[Changeling] A Gathering of Mists IC

[Anarion]

"Okay," said Stephanie. That sounded legit to her.

"So, uh... last thing, is there anything I should or should not be doing? Other than the obvious, that is."

"I've counseled a lot of people, Stephanie. And I've yet to meet two that agreed on what 'the obvious' was. Why don't you tell me what you think 'doing the obvious' is?"

[Thanqol]

"I've counseled a lot of people, Stephanie. And I've yet to meet two that agreed on what 'the obvious' was. Why don't you tell me what you think 'doing the obvious' is?"

"Be a good person," said Stephanie automatically. "Help those in need. Practise moderation. Stand up for what's right."

[Anarion]

"Be a good person," said Stephanie automatically. "Help those in need. Practise moderation. Stand up for what's right."

"Ah, and do you know all of the 613 Mitvah by heart and keep to them at all times, as God commands of all good people?"

[Thanqol]

"Ah, and do you know all of the 613 Mitvah by heart and keep to them at all times, as God commands of all good people?"

"I've always had a bit of a problem with not putting false prophets to death," admitted Stephanie.

[Anarion]

"I've always had a bit of a problem with not putting false prophets to death," admitted Stephanie.

"You mean you've committed murder?"

He looks quite surprised, much more than when Stephanie turned out to be a shadow creature.

[Thanqol]

"You mean you've committed murder?"

He looks quite surprised, much more than when Stephanie turned out to be a shadow creature.

"No, I mean my problem is that I don't put them to death," said Stephanie, feeling dumb. "Three-eleven."

[Anarion]

"No, I mean my problem is that I don't put them to death," said Stephanie, feeling dumb. "Three-eleven."

"Ah, the commandment is merely to avoid being swayed by false prophets. God's commandment on the tablets to Moses, of 'Thou Shall Not Kill' should take precedence, in my interpretation.

I do also notice that you entered the temple with your head uncovered." He points to his own bare head, "but this is a reform synagogue and we don't require our members to follow that particular rule.

I merely wished to point out that there are many, sometimes conflicting requirements for being a good person. I think, for you, that it would be best for you take time daily, even just a few minutes, to reflect on what you think it means to be a good person, with as much detail as possible. Perhaps, during these reflections, you will rediscover the anger, fear, or sadness that you think you have lost."

[Thanqol]

"Yeah... yeah, but actually -" said Stephanie, "- actually, does this count as witchcraft?" said Stephanie, who was still standing on the roof.

"I mean, I always thought I could avoid that one because it didn't exist, but it turns out that witches are real - like, warts and curses and everything. And so is magic. And there's all sorts of wizards and ghosts and stuff out there, too. Is this really all right?"

[Anarion]

"Yeah... yeah, but actually -" said Stephanie, "- actually, does this count as witchcraft?" said Stephanie, who was still standing on the roof.

"I mean, I always thought I could avoid that one because it didn't exist, but it turns out that witches are real - like, warts and curses and everything. And so is magic. And there's all sorts of wizards and ghosts and stuff out there, too. Is this really all right?"

"You're not trying to frighten any peasants, rot any crops, or create superstition and fear are you? If not, I think it's alright."

[Thanqol]

"You're not trying to frighten any peasants, rot any crops, or create superstition and fear are you? If not, I think it's alright."

"So it's superstition and not magic that's wrong?" said Stephanie, trying to get her head around it.

[Anarion]

"So it's superstition and not magic that's wrong?" said Stephanie, trying to get her head around it.

"I think this issue might be an unsettled one amongst Rabbis. My interpretation is that witchcraft would be magic used for nefarious purposes. Another Rabbi might tell you that magic is too dangerous and that it should never be used. A third Rabbi would probably suggest that what you're doing isn't magic at all, at least as the Torah would define it."

[Thanqol]

"I think this issue might be an unsettled one amongst Rabbis. My interpretation is that witchcraft would be magic used for nefarious purposes. Another Rabbi might tell you that magic is too dangerous and that it should never be used. A third Rabbi would probably suggest that what you're doing isn't magic at all, at least as the Torah would define it."

"Ah," said Stephanie, nodding with understanding. "A grey area."

[SiuiS]

Spoiler

Show

Interestingly, when Stephanie takes out the rock, there is an extremely thin, spidery line of blue running through a small section of the black area near the base of the stone. That wasn't there before.

Rabbi Katzmann takes a look at it. He picks it up and examines it in the light and begins flipping pages in the book he took out. He also goes to the shelf and picks out another book, entitled "Entities of Ein Soph" and begins skimming through that one as well. After a few moments, he says "it seems to me, that if this is your soul, then it has been tainted by the abyss in some manner. I do not know whether this is a sign that you could become a Qlippoth or a hopeful sign that something was done to you from which you are slowly recovering. Perhaps it could go either way?

Tell me how you came to be like this."

Katzmann is favorite Jewish Mage. *nod*

Charlotte spends her time engrossed in the world around her.

The newspaper headlines, for one. Abandoned house? Haunted, that screams, the sorts of darkness and cobwebs and terror that Stephanie drank swirled with milk and sugar to wake up in the, uh, dusk.

And then this paladin man, flat on the screen with a crystal edge on a handle, and the subtle notion that maybe normal people saw what Charlotte usually sees, a tacky movie prop and not it's true Grandeur. While Marchande and Autumn and Kalina have their talk, Charlotte instead quietly coerces the tiny arrow to do it's work, pushing it's bulbous casing around, and using it's hand-form to change the dials. She manages to play back the now-muted speech, and works on spending glamour to see if maybe the world had caught the truth on it's reel of film and was oblivious - To see if maybe his sword was masked to the rest of the populous.


And then Kalina's speech, impassioned as always - that was her thing, passion. Alwasy Very Angry or Very Sad or Very Stoic, so long as it was Very. She's moved, really, but... No. No, some measure of focus is needed, non? Some pacing and timing, or else everyone's lines are all spilled out at once while the scenery swings and sure, someone somewhere would call that art, but what did they know?

So Charlotte measures herself.

"Miss Autumn, what can you tell me about the hedge?"

[Anarion]

"Ah," said Stephanie, nodding with understanding. "A grey area."

"Indeed. Now, perhaps you'd like to avoid dodging my previous advice and tell me what you think about spending some time each day in quiet contemplation, before I head out for the evening?"

[Raz_Fox]

"I know the location of a warehouse they were using as a dropoff point. Intercepting someone would be much easier. Workable. We should focus on tracking down Stephanie for now. And a... hammer or something to stick this thing on. I don't know."

There's a pause, and Marchande stares at Rose, and she knows it's what she's expected to say, that it's not productive or clever, and that she should be professional. But she says it anyway.

"Well, you could have said that earlier!"

Then, to Autumn, she nods. "Thank you for your assistance, Doctor Washnowski. We are currently lodging with Timothy, also known as Swifthoof- you can contact us there. If we find any more information, we shall strive to keep you in the loop."

[Thanqol]

"Indeed. Now, perhaps you'd like to avoid dodging my previous advice and tell me what you think about spending some time each day in quiet contemplation, before I head out for the evening?"

"All right, I will. I swear it, as God is my witness" said Stephanie.

[Unilateral Pledge; witnessed by the rabbi but not binding him

Oath: The name of a higher power
Tasks:
Endeavour, Medial: Spend time in quiet contemplation every day (-2)
Forbiddance, Medial: Do not create superstition, frighten peasants, blight crops (-2)

Boons:
Blessing, Greater: Mentor +3
Adroitness, Academics +1

Sanction:
Flaw, Mute (-2)

Duration: Season (+2)]

[Anarion]

Then, to Autumn, she nods. "Thank you for your assistance, Doctor Washnowski. We are currently lodging with Timothy, also known as Swifthoof- you can contact us there. If we find any more information, we shall strive to keep you in the loop."

Autumn nods absentmindedly.

"All right, I will. I swear it, as God is my witness" said Stephanie.

[Unilateral Pledge; witnessed by the rabbi but not binding him

Oath: The name of a higher power
Tasks:
Endeavour, Medial: Spend time in quiet contemplation every day (-2)
Forbiddance, Medial: Do not create superstition, frighten peasants, blight crops (-2)

Boons:
Blessing, Greater: Mentor +3
Adroitness, Academics +1

Sanction:
Flaw, Mute (-2)

Duration: Season (+2)]

Red ribbons of Wyrd circle around Stephanie and settle themselves upon her heart, tightening for just a moment before she can breathe again. Rabbi Katzmann seems quite fascinated by this and watches carefully.

"Very good" he says. "That seemed to have a great deal of force with you. Now, shall I expect to see you on Saturday for services, and did you wish to make an appointment for another time?"

[Thanqol]

"I'll do my best for Sunday - though I'll try to show up at night, if that's all right. Daylight is incredibly painful," said Stephanie.

[Anarion]

To Charlotte, Autumn says: "The hedge. Heehee. It's a dangerous place there. Tearing thorns and fae creatures. It's mostly safe if you skirt it around the city, there are a bunch of trods to get around and you can stay just to the edge of the main path. Rover I built from pieces I got there and there are goblins galore in some places, fruits and Contracts and all. You shouldn't go there though. Too dangerous. Teehee."

She's giggling and almost doubling over from laughing as she gives her explanation.

"I'll do my best for Sunday - though I'll try to show up at night, if that's all right. Daylight is incredibly painful," said Stephanie.

"Sunday it is. I'll look for you in the evening. If I'm not here, drop in, I might leave a note. You seem like you'd have no trouble with that."

[Thanqol]

"Sunday it is. I'll look for you in the evening. If I'm not here, drop in, I might leave a note. You seem like you'd have no trouble with that."

"Sure thing," said Stephanie, flipping around and landing back on the ground. "So... I guess I'll see you around. Thank you, really,"

[Anarion]

"Sure thing," said Stephanie, flipping around and landing back on the ground. "So... I guess I'll see you around. Thank you, really,"

He nods and begins gathering his things to leave. "Oh" he says as they're heading out the door and he locks up his office. "Don't forget about that favor I owe you. That's more than just advice, so let me know when you need it and before it runs out."

Then he's off and on his way home, leaving Stephanie by herself in the hallway.

[SiuiS]

"But is there not a safe way to enter the hedge? Else Madame Qian wouldn't concern herself with the downside of... Of... Trod-closers, she said?"

[Anarion]

"But is there not a safe way to enter the hedge? Else Madame Qian wouldn't concern herself with the downside of... Of... Trod-closers, she said?"

"Oh, you can enter the Hedge from nearly anywhere, you just need a door or window or something. Trods are like major roads. Consistent easy places to get in and out. Plus, mortals can get into some of them, and they might be linked with glamour being in the world. That's my theory, at any rate, is that you need open Trods to have glamour in the world. I think that if all Trods in an area were closed, then every Changeling living in that area would slowly die.

I could be wrong though."

She grins widely.

[Thanqol]

Stephanie kicked a can down the road.

Well, 'kicked a can down the road' was a dire understatement. Some people were looking around for a hat to throw spare change in. A pair of Chinese tourists were trying to get their picture taken alongside her. A small crowd followed a little way behind her, oohing and aahing appreciatively as the empty can bounced off streetlights, second storey windows, and one time a low-flying pigeon who would come away with a bump on the head and a great story to tell his pigeon friends.

She wasn't paying them any attention. She was thinking. It was really hard.

One, Autumn was wrong. That was really, really good to know. That little vein of blue in her soul rock thing was a deep, abiding reassurance that the entire scientific (and by extension, SCIENTIFIC!!) establishment ultimately didn't have two clues to rub together. Adding that to the perfectly normal MRI and the rabbi's total calm application of answers to all her problems meant that this still wasn't a world of facts, figures and rationality. Those traits were only helpful inasfar as they helped generate laser blasters and rocket engines.

No, this world still ran on her logic.

There was a gasp of appreciation from the crowd as the tin can skidded to a halt right underneath a leaking pipe, catching a falling drop of water perfectly.

Witches she knew. Giant monsters she knew. Criminal organisations she knew. The other stuff, the hard stuff, law and finance and banking and cleaning, the stuff she'd left behind... it was all basically window dressing and camouflage. This world still needed heroes.

But, and here the darn stone came to her mind again, that was all she was. And that wasn't right. Half her soul was missing, and may it have been the boring, scared, angry part of her soul it was still her soul. Hers. Her soul, granted to her by God. The immortal core of her being. Even if it was the less than amazing side of her that was missing, her soul was her responsibility. When Judgement Day came she didn't want to be, like, missing her soul-arms or something for all eternity.

Stephanie kicked the can up into the air and sent it sailing in a magnificent arc. It bounced off the roofs of three speeding cars, like a skipping stone across a lake. It landed in an open drinks fridge in the newstand across the road, just as the shocked owner had been reaching his hand into it to grab something out.

The crowd applauded.

She wasn't sure how she felt about all this. She now knew someone who understood and who had the answers she needed, but she also knew that the responsibility was ultimately hers. She could deal with it. It just meant she had to make time in her life to be something other than a hero.

You know why that's a bad idea.

A trigger went off in Stephanie's mind. It skipped over a lot of potential reactions and shocked her into a full run, shutting down her brain in the process. She didn't follow up on the thought and, indeed, by the time she'd arrived back at the medical school she'd forgotten she'd ever had it.

But she'd also clenched her fists so hard her nails had left deep white imprints in her palms. It hurt.

She made to find the others.

[Composure+Athletics as a Joy Harvest?]

[Anarion]

[Composure+Athletics as a Joy Harvest?]

[Yes. Take a +2 bonus for the description of the can as well.]

[SiuiS]

"Thank you, miss Autumn." Charlotte curtsies, sharply. "I'll be back at your leisure, but for now I have to, um, attend to something."

She grabs Marchande by the hand and pulls her toward the door, at a very long stride.

[Raz_Fox]

Marchande, teetering on the brink of snapping at Charlotte to hurry up, is pleasantly surprised when Charlotte grabs her wrist and heads towards the door. She glances over at Rose as Charlotte nearly pulls her arm off, and says, "Well, come on, then. If you know where Stephanie is-" And then Charlotte yanks her out the door.

"All right, Charlotte," Marchande says, a slight warning in her voice, "I really do appreciate your hurry, but you don't have to hold on to me." Unless it helps her deal with her issues, Marchande guiltily thinks right after she says it.

[Anarion]

"Bye-bye" Autumn says in a cutesy voice, and Rover briefly detaches itself again to bark its goodbye as well before they walk out of the lab.

Outside, the group is surprised to find an area cordoned off with police tape, several reporters and cameramen, and two TV news vans parked around the campus.

At around this time, Stephanie comes running back from her trip as well, her hoodie pulled up making her look almost indistinguishable from a regular, albeit fast-moving shadow.

[SiuiS]

Charlotte lets Marchande's hand go a she walks. 'Holding hands' visibly filed under 'leash?' in her mental storehouses. And as they pass Stephanie, Charlotte realizes that maybe Kalina doesn't want to be pulled along as well, an slows to a proper, dignified stride.

"I'm off to the minotaur's castle, Stephanie. Safest place for me to get our Rose her thorns, Marchande is my adult just in case, miss, don't wait up but don't be sad either! Be sure to ask Autumn how to change masks with glamour, goodbye~!"

And, despite being completely unable to actually outpace any of her compatriots, she continues trying to do so, moving at what she hopes Marchande will see as a hurrie pace.

[Raz_Fox]

"Minotaur's castle," Marchande asks, striding briskly after Charlotte. "What's that? And- I think I know how to change masks, thank you, a simple application of Glamour as she said should do the trick if I focus, we can test it ourselves."