Deets of the old biz.

[Crystal]

Crystal's apartment was on the 4th floor of a building in the nicer part of town. Big windows on the southern and eastern side made sure that the one big main living room-plus-kitchen was bright and comfortable enough. The only three doors in there led outside, to a spacious bathroom and to his bedroom.The open kitchen was modern and clean looking, black and chrome surfaces contrasting with pops of colour from his appliances (among them a bordeaux toaster, a light-blue water heater and an orange espresso-machine). He recently bought some new tools and machines, just to make a young wannabe-cook's life easier.

Beyond a counter was a big glass table with six black leather chairs around it, two of them had a water glass and a whiskey tumbler set up. If they were going to get to know each other they might as well get a bit more comfortable.
The other side of the room was dominated by the huge TV on the wall and a couch big enough to comfortably place six or seven guests. A few cabinets stood around - mostly empty apart from some books since he hadn't brought a lot of stuff with him, but they made the open room a bit less overwhelmingly empty.

He waited for Eulogy sitting comfortably on his couch and zapping through some TV-channels, dressed in some light cotton slacks and a lose t-shirt. The heat was bad enough to lean more into street-wear and luckily the Mastigos had that certain model-esque quality to wear stuff like this decently well. At least in his opinion.
The agenda for today was to pick the unconventionally cute mortician's brain about the possibility of joining a Cabal and his outlook on Sacramento's Mages in general. Fun!
Eulogy
Sanityawol

[Eulogy]

Mordchai looked at his watch. He was late. He hated being late. The damn bus being detoured because stupid people do stupid things. How someone drives directly into a fire hydrant and causes a twelve car pile-up he'll never know.

The wheels whined as the massive vehicle came to a halt. The door opened with a groan and Mordechai armed with a paper bag, bounded off. He walked briskly, one did try to avoid running while in a suit, and eventually made his way to his location. Mordechai looked down at his phone to confirm the address. "yup this is the place." He walked to the front of the apartment building and stopped to hold the door open for a young woman who was struggling with a stroller. "Oh, can I help? he asked and received an appreciative thanks.

Once inside Eulogy found the closest stairwell. He didn't even look for an elevator, and made his way up the three flights of stairs to the fourth floor. At the top he felt winded. "Been a long time since I had to do that" He chuckled to himself. He began walking the hallway until he found the correct unit. After taking a second to tidy himself he gave a polite knock on the door.

[Crystal]

Thank God, there was nothing interesting on TV anyway. Crystal turned it off and made his way to open the door.


"Hey! Come on in, can I get you something? Water, Coffee?"
He led the Moros to the table, got a bottle of water out of the fridge and sat down. Fuck, this felt like a job interview. "Isn't it a bit warm for a suit?" A cheeky smile showed that that was not a read, but rather an attempt to break the ice.


"So I've been talking to Kaze and he really thinks highly of you. I figured we haven't had the chance to talk yet so I thought.. hey, why not invite an unknown Silver Ladder into my home." Eyes rolled, shoulders shrugged. All in good fun.


"How are you? I haven't seen you at the Circle lately." Crystal didn't want to talk about the Cabal before getting a feel for the Moros.

[Eulogy]

"Hello!" Mordechai said as he entered Crystal's apartment. He took a moment to admire the efficient layout. "Very nice home you have." He said pleasantly as he removed his fedora. He pulled a bottle of white wine out of the paper bag he carried and offered it to Crystal. "It's a Didier Dagueneau Silex, 2008, I don't know if you like wine but a nice Sauvignon Blanc goes with everything."

He followed Crystal to the table and sat in one of the black leather chairs. "Oh ah water is great, Thank you." he let out a light hearted laugh at Crystal's question and replied. "Yeah it's a bit warm, you get used to it."

Mordechai looked down at the glass table, averting his eyes in embarrassment at the compliment. "Oh? yeah, uhh, Kaze is a solid dude, we get along very well considering how different we are." It was obvious the moros wasn't used to these kinds of social situations. "Yeah, I appreciate the invite. It is always nice to get to get to know people outside of formal meeting spaces, Your home is very comfortable, you have very good taste."

He answers Crystal's question. "Oh I have been ok, Life gets pretty busy at times but nothing I can't handle. I have been sort of avoiding circle after the unpleasantness. I am sure I will pop in again soon, can't live in the past and all that." he considered his next words for a moment, deciding what to say. It wasn't that he was a particularly private person, more that Mordechai didn't know how much of his life people would actually care about. In the end he chose to open up a bit, this was the reason he came after all. "I am spending the vast majority of my time trying to get my business going. It is actually a lot harder than I thought it would be. At first I wanted to make a traditional funeral home but the more I thought about it the more I realized that there weren't any educational resources available to the public. So I have been trying to find a good location for a funeral parlour but with a enough space to have a meeting room I can use for education. You know?" He puttered out at the end losing conviction.

"What about you? Tell me something about Crystal?"

[Crystal]

"Thanks." Yeah, he really grew to like his apartment. Hell, Sacramento as a whole. "And thanks for the wine. Do you want me to chill it so that we can share the bottle later?" Because while he didn't discriminate, it was always better to drink in company. No matter the answer, the wine went into the fridge. Just in case.

Water was poured and Crystal listened to Eulogy intently. Yeah, he was no social butterfly - but maybe it was better to cover several bases for the Cabal anyway. Now it was his turn to chuckle. "Jesus, if you don't stop complimenting me I might get the idea that you want to get me out of here to claim it for yourself. But thanks. Coming from someone who seems to wear suits literally all the time that means something."

Yeah, the unpleasantness. The Mastigos raised his eyebrows and nodded along that very accurate assessment. "Well you'll be happy to hear that it went back to the usual boring meetings. I have to say I was kind of impressed that you stepped up back then. Considering some people's thin skin that took some guts."

A few expressions went over Crystal's face in rather quick succession. Furrowed brows in interest, a short glint of amusement, an opened mouth of confusion. "Huh. What kind of education? Like, do you want to teach people how to do their own embalming? What kind of troubles did you run into besides the conceptual struggle?" Weirdly enough, the topic seemed to intrigue the Mystagogue. He wondered what kind of business idea the Moros had and whether there was a way to help. And whether that could be a bargaining chip for potential Cabal talks.

Then it was his turn. He had been asked to talk about himself so much in the last few months, he should be pretty good at it by now. Well, that's what people who only frequent the most superficial circles San Francisco had to offer get. "Oh, I'm enjoying the summer while dabbling here and there. There are some organisation-related tasks in the Order, I'm looking into some older languages and I'm sort of putting together a concept for my future in Sacramento." Which kind of brought them to the point already. He straightened up some more and looked Eulogy directly in the eyes. "Kaze and I were thinking about founding a Cabal. Just to give the city and it's Awakened a solid pillar once shit hits the fan, and to get together a support system for whatever we're aiming for. As I've said, he likes you so I wanted to run the idea by you and see what you think of it."

Yeah, he hadn't been going too deeply into his own personal life right now, but when presented with a segue like that one would be foolish not to jump at the opportunity.

[Eulogy]

Mordechai waved his hand in a nonchalant manner and said ”I would never tell you what to do with something I gave you but if you opened it I wouldn’t say no.” he laughed light-heartedly

The topic of compliments seemed to embarrass the Moros. ”Yes well, who wouldn’t want to live here?” he said sheepishly.

The conversation turned to the tedium of the circle meetings and Mordechai grinned. ”Well no news is good news I guess.” He nodded at Crystal, a small smile thinning his lips. ”Siver Ladders gotta Ladder I guess.” ???What the hell is wrong with you? Silver Ladders gotta ladder? What does that even mean? Idiot!.

Thankful Crystal steered the conversation in a direction that was more comfortable for Mordechai. The Moros took a sip of his water as he listened to Crystal’s questions. The mortician nearly choked on his drink in an involuntary chuckle. The image of dead people getting up to embalm themselves tickled Eulogy’s imagination. ”That is a great idea, It would save me a lot of work.” the Moros joked. ”But seriously though, The honest answer to your question is twofold. First the mundane, Death has become a business of convenience. When a loved one dies, people have been programmed to call the funeral parlor and forget everything. One stop shopping for dearly departed grandma. A few grand to show your love and get on with your day. My goal is to educate the public to know that there are alternatives to the cookie cutter funeral. Green Burial, Home viewing, Family led preparation of the body, these are all things that used to be part of society but have been forgotten about in our modern culture. Take embalming for instance. Did you know it is completely unnecessary in most circumstances? The funeral parlor isn’t going to tell you that because they want the money.

Mordechai took a moment to let his rant settle in the air before he went on. ”The second part is Supernal. As a Ladder I believe that it is the right of all humanity to awaken and ascend to divinity. My personal belief is that modern society has removed itself from the most basic rituals and practices that connected it to the Supernal in the first place. My goal is to motivate as many people as I can into pursuing and connecting with those age old, primal, forces In the hope of ushering in awakening.” The Moros stopped to take a breath.

He listened to Crystal and nodded along in understanding. Mordechai had never really taken any time out to learn any of the deeper workings of the other Pentacle orders, focusing instead on what was relevant to the lex magica. He assumed there was some sort of organizational order that kept all the plates spinning. ”That is fair, always good to have a plan for the future.” The moros said.

And then they were on to the real business of the day. At Crystal’s expert parry of the conversation toward Cabals, Mordechai’s brow rose. He met Crystal's gaze, considering. He held the stare for a moment before he broke contact and again looked at the glass table. Slowly he said ”Well that is interesting. I will say I am not opposed to the idea but my mind races to think what I would bring to the table. I am quite obviously an academic not a warrior and though I am not without my defenses, I don’t think I would offer any sort of protection to the likes of Kaze or yourself, So what do you get?”

[Crystal]

Crystal did his best to control his face when Eulogy somehow got through all the niceties. He didn't want to make him feel even more self-conscious or anything - and once the wine was cool enough he would definitely get it out to lighten the mood a bit. "Yeah, game recognizes game or as the old Atlanteans used to say: Mystagogues gotta Mystagogue." There, maybe that would break the ice some more. It was times like these that made Crystal appreciate how little he worried about navigating shit like this.

Luckily Eulogy seemed to be more relaxed when talking about his passion projects. And frankly that passion was almost contagious - either that or Crystal was just much more inclined to listen to bearded and/or suited men. "Huh, I never thought about it that way. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense when you think about it. People don't seem to be in touch with the uncomfortable feelings anymore." And he should know. "Coupled with our great nation's tendency to just go for the largest profit margin possible and you apparently end up with a win-win situation." The Mastigos' voice made it clear that he cared little for that trade-off. Annoyingly enough that topic reminded him of the discussions he had with a certain lawyer, and that made him wonder if the wine would be cool enough already.
"So basically you want to give people the opportunity to make respectful and informed decisions? Sounds good in theory, I wonder how many would actually make the effort to educate themselves. I bet a lot of those people would rather suspect it being a scam - you know, nowadays they don't believe in good intentions anymore. Sorry for being cynical."

The second reason made Crystal purse his lips in thought. It was a decent enough theory, and coincidentally that was something he just recently did some research on for his paper. "You might be onto something there. It's fascinating how Sleepers simultaneously try to explain away the unexplainable and still latch onto the Lie and half truths. Like, on the one hand they believe in science and think they've got everything figured out but on the other hand they still want to believe in something more. Religion or psychics or something. Maybe they need to be nudged into the right direction." Although it was mostly academic interest speaking here - while writing his paper Crystal came to ask himself what exactly caused a Soul to Awaken.

Eulogy's hesitation didn't surprise the Mastigos. Fuck, he basically dropped that bombshell right after having their first real conversation. "Frankly, I have no idea what you would bring to the table - we've just met after all. But you're selling yourself short here." He held up one finger after another as he listed the facts. "A Cabal of two is a joke, so you'd at least provide a number. You might want to know that Kaze is hitting up Guru on that matter either. But: you seem to be intelligent without being arrogant. You seem to look out for others. You apparently plan to say a little longer, which is more than a lot of other Magi can say about themselves." He put down his hand and shrugged. "And we're not looking to found a fucking fight club - I'm no use in a proper brawl either. That doesn't mean that we can't pool our resources and cover our weaknesses, right?"

He didn't want to wait any longer - all that talking has made him thirsty. Crystal went to get the wine and poured them two glasses. Once he was back at the table he raised the glass quickly and took a hearty sip. "The way I see it we have a way bigger shot of changing things for the better if we work together. Assuming of course that we have somewhat similar goals."

[Eulogy]

Mordechai nodded with relief as Crystal appeared to understand his point of view regarding the death industry. "Exactly so." He responded. "I completely understand your cynicism, I am sure it is going to be an uphill battle to try to change peoples hearts and minds about a most uncomfortable topic". He made a thoughtful face and with a little mischievous grin joked [/color=blue]"And that is before the rest of the profession sees me taking chunks out of their life's work and starts actively biting back"[/color] he chuckled. "As they say no good deed goes unpunished."

Nodding along with Crystal's assessment of the plight of the sleepers Mordechai added "Yeah, Doesn't help with the likes of the Seers running around actively feeding into the lie. Most days I am surprised the whole world doesn't just collapse in on itself. But I guess that is why the Pentacle orders work so hard at stopping the lie, to prevent those kind of major catastrophes." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I seemed to have gone off on a bit of a tangent, sorry, Back to the point, Yes I think sleepers need a solid mule-kick to wake them up and if I could figure out how to do it safely I would light that fuse with a smile. But I am enough of a realist to know that is a pipe dream and so I work within the confines of our broken reality. Sad as it is."

Mordechai considered Crystal's answer to his question carefully, his eyes staring off into space as if he was looking inside of himself instead of at the table. Slowly he nodded and said "Those are fair points." at the mention of Kaze scouting Guru Eulogy smiled and couldn't help humming a few bars of This and at the fight club comment Eulogy chuckled. "Well that is a relief, You're right, there is merit in pooling resources."

Mordechai accepted the wine glass with a smile. "Thank you." He took a moment to smell the fruity aroma. He sipped his drink and answered "Fair enough, So let's hammer out some hypotheticals, What does a Cabal of the four of us look like to you? conditional on Guru, I image the other two will have their own ideas but for this conversation what do you see? Basics like mutual protection sure, Sharing information, maybe? I want to try to wrap my head around what the mechanics would look like."

[Crystal]

The grin was echoed. "Oh well. I am sure you are quite capable of biting back. Or at least you are capable of defending yourself somehow. But I guess that's thinking about the fourth step before you've taken the second one, right? You're looking for locations right now? Need a hand?" Yeah, they've just met but if they could imagine working together in a Cabal then that help would come naturally anyway. Plus, it gave the Warlock something to focus his time on.

"Ah yes, the Seers." Here was an Awakened that really hasn't been burned by those and his voice kind of showed that if Eulogy was a bit empathetic. "We're lucky that the Time War kind of got rid of that problem in Sacramento." He shrugged and cocked his head a bit. "Plus I'd argue that one giant mule kick would shock too many Souls, Awaken some that simply aren't ready. Things like these shouldn't be attempted without properly thinking it through." Maybe they just had to agree to disagree, maybe it just showed their different Orders.

Crystal actually burst out laughing a bit when Eulogy hummed. He had a point, but only if he only knew most of them on a surface level. Which was true, but still: he should probably play with some open cards. "Care to tell me which one of those things falls out of line? No wait, I'll guess - but Guru and I are really not that different. We like to be social, we are lovers instead of fighters and we know how to party." He smirked at the Moros. "It's just that I dress way better."

Oh yeah, that wine came just in time. Mordechai was hitting him with the hard questions now. "Well yeah, shared information and assistance. Of course I'd be down with keeping some personal or Order secrets, but having a different set of eyes can always be pretty useful. We could look for a shared Sanctum, some place to hang out, study or meet without compromising each others' private homes." Another sip on wine. "And as I've said before: I think it's nice to establish a group people could turn to whenever they don't trust the Consilium with anything. Just in case they don't feel like coming to some self-appointed top-dogs with their shit." He didn't have to say whom he meant, but he also didn't want to dog on anyone. This was not just about petty personal reasons. "Kaze is decidedly with me on that one I guess. What about you? What would you like to get out of this? What would your ideal Cabal-arrangement look like?"

[Eulogy]

"I have been my eye out for the right place. It's a big city I am sure I will finds something. If you hear of anything though I would appreciate the heads up." Mordechai said politely, He was used to getting things done on his own but wasn't one to turn down an offer of help.

On the topic of the seers and sleepers Mordechai just shrugged "You are probably right. All we can do is strive for a better world and hope it works out. That's good enough for now I suppose."

The conversation rolled on to new topics and Mordechai smiled jovially. "Well I actually meant me, I'd be the Joey Fatone of this band. I have a weird sense of humor. Forgive me.

Mordechai nodded intently when speaking about the possible cabal. [color]"I am amenable to group co-operation, I believe in safety in numbers and life is always easier when people you can trust have your back. A sanctum would also be a major benefit."[/color] He took a long moment to consider Crystal's question before answering, he filled the time with savoring another sip of wine. Finally he spoke "Honestly I am not very fussy, the things you are saying all make sense. Protection, Knowledge, mutual assistance. All good things. I am sure we will have to have a group meeting to hammer out the actual details, our individual cultures, thematic resonance, unifying motivation and role titles ectara. All in all I think it is a good idea. I am onboard."