(Archangels) The Gates of Heaven

[Leo Lockheart]

Leo's eyes narrow on Auto as the Shaman's eyes try to scrutinize him. The First Talon tugs on the Watchtower of the Golden Key to unravel the measly spells that was pressing down on him. Of coarse they weren't as measly as Leo had expected. He began to chant in High Speech, but then Auto laid off*. And so did Leo.

'What the shit? Who does that?'

"Okay," Leo started as he leaned in, as if to talk below the crowd despite not lowering his voice. "I just bent sound in to give us some privacy. To start I'm Leo Lockheart Cabal Counselor of the Archangels and First Talon of the Sacramento chapter of the Adamantine Arrow. My Path should be evident by my cabal's name" Eyes look the group over, pausing over Jonokuchi and Stryker before settling on Autolycus. "First off, I feel that I should warn all of you that bending sound in for privacy is a common practice among the Theurgists of the city. We do it at Path meetings, Informal Concilium gatherings, and more social gatherings. While noting the spell is good," He looks to Faith before turning back to Auto. "Full on Scrutiny of the caster is going to eventually earn you an ass kicking."

'Be glad I'm not Vae.' The thought died before it found it's way to Leo's mouth.

"On a less touchy note, should we move on to more in depth introductions?" It was as much a request as an out if Auto didn't want to go toe to toe over the scrutiny thing.

   Fail to dispel Auto's spells

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-08 21:54:25		Leo rolls 4 to Improvised Supernal Dispellation (Prime+Gno-2 additional target) (10 Again)		7, 8, 5, 9		2 successes

*

Per Snarlequin's request, Autolycus stops his scrutiny when Leo casts his Dispel, netting him no information on the Armor or Sight scrutiny.

[Snarlequin]

He didn't miss Lockheart's attack response. When he tried to give the situation an out, Autolycus refused to take it and back down gracefully. And why should he? Lockheart had just cast an unknown and hidden spell, then responded to his scrutiny by throwing spellcraft in his face. "No, we shouldn't. Let's stick on this for a second. Maybe, Counselor, you should let people know what you're doing before you cast a hidden spell. Someone wound tighter might take it as a threat instead of a test, then respond accordingly. I'm curious though. Why didn't you just ask me to stop before you threw spellcraft at me?"

[Avis]

"Why didn't you just ask him what he cast? The guy invited us here," Avis pointed out to Auto, slowly placing her hands on the table. Now she was regretting not ordering something that came in a bottle.

"Doesn't make any sense for him to ambush us with a spell."

[Teeramus]

Oh, Leo cast the sound bubble thing. Great, that'll make this less awkward. I hate using all those weird names for mage things so we don't give anything away to who knows who.

Striker listened, a little bit confused at Auto's rant.

What? What's Auto pissed at then? That Leo cast something? We're all mages here right, why's he surprised? Ooooh. That's why he was staring at Leo like that, he was checkin' his spells out. And Leo must have responded. Well so would I if some dick I'd just met started ogling the first spell I cast. I'd probably just hit the weasel though. I wonder if they'll start fighting, haven't had a good rumble for awhile, though these too would likely start throwing spells 'stead of punches, then things get messy and some Guardian'll get involved, then no-one's havin' fun no more.

Avis' comments all but confirmed what he was thinking.

Avis has got it. Bloody hell if mages in Sacro are gonna be sneaky like this I should have my Sight up. I totally missed what was goin' on.

Striker stared at Autolycus disparagingly,
"Yeah, pull your head in Auto. We're here to make a team right? Plenty of time for a dick contest later if that's what you want. 'Scuse the phrase ladies." He paused nodding apologetically at Faith and Avis. "And if you're worried about spell casting," the amputee continued, turning to look directly at Autolycus again, "then I guess the more eyes we have open the better right?" he began chanting to emphasis the fact that he was drawing down power...

  Potency 7 Pulse of the Living World

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-09 06:47:34		Striker rolls 6 to Pulse of the Living World (L3+G1+HS2) (10 Again)		1, 10, 8, 10, 5, 10, 8, 9, 9		7 successes

Striker couldn't help but smile as he felt the spell settle over him and his senses rejoice with their supernal enhancement. He wasn't really trying to show off, but that was a good spell and he could feel it.

[Sirith]

For a few minutes, Faith is just observing.

This Autolycus man has good reactions, but is too easy to lose his temper and tell strangers how to do stuff. Of course, Faith knows what self-criticism is and she's aware that she tends to do the same, but doing it publicly, in large group of strangers? Have some sense of decorum, man... If she remembers well, Leo Lockhart is a fucking First Talon, you don't just tell someone like that he screwed up.
Avis acts all obsequious. Small wonder. Jonokuchi is as blind as it goes. For future use? Maybe. Striker... Hm. Needs more time. Lockhart... A bit too sure of himself.

She's not saying a word. She's not even showing that she's judging them, instead looking around, smiling. Waiting for her burger, seemingly. But they won't let her observe forever. Being of the Silver Ladder meant that one can never ignore a conflict of ideas. The Silver Ladder is a guiding star for everyone, other Orders included, Faith, act like it, she remembered the words of Eleagia.

"Excuse me my words," she starts speaking in polite tone, "The common courtesy in Chicago demands that in an official meeting of at least two Awakened who aren't allies casting any spells should be with agreement - silent or not - of all sides. Sure, one might be lying what he or she's going to cast, but that makes people definitely less... jumpy. In an environment like The Consilium of Winds it's useful to have people less jumpy."

She tugs a strand of hair behind her left ear. "Of course, I'm not one to criticize the security policy of the First Talon, not ask why the First Talon is flaunting his Order's mudras like that. If things are done differently in Sacramento, I'm ready to learn."

But I'm not sure if I want to be in this Cabal anymore. Shame.

[TheMalkCat]

Now everyone's pitching in at the back and forth between Lockheart and Auto. Geist watches the squabble over spell-craft while he wibble-wobbles the salt-shaker in slow revolutions with the palm of his hand. The term First Talon slips by the Moros but it sounds like something to head-line a resume so he tucks the title away in a mental filing cabinet. Leo's wordplay draws a single "Heh" from Geist as he listens to the First Talon explain himself. I just thought Leo Lockheart sounded cool. The Theurge-Lock thing sailed way over my head. Sooo glad I didn't ask about it. Spell's interesting work though. Forces, right? Always wanted to get some schooling in that stuff. I'll keep it in mind.

A glance over at Auto tells Geist that this guy isn't one to take shit. He's got a headstrong streak and even if it comes out a little whiny, the Moros can relate. The guy's got a point: spell-weaving is SERIOUS BUSINESS and keeping the rest of the group out of the loop is a pretty dick move. But with so many Sleepers around them, Leo's bound to under-the-table spell-work; if he wants to sucker-punch everyone with a fireball, he's gonna have to deal with the Lie telling his ass to sit down. Avis says as much so Geist keeps on watching.

Striker's twangy accent makes it hard to take the dude seriously even as he slings out the HS to draw up another spell. Geist agrees with the Aussie (Or New Zealander. New Zealandite? New Zealandean?) Mages measuring their metaphorical metaphysical manhoods seems like fun for another time and place. Preferably somewhere where no one except the jock-mystics can get hurt. You tell it Wally One-Arm.

Geist starts to tap grains of salt into his ungloved hand as Faith finally says her piece. The moment she says 'common courtesy', Geist takes a pinch of salt and throws it into his mouth. Bad habits die hard. Faith is absolutely right--San Francisco had the exact same rules when it came to proper conduct whenever Hierarch Venois and her Thearch cronies held the occasional glad-handing circle-jerks. She's also absolutely boring and a touch passive-aggressive a la GLaDOS. The Moros tunes her out while he nods at faux-attention.

After she finishes, Geist offers his two-cents.

"Yeah, what she said."

Then, he licks his palm.

[Jonokuchi]

The sumo settles in his seat just as the table turned nasty and paranoia set in amongst the Magi present. The words flowed around him, and as it grew apparent the spell he had missed, Jonokuchi remained silent, acting the idiotic foreigner, not wishing to add fuel to the fire quite yet.

For now, he was quite content to wait for his food and drink. It was a restaurant after all.

[Snarlequin]

Bump! Xander

[Leo Lockheart]

'Wound like you?'

The thought died before it was spoken. Leo pinched the bridge of his nose as he fought the headache back. What was once a standard security measure was now an attack on this poor new person. How dare he as Sentinel try to stem the flow of information in a way Theurgists had done for at least the past year. Now, clearly in the wrong, Leo had to justify his poor decisions to Auto.

'Yeah right.'

"As I said, the spell is a standard security protocol in the city. If you have a problem with how I, as Sentinel, handle security you are are free to file a complaint with one of the Heralds or the Heirarch." The tone in his voice made it clear he was done with that matter. Looking more concerned then angry he turns to Faith. "You did just say Chicago right? By any chance have you heard from a Theurgist named Vae recently? She might have gone back to using Vaeltia for her Shadow Name."

"Oh," Leo started absently. "and not my mudras. Picked them up from an Apostate right after he joined the Libertines, but I don't think he was there long enough to pick it up from them."

He shrugged as the food finally started to arrive. No skin off his nose, which was stuck in a beer glass after he poured his glass. His eyes remained fixed on Faith though, and she could tell he was hoping for good news.