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The Roaring Age (nWoD)

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Character Sheet
  • Informational
    • 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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  • Informational
    • [X] Take the charge. Go meet Dickens tomorrow, see if he's okay. It's the least you can do, considering that you hurt someone else.
     
    [X] Right now the idea is very half-baked, but Miriam could confront Valkyrie with the thought, random as it was. The question, maybe. She's clearly not saying a lot, like about the identity or lack thereof of the other two possible Mages that harassed her father. Press her, and then keep on pressing her.

    Then I'll go with this as I find it more interesting, and it's relevant to both Miriam's family and her awakening.
     
    Neptune said:
    Then I'll go with this as I find it more interesting, and it's relevant to both Miriam's family and her awakening.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    [X] Right now the idea is very half-baked, but Miriam could confront Valkyrie with the thought, random as it was. The question, maybe. She's clearly not saying a lot, like about the identity or lack thereof of the other two possible Mages that harassed her father. Press her, and then keep on pressing her.
     
    [X] Take the charge. Go meet Dickens tomorrow, see if he's okay. It's the least you can do, considering that you hurt someone else.

    Pretty sure this is going to lead to Dickens doing something stupid due to the amplified feelings and that'll teach Miriam a lot about how even minor Paradox can really hurt people.
     
    Last edited:
    Belated tally!
    Adhoc vote count started by The Laurent on Apr 30, 2017 at 9:06 AM, finished with 1812 posts and 12 votes.
    • [X] Take the charge. Go meet Dickens tomorrow, see if he's okay. It's the least you can do, considering that you hurt someone else.
      [X] Right now the idea is very half-baked, but Miriam could confront Valkyrie with the thought, random as it was. The question, maybe. She's clearly not saying a lot, like about the identity or lack thereof of the other two possible Mages that harassed her father. Press her, and then keep on pressing her.
      [X] Do not. She has no right to make you do something, and if she acknowledges there might be some danger, then...yeah, no.
    Click to expand...
     
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    Page 32: The War Inside All Hearts
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    • Page 32--The War Inside All Hearts

    "I can do it," Miriam finally said, aware that this woman sitting near her was smart, and more than that, powerful. Not someone who would make an easy mistake. She knew that arrogance and pride were the first flaws a smart person could fall into, and so she wasn't going to allow herself to get into a debate.

    It helped, she thought, looking at the streetlights as they drove past them, the car making a lot more noise than she expected, that she was in the wrong. She was the one who had hurt someone else.

    "Ruth," Jack said, his voice soft as he leaned in towards her, having to whisper in her ear because of the way the wind was roaring past the car when it started to pick up speed. "You don't have to do this."

    "I know," Miriam said, "That's why it is a choice. I choose to do this."

    "Very good," Valkyrie said, her voice loud, almost booming, compared to the low purr of her uncle's voice. "You have a lot of potential, I can see it just looking at you."

    "You can? I can't see any hint of spells," Miriam admitted, "Isn't there supposed to be a sign?"

    "You can hide it, just as you can obscure your marks on a long-term spell," she yelled out at Miriam, "Subtlety is always best--"

    "Sometimes best," Jack corrected, "But she's right. You can't always tell, if they're careful or can obscure it. But if you watch…"

    He shook his head.

    In the darkness of the night he seemed to almost sink into the background, just a little bit. She glanced at him, and then at Valkyrie. The wind blew through her hair, and the car seemed only to be going faster, fast enough that she was worried, glued to the seat as she glanced at the other woman. "Why do you want me to do this?"

    "It teaches you something," Valkyrie said, "Just like this does." She turned a corner and then began to slow down, and Miriam realized that nobody was looking at the car. She'd not been looking at the people outside, but if a car had been racing through the area at such unsafe speeds, surely someone would have commented on it. Or maybe they--

    Miriam blinked. The sky seemed oddly dark, the world slowly crumbling away for a moment. And then she saw the figure standing by the side of the road, his head have caved in, staring at her with dead, empty eyes. Then she saw the way a cat out of the corner of her eye turned to face her with a baby's head.

    Then she saw the weave, this way and that, of wisps of wind and color, of something shaped like a man made of newspaper strolling down the street dodging any of the other cars. Her head began to ache, and she realized she hadn't been paying attention. Now that she was consulting her memory, now that she was thinking, she'd glimpsed a few strange things, as she'd driven, and yet somehow she'd not paid attention.

    Why?

    She looked at Valkyrie.

    Her hands were shaking for a moment, and then just as suddenly, the world seemed to make sense again. "What was…"

    "We rode in a car, Ruth," Jack said, quietly, "It just happened not to be a normal car. It shows you the world as it is." She glanced around at the lights, neon, and at the crowd of people. Now they were not racing through the night, and people stopped to look for a moment. "Any other night, I'd tell you to let me off here."

    "Of course," Valkyrie said, "It is where Cleopatra is."

    "Shut it. I'm still not forgiving you for whatever you did or did not do," Jack said, "You're clearly playing games with us."

    "And yet you allow it," Valkyrie said.

    "It's best to understand the way that controlling the board controls the game," Jack said, grabbing Miriam's shoulder, "Once she used her magic to make you ignore the niggling little details, then she could use the car's powers to change things, to reveal things outside the car. If you let someone like her get an inch, she'll keep on dragging you over it. Always check your senses, always keep an eye out for magic, even if you can't see it coming."

    "I...thank you for the lesson," Miriam said, as politely as she could.

    Valkyrie just chuckled, as Miriam's hand trembled yet more. "She is very polite, isn't she? Even when she does not have cause for it. And it was less a lesson. Call it an ordeal."

    "I will, then," Miriam said, her voice quivering just a little bit.

    "Well, then. If you ever feel the need to talk to me, ask Shadow here to direct you to me, I have a lot more I can tell you about the nature of paradox and how to help people facing it, and more importantly how to prevent it from even happening, once you check in with your first, and perhaps not last, victim."

    Victim.

    That word more than many things stuck with her that night when she finally lowered herself into bed, not even bothering to undress. She dreamed strange dreams of...they had to be dead men. Ghosts?

    She dreamed strange dreams of spirits.

    Most of all, she dreamed of nothing at all, and woke more tired than she'd gone to sleep, feeling as if she had to talk to Dickens.

    *******

    It was not a very nice door. It would not get any more nice for being stared at for a full minute. She shook her head as she stood outside Dickens' apartment. It was stupid for her to be so afraid. People said she was fearless, or at least, she didn't run from anything. She...was proud of herself, even if she tried to avoid the sin of pride, and yet this left a stressed, tired feeling in her stomach that wouldn't go away.

    He liked her. He like liked her. It was hard to even credit, harder still to understand. It wasn't that she disliked herself, or...anything like that, but she just couldn't really imagine it, even after being told. It felt a step removed, but now she had to question whether it was her being some...freak, or something?

    Or…

    The warring mindsets clashed in her. Was it right, was it wrong? She'd never had a crush, but did that matter, or not? Marriage was the bond between two loving souls to raise children for the next generation. Lust didn't have anything to do with it, did it? Why should it?

    But if it did, then did that make her unusual?

    She knocked on the door. The sound almost echoed as she heard scrambling. It was past noon, just for safety, and yet it took a minute for someone to answer. Dickens stood there, in shorts and a shirt, no shoes on his feet, clearly having been sitting down somewhere reading. He looked at her, and then started as she stared at the mess of a one-room apartment behind him. Nobody was home, which was a little odd, really.

    "Hello?" Dickens said, blushing and looking away. "Um...I'm sorry if--"

    "No, I'm the one who's sorry," Miriam admitted, looking away, "I mean, you left in a hurry…" She trailed off, not sure what to say. She couldn't admit to doing magic, that much was really obvious. She looked around for a moment, as if sure she'd see someone, and wouldn't her mage sight tell her if there was a mind around here? But she saw nothing, just Dickens in front of her, one foot from her, awake and conscious.

    "Why are you sorry?" Dickens asked, "Uh...um." He blushed and looked away, "I acted rude, leaving like that."

    He wasn't going to admit anything, was he.

    "I just...things were weird. I'm, I mean--"

    "I understand. I mean, first that weird book, and then everything else--"

    Dickens looked down and said, "I...don't know what to say. It's just, for a long time, it's been awkward, talking to you. Just because you're so...and I'm so." He paused, trying to collect his thoughts, closing his eyes. Miriam imagined reaching out with her magic to hear what he was thinking, but that was the kind of thing she'd done before.

    That was the thing that had hurt him. "You aren't so anything," Miriam said, "You're my friend."

    "Poor. And, and I mean--" he trailed off and shrugged, "I just, I envy you sometimes. You seem to have everything planned out, and it's like there's these great expectations for you, and you're meeting them all the time. It's just really good, and I'm just this dorky guy who likes Dickens."

    "A good author, though," Miriam pointed out, "Everyone has to like something."

    "You feel like you've changed," Dickens said, after a long pause, "But I don't know how." He shook his head, running his hand through his short hair, as if he were trying to smooth it down. "Um, Miriam, would you--"

    "Yes?" she asked, her heart catching in her throat. Was he going to ask her on a date?

    Did he see something? Because after a moment he cleared his throat, "Could I go with you to church, sometime?"

    Miriam blinked, "Well, of course. Any reason why?"

    "I just feel as if I have the pressing need to go to church," Dickens said, looking away. "I--"

    Miriam wondered what had been done to him. She might be able to figure it out without as much danger, but she wasn't going to risk it. She had done something, though, and she almost wanted to know. She'd brought her purse, and it had her mirror in it, but--

    She bit her lip, struggling with her inner demons, in this case the distinct desire to learn more about him. She wanted to know, even as a part of her knew she didn't, really, that it'd probably end badly.

    "I understand. Everyone feels like that sometimes. I am not a priest, and we are not Catholic. I cannot absolve you of guilt, but you're my friend, and I know whatever it is--"

    "Thanks, Miriam," Dickens said, nodding eagerly. "And thank you for the meal, I never said it and that was rude, wasn't it? Tell your mother that I enjoyed it quite a bit."

    "You told her that," Miriam pointed out, smiling a little. He seemed slightly tense, and the way he was shifting and moving on the balls of his feet made her think that he was distracted for one reason or another, but it still felt more normal.

    Perhaps it was too easy to ignore, too easy to wonder if he was staring at her, attracted. Ignoring things was probably not a good strategy in general, but Dickens nodded, "Yes, I did. So, thank you for coming here."

    "You going to be okay?" Miriam asked.

    "Of course. There's nothing to be okay about, of course," Dickens said, nodding twice as if it would make his words doubly true.

    "Of course," Miriam said, only realizing after she'd spoken how awkward this was. But, at least he was smiling, and after another moment he nodded.

    Things were better; things were not better. It was good that she'd come, but as long as that problem was hanging over them, then whatever was done to him was less important than where they were supposed to go from there.

    Maybe she should agree to go on a date with him if he asked? After all, a date didn't actually mean anything, though she was a little young for it. But she knew at least some girls at her school who went on dates with boys. They went to the theatre and the boy paid out of pocket change and then they parted and...it continued? Or there were other boys? As long as nobody held her hand or kissed her, because those were improper in the first place.

    It seemed simple enough, at least in theory. Almost friendly, if one was ignoring the fact that it was a date.

    A lot of things revolved around that word, and she didn't know what to say or do about it. Was she being bad when she didn't want to do something like that?

    She also didn't know what to say when her uncle was waiting for her when she got back. He looked tired, rubbing his eyes, "Miriam, Mars wants to speak with you. He has time at the moment, but we do need to hurry." His voice rushed over the words in a way that only increased the feeling of tension and like there really was something pressing, "He doesn't want to stay in one location too long, because the Seers might target him."

    That didn't reassure Miriam, and she glanced into the kitchen, where her mother was, with great disapproval, starting work on dinner.

    And yet she followed him. Of course she did. He hurried along, working magic as he moved, seeming to trail the smell of cigarettes as he walked. "So, I hope it went well."

    "It was awkward," Miriam said.

    "Ah, of course," Jack said. "And he didn't ask you out?"

    "No?"

    Jack smiled and said, "Would you have said yes if he did?"

    "Maybe," Miriam admitted, "It wouldn't have hurt anything--"

    "Miriam," Jack said, walking along. They seemed headed away from the south side, and she was more and more uncomfortable as they kept on walking. "Just remember, never allow other people to pressure you into doing something if you don't want to."

    "Then I don't know," Miriam confessed.

    "A fair answer."

    *******

    Chicago in the summer. It was pretty hot, or at least by her standards, and as they kept up the walking, they eventually moved from the south side to areas where far more of the walking people were white, businessmen and the like, and the overall layout of the area seemed as if it were an area of business.

    Even the coffee shops--coffee, something Miriam did not even begin to understand--looked more like the kinds of places a businessman would frequent than anything else. She took it all in, surprised that nobody was looking at them, though not that surprised. There was a sort of invisibility, which was better than visibility, but only by degrees. Negroes in the north had it, and it was better, Virginia might have said, than what they got in the south.

    Either way, she continued along, until she smelled baking bread and a rather humble looking coffee shop called "Joe's Coffee" that seeked nearly empty, the round tables laid out as if they had been thrown down.

    Her uncle opened the door and they stepped through. There was a man at the counter, staring at some of the pastries, short and balding, and then there was a second man, sitting at one of the tables. This second man was dressed in a business suit with a blood-red tie, his features hard and plain. He was white, as was the other man here, and had short blonde hair. His most prominent feature was his nose, and his hands were resting on the table as he fidgeted with a ring. "Blasted...ah, Shadow. And Ruth. Welcome. Please sit down, I would offer you something to drink, but now isn't the time."

    Miriam moved over towards him, looking at him curiously. Mars looked to be in his early forties, and resting on the fourth chair was his hat, a small, grey thing. Miriam took the seat farthest from him. "Hello, sir."

    "Sir? Why am I a sir?"

    "I'm being polite," Miriam said, "And I've been told you were Hierarch, once. I respect authority."

    "That makes you very unlike Shadow, then," Mars said, his voice gruff, like a sort of growl, "But difference can be good, in the right circumstances. So can struggle. You are a new Mage, and that means you do not know all that has happened, do you?"

    "I'm learning, sir, but no," Miriam admitted.

    Jack was watching them, just like he had with Valkyrie, clearly seeing how she reacted.

    "But you've seen it. There is a struggle, but not just in one place, no. Coniunctio knows it well, but...allow me to ask you something. Have you ever read the Quran?"

    "The Quran? You mean the holy book of the Muslims? No, I haven't." She shook her head.

    "There is a word they have, a very interesting one, Jihad. It means holy struggle, but it isn't just an external one. You have crusades, yes, and that is the war against the Seers. And you have attempts at purification, you have revivals, that you are aware of, us?"

    "I've always liked history," Miriam admitted, "Though I've focused more on recent history. I know some of this, sir. I don't know how literal this war is, is it everywhere, how is it being fought?"

    "Many ways, and the Silver Ladder is a part of this, but we, the Adamantine Arrow, are the sword and shield of Awakened society. Often times this is seen merely in a...reductive way. They think of us as soldiers, and it is true that we are soldiers. We fight, using the magic we have, using the magic you are beginning to understand, so that others might walk in safety."

    "There are greater causes," Miriam said, "Ones worth fighting for, though I don't know if I could do it. Violence, it horrifies me, and I know that is a flaw characteristic of my sex."

    "Nothing is characteristic of humanity except perhaps struggle," Mars said, "And that is where Jihad comes in. There are the first two struggles, and then there's the third. The struggle within a person, for self-mastery. You understand that, I feel."

    "Yes, I...I've seen it. I've tried to become as good of a person as I can," Miriam admitted, "I don't know how much I have to share with you, how much I can really tell you."

    "I know enough of it," he said, and she saw patches of red in the air, seeming to slowly form into a pattern that she couldn't quite read. "I know that you have had doubts, but you must fight them and overcome them. Whether through goetic struggle or mental reflection. If you do not stop advancing, if you allow yourself to slow down, you will lose. There is peace, but it is not through lack of motion." He pushed his hand down harder against the table, as if he were going to lever himself up.

    "Oh?" Miriam asked, not sure if she agreed.

    "There is peace through action, mental or otherwise. You struggle inside, and you struggle outside. I do not know if you would be a good fit in the Arrows, but I do feel that you would be a good Mage in this Consilium, and thus I want to encourage you to strike out, to learn and grow...but then decide. Find a place to stand, find a cause to swear your life to, and you will be far happier."

    Miriam nodded, thinking it through, "I understand what you mean." Her faith was a cause she would swear her life to, and the well-being of her race, but also, she supposed, Mages themselves mattered, and magic, which had to be divine in some way.

    "I hope you do. Hold onto that understanding, and learn and grow. It'll advantage you in the future."

    "Good," Miriam said, not sure what to say. He was approving, and that felt good, but it had been a remarkably short conversation, and it seemed as if he was almost done with it. She had the feeling that most of the conversation was one she'd missed, that he'd been watching her, even reading her mind--

    "Yes."

    Definitely reading her mind, and taking a view of her character, and that the actual words were there only to punctuate the silence and give her something to think of. "That's...sort of unnerving."

    "It can be. But at the same time," Mars said, "I have only so long for any one meeting. I am hunted, and I hunt. I war for peace, and yet in peace I find my own wars." He shrugged, "This is the nature of humanity, in its microcosm. You are your magic, because it is your intent and your will solidified."

    "I…"

    "You have guilt. But you can shed guilt through service, through mastery over that which made you guilty. You were not strong enough, and you reached too far." Mars smiled, and said, "But know that if you reach beyond your grasp, there are always others to help you. No struggle is solitary. Your...mentor, Shadow, will always be there to help you. And if he is not your master, he should be, or you should gain one, for a willworker without someone to learn from--"

    "I am teaching her as best I can, as you well know. But I will not pressure her, if I cannot help it," Jack said, "I do not tell her who she can see--"

    "Even when you have wanted for weeks to do so," Mars said with a smile, standing up and gesturing towards the man. "We should go. I believe there is someone watching this place. It is probably nothing more than some Guardian, but you can never know."

    "Not with Guardians," Jack said.

    "Not with anyone, Shadow," Mars said, and then he waved his arm, and Miriam felt...something settle over her. It wasn't entirely unwelcome, but since she didn't know what it was, she left not entirely sure of matters.

    She went home and, exhausted, went back to bed for the first time in a while.


    Plan Your Week: June 8th-15th

    Birthday week! Trial of the Seer, other things!

    Meetings (Choose 2)

    [] Isaac, the Sacrificed.
    [] Cleopatra.
    [] The Hierarch has asked to see Ruth.

    Teachings (Choose 2)

    [] The Nature of Fate Magic, and how to do it.
    [] Legacies, what they are and the names and natures of a few.
    [] The lesser magics of the world.
    [] Atlantis.
    [] Orders...and joining?

    During the Week (Choose 3)

    [] Read the book with dream Rotes.
    [] Read the book of philosophy, there's only so long that she has access to it.
    [] Attend the trial of the Seer mother who almost sacrificed her son.
    [] Talk with Ronald and his father about magic, since both can see magic.
    [] Visit with Aerie and learn about the Mysterium.
    [] Explore the Astral with Virginia.
    [] Take up her Uncle's offer on the...mental thing.
    [] Get some exercise.
    [] Catch up with her parents, it's been a while, and her birthday is soon as well.
    [] Write-in.

    *****
    Talking: 2 sux

    Talking to Dickens #1: 1 sux...oh, well.
    Talking to Dickens #2: 1 sux
    Talking to Dickens #3: +1 WP: 4 sux

    Struggle: 1 sux, barely resist the curiosity

    Talking with Mars: 2 sux
    Mars 2: 2 sux

    WP: 4/6

    1/5th Arcane XP: Training.
    2/5th XP: The two meetings

    You could afford to purchase one Rote! Please choose wisely! You don't have to purchase a Rote, of course. It's just an option.

    Rotes:

    1) Examining yourself, relying on your educational knowledge, with a gesture of turning a page. Mind 1.

    2) Dividing your mind into two, relying on a contemplation of madness itself, and schizophrenia. Mind 1.
    ******
    A/N: And there we go. It was a long road, but I've finally finished writing this. Whew. New week. Vote by plan.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Kind of disappointed with the first part given my preferred vote didn't win and I would have loved to see the follow up to the people/lookalikes of the people who were with her. Ah well. The entire scene of going to meet someone, get in their car and drive around, then go home is a little weird but it is what it is. The car sequence at least was in theme for the setting, being very confusing with eldritch beings walking around. The advice was at least solid.

    With regards to Dickens, given the focus on church perhaps it wasn't lust/love for Miriam that was enhanced by rather faith? Or perhaps his liking Miriam is why he'd want to go to her church. Could be either.

    The final part with Mars as appropriately philosophical, given the mention and explanation of Jihad and how it relates to his own struggle. It may also go further into confronting your own goetic daemons and mastering them, which seems like something he'd do.

    ---------

    [] The Hierarch has asked to see Ruth.

    @The Laurent - How important is this one to take does Ruth or Shadow believe? As I ideally would have liked to take both Cleopatra and Issac together since they're both in the Silver Ladder and are in a leadership struggle.
    Obsession: Virginia's Nature? (worth ??? Arcane XP)
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Also has that obsession been completed yet, or is there still more to go?
     
    Last edited:
    The Laurent said:
    Subtlety is always best--"

    "Sometimes best,"
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Hehe. I like Jack here, for some reason. Especially since I think he'd fall back to using more power when he can't solve a problem, where maybe she would fall back to trying to avoid it or something?

    The Laurent said:
    Maybe she should agree to go on a date with him if he asked? After all, a date didn't actually mean anything, though she was a little young for it. But she knew at least some girls at her school who went on dates with boys. They went to the theatre and the boy paid out of pocket change and then they parted and...it continued? Or there were other boys? As long as nobody held her hand or kissed her, because those were improper in the first place.

    It seemed simple enough, at least in theory. Almost friendly, if one was ignoring the fact that it was a date.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Ohhh, this mindset. Miriam is going to need to be disabused of this pretty soon, if she keeps interacting with guys. (Or girls, I guess, but I doubt that will come up. Unless some mage crushes on her?)

    Just have to make sure she doesn't try to indulge Dickens and end up stringing him along, I guess. It seems just self sacrificing enough that Miriam might think of doing it out of guilt and end up stuck there without a good way to break it off?

    Neptune said:
    With regards to Dickens, given the focus on church perhaps it wasn't lust/love for Miriam that was enhanced by rather faith? Or perhaps his liking Miriam is why he'd want to go to her church. Could be either.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I think we pushed what was already there, a bit, so we made the crush harder, but it is also Miriam affecting someone's head. So maybe there was bleed through? Some elements of what Miriam would consider proper starting to become more important to him, so he's worried about not going to church and not being polite to her Mother and all that.

    Tentative vote ideas?

    [] Isaac, the Sacrificed.
    [] The Hierarch has asked to see Ruth.

    [] Legacies, what they are and the names and natures of a few.
    [] The lesser magics of the world.

    [] Read the book of philosophy, there's only so long that she has access to it.
    [] Take up her Uncle's offer on the...mental thing.
    [] Explore the Astral with Virginia.

    The last three are the most important, because we should take care of some time limited stuff and I really wanna have Jack open our eyes so to speak so Miriam can properly understand the Dickens thing?
     
    [X] Isaac, the Sacrificed.
    [X] The Hierarch has asked to see Ruth.
    [X] Legacies, what they are and the names and natures of a few.
    [X] Orders...and joining?
    [X] Read the book of philosophy, there's only so long that she has access to it.
    [X] Take up her Uncle's offer on the...mental thing.
    [X] Explore the Astral with Virginia.
    [X] Purchase Divide Mind rote

    For rotes, it should be something you can find uses for regularly to purchase. Splitting your thoughts is useful enough that we're likely to do it a lot I think
     
    Last edited:
    [X] Isaac, the Sacrificed.
    [X] The Hierarch has asked to see Ruth.
    [X] Legacies, what they are and the names and natures of a few.
    [X] Orders...and joining?
    [X] Read the book of philosophy, there's only so long that she has access to it.
    [X] Take up her Uncle's offer on the...mental thing.
    [X] Explore the Astral with Virginia.
    [X] Purchase Divide Mind rote

    I would like to talk to our parents and excersize after this.
     
    Neptune said:
    Kind of disappointed with the first part given my preferred vote didn't win and I would have loved to see the follow up to the people/lookalikes of the people who were with her. Ah well. The entire scene of going to meet someone, get in their car and drive around, then go home is a little weird but it is what it is. The car sequence at least was in theme for the setting, being very confusing with eldritch beings walking around. The advice was at least solid.

    With regards to Dickens, given the focus on church perhaps it wasn't lust/love for Miriam that was enhanced by rather faith? Or perhaps his liking Miriam is why he'd want to go to her church. Could be either.

    The final part with Mars as appropriately philosophical, given the mention and explanation of Jihad and how it relates to his own struggle. It may also go further into confronting your own goetic daemons and mastering them, which seems like something he'd do.

    ---------

    [] The Hierarch has asked to see Ruth.

    @The Laurent - How important is this one to take does Ruth or Shadow believe? As I ideally would have liked to take both Cleopatra and Issac together since they're both in the Silver Ladder and are in a leadership struggle.


    Also has that obsession been completed yet, or is there still more to go?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Not necessarily that important. You'd see him at the trial that some have encouraged you to do (more people have more obligations for you than you can keep up with, news at eleven), and if it was, "Talk to us, NOW" then he'd just order it, not request it.
     
    And Miriam's obsession about Virginia? Is that completed or still on going? If the latter what else would we need to complete it.
     
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