Lessons at the Lanes

[Gallows]

As far as humble beginnings went, the Country Club Lanes Bowling Alley definitely qualified. Bowling alleys in general were hardly the most impressive of venues, and the Country Club was nothing special. Still, it was just about right for Gallows's purposes. As much as the Ladders were known for sticking to tradition, he didn't want people thinking the Catalyst was snooty or overly formal. No. A meeting in a regular place, encouraging fun and teamwork and general getting along... as sappy as it sounded, it was exactly the message he wanted to send. One of cooperation and friendship between Orders.

He turned to face Rosetta, rented bowling shoes squeaking underneath him. The two of them were standing near the chairs of the two lanes they had rented. "So," he asked casually as he scanned the doors for other mages entering. Have you forgiven me yet?"

[ArchonAres]

Salem calmly walks in, scopes the place out, as he and adjusts his jacket, and grabs a beer and some nachos before heading on over to the lanes, "So yea. I'm here. Mostly for the language lessons, but I could use to talk about the other as well. Anything to eat or drink for either of you?" he says waving a hand back at the concession stand casually.

[Gallows]

Gallows chuckled a bit at Rosetta's response. Things were okay between them--that was good. He would never have put her on the spot with these lessons if he thought she would be in any serious discomfort over it. Besides, he was here to help make sure things didn't get out of hand. The Catalyst had to present a united front, and all that.

"Hey, Salem," he said as what looked like their first 'customer' arrived. "Good to see you." He gestured to Rose. "Please, direct all 'technical' questions to her--I'm mostly here to learn a bit myself, and field questions about the Catalyst."

[ArchonAres]

Salem nods as he avoids dripping the nachos on his own jeans, "Indeed. Gallows, would you lead off on the bowling? It'll look awful odd if we don't get started at some point. We can always get other folks added to later."

Salem took a swig of his Arrogant Bastard and point at the lane casually, "My expectations are simple. Over a period of time, you will teach me another language. I in turn will owe you in some way shape or form. I assume monetary compensation isn't what you're referring to, and my influence in this area is unfortunately minimal, as is my knowledge at the moment. So an IOU card will have to do for the moment."

Salem looks out over the crowd then motions towards a bowling ball, "Would you like to go second, Rosetta?" he gives Gallows a pointed look, and noms another nacho "Also, we need to speak about Catalyst. What it is, to be precise, and what it might entail. I've never worked with the Ladder really, and the few times I've worked with Guardians never went well."

He stops and points his nacho fork across at the two of them as he pauses, "I'm willing to give this a shot, depending on what you've got to say. Sacramento isn't like it was back home, and the people here are different. But I have to know things, like what this is about, and what you expect of your members."

[Joshua Morris]

Joshua enters the alley, taking a moment to look around and adjust to the noise, before heading over to concessions. He looks over the menu, steps up and buys a bottled water, then heads over to the lane that the Catalyst have staked out. He bypasses the rental shoes because, no. No.

"Greetings," he says, settling into a chair with his eyes on the door rather than the bowling. "I see I'm early."

[Gallows]

Gallows nodded and picked up a fourteen pound bowling ball. He was admittedly not very good at bowling, but half the fun of the game was enjoying your own failures with other people, from what he had heard. At least he had graduated beyond needing the bumpers on the edge of the rails. Most of the time, anyway. He stepped forward and let the ball roll.

It knocked down four pins. Not bad. He grabbed another one of the fourteeners and followed up with another roll as soon as the fallen pins had been cleared. Another four toppled, leaving only two in a seven ten split. Fortunately, he didn't have to worry about that tricky shot--his turn was done. As he bowled, he was listening to Salem.

The deal he proposed sounded relatively fair to him, but it was up to Rosetta to decide. He had already essentially forced her into this position, he wasn't going to try and make her own deals for her. Not unless she specifically asked for his help negotiating. Besides, every mage needed to develop a sense of knowing when they were being screwed.

"Well," said Gallows after Salem mentioned the Catalyst, "I imagine I'll do a bit more speaking on the Catalyst once others have arrived. But, to give you a quick preview, it is a cabal dedicated to fostering inter cabal cooperation." He paused. "Damn, but that sounds like a spiel. Sorry. Basically, we've all had nasty experiences working with other Orders. What's worse is that we've seen how infighting can tear the Pentacle apart from the inside--something we really can't afford when we have Seers and Banishers and Scelesti breathing down our necks. So, Rosetta and I decided to start a cabal dedicated to ignoring that. To putting aside differences for the greater good. To admit that while all Orders have different ideas, we all have the best interests of the Pentacle at heart--just different ways of going about achieving them."

Gallows looked up to see Morris's arrival.

"Ah, Councilor," he said respectfully. "Thank you for coming. You're not too early--you've arrived just in time for the start of the game."

[Gallows]

  Gallows's bowling attempt

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2012-01-22 19:08:18		Gallows rolls 3 to bowls (10 Again)		8, 7, 3		1 success

[Joshua Morris]

Joshua takes Rosetta's hand in both of his, saying, "Pleased to meet you, Rose. Don't mind me; I'm just here to keep an eye on things." Wouldn't do to have a putative Cabal struck down while recruiting; the loss of morale would be staggering. He nods as she turns to take her shot at the lane, reaching to extend a hand to Salem. "I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Joshua."