Mysterium: Ways and means

[Aurora]

It then dawns on her, she recognized the mage on the other side of the window.

“Oh my god.” She says in a whisper, “Chambers, I remember that mage, the one who attacked. He had attacked Corn, myself and someone else before. I can’t remember where exactly, but he was trying to take an artifact from us, and we had left him trapped in stone. We found out later he was part of a three person Cabal, operating outside of the Consilium of Sacramento, they called themselves Sanctus Trinitas. How the hell did manage to break the lock off door?! I bet he’s pissed now, and we hear from him.” Which would be ok with her, she had a few choice words for him.

Back to what Chambers was saying, “You do set an example, every day. But you are not perfect, no one is and no one can be expected to. If you didn’t make mistakes, that would set a poor example in my opinion, mistakes are human, they happen, we learn from them. Are you too good to make mistakes?” she asks. “Because then who can relate to you, who would feel comfortable coming to you?”

Sighing, “The more you move around, the more it’s going to hurt you know? I should have brought my first aide kit with me, I didn’t think we were going to be doing dangerous things. Maybe I need to keep a stocked medical section in here or something.” For when she can’t heal because the Abyss has whooped her ass.

“I could be muddled, getting hit with my own spell then getting donkey kicked with the Abyss had me seeing double for a second there. Forgive me, it does state on one hand Sleepers and on another hand, Witnesses. So it can be easy to muddle, and casting vulgar magic most certainly is. But yes, my head is not functioning at it’s full capacity right now for such a topic as that.” A chuckle.

[Chambers]

The supported sitting position seems to have been his aim as further movement or any attempt to stand does not manifest. Instead sitting heavily against the stone he listens to Auroras revelation. "An unacknowledged cabal, wonderful. Banishers? Left handed? Or just the plain regular kind of major pain in the back side?" In the grand scheme it made little difference, this mage had a history of targeting the Mysterium then it would seem. "Or run scared, he can't have stolen from us and expected it to go unnoticed forever." And well now, now they had something to work with. "The door, oh I would guess a screwdriver or other tools, the circle is warded against all magic but we do seem able to physically make adjustments." It might seem mundane but it would do the job. "That's a point if he got in here banisher is unlikely." Did the wards work to hide them from banishers? He did not know.

A wry smile forms. "No I am not perfect, which is why I needed saving and why I do have a debt to you. I made a mistake and I will live with the outcome of it." An attempt to straiten his posture is swiftly abandoned. "If I try to shirk those consequences who would listen to me?" He did try to avoid hypocrisy.

The grin does mange to persist. "A first aid kit, or station would be a very good idea actually." Many of a mages experiments were dangerous and resulted in painful injury and much worse.

Now the smile falters. "Were sleepers involved? If so then yes I have broken the lex and the council needs to convene to decide my punishment." If he had breached secrecy in such a way then he had screwed up worse then he dared fear. "As for witnesses well, threat mage is not covered by the precept of recognition, the lex does not protect him we can do as wish to him." And many consili did plenty, often in turn strong arming mages to join the very same consili if only for protection. "It is only decency and principle that hold us back." The Moros if true to his stance would not advocate for murder, but where his line on what is permissible falls is as of yet unknown. "The other witness is of course yourself." Perhaps it had been foolish to assume that by informing her their work would be vulgar he had gotten her consent for it. "If you wish to press the charge that is your right." Thoughts turning instead to how he would protect the orders secrets if it did come to a trial. Very difficult given the state he was in.

[Aurora]

A shrug, “I don’t know, but seems we have unfinished business.” Was he holding a grudge? “However he did it, it cannot go unanswered in my opinion. He stole from us, and that deserves a visit.” One doesn’t simply steal from the Mysterium and get away with it.

She couldn’t help it and rolled her eyes. “Clearly we are going to disagree on this matter and I’m going to keep arguing with you on it. But no one dies on my watch, mistakes made or not.” She’s seen too much death in her time. “Do you think me healing you is you ignoring the consequences of what happened? Ignoring consequences would be if you held yourself above the Lex and the law, which you are not. That would be unacceptable and we would be having a different conversation.” A completely different talk. “What I am saying, is don’t hold yourself to impossible standards. Sure, you fucked up, I fucked up too, I let a paradox slip as well. But we both know we fucked up and we could have done better. Sure, you’re the Hierarch, and we all look to you as a leader. But leaders are imperfect and are allowed to make mistakes. It’s how they handle them when they happen that set them apart. You want to live with almost dying and the pain that comes with it, sure, whatever. But stop thinking it makes you less of a good leader for screwing up.” Because she was not going to hear any more of that.

“It’s now on my list of upgrades to the wing.” An ever-growing list it seemed.

A flat look, “Now why would I press charges? Seriously, come on. It’s wording in the Lex that can easily be misconstrued when one has taken a slight beating. We have more important matters to focus on than that.”

[Chambers]

Maybe it was his slower ore cautious approach, maybe it was having been wounded nearly to death but Chambers lack the fire in his response. "Yes ... it does need to be handled. But he was one of a cabal and he was challenging enough alone." Storming an enemy castle was less safe then what they had tried today. "We need to plan and prepare out next move." This is where more order members would be useful. "A shame we do not have a thief of our own." The Mysterium's work often dabbled into the criminal.

He did not have the energy for this, they seemed to eb arguing the same thing but for different conclusions. "I am grateful you saved my life, and I do not think it makes me less. I think it is important the consequences not simply be wiped away as if it never happened." That would make him lesser. "Allow the mistake, or its outcome to be seen by others, how could they relate otherwise?" He was not going to go into the full story of his hurts outside this room if it could be helped, order business and all that. "Besides there I was lamenting earlier about not being able to take the same risks as others. Kind of feels like fate was listening in to that one." His best attempt at levity to break the mood.

The addition of an infirmary was almost certainly a good idea, sure they wouldn't have the full modern machinery suite but a place for basic to moderate medical practice and recovery, now that was a sound idea.

A confused look meets the flat. "I don't .. you brought it up .. I." Eye close attempting to rally his thoughts as all this went back and forth. "Your the only witness covered by the precept of recognition, your the only one who one legally can press the charge, if you wanted to is all I meant." But then again the same applied him to her vulgar castings, not that he was going to so much as breathe a word of this outside the order wing. "Unless Sleepers were involved at any point?" To his knowledge they had not been, but he had lost consciousness for a bit there. if they had been he would turn himself in.

[Aurora]

“Oh, of course it needs a plan, something well thought out.” A shrug, “I’ve tried to stay on the legal side of things when I can. But I think with some recon and careful planning we can plan a strike that will hit hard. Theft from the Mysterium will not go unanswered, not while I’m still standing.” But he was right, they had to plan this.

“I was never going to deny you the mistake, that has never been my intent. I just see someone injured and my first reaction is to do what my Path has trained me to do, what I feel compelled to do. It’s just natural for me to want to heal you and try to take away the pain you are clearly in, I can’t help that. But I will respect your decision.” She might not understand it, or agree with it, but it was his call. And she wouldn’t cast on someone who didn’t want her to.

“No Sleepers. And we can discuss the wording at a different time, my head can’t take the Lex right now. We should focus on other things. Like upping the Wards, I plan to move that to the top of my list to get done. Anything we can do to make it as difficult and time consuming on that guy. Hell, if I have to start sleeping here I will.”

[Chambers]

The legal side was easy, the mages who refused to fall under the precept or recognition refused the protections of a Consilium they were free game for official mages. Of course they rarely id ever bent over and let themselves be taken advantage of but the weight and backing of a Consilium was hard to fight ... usually ... this might be harder. "We need to find them first." An issue that swung the initiative back in favour of this cabal of apostates.

it seemed the matter for the moment was settled. "Thank you for respecting my wishes on this." Sometimes civility could do a lot as a balm for tense situations.

Inspite of the pain a sigh of relief escapes him as Aurora confirms no sleepers were involved, that would have truly been a disaster. "Alright, later then." If there was no immediate clean up needed then yes it could wait. "The wards? The circle counters any spell we cast that tires to meddle it or its wards." How he had no idea it went beyond the rules of magic as he understood them. "We might be able to add our own separately but we would need a ban to keep other mages out." And he was not learned enough in space to perform that regardless of serve injuries. "This is where Corn's automation idea would have been better, attack any non order mage entering the wing." He is only half joking. "Additional defences like spirt or ghost guardians might work though?" They could not be here round the clock as much as they might wish to.

[Aurora]

“Well, if we take into account we were able to take back one item that belonged to us, and the attack that he was able to pull off, I’d say he’s a bit upset. So I would expect him to either try to take the grubs back, or attempt to find us or you. I don’t know if he saw me or not. We can also use the book to locate him, it appeared to be a storage room of sorts.” It was probably a long shot. “He’ll be better prepared this time, but so will we. Something to consider. We take our time, we prep.” She wasn’t letting this go.

Well, what else could she do?

“I know enough about Space to add Wards, but that’s as far as I have gotten. And I haven’t tested or played with them yet. Now adding a Spirit guardian is something I have the power to do, though once again, nothing I have attempted. If that is something we want, I am more than willing to put in the time to find a willing Spirit. I say willing because I have never been one who has wanted to force a Spirit into anything, I’ve always approached them and talked with them with as much respect as I can. I also don’t know if I can even communicate with Spirits here, not knowing what the Wards will allow. Like, would they allow me to even open a Gate or Road for a Spirit to come to me if one isn’t already here. There are a lot of if’s in this.”

[Chambers]

His response takes time, more so then Chambers usual calm collectedness. "The question becomes how much do they know, did they only risk a break in because they knew the order was down to nothing or did they come ready to fight?" As always far to many unknowns. "Regardless yes they do need to be found and the rest of the orders things recovered." But. "Not until we are recovered however, seeking a fight messed up as we are, is a bad idea." As for that matter. "Yes I can find the book again but no more vulgar magic for a while." He was to badly hurt to risk that.

Aurora had so much power at her fingertips. "Yes If you would finding a suitable spirit would I think be very helpful for us." It would remove some of he burden of security. "Or you could make one, or any creature from myth and legend." He almost chuckles but stops grimacing once again. "They could break in again to find an actual dragon waiting for them." Aurora had the power to do it as well. The idea did amuse him. "I will do the same, look for a suitable ghost I mean." That itself could prove difficult.

The circle was a complex and wonderous thing but so very difficult to grasp. "I know we can't effect the circle, but we can cast in it. I can look into twilight for sure." Well the ghostly part of it. "For crossing the gauntlet into the shadow, I don't know you would have to give it a try." Sometimes experimentation was needed, and that seemed like a good thing to know regardless.

[Aurora]

A single nod, “Oh, of course. We rest, we heal, we plan, then we fight.” Chuckling, “I am more than happy to give the Vulgar magic a rest, it’s not my favorite to use.” Using it carried risks.

Smirking, “Ah yes, that spell. I’m aware of it, I haven’t touched it. But yes, I could make anything. Though creating such a Spirit is a very time-consuming task requiring a great expenditure. I’m not opposed to taking it on, it’s just not something I can go into unprepared. I would also need to study a Spirit with traits we would want.” So, it would take time. Laughing, “Are you saying you want a dragon in here?” smirking.

“I mean, nothing wrong with casting it and seeing what happens. It either opens or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t, at least we know and then can plan from there, and see about a work around.”

[Chambers]

Nodding very slowly it was good they were on the same page again here. "So then what do we know about this cabal, what can we learn from this encounter?" A good a starting point as any while it was oh so very fresh. Well some of it.

With her two masteries Aurora really did wield powers attributed to the gods of old when he stopped to think about it, life literally at her whim and want. mages were terrifying, not the first time that had struck him, doubtful to be the last. "Find or create anything worth doing was worth taking the time to do well if I can be of any help do say." Doubtful very doubtful but hey he had his knowledge and his tricks. "What kind of traits would we want it to have?" That was a important question actually. "Well if even you broke into a place to come face to face with a dragon out of myth would you press on?" He is joking here wincing but joking. Keeping a dragon would be very impractical.

A nod in agreement having no other idea the no test it and see what happened. "Maybe best see if you look past the gauntlet first, check nothing nasty is waiting on the other side." That being the only real safety element to come to mind.