Quiet Afternoon (Open)

[Aenigma]

At the mention of Lux, the young Warlock's eyes became distant for a brief moment. Part of him wondered why she had left so suddenly, even though he could not blame her. After all, many prominent members of the Concilium had been brutally murdered over the past few months. He had hit it off pretty well with the redheaded Obrimos, and he wondered what things may have been between them if she had stuck around long enough to find out. As awkward as that first date had been, the two of them had shared many things in common.

I hope she's alright, wherever she may be...

Snapping back to the present, Aenigma offered Kite a simple nod. "Well, my suggestion would be for you to arrange a meeting with Curator Primoria," he suggested to the Libertine as he reached for his cup. "If your goal is for our Orders to have a closer relationship, I would start there." The Mystagogue took a sip from his tea, taking a moment to fully savor its flavors before setting the cup down again. "I don't know if you are amongst those who support the idea that information should be free, but if you are, I'd also recommend not making mention of it if you do meet with her," he added, looking straight into Kite's eyes to make his point clear.

[DaveJ]

An involuntary smile crept on Kite’s lips as Aenigma spoke. “I think you’ll find that – for a Libertine anyway – my views are distinctly more… conservative.” Kite grinned at the mystagogue. “While I may believe that the existing restrictions on information access is a tad too severe, I’m not quite ready to throw open the doors of every lorehouse and library scream ‘information be free!’ either.”


Kite looked towards Gallows. “Samdei is the Libertine that looks after the Hostel. He’s been here for a little over a year, though he has kept a fairly low profile.” He shrugged. “I only met him about six months ago, back when October, Cog and I met to decide what kind of agenda the Free Council should have.” Kite’s gaze darkened slightly as he remembered the meeting. “That was when we first noticed that no one had seen Rosh for a while. He was supposed to be there as well…”

[Gallows]

The exchange between Mystagogue and Libertine was mildly interesting to Gallows, but not directly relevant to him. The Silver Ladder had no Lorehouses or Athenaeums to guard. They preferred to let other peole do the intelligence gathering, and instead tried best to figure out how to apply the knowledge they had.

"I see," Gallows said. "I'll have to try and meet him sometime. In a community this size, I think it would be best if we all tried harder to get to know out neighbors. Keep lines of communication open, and all that."

[Ixidor]

Ixidor is no less phased by the mention of Lux than any of the other men. In fact, for a moment he is downright reflective, slowly wiping a tattooed hand across his mouth in absent thought. She was a light indeed, content to shine comfortingly rather than try to outshine those around her. And this Deacon verrily misses her.

She had selectively appropriated Ixidor for his assistance, saying that she valued his insight and wisdom.

Fine compliments, that no drug and alcohol abuser pissing his fortune away could ever feel they deserve.

Snapping back to the present, Ix is just as unfamiliar with the new name as Gallows is. But he can hopefully help lay other concerns to rest. "I can assure you that the Silver Ladder wants nothing more than to grease the wheels of communication and cooperation among mages of every order. The Free Council most certainly included. From what little I interacted with Rosh, I got no sense of ill will between he and Lux. We were all very much Theurgist on the Path together.

"I'm sure there is nothing stopping us all from working together."

Toasting his coffee to the words passed between Kite and Aenigma, the rocker takes another sip. No, whoever coined the phrase about knowledge and power probably didn't realize how right they were. Power in the hands of a person that doesn't deserve it is disastrous. And power in the hands of a mage who hasn't earned it is catastrophic.

[DaveJ]

Kite smiled towards Ixidor, though still a bit embarrassed.


“Sorry, I didn’t realize that you were the Deacon. Congratulations!” The slim willworker respectfully nodded to the Deacon, before reaching into his inner coat pocket and pulling out a pair of business cards. “I realize that trust comes slowly, so my thinking was that we could start at a basic level… perhaps teaming up on certain projects.”


After passing out his contact information to Aenigma and Ixidor, Kite cast a concerned look at Gallows. “For example, I am still extremely interested in finding out more about Ursa.” He grimaced as he mentioned the name, and shook his head in dismay. "I can't help but think that we haven't heard the last of him..."

[Aenigma]

Aenigma nodded at Kite's words, a little smirk finding its way to his lips for a brief moment. "That's good to hear," said the young Censor, reaching for his cup once more and taking another sip of tea. He fell back to silence as the Thyrsus spoke to the Thearchs around the table, paying attention to the exchange while enjoying his tea.

When Kite offered his contact information, the Warlock nodded in thanks and put the card away after giving it a quick glance. "Cooperation amongst the Pentacle Orders is not only the appropriate course of action in my opinion, but also the only way we can truly defeat the perpetrators of the Lie," he commented, saying his own piece on the subject. He took another sip from his cup and raised an eyebrow slightly at the mention of the name Ursa.

"You must forgive me, but I do not believe I know of this individual you speak of," said Aenigma, wondering what the Thyrsus was speaking about.

[Gallows]

Gallows could go on for hours about the importance of inter-Order cooperation, but felt this probably wasn't the place for that. He was content to nod along with the others.

When Kite mentioned Ursa, Gallows grimaced.

"Ursa...he was a mage Kite and I encountered very shortly after arriving in Sacramento," he said. "He appeared to have been attacked and imprisoned by an unknown group of mages years ago. He also claimed to be a former Silver Ladder, although from the sound of it he might have become apostate." He shook his head. "Normally I wouldn't have been so trusting, but at the time we were a bit desperate to find our way out of a magical sinkhole, and needed him. He was able to escape the city before we were able to confirm or deny any of his story. I'd assumed he was long gone."

[Aenigma]

8 days since last response...so moving forward with this

Aenigma listened to Gallows' words with interest, which he did not bother to hide at all. He sipped on his tea as the Moros spoke of this mage known as Ursa, his eyes fixated on the Thearch as he retold the story. "Trapped long ago...in a magical sinkhole," said the Warlock, stroking his chin a couple of times. "And then the guy just vanished? Fled the city?" He raised an eyebrow as he asked the questions, even though Gallows had already answered them in his rendition of what had happened.

"So many questions unanswered," said the Mystagogue, reaching for his cup once more and taking another sip from it. "It certainly sounds like something that should be looked into, in case this Ursa guy is still hiding around somewhere. He could be a threat to the Concilium, or maybe he is not." Aenigma gave a little shrug as he set his cup down. "Regardless, it would be good to track him down and get some answers from him."

[DaveJ]

“I concur.” Kite nodded in agreement with Aenigma. “At the very least, I want to learn a bit more about the man… and his history.” Kite’s gaze darkened as he started to reflect back on that day. “Did we merely release a creepy mage that day? Or did we release a heretic? A traitor? Or even something worse? I want to know…”


After a moment, Kite shook his head, and willed himself back to the present. “In any event, these kinds of projects are something that is difficult for just one order to solve… I know that my order doesn’t have the resources at present. However, between the evidence and items Gallows and I collected when we rescued him and I was treating his injuries, and the records that both of your orders have, we may be able to make some headway.” Kite turned hopeful looks back and forth between the three other willworkers. “And if that partnership seems to work, I have a couple other ideas that we could collectively vet as well.”

With his impromptu proposal complete, Kite raised his eyebrows inquisitively, awaiting a response.

[Aenigma]

Aenigma listened to the Dreamspeaker's words, paying close attention to what he was saying. He nodded in agreement with what said, knowing all too well that cooperation would be key in such an endeavor. When Kite mentioned that him and Gallows had gathered some evidence and items during the rescue, the Warlock couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly.

"Well, if you managed to gather things that belonged to him, we can certainly use those to track him down," he said to the Thyrsus with a nod. "I do agree that this will require a team effort, and regardless of Order politics and the like, this is something that should concern us all as members of this Concilium." He paused for a moment, considering all that had been said so far that day.

"If you seek assistance, you can count me in," he said, picking up his cup of tea once more and drinking from it as he waited for the two Thearchs to speak up on the matter.