As if it wasn't crowded enough...

[Ermon]

Kelreth , Wolven Pryde , Beej

Ermon is busy cooking and trying not to trip over something and die at what has become Unbound Smoke's primary Sanctum. By now Ariadne's old place was used only when one of them needed some space. Which surprisingly wasn't all that often even though Ixidor's place was tiny. Sure, a penthouse sounds awesome but try sticking an energetic rock-star, the head of Awakened law-enforcement and one overly nosy cook-slash-information trader in one and you'll see exactly how big it is.

And don't forget the cat. Ermon got distracted looking at his overpowered blender standing on a side-table dangerously close to Ixidor's guitar. And... was that a book about corporate recruitment policies lying on top of it? Returning to the kitchen-counter, Ermon saw that one of the pieces of fish was gone. Cursing, the Warlock turned around and saw only the glint of something fluffy running away. Ermon thought of chasing it but eventually figured he didn't have the time. Ariadne and Ixidor would be arriving soon and Reverb - in a few minutes after that. And that was if no one came early.

  Cooking, 5 mins per roll, 17xx

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-04-04 10:51:09		[07] Ermon rolls 8 to cook something awesome (Wits + Crafts + Spec) (10 Again)		10, 6, 6, 9, 3, 5, 2, 9, 4		3 successes
2014-04-04 10:51:09		[06] Ermon rolls 8 to cook something awesome (Wits + Crafts + Spec) (10 Again)		9, 5, 9, 2, 2, 1, 7, 8		3 successes
2014-04-04 10:51:09		[05] Ermon rolls 8 to cook something awesome (Wits + Crafts + Spec) (10 Again)		2, 1, 8, 6, 6, 7, 8, 3		2 successes
2014-04-04 10:51:09		[04] Ermon rolls 8 to cook something awesome (Wits + Crafts + Spec) (10 Again)		3, 6, 7, 3, 5, 6, 7, 4		failure
2014-04-04 10:51:09		[03] Ermon rolls 8 to cook something awesome (Wits + Crafts + Spec) (10 Again)		8, 4, 2, 8, 6, 3, 10, 6, 5		3 successes
2014-04-04 10:51:09		[02] Ermon rolls 8 to cook something awesome (Wits + Crafts + Spec) (10 Again)		5, 7, 2, 3, 7, 2, 2, 9		1 success
2014-04-04 10:51:09		[01] Ermon rolls 8 to cook something awesome (Wits + Crafts + Spec) (10 Again)		3, 10, 6, 9, 4, 9, 5, 4, 7		3 successes
2014-04-04 10:50:33		Ermon rolls 8 to to cook something awesome (Wits + Crafts + Spec) (10 Again)		9, 4, 1, 5, 5, 5, 4, 8		2 successes

Tonight Ermon has chosen baked fish, potatoes and a simple fresh salad with cucumbers, tomatoes and sour cream. For a drink he picked Spanish Kava - a naturally aeraeted white wine. Ermon covered the table with a tablecloth, put cutlery on it and then waited. And as he was waiting he realized just how much they need to go on with their plans to expand their Sanctum. The penthouse was a mess with all their stuff warring for free space and threatening to run the Mages out.

And he had high hopes for their newest friend to help them with it. And with lots of other stuff.

To be honest, Ermon was quite surprised to hear Reverb was interested in joining them. He didn't know much about the man except that he was loaded and well-connected. But that was why this interview was necessary - to learn and see more.

[Ariadne]

Pushing open the door with her hip Ariadne scoots into the sanctum before Pixel can make another mad dash to explore. That's not happening again..hopefully. Closing the door with a foot Ariadne makes her way over to Ermon's domain and carefully puts down the paper bag she's been carrying.

"I couldn't remember if you said white or red went better with what you're making so I got a few of both." She says as she pulls out four different whites and four different red bottles of wine.

[Samaritan]

  Cast at home

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-04-08 17:12:57		Bishop rolls 8 to cast Grim Sight (Wits 3 + Occult 1 + Death 3 + Tool - 2 duration + HS) (10 Again)		6, 7, 5, 8, 10, 5, 8, 5, 5		3 successes

Bishop was a little out of breath. This...social call...had been a rather spontaneous one on his behalf. But he had had a short exchange with his order head some time ago and he was basically out of options regarding a steady affiliation to other mages in this city.

It was not that he had not tried.
<Bai Hu - disappeared. Kalemleah - disappeared. Pertinax - disappeared. Maybe I should try going with pre-existing structures rather than waste precious time on building my own. I ain't getting younger.>
But he had had no luck. And the last consilium had shown him precisely, what kind of volatile mixture the Sacramento Society of Supernal Supremacy was exactly. So here he was. He had some hopes, but for the most part he was looking forward to the pleasure of having an evening in good company.
He carried a bag with a hard-covered copy of Tolkiens "The Silmarillion", that he had annotated himself in a few places, which was gift-wrapped.
Setting his blue tie with the little black eyes on it straight, he took a last look over his gray pants, leather shoes and white shirt. Everything seemed in order, so he rang the doorbell.

[Ermon]

Ermon rushes to Ariadne and takes the wine off her hands and carries it to the kitchen:

"Hi, Ariande. Wow, you certainly know how to pick a chef happy. Now, just to find some place to settle all this down..." - he looks around, frowning and finally set the red wine on a kitchen counter and puts the white in the fridge.

"So, this guy you mentioned, anything I must know?" - at exactly the same time the buzzer rings, - "Ah, I think it's him or Reverb. Not like Ixidor needs a key".

He walks over to the panel:

"Hi, it's Ermon", - after Bishop confirms he's not a serial murderer, the Warlock continues, - "Come on right up. Top floor, first suite to the left, the door's unlocked".

[Ixidor]

When the rocker enters the picture, it's not from the door that Ariadne just entered. But rather, upstairs. More specifically, their rooftop balcony access. He's got an acoustic bass thrown up on his shoulder, saddled across his trapezius like an actual axe that the instruments are nicknamed for.

His hair is wild, but not as styled. A bandanna wraps around his forehead, and he is clad simply in a black tank top and leather pants, and clunky boots. Of course, the jewelry is there, but not excessive as usual. The individual pieces vary from day to day. It gives the impression that he's got some sort of pirate chest full of the shit, and just decides what to wear by grabbing two handfuls and putting it all on. And that, today was only one handful.

Even though by all accounts Ixidor probably hasn't left the building today, makeup is artfully applied around his eyes. Black eyeliner and who knows what else. He doesn't have the raccoon face going on, but it would probably be weird to see him without it. Like Avril Lavigne, or something.

He laughs at that, on his bouncing descent down the stairs.

At the base of them, as he closes in on the other two Magi, the Theurgist levels the instrument to point at the Epopt. He then strums a brief riff of pretty woman, before imitating Roy Orbison's famous growl.

"Rooooooowwwwwwr..."

Ix grins, even before spotting the bag of booze she just laid upon Ermon. "Oh my. You love us, don't you? You really love us!"

Here, he passes close by her on his way to join them at the counter, and leans in as though to kiss her. He's not actually aiming for contact, but just makes a show of it, smacking his puckered lips several times. Rather than hoping for real endearment, Adrian Isaacs is tempting her to cave into the temptation to slap the piss out of him.

"What's on the menu here, Ermie? Smells just wunderbar." Settling in some orbit he deems to be out of the way, the bass is planted on the ground upright. Like some cane, or hunter's spear. Maybe wizard's staff, would be more appropriate.

[Samaritan]

"Thank you." Bishops says, while pushing the door open.

He made his way up the stairs in a vain attempt to ease his conciousness that he had not done enough sports this week. So when he reached the top floor, he took a few moments to catch his breath. This gave him plenty of opportunity to notice the incredibly delicious smell, that oozed from the apartment. He opened the door and peered inside.

"Good Evening. Do I keep my shoes on or do I have to take them off?" he asked politely into the doorway.

[Ermon]

Ermon greets Ixidor with a wide smile:

"Heya, Ix. Jamming outside or have you finally turned that thing into a flying bass? I still think it'd be a top idea", - the smile then breaks into an outright grin and the Warlock chuckles.

He waves his hand in the direction of the kitchen:

"Baked salmon and potatoes with Provence spices and salad made from fresh vegetables and sour cream. Wait till you see what it tastes like", - he looks positively shining. After all, kitchen is his element and here he is with his friends and one overly-curious cat with prospect of a decent meal and no corpses or problems around.

While he talks, Ermon walks over to the kitchen part of the suite, pulls out the food and serves it. If anyone thought the smell was excellent before they should try to describe what's it like now when salmon is in the open.

About this point in time Bishop gets up the elevator and opens the door and the buzzer rings:

"Just a sec. Ermon speaking", - after Vincent introduces himself Ermon lets him in, - "Top floor, first door on the left. It's unlocked".

He looks Bishop over, beams and starts rummaging in a wardrobe near the door:

"I swear we had a couple spare pairs of slippers somewhere. Ah, here they are", - the Mage pulls out something fluffy and pretty much completely covered in fur. There are two left ones and one right one.

"Pixel, wherever you are, we are gonna talk about this later!" - he turns back to Bishop, - "Just leave the shoes on. Come on in, feel comfortable, sit at our table and share our food".

It was always useful to inform people that standard hospitality laws applied. Because those go both ways.

He moves over to the bottles Ariande has brought in and pulls a weird device out of his pocket:

"Do you have preferences with salmon or will you trust the chef?"

[Ariadne]

A warm smiles spread across Ariadne's face as Ermon compliments her wine choices. Really it had been guess work. She playfully rolls her eyes at Ixidor with a laugh.

"You were away for far too long."

"Evening Bishop." She greets her fellow Guardian happily. "Reverb good to see you again."

"I'm sorry that both of your clothes might turn into cat hair magents. Pixel sheds year round and doesn't seem to care where she leave it." Ariadne gestures towards a medium sized cat currently watching the two new guests to its domain.

She looks at the thing Ermon is holding and shrugs. "You're the chef."

[Samaritan]

Bishop takes of his shoes and puts on the slippers. It feels odd for a moment with his usual job attire now combined with completely unfitting shoes, but it settles after a few steps.
<Could get used to wearing those, even at work.> he mused silently.

He greets Ariadne formally with a small bow and shakes her hand.
"Good evening, Mrs. Ariadne. It is good to see you again." he says with a smile. An honest one for a change.
He turns to both Ixidor and Reverb. "And a good evening to you too, good sirs. My name is Bishop and I work for the Sacramento Bee. I also moonlight as the receptionist and part time manager of the Hostel. It is a pleasure to meet you." Bishop says lightly and without adding <...except the cat. The cat can stay in her basket.>
He remembered Pixel from the last meeting but he was still...uneasy around any kind of animal.
"I am afraid, I can not contribute to the meal - though it seems, the chef is more than capable - but it would be rude to come empty handed. So I brought you one of my hobby projects."
He takes out the well worn copy of Tolkiens Silmarillion with his own annotations and puts it on a table.