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A Matter of Faith

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  1. #1
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    Shodan

    On the surface, Sacramento's Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament is not a place Shodan would want to be associated with. Always wary of organized religion, the Libertine has more than enough reasons to stay away from churches, their holdings and their dogma. And yet, there are just as many for him to stick around.

    Business is the first one - the Cathedral has a nice set of organs in dire need of repair after the contractor in 2005 botched the job. The Prime Mover has agreed to do it for a nominal fee, just because it's something he's never done before. The dedication and skill that went into the building itself also plays a role - the Libertine respects the former and admires the latter. And, of course, he is Obrimos - try as he might to run away from the traditional imagery and symbols, even his tech-obsessed Legacy calls its members' calling a 'crusade'. You fight the past, it fights back.

    The organ renovations done, Shodan has come here tonight to check up on the work. People pour out of the church after a late-night concert. As far as he can tell, Shodan is one of the few souls remaining. Or even the only one - his vantage point in one of the pews is not the best, and he doesn't observe that closely, anyway. In fact, the mage appears deep in thought, even preoccupied.

    Then again, the whole point of temples is to gather people, right?

  2. #2
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    The smell comes first: a caustic scent that somehow mingles disinfectant with soiled clothing, meat, and vegetable smells. Its not the kind of smell that hits you over the head with its awful impact; its a slow build to an uncomfortable awareness of stench...

    And the source is right in front of Shodan .

    A weatherbeaten lump of a man sits in the pew before the Prime Mover. His garb is foetid mismatch of rags and durable clothing. No coat, though - but a layering of moth eaters T shirts and a checkered shirt that must surely have been purloined from a charity bin. The fellow has a shaggy mop of hair now reaching toward his shoulders.

    And is somehow cleanly shaven!

    He leans back and slouches in his seat, head tilted back so he can stare at the ceiling with an apparently vacant expression.
    Iron Master <<Farsil Luhal>> Cahalith

    Primal Urge: ●●●

  3. #3
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    Shodan

    The stench creeps up on Shodan like a thief, but its owner seems to have no such reservations. Everything in this man is disconcerting to the mage - the smell is one thing, but isn't it a little cold to go around without outer garments at night? He clearly knew where to scrounge clothing, if the bounty of shirts is any indication. The absolute lack of facial hair is also something that feels... out of context.

    And the weirdest thing? The guy had an extremely notable presence. The odor and mismatched clothes did nothing to conceal its sheer intensity. All in all, this guy looked like he was pieced together from several different jigsaws that, in a fit of cosmic weirdness, fit well together.

    "Nice work, hm?" It might be a trick of the mind, but Shodan can't shake the feeling the man looks at the ceiling and him simultaneously "It's a bit too... last century for my taste, but I can appreciate the craft. You come here often?"

    We don't choose our confessors, do we?

  4. #4
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    "Wha? Mmmmm. Oh! Hi!"

    Hector shuffles and squirms, dragging himself up into a more natural posture. Twisting in his seat so he can see Shodan better, he continues.

    "Oh yeah. Good work. Definitely solid. And... You know... Nice to look at. In a way."

    He chuckled before scratching at an ear.

    "Come here? No. Not often. I think - yeah - this might actually be my first time."

    He twisted around in his seat, looking around for a moment before returning his gaze to Shodan.

    Hector's lips quirked upward but did not form a smile. Not yet.

    "What about you?"
    Iron Master <<Farsil Luhal>> Cahalith

    Primal Urge: ●●●

  5. #5
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    Shodan

    "In a way? What do you mean by that?"

    Well, okay. This guy may be turning all the heads in a room, but apparently Shodan managed to catch him off-guard. Not for long, though. One moment and he is back in business.

    "I am... not really a church-goer type. They held a concert tonight, so I came over to see how the organs I fixed hold" Which was the truth. A portion of the truth, anyway "Besides, who doesn't need a bit of spiritual examination from time to time? My workplace has been on fire lately, and I'm not yet sure what my place is in that" And that conflict with Winter was just one facet of a larger problem. The Consilium is changing, and while change is an inherently good thing, it doesn't mean it's easy.

    "Sorry. You don't want to hear about that. Do you have a similar reason for your first visit, or did you just come here to admire the art?" He says with a smirk, joking. Normally, that'd be none of the Prime Mover's business, but bars and churches have a way to make you more open. Laid bare.

    It's comforting and terrifying at the same time.

  6. #6
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    Hector looked up at the ceiling.

    "What? It's a big building. It's open and airy and I like the way the ceiling is vaulted and all. But I prefer the open sky. Give nature any day. Even if its in a city park. Or up on the roof - just me, the sky above, some pigeons and maybe a lazy cat basking in the sun."

    A huge grin spread across the homeless man's face, quickly suppressed.

    "I wanted to get off the streets for a bit. Little bit of calm, right? Trouble don't come in here. Sacred ground."

    Sacred Ground. That last part was really important to Hector. You could hear it in his voice. Hector acknowledged Shodan's work with a slight bob of the head and a grunt before continuing.

    "Spiritual examination. Well... Yeah. We all need that. The code we all live by demands it. How else do you... know you are still on the right path if you don't look at your actions from time to time."

    Hector looked at Shodan with an unusually hard look for a moment.

    "Got a role there? Or a task? Stick to it. The... Ah... Workplace... will sort itself out. It always does."
    Iron Master <<Farsil Luhal>> Cahalith

    Primal Urge: ●●●

  7. #7
    S
    Shodan

    "Brother, if you think trouble won't find you just because you are in a temple... you ought to watch the news. Or don't - you'll just get depressed. Point being, people don't hold anything sacred anymore. Which is not all bad. The less taboos you have, the more progress you can get" Something about how Hector said 'sacred' hinted at being religious. Or 'spiritual' might be a better word? There was a kind of emphasis to it that one couldn't help but notice.

    The Prime Mover smirks "A role? See, that's what I've been trying to escape. It sounds kinda reductive to be just a name-filler for a function" It brought some unpleasant parallels with his time as a Sleeper. Bosses, underlings and cubicle farms "But you might have a point in that it's sometimes best to let things run their course. If only to be all like 'I told you so' the next day" And it's a day that will come true... at some point. Both in the grand scheme of things and in Shodan's little corner of the Earth.

    "You know, it might be stereotypical of me but I didn't expect someone that openly admits he prefers open spaces to buildings to preach staying in line. I mean, it's all about freedom, right? Where's the freedom in that?" Indeed, the Man of Many Shirts brought a lot of cultural and societal stereotypes to mind. A crazy homeless person. Or, conversely, a wise and sage Master Yoda of our age "Or it might be that neither of us knows if we're on the right path, and you wing it just as much as I do" he flashes the stranger a smile, but there's a slight hint of nervousness to it. It might be his steely-eyed look, or something else entirely, but it was there.

  8. #8
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    "Mmmm. Don't think so. Some things - some places - need to remain sacred."

    Hector's malleable face frowned sternly.

    "Freedom? Interesting word. Freedom is taking on... shit. Accepting the consequences and telling them to... eff off... Freedom also comes from being part of a group - its all very well to be alone but one person can be taken, beat up, shit; when you are part of a group your freedom is assures. And freedom is the tension between the two - the group and the individual."

    Now Hector was talking with his hands as he shuffled round on the pew to face Shodan even more directly.

    He pauses, mouth partly open, when Shodan speaks of the path. Then he barks a laugh, loud in the contemplative quiet of the cathedral.

    "Oh ho! Oh there is a path! But we all wing it. The path is hard. It... Yeah. Yeah you're right." Hector expanded like was building up for something, then sorted and seemed shrank back into his hunched form.
    Iron Master <<Farsil Luhal>> Cahalith

    Primal Urge: ●●●

  9. #9
    S
    Shodan

    Need to remain sacred. As a mage, he could certainly empathize. Hallows. Demesnes. Even the Circle of Creation, despite being neither of those, held value as an anchor. Even to him.

    "Accepting the consequences..." He echoes "Yeah, I've never been very good at this whole 'turn the other cheek' thing. If somebody kicks you, shouldn't you at least try to stand up for yourself? Telling yourself that this bruise ain't shit is not going to help you at all. It might even mean someone kicks you harder. And there's only so much you can ignore" Trying to amend the situation cuts some unnecessary steps from the process, or so Shodan believes. Victor or fallen, you at least know you did your part.

    "You are right that everyone needs a gang, though. People that will stick with you no matter what. But calling the tension between you and the group 'freedom'?" He mulls it over for a moment "That's new. To me, at least" he understood what Hector meant, or at least he thought he did. But it wouldn't hurt to hear it from the man's own lips.

    The pause results in silence, which rings almost as lodly as the vagrant's laugh. What's so funny? An eyebrow is raised.

    "You are saying it like there's one objective way to do things right, handed down from above. What if there's no path at all? What if there's as many right paths as there are people?"

  10. #10
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    "Ah. Eh. Uh. Freedom is, like, the action. Or something like that. You only know you can do something... Something important, like... when you can. If you get my meaning."

    Hector's animated hands worked slowly.

    "If you can't do something important to you... do you really have freedom? I have freedom because I don't have to fuss over the unimportant stuff. So... How do you act? As a person - yeah. And sometimes you act only as part of a group. Same thing. The group is the person; and the person is the group."

    The homeless man gave a strong nod to emphasise his point.

    Hector listen's as Shodan continues, face turning stern once again; his lips form a solid line, as if he is deliberately keeping his mouth shut. His head is tilting to one side as well. It is a really curious look.

    "People? Yeah... Well. I dunno. Maybe you're right on this one. I think about stuff... But, uh, its not like I'm a deep thinker."
    Iron Master <<Farsil Luhal>> Cahalith

    Primal Urge: ●●●

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