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[Emrys]

It hadn't felt like almost a year.

Emrys remembered calling his first Order meet at the Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Course last December, and as he once again returned to the trio of gazebos he couldn't help but feel annoyed. Back then the Assembly was enormous, and though he didn't like all of his company he couldn't help but think back on that meeting as so much better then the one he was practically about to have. Maybe Truce was right about pulling weeds. Ermac, Einstein, July, a pattern was forming and the Enchanter could only seethe in silent irritation at what it probably meant.

The Syndic shook his head as he tried to banish the thought from his mind before Crowley arrived. He sat in the same outfit he had worn to Concilium, slowly sipping on a beer next to a small table of sandwiches and beer. A track set on repeat blasted his own shredded piece of Truth through a pair of headphones while Yesterday continued to laugh at him.

[Crowley]

When Crowley found out where the meeting was to be held, he started laughing. He was still beaming as he drove out to the golf course. He alighted from his van and made his way in a swirl of trench coat, his hair lifting slightly in the breeze. The smile faded took on a slightly more brittle cast when he reached the gazebo: the company seemed pitifully small now; the golf course seemed forlorn.

Eyes widened at the sight of food and drink. Crowley drew near.

"Hey, man! You wanted to talk?" Crowley's smile turned enigmatic. He waited for a moment, then tentatively reached for a beer. "Oh wait! Lemme check something."

Gesturing upwards with a wiggling finger, Crowley made a quick and crude casting.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-11-14 17:32:44		Crowley to cast Spatial Awareness rolls 7 to GNO + Space + HS (10 Again)		9, 8, 4, 6, 7, 4, 7		2 successes

"Sorry. I'm getting a little paranoid in my old age." He added after squinting off into the vacant space above their heads. "You wanted to meet. So... Here I am. Its... Its a good choice, I guess. Um... To absent friends."

Finally committing, he took a seat and waited for Emrys to continue.

[Emrys]

The bright side to the golf course was it was open. Emrys saw Crowley approach, and by the time he made it to the gazebos the headphones were rolled around his iPhone and tucked away. At least he wasn't tearing the place up with a golf cart.

"Hey Crowley." The Syndic said as he forced a smile for the Emissary. He sat silently as Crowley cast his own sight, and the smile grew a little more sincere at the proposed toast. He raised his bottle and echoed his fellow Enchanter. "To absent friends."

The bottle moved close to the Enchanter's lips but stopped for a second as he looked down into it. He couldn't help but wonder who lately fit the bill of the toast, but there were a few names that thankfully filled the bill. At least it was something to move forward with.

After a quick swig he deposited his bottle on the table and gave Crowley his full attention. "I'm not trying to dig, so you don't have to answer if you're not comfortable, but I was hoping we could talk about a few things. The elephant of which being your injuries last concilium so, I guess, are you alright?"

[Crowley]

"That was Cabal stuff..." Crowley started, then trailed off. He frowned, and then shrugged.

"Heck! Its probably going to filter out in some fashion at the next meeting anyway... We had our own lead to follow regarding the... education system. It was Einstein's lead. Her contact and her show, for the most part. One of the results of that was a run-in with the local weirdo squad... And we came off pretty badly. We survived. Forced a stalemate - but it wasn't sustainable. If they'd kept going we'd have been toast."

He trailed off again.

"And before you say anything, we didn't mention it at the last big meeting because we were still trying to put together what we managed to come away with."

After that, he went for his beer. "Hence why I wanted to run a quick check before we got chatting. I'm kinda wary right now. They meant business."

[Emrys]

Crowley's initial response triggered a bit of a cringe from Emrys, but as he opened up the Councilor slowly relaxed.

"Did everyone make it out okay?" It seemed like a question with an obvious answer, but with Einstein's reclusion it wasn't self evident by the Concilium meetings. "And do you have reason to believe they are tracking you or are you just being cautious?"

He didn't see any other spells cast around them, and it was a good half mile between them and the rest of the populace at the country club, but if they were being watched sympathetically he had the Time and Space to check.

[Crowley]

"I got no idea if they're tracking me or no. All I know is that we got bloodied badly... They had knives. And its quite possible that they kept that stuff... in which case they may have a bead on us. Assuming... Yeah."

A shrug.

"Well... We made it out. Einstein's contact didn't."

A sigh.

"I've been trying to squeeze out lasting wards on our place... but I don't have it in me. I can only make them so big... and they fold too easily."

He looked across at Emrys.

"Anyway... That's my problem. I doubt you bought me out here for drinks and lessons in spell craft. whats up?"

[Crowley]

le BUMP Xander

[Emrys]

"At least you're safe. Even if it is just for now."

Emrys let out his own sigh at that small consolation before taking a sip of his beer.

"There really isn't a single thing I wanted to talk about. The fate of the Lorehouse without Ermac and Einstein to share the rent with, the loss of your position as Herald, the issue with Avis at the Lorehouse. The Lorehouse itself is the only thing we really need to talk about, but I wouldn't mind talking about the other stuff if you don't mind."

[Crowley]

"Sure. I'm pretty open."

Crowley took a long chug of his drink, which ended with a satisfied sigh as he checked the label and nodded appreciatively.

"I guess I got the boot for the way I jumped on Avis. Its a fair call - I was supposed to be the Hierarch's mouthpiece, so to speak. I stand by what I did: I acknowledged Bahlam and he seemed okay; when I rocked up to the meeting I find the guy being chewed out by Avis. I didn't ask why - and I probably should have, as it was some sort of internal Path beef."

He looked at the beer again, but decided not to indulge just yet.

"Aquinas was very firm in that I don't fit his vision for the future, which was another contributing factor for my being dumped from Herald. No idea what his vision is but he said something about moving forward and that crap."

"Anyway... the Lorehouse? Its kinda pointless given there is only two of us now... Unless you have something in mind for your *ahem* field notes. I could try and throw in what the TdS found but I doubt I could get Truce to agree wholeheartedly. Maybe if some sort of compromise with the Diamond types regarding access and all. But if we did that, we would have to invest a lot of time into the place. Protections and so forth."

[Emrys]

Emrys visibly winced at the word mouthpiece, knowing that word was rarely meant in a good way.

"There's nothing wrong with asking what's up before speaking out, but I won't dwell on it." That and Aquinas beat him to this conversation. "As for Aquinas's vision, I can't claim to know it either. Or much of anything about Aquinas really."

The Enchanter's brow furrowed slightly as it quickly dawned on him he knew nothing of Aquinas's thoughts or motives. He clearly favored his cabalmates, but that was about all he knew.

"Anyway, I'm not worried about the Lorehouse but I wanted to check if you had anything you wanted to pursue. If you don't want to invest in it I'm cool with letting it go. My notes are in my private sanctum, and that's not something I intend to share with the order or my cabal. As for what you guys found it's your prerogative to do with them as you will. If you guys want them at the Lorehouse that's your choice to make on your own, not for me to poke my nose into."