(Cabal) Cabal With No Name

[Gyges]

On the Corner of Freeport and Fruitridge, his Cabal with no name didn't have much. Right now it was only Gyges, a picnic table, a map of Sacramento spread out over the picnic table, a couple highlighters that he was marking up the map with and a XL styrofoam Cup of Ice and Cherry Coke and the expectations that the others would start showing up soon.

A bird tweeted overhead and a moment later dropped a turd on the map, up around Folsom.

Not a very portentous start to the meeting, thought Gyges.

He flicked the turd off into the grass with the bottom of the cup, and got back to marking up the map while he waited, humming.

[Einstein]

Einstein approached the picnic table where they were apparently supposed to gather. Apparently Gyges was the first arrived, and was already marking stuff on a map. Hopefully it was all interesting things and he hadn't missed some glaringly obvious detail, being hopped up on soda sugar. "Hey, how's it going?"

[Truce]

Truce made the trip in his Impala, his mind aflame with ideas about the Cabal he is forming with the Awakened he only just met not long ago. It seems a great opportunity for him to form some valuable bonds within the Awakened world, allowing him to cement his presence in the community. But are many questions on his mind as well, so he is both excited and nervous at the prospect.

Driving down Freeport Boulevard, Truce watches for upcoming street signs until he sees the intersection for Fruitridge. There's plenty of parking lots for the strip malls that border the east side of the road and so he parks there without difficulty. A comic shop, a sushi restaurant, and a psychic reading parlor are some of the business he notices while exiting his vehicle and proceeding to the corner in search of his new Cabalmates.

It isn't a moment later that he spots Gyges and Einstein at a picnic table and raises a hand to wave if they happen to be looking in his direction. Another moment and he's there beside them.

"Gyges, Einstein. Good to see you. Still waiting on Crowley and Damascus are we?" he asks rhetorically, glancing at their surroundings for signs of their approach.

Truce wears brown slacks and a button up shirt beneath a gray sports coat, the ensemble being one of the more casual outfits he owns.

[Gyges]

"A bird shit on my map, so I shit in it's brain." Gyges jokes, trading colors out and making some more marks. "Yes, you two are early but it's not exactly like we're racing against time." Who knows, Crowley might think differently when he shows.

He takes a quick draw of his soda. "So, Einstein. Truce. Why'd you pick those names?" It was as good a place to start as any while he finished up his work on the map.

[Crowley]

A black volkswagen combi-van (a well preserved older model) rolled up nearby. Crowley fell out of it, spilling foul smelling smoke from a cheap foreign brand of cigarette as he did. He was dressed, as always, in his black trench coat, jeans, boots and yet another metal T. Today, in addition, he had a beanie stuffed unceremoniously on his head, which veered to the left as he walked towards them.

"Hello fellow... um... people," he began. Tone shift as he realised just how open they were, mid sentence.

Collapsing onto the bench, he graced them with all with a wicked grin.

[Einstein]

Einstein nodded at her fellow Libertine, grinning. "Heya Crowley." She then turned to Gyges. "It seemed pretty obvious to me. I mean, I've got a super-high IQ, I'm working on theories that a lot of my peers think of as impossible, stupid, or potentially dangerous. Sometimes all three. It just seemed natural to take on the name of the forerunner of a lot of modern physics. Especially given the nature of my research. How did you pick the name 'Gyges'?"

[Truce]

"Hello, Crowley," Truce replies in greeting, trying not to cringe at the smell of cigarette smoke the man has wafting off him.

Truce smiles softly at Gyges's question and waits for Einstein to reply her answer before providing his own. The Necromancer's smile fades however at the reasoning Einstein has provided in her choice of Shadow Name. Another instance of swollen pride. I hope she is able to live up to that boast, he thinks privately.

"Mine is pretty simple, Gyges. It is my intent to aid those dealing with emotional hardship. I find that just by saying my name, I hope that my...patients will subconsciously yield in their difference."

[Gyges]

  Gyges does not pick up on Truce's unspoken reaction to Einstein

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-01-18 12:59:15		Gyges rolls 4 to Wits + Empathy for Truce's reaction to Einstein's choice (10 Again)		6, 6, 4, 5		failure

"Hey Crowley, Damascus we're just talking Shadow Names while I..." He pulls out his phone and checks a couple of tags on google maps before making more marks on the map, "put the finishing touches on this."

"There is a Greek myth about the Ring of Gyges," he recounts to Einstein and the others. "A Shepard found a golden ring that allowed him to become invisible at will. He used this power to sneak into the palace, "seduce" the queen and kill the king to take his throne." He assumes the team is able to connect the dots an see the potential parallels to an Awakening and hopes they won't make tired Lord of the Rings comparisons. "It's been used in arguments about what morality is and how society values it. Glaucon argues that someone who was openly known as having such a ring of power and not using it to their advantage would be privately mocked by everyone because they thought the bearer was an idiot, while being publicly praised for their wisdom and restraint because they fear being targeted by the powers they have no resistance to. Socrates argues that someone who abused the power of the Ring has enslaved themselves to their appetites, while the those who chose not to use it are in control of themselves and are happier with the result."

"I took the name because it's a question I'm posing to everyone I meet, Einstein. Are you going to use your power to fuck people over when they can't resist, or are you going to use it to make yourself a better person? And are you going to choose for yourself or let others dictate that choice for you?" Since she asked, he directly posed the question to her. The others can answer as they see fit.

[Einstein]

Einstein doesn't notice Truce's reaction to her answer, instead offering Damascus a wave before turning back to Gyges. "I don't know. I've never thought about it. And I can't really give an honest answer. I've yet to screw anyone over, but who knows what'll happen in the future. I have a different question for you, though. What makes you think that you're the person to ask that? Are you a saint, that you can judge other people and make them judge themselves?"