Student and Sentinel (ATTN: Joshua)

[Trench]

Class is over. Finally! Ryan though as headed back to the dorms. he did have to admit that after his Awakening, he was starting to seem more hints of others in history that could have done some of the things Mages could do. Though there was some change that it was all in his head. They were suppose to be a secretive bunch after all.

He rummaged through his pocket and checked to see if he has the keys still. They were there, still buried under slips of paper and loose change. I wonder when Mr. Morris will come for his car? Been awhile. Must be busy...

[Joshua Morris]

One need not be Acanthus to enjoy the mysteries of synchronicity and coincidence. As Ryan is searching his pockets, Joshua falls into step with him, clears his throat, and says, "I believe you have my car still." It's not an accusatory tone--it's halfway even and flat, partially tinged with pleasantness. One might get the feeling its a neutral tone he has practiced.
There's nothing about him, right now, that would make him look apart from the student body. No weapons that Ryan can see, and that must certainly be a relief.

[Trench]

"Shit!" Think of the Devil. Ryan jumped and looked at Joshua for a moment, wondering where the hell he come from. "Oh, um, sorry." He said as he pulled the keys out of his pocket. "Um, Here you go."

Thank god he isn't toating anything...At least I think he's not.

[Joshua Morris]

Joshua pockets the keys with a nod, then looks at Ryan. "How have you been? It's been a couple of weeks since we spoke last. It occurred to me that perhaps you are still adrift in our little world, and it should be corrected."

[Trench]

"Uh, yeah. Been a lot of drifting lately. Have been practicing with the thing though." It was obvious what he was referring to, but to everyone passing by, the had no idea. "Some people have asked me to join some things as well. They seems smart enough and interested in learning more about everything."

[Joshua Morris]

"Mm, good, good," Joshua says, also trying to be discrete with his words. "Some people, eh?" He looks around, then asks, "Is there some place we can go, talk in private? I mean, if you have the time. Maybe you got class or something, I don't know."

[Trench]

Ryan smiled, though it was a small one. "I'm done with class for the day. We can head up to my dorm and talk there if you want."

[Joshua Morris]

Joshua opens his mouth to ask, "Is it secure there?" but stops himself. It's a dorm room on the grounds of an American university. Of course it isn't secure. "Sure," he says instead. "Lead the way."

[Trench]

Ryan nods and leads Joshua to his dorm room. A few minutes of walking and opening doors, they were there. He made sure to lock the door and turn on a shoddy old Stereo that started playing "The Day That Never Comes" by Metallica to help stop anyone from listening in. Crude but somewhat effective. "There we go."

[Joshua Morris]

Joshua nods his approval, either at the music or the subterfuge, and takes a seat. "So. What have you been up to?"
"Well, I've been praciting Magic during down time from Class. Starting to get the hang of it, but I haven't tried anything related to Death just yet." He said as he sat down on the bed. "I've been looking into the Orders as well."
"Death can be tricky," Joshua says. "Intimidating." He doesn't elucidate, however, instead asking, "What have you learned about the Orders? Who have you been speaking with?"
"Well, I got a basic run down of them by a guardian, but he pretty much told me that everyone was doing it wrong and Only the veil had the best interests of everying." ryan waved his hand in annoyance. "I pretty much ignored that, sounded too much like proaganda. Met another guy from they mysterium that gave me a better picture of everything. Thinking of maybe joing up with them actually."
Joshua, despite himself, grins a bit at the description of the Guardian and Ryan's dissatisfaction with the presentation. "There's merit to the Guardians," he says, "But sometimes they come on strong. The Mysterium probably isn't a bad choice for you. I can probably get you a meeting with one of them, if you need me to. Sounds like you're doing pretty well on your own, though."
"Thanks" Ryan said with another small smile. "The Guy from the mysterium said he might be looking into it, but that was nearly a week or two ago. He might have been held or or something. They seem to be pretty busy most of the time."
Joshua's face darkens a bit as he considers something. "What was his name?"
"Uh, his name was Jordan. I met him while he was talking a another...Uhhh...Theo I think it was. We started talking about that after I asked for some books I gave to the museum a while back." Ryan seemed to frowm a bit when he thought back to that day. "He never came back out though. I guess he got help up...or something."
At first the Sentinel relaxes--he doesn't know a "Jordan"--but blanches a bit at the other name. "I see," he says, quietly, when Ryan is done. He doesn't say anything for a moment, then asks, "No one came to find you? To let you know about what happened?"
Ryan looked confused. He didn't expect that part. "Find me? No, no one did. What happened?"
He doesn't answer for a moment. "He died," he says simply. "In the museum. Came into contact with some artifact they had hidden there, and it killed him. And... that was that."
Ryan just sat there for a moment, competly silent. "...You mean that he died while getting books? Oh...man..." Clearly, Ryan was not confortable about the ammount of people he is meeting dying on him.
Joshua nods, somber. "As I said, the Mysterium may be a good choice for you. But I would be very careful around them, at least in this city. They appear to be quite cavalier when it comes to the subject of their lower-ranking members," he finishes, sounding quite bitter.
"....Huh." Was all Ryan could really muster. "So, basically no matter where I go from this point on, I could end up dead?" His tone sounded worried.
"Ours is not an easy path to walk," Joshua says softly, and its hard to tell if he means Moros in particular or magi in general. "Of course, even if you were still Asleep, you could die any day. But I know that isn't what you're really asking. Yes. Being Awake has many difficulties."
"I guessed that from what happened to Ollie.." He muttered as his fingers started to drum against his knee. "But then again, I thought that was something that didn't happen everyday."
"It... does seem to be happening with a bit more frequency than normal," Joshua admits.
"Thats not good at all." He muttered. "Is there a reson why this is happening?"
Joshua shrugs, clearly uncomfortable with admitting that he doesn't know. "We have enemies, the Awakened do. Otherwise there would be no need for my Order. Some of the deaths recently can be attributed to battle with them. Some of them, like Theo's, seem accidental. Perhaps someone who was strong in the ways of Fate magic could determine if there are links between all these deaths, if they are truly coincident, or if they are somehow linked in some broader Tapestry. But I am not that mage."
Some of the terms left Ryan a little confused, but he guessed he would know them all soon enough. "Well, I don't really know too much about all the problems that everyone has been dealing with. I might see Jordan again though, he said he was to sort of person that uses Fate and all that."
"Good, good," Joshua says, trying to throw off the unexpected pall that came over the meeting. "So, you've been practicing. Any unexpected successes?"
Whoa, mood whiplash Ryan though. "Uh, yeah. Been practicing matter. I tried a bit of the something to gold thing, but that didn''t work...Did manage to turn Water into Vodka though."
The Sentinel shakes his head, a rueful grin on his lips--and quickly disappearing. "College students," he says, as if that explains everything. "Gold is going to be beyond your reach for a while, I'm afraid."
"I sorta guessed that when it didn't work." Ryan said, scratching his head. "But it wouldn't have helped me much, there is alot more value in dimond, pladnum and other precious materials than gold."
Joshua shrugs. "You won't be able to make any of those, either. Not at first. There's..." He pauses for a bit, wondering how to word this. "Sometimes, our magic can be affected by the weight of belief. Look at gold, or diamonds. They're just rocks, really; no different than any other on a molecular level, but people believe they are valuable. And that makes it harder for us to affect them."
"So, more belief in somethings value equals higher difficulty in making or affecting it?"
Joshua nods. "That's the long and short of it. If people think it will make them money, or if its something that in the olden days was believed to have magical properties--and often times they're the same thing, understand--you'll have a devil of a time affecting it until you have become more powerful."
"I guess it makes sense." Ryan thought out loud. 'Well, maybe one day I can pull it off."
"I'm sure you will. And... Death. You've not tried anything with it?"
"Well, from the what the name implies, it doesn't sound like the sort of thing I want to be throwing around in my dorm room." He said with a shrug
"Trrrruuuueee," Joshua says thoughtfully. "But there is a bit more to it than all that. For example, Death controls shadow. Not necessarily a lot of utility in that, but it can be good if you need to hide or escape from someone."
"So Death controls shadow?" A puzzled look streched on Ryan face, like he was trying to figer out how that works exactly. Well, it did get dark when i was shot...Or was that just the awakening.
Joshua nods. "I know," he says, "It doesn't make much sense to me, either. It has to do with how magic was controlled in the past... but, honestly," he says, a bit shame-facedly, "I'm no historian, or theoretician. Frankly, it's outside my expertise. But, yes, Death controls shadows. Make them deeper, make them move. Things like that."
"Ah. History thing. I understand...I think." he just shrugged and leaned back a little. "Also, on a different subject, I was told a few times to go and get a shadow name. I haven't really thought up much beyond...well, noting really."
"Yes. That will be very important, to protect yourself, and I assume you've been told why."
"Yeah. names have power and that it can be used against me. Did have one Idea, but then i remember that guardian told me that having a weird as hell name draws a bit too much attention."
Joshua nods. "Some of us go by odd monikers that won't really work in society. On the other hand, I intentionally took a name that would draw no attention. It'll be especially hard for you, being in college still, and many people here already knowing who you are."
"Yeah. I was also told to pretty much drop everything and start a new life...But I really don't want to drop my education and friends because of that."
"But then again, I haven't seen many of them in a while."
The Sentinel drums his fingers on his knees. "That's a problem," he agrees, although his tone and expression seem to indicate that it's not really a problem he's familiar with. "Honestly, I can't help you with any of that. Perhaps the folks at the Mysterium have a better idea for you." He doesn't seem impatient; merely... unsure.
"Maybe. We'll just have to wait and see." He said just as Metalica stopped playing and changed to Hanger 18 by Megadeth.
"So...Ummm, anything else?"
Joshua shakes his head. "Not really, no. Just wanted to see how you were. And, you know, get my car back. But your progress is important, honest. Do you have any questions for me before I take off?"
"Oh, Ummm...Not that i can think of at the moment. Can you still Check with the Mysterium for me though? I just want to be sure that everything is still going ahead."
"Sure. Give me your phone number. I've got a friend in the Mysterium, I'm sure she'd love to meet you."
"Ok." Ryan yanks his phone out of his pocket and checks for his number. he always had difficulty remembering it. once he found it, he read it out to joshua.
After looking around for pen and paper, Joshua gets it down, confirms it, then gives his own number--"just in case." Once Ryan's got it, Joshua stands up and holds out a hand to shake Ryan's. "Good to see you again. Let me know if there's anything you need."
Ryan nods once he has it down on his cell and shakes his hand "Sure, will do."
Joshua leaves, finding his way down to the parking lot and his car.