Spirituality with a Price Tag

[Knot]

"Azhwar was my first teacher," Knot says. "And I only left their tutelage very recently. I was surprised that anyone else would know of them, at least here in this city. I hope you learned what you needed from them before you left." Knot doubted that Nemo had apprenticed to them, after all he was here and not in Portland at the moment. And regardless, Azhwar liked their apprentices close at hand. "I don't think I know you, even with the different face, so the coincidence was startling."

"Where else have you traveled to on your way to Sacramento?" He finally asks. "And you Banshee, what roads lead you here, of all places?" He expands the question to both of them.

[Banshee]

What was heresy to the Mysterium was probably a good time for a Libertine.

"That is still vague...er then I would like." she admits grim lines to her mouth, she understands the vagueness, however. Eyes don't leave the Moros' even as her mind berates this chance meeting to have spring into being with this herald, this faceshifer, this Guardian. "Campanella, Knot would one or both of you talk to me later? I wish to understand."

Diplomacy from a Libertine, would that shock them into compliance?

"My path here...? I spend several years far to close to home. I was being stifled. Under the reminder of the Sleeper life I lived, I was not allowing me to flourish, so I took to the road.

"I learned many things. I do not regret leaving." a pause, "As to why I chose Sacramento, I heard that it was a wasteland, the wilds. I wanted to witness the chaos and entropy at work." a ghost of a smirk. When she arrived, it wasn't to the wilds she expected but to travellers and settlers attempting to tame it all, in the Diamond image.

"Why did you chose the Orders you did?" curious ever, is the mage.

[Nemo]

"No, we've never met before," Nemo confirmed, shaking his head gently. "Though, I have to say, I'm not surprised that you left. You definitely don't look, like, well..."

The faceshifter brought a hand up above his head, mimicking the motions of a razor going through his hair, all while making a buzzing sound.

It was fascinating to learn, though, that their paths had almost crossed, and what was more, that one of Azhwar's former pupils was so...so what? Progressive? Hmm. No, that wasn't quite right. Nemo'd have to ponder that for a while.

Of course, the Gothic Pixie caught Nemo's attention, just as much as the news of dissent in the Mysterium's ranks had. It was entirely unsurprising that Campanella would be tight lipped about what had happened, though it did seem to be somewhat bad form, considering that this was intended to be an open exchange. Oh well! It wasn't like Knot wasn't being a little cagey, and surprise-surprise, it was the Free Ounce-r that was the most forthcoming. Talk about sticking to a theme!

"Well," Nemo said after a few moments, "I can't say that I really explored much about the orders. My father wanted me to join any Order besides the Guardians. Well, not that he really told me as much, but I could tell, and my Mother wanted me to join the Arrow. But, really, it was my Aunty Day that showed me what I needed to see. I can't really say more without breaching trust, but she'd started me on the path before I'd even Awakened."

Nemo lapsed into silence for a moment, thinking back to the day she'd passed the first Veil, and the soft pain that had ridden behind her Aunt's smile.

"Anyways," Nemo said again, tearing away from the realm of memory, "if you had to join a different order than the one you're currently in, which one would it be? I might have gone with the Ladder, I think."

[Campanella]

Campanella regarded the Libertine cooly. "Perhaps," he answered, his tone suggesting that the door was still open on the subject, even his schooled face did not.

To Banshee: "I had no choice in the matter. The Mysterium found me first and put me to use." There was a hesitation in his manner as he ran several possible answers before selecting the one he most preferred. He did not want to talk about his experiences in Washington D.C. again.

To Nemo: "I do not know. Never given it much thought." The Mysterium had found him so soon after Awakening that he was still processing what had happened. He had always considered himself a Mysterium man, period.

His eyes remained fixed on the newcomer. Was s/he one of the proximi? It sounded like it. For the moment, the Moros held his tongue.

[Knot]

"You're very good at deflecting questions," Knot says to Nemo. "I'd probably ask where you learned the skill, if my earlier question wasn't still outstanding."

While Knot was willing to talk with Banshee about the details, he nodded towards Campanella when he claims the subject, deferring to his superior in the Order.

When he shares why he was was a mystagogue though, Knot frowns. And the fact that he didn't ask anything in return for his answers? It visibly troubled him. "Well," he says, addressing Banshee to keep from staring at Campanella, "I joined the Mysterium because I recognized that we're all possessed of very dangerous potential. I appreciate the way that the Mysterium recognizes this and is, in ideal circumstances, set up to keep everyone properly respectful of the power we have. The other Orders acknowledge it in their own ways, but I was never satisfied with how I understand them address it."

[Banshee]

Taciturn, succinct. She hadn't expected anything else of the Mystagogue. She frowns as no questions pass his lips. Wouldn't this be a golden opportunity for him, a Libertine and a Guardian both agreeing to this trade of truths.

To the Faceshifter, "Does Apostasy count?" her bleak painted lips quirk, "I personally hold no belief in Atlantis, so my being apart of a Diamond Order...." she trails off, the answer obvious. "As I asked before are you always male? Do you have pronoun preferences?"

She nods, barely seen and hardly remembered.

"As for myself. I was discovered by another Libertine within a shop, much like this one. He allowed me the freedom of choice, and I found that the Diamond Orders, were...not to my tastes." folding her hands together.

[Nemo]

Nemo couldn't help but smile in response to Knot. The younger mystagogue was just so...intense. It was magnetic.

"You're right, I'm sorry," the faceshifter replied. "It's a force of habit. But, as an apology, I'll answer that unasked question anyways."

Pausing for a moment, Nemo rubbed a hand over his face, minds eye flashing through his childhood.

"My father was, well, very good at teaching me to be subtle. So, as I said, it's kind of a force of habit to elide beyond questions, or hide behind a veil of ambiguity. Mmm. Yeah. Ambiguous. That's the perfect word."

Looking wistful, Nemo leaned back in his chair.

"Anyways, I've been, well, pretty much everywhere. I've hit every state, including Puerto Rico, and my mom was really fond of Paris, for some reason. Probably because everyone gets shanked with a french accent, there. But, um, if you're wanting me to narrow it down to Consilii, I've hit the big ones. New York. Chicago. Philly. Minneapolis. Denver. LA. San Fran. Not Boston, though. Heard that place is, like, a hell hole."

Looking somewhat uncomfortable, hands drumming quietly on the back of the chair, Nemo turned his attention to the gothic slyph.

"Um. Well, you know, I don't really have a preference? I kind of consider myself to be naturally female, but, um, I like being a guy, too? I don't really feel like I have a basic truth, so I don't really care too much about pronouns. Use whatever you think fits, or you're comfortable with. Just, you know, don't freak the pajama people out."

The hands stopped drumming.

"Ok, next question. Tell me about your cabals. Or, like, how do cabals work around here?"

[Campanella]

Campanella grunted in acknowledgement of Knot's response; his brows furrowed as he listened to Nemo's new question.

He gave Banshee a slight nod, accepting her responses and what she had described about herself and her Libertine path.

"Nidhogg's Bane is a successer Cabal to the Veiled Threats. We have inherited their... territory, I guess you'd call it. And their Sanctum. For a while we were the only Diamond group operating in the city. Now we are three: Aurora, Sand, and I."

His words were chosen carefully. There was a lot of information. And not enough.

"I do not know how Cabals work in this Consilium. It has only grown and been reborn quite recently. I'm not entirely sure how many other Cabals are in the Consilium at this point."

That much was true and if it showed his ignorance, then so be it. He would be learning the degree of change in the River City Consilium soon enough as it was.

[Banshee]

Banshee's head tilts as she considers the Guardian, while she had never struggled with her gender she had struggled with the truth of her identity, what and who was real. Which was living....who had died.

"Pajama people?" she asks instead, "I have not heard Sleepers called that." or at least not by a Guardian. "Something of your own design?" or spoken of by the family you keep bringing up...?

"With Epitaph's and Vauban's leaving the Understudies...are Understudy." she frowns, "I was not with a cabal long enough to learn how one would work within Sacramento."

Banshee listens to what Campanella speaks of, assimilating the information for later digestion, but there was one thing that was nagging at her, "Campanella, why have you only answered questions?" was he learning more from refraining?

[Nemo]

The Veiled Threats...

Nemo had to suppress the urge to gasp, let alone mask the twitch that had wanted to come through his eyebrows. VT. Goddamn. The Cabal that had brought the Magister, her dad, and Aunty Day together. To think, he was sitting here now, staring across from a man who know slept in the same building that his brother had been made (and killed) in.

Adjusting his jacket, Nemo hid the shiver that passed up his spine, the thought of the Clock waiting in the Circle, Supernal hands ticking down, down, down...

"Weellll," the Thyrsus said slowly, "that pretty much fits what I'd heard. Sacramento's always been the wild west, I guess. But, that's something that you have such a history tied to your Sanctum, Campanella. That speaks well for you and your cabal."

And, while Nemo would have loved to say more, it would be best not to, so he instead turned to Banshee with a soft smile.

"Yes, Pajama People is what I call sleepers. It's from an old song. Zappa. You ever listened to him? I used to like him a lot. But, um, anyways. I'd very much like to join a cabal. So, if the Understudy is intrigued, perhaps we could look together?"

It was a bold ask, but then again, Cabals had been formed over far less.

  5 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-08-27 21:33:41		Nemo rolls 8 to Cool Cucumber (manip3+subter5) (10 Again)		9, 7, 10, 3, 2, 10, 6, 9, 10, 4, 6		5 successes