be sure she had a friend. Virginia was the person outside of her family she was closest to, funny and enthusiastic and far better at all sorts of things that she should know how to do, things that a woman was supposed to know. Besides the fashion, which could be forgiven, she was a better cook than Miriam, better at doing chores, even if she sometimes avoided them.

And more than that: she respected Miriam, she shared and shared alike. They bartered for their own time and understanding of each other, and both of them walked away richer. But what if it wasn't real? So she sat there, for a long moment, lost in doubts that were not usual. Miriam was someone who didn't doubt themselves as often as perhaps they should. She knew it: another flaw, another bit of pride that should have been worn away, but hadn't been.

So even though she knew this was a mistake, she was surprisingly confident as she glanced over at the window, at the streetlights, the streaks of color in the darkness, and then down at her bed, before her hands came together slowly and she closed her eyes and tried to focus.

The world slowly fell away, bit by bit. It took time, as always, and yet she didn't begrudge it. This was magic, and of course magic was something that took time, something that was amazing and complicated, and she loved it already, even though she knew she barely knew anything. But oddly, that only made it more exciting, and so she let the time pass and focused, praying to God for the wisdom to see the truth.

Until there was nothing left but herself, and then she was on a stage. She looked around as an actor stepped forward, a man holding, as if it were a mask, Virginia's face. She turned, looking at the crowd, a sea of white, fat faces, jeering parodies of real people more than anything else, and then at the blood-red curtain that seemed to loom overhead, threatening to come down upon her head.

She cleared her throat, but before she could speak, he did, in a bad approximation of Virginia's voice. "I hate you. I'm just your friend because a Demon told me to be."

"I hate you," a voice said behind her, and she turned to see 'Dickens' or rather a man holding up a mask that looked like his face, his voice a flat monotone, "I'm just your friend because you're smart too and you have lots of books. I'd rather not spend any time with you. So full of yourself, so much better off than me--"

"Me too. Really, you're just fun to watch strutting about, acting like you're anything much when you're just a girl," 'Josiah' drawled, played, oddly, by an older woman, whose acting was, if anything, worse.

"No," she said, firmly. This all wasn't true. It was a test, and she waved her arm, imagining what they were really like. Josiah, lazy and playful, Dickens, smart and energetic and enthusiastic, Virginia, hip and beautiful (all the guys said it when they thought she wasn't looking) and free, and she pictured them in her head and slowly the forms shifted in front of her eyes, until at last there were her friends, and others in the audience. Acquaintances and family and other friends, all of them as they should be.

People.

People she cared about and who cared for her. She...she knew that her worrying about Virginia's friendship was illogical. That was so obvious, and yet that didn't change how she felt. That was how people were. But they didn't have to worry, they didn't have to be…

She blinked and was in the church of before, but it was different now. There were only a dozen people, and they were muttering indistinct words. The whole church seemed different now, cleaner, clearer, and she realized why it was. She was getting used to it. The first time, her mind had not been entirely focused, but the second time? The second time she'd gone through much faster, probably not in time taken to meditate, but in her ability to focus, her understanding of what she was doing.

There was a test each time, before she entered the world of the mind, and so she walked down, towards the exit, thinking of Virginia, each step confident, sure that soon enough she'd be able to get out of here.

She was guessing now as to what it involved, but she thought of Virginia, and--

******


"Hey, watch this," Virginia said, and then she did a handstand. As a twelve year old kid, she was cute, not yet pretty, her features delicate and her hair shorter than it would be later. She shifted one way and the other, wiggling her hips as if she were some dancer, walking on her hands. "Bet you could do it even better!"

Miriam blinked, smiling a little, glancing around at the room, divided down the middle. Virginia had always talked about how she wished she had her own room, instead of sharing it with her brother. She'd ignored the divide, going back and forth at will, but yelling at her brother if he did the same. She wanted her privacy, but she always wanted room to stretch out.

"Uh."

"Oh, come on. Please?" Virginia said, her voice growing a little quieter, "I know you can do a handstand. I've seen you!"

It was true. Miriam was not someone who did gymnastics or anything (how could you be, honestly, all things considered) but she did run and jump around enough that she'd learned tricks like that. But now wasn't the time and she tried to focus on the link between her and her friend. And she felt the world seem to dissolve, like one of those impressionist painting she'd seen in books, but not in life, because she'd never had a chance to go to the Art Institute, and wasn't sure how it'd go even if she went.

And then she was standing in a far larger room. It was similar, though. There was a big makeup table, more than Miriam had ever imagined laid out there, and there was a huge blue bed with lovely purple curtains, and the floors were clean, though she could hear the sound of rats in the distance, hundreds of them squeaking. There was a walk-in closet, and when she moved over to it and opened it, she saw there were hundreds of outfits inside, ranging from the simple to the elaborate. She couldn't imagine anyone wearing a ball gown like that, white and shimmering, like some fairy-tale wedding dress, but she knew immediately that this is where Virginia wanted to live. This was the room she wanted to have.

The room she dreamed of, even.

Miriam stepped towards the door, and then paused, thinking. And then she moved to the bed, which had big, red down pillows, and was so soft she could imagine falling asleep on it just sitting there.

She pulled the pillows aside and underneath them was a diary. She touched it and focused on the thoughts. The feelings.

Something hidden, that's what she was looking for.

******

"See, this is the library," Miriam said. To herself.

Miriam blinked at the Dream-Miriam, who was just a year younger. She looked odd from the outside. It was hard to place, but there was something about her that seemed different. Perhaps it was just seeing herself from the outside, moving around, active, smiling all the time. Vital in a way she sometimes didn't see herself as. Miriam frowned.

"C'mon, Virginia, what's got you down?"

Oh. She was in Virginia's place. Well, this was odd. "Nothing, nothing," Miriam said, feeling as if she was missing something important. "You were saying?"

"Well, do you know the Dewey system?" Miriam asked, "It'll help you get around here if you want to come sometime. I mean, knowledge is important, you know? And--wait, where are you going."

Miriam stepped forward, trying to think about, say, what this scene meant. Why was it hidden. What was important about it? The library seemed normal, if a little larger than it should, and it dissolved for...the library again. In a back shelf.

She was looking at a bunch of old books. Rooting through them. Most of the covers were rotted off, and she glanced through them, but the words didn't register, weren't remembered. She frowned, going through the books one by one, wondering if there was something she should be looking for. What was she looking for?

She imagined the emotions. Shame? Hiding something? What would allow her to find what she needed. She focused on it, the feeling of shame, of guilt, of...what? Of the unknown? Did Virginia know about it? Maybe all she was looking for was the fact that Virginia stole a book, or...something. Or that she was guilty about not reading enough. Either way, she pushed through, not wanting to keep up the charade, not when she could keep on looking.

Only this time, she found herself standing in a bright park, and there was Virginia in front of her. No, not Virginia, or not her alone. She looked like Virginia, but she seemed a year or two older, and also curvier, her hair in a short bob. She was wearing a pale yellow dress, the kind Miriam imagined a flapper might wear? Miriam didn't know a lot about fashion, but she did know that despite the differences, she could tell the emotion on that face: fear.

"You need to stop, now. Please.. Stop digging. Stop looking," Virginia's voice, but older, a little more lush, told her as the other girl stepped forward. "This needs to stop. But...how are you here? Have you run into her yet? Me, I mean. Are you what I'm supposed to become? Are you some kind of dream-walker? Am I some kind of dream walker?" The girl stared at Miriam for a moment and stepped forward, "What is this? I know what I'm supposed to do, but not what happens next."

"I was worried about you, or about Virginia, or...something was wrong. Something's happened to her, or is happening to her, something dangerous," Miriam said, the words bubbling out, "Something that might make her my friend when she doesn't want to--"

"Doesn't...doesn't?!" False-Virginia said, her voice raising in anger that seemed to come as suddenly as a summer shower, "Really? That's what you think? That's what you're going to do and say? You should be ashamed of yourself. Yes. Ashamed of what you're doing!"

Miriam blinked, stunned by the sudden reversals of emotions.

"What are you--"

The other girl gestured, and the whole world seemed to turn upside down. Miriam grabbed for the grass, holding on as she dangled and tried to drag herself closer to a tree in the park. She felt the grass slipping, and down beneath her was nothing more than sky. Sky below her, and her heart racing, pumping blood as she said, "I was afraid, but that's not why I came. I wanted to know, I wanted to know what was going on. Are you...what do you know about yourself? That's all. I'm willing to…"

She almost slipped off there, so busy was she talking, "I'm willing to just talk, can you please stop this?"

"I don't know what I am. I just know that I need to go to the place where there are many people, where everyone's dreams meet as one, and I need to go with her, if we're going to...going to get out of this place. If we're going to stop lying." Each word seemed as if it was being slowly hammered in, said as if this false-Virginia, or perhaps this part-of-Virginia were afraid that she'd burst out and say the wrong thing again.

And Miriam feared the same thing. Apparently this part of Virginia didn't like the implication that she wasn't Miriam's friend. Was she nervous about it?

"Stop lying? So, I've been told you're something called a demon...spawn. Like, it's complicated. But it's not necessarily... bad or anything."

"You tell her that," false-Virginia said, with a roll of her eyes, in a chatty, breezy way, as if she didn't have Miriam hanging on for her...something above an endless sky.

"But you have some ties to beings in the Temenos, and some sort of power you get from that."

"The...Temenos?" Virginia tilted her head, frowning.

Miriam nodded, dragging herself closer to the tree, desperate now. The grass should be tearing, she should be falling into the great blue, and she had no idea what would happen when that happened. Did she die in real life? Wake up sweat-soaked and exhausted? Keep on falling until she finally woke up? She didn't know, had no way to understand that.

So her heart, and her nerves treated it as life and death. "The collective human unconscious. I've never been there, but…"

She swung a bit, trying to get closer to the tree "But that's what it's called."

"How do you know so much? What are you?" false-Virginia asked, and then corrected itself, "I mean, who?"

"I...it's complicated," Miriam said, and then her hands slipped and she was falling. She flailed, grabbing out for the tree, and near the top, or the bottom, she landed hard, hands scrabbling as she held onto the branches and began hauling herself up, chest hurting from having slammed into the tree. It was a thick, big brown tree, but thin at the top, and it swayed madly from one way to another.

"Explain, please!" not-Virginia said, her voice pleading, "I want to understand what's going on."

"I...the dreams," Miriam said, "The bad dreams meant something. I...don't know how much more I can tell you. But I'm not what Virginia is, but that doesn't mean I'm not a friend, you know?" She kept on climbing up, or down, the tree, panting a little, looking at not-Virginia standing outside down, one arm stretched out, clearly causing this to happen somehow.

"The dreams you had? Did you look at the book? I felt...I felt deep down that you needed to see it. It was very important."

"I haven't, yet," Miriam said, "I've been very busy."

"So...so," she said, frowning, and Miriam waited to see what happened. "Are you some kind of root woman? Doing magic?"

"I...maybe?" Miriam admitted, "It's something like that. I can meditate into my dreams, among other things, and from there I can follow the ties between me and other people to enter their...mind, I suppose, but only when they're sleeping." She paused and admitted, "There are other things I can do, but I've just barely started learning."

"I haven't learned anything at all. I just know that we need to go into this...Temenos place in order to claim our true power. Or...something? If we're a...demon thing,whatever that is, then we have not yet grasped this power. We need to do more."

"You," Miriam said, thinking back to what she'd heard, "You're her fears. Astral Demons represent what people think of as evil, and they can sire people, or something, that are part them. They tempt one into sins, whatever they may be. Sometimes, these are things that aren't sins, not really. Like things that a savage culture thinks is bad, but a true Christian knows is perfectly fine."

The false-Virginia was the representation of her fears and whatever else it was that drove her. It wanted her to step beyond, for good or ill, and claim the power that she could have, whatever supernatural abilities Virginia might gain. But in doing so, what would that mean? The other girl looked nervous, uncertain, as Miriam spoke about sins. Yet ultimately she gave a gesture, hand moving down towards the grass.

Gravity reversed itself, and Miriam fell in a heap, struggling to get up. "Not quite a handstand," Miriam said.

"Hah, no it wasn't," demon-Virginia said, "Now, are you going to help me? Together we might convince her to actually take a step forward. I can't convince her, she doesn't want to. I don't know, maybe you being there will help make it make sense. Or maybe it won't."

She gathered her skirts and slowly shifted toward the ground, until she was sitting, staring up at the blue sky.

Miriam looked at her for a moment and said, "You're trying to protect her?"

"I am her. Really," not-Virginia insisted, "I mean...sorta?" She let out a long breath, "I let it push too far. I got too angry, but you...you being here. You of all people."

"Am I not wanted?" Miriam asked.

"Of course you are," not-Virginia said, patting next to her. "But...it does make this all tricky, you know?"

She didn't.

What does Miriam want to do?

[] Go to meet dreaming-Virginia.
-[] Agreeing with not-Virginia and trying to convince her to take the step into the Temenos.
-[] Just to introduce herself, and tell Virginia that she's magical. Hopefully she'll remember some of this in the waking world. And then...what? Miriam didn't plan that far ahead, honestly.
[] Miriam still wants to know what it is that this not-Virginia was trying to hide. She could try to convince her to allow her to see, though failure could ignite some sort of conflict once more.
[] Perhaps inwards isn't the right direction?
-[] Can not-Virginia enter other minds? If so, perhaps she could 'visit' Miriam?
-[] Jack is probably awake and drinking, but it's always possible to try and hope, and maybe ask him.
-[] Write in.
[] Write-in.

******

Willpower point spent: ⅚

Resolve+Composure: 3 successes

Friendship: 1 sux

Thinking Cap: 1 sux

Talking: 7 dice (Man, Power lets you be oddly persuasive in dreams)=...and failure

Hang on: 4 (Power)+2 (Tomboy)=4 sux

Talking #2: 7 dice+1 Destiny point=5 sux, plus Rote reroll of failures=6 sux.

Talking #3: 7 dice=1 sux…

Hang on #2/Get closer: Failure

Rough Landing?: 1 sux

Try to Talk: 7 dice-2 (Failures)=2 sux

Once More?: 7 dice-2+3 (WP)=1 sux

Willpower at 4/6

Stand Off?: 7 dice vs. 7 dice=3 vs 1 sux

A/N: Alright, so here's the update.
 
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