Save the Heir [Warning: Sensitive topic]

[Corn]

This Thread may touch on issues that are sensitive to some posters. Namely, pregnancy issues that might end with a detrimental outcome for Corn's unborn child.

I have discussed the topic of this thread with the player involved and with the mage ST.

Corn burst in his home trembling. He threw his keys to the table and grabbed the phone. He looked at the clock; it wasn't too late. She would not be asleep.

The doctors... that nighmarish discussion was playing over and over in his head. The head doctor shaking his head sympathetically as the nurse was looking glum besides him.
"I am sorry mr Cornell, but there is nothing more we can do. We have put your wife into a medical coma but that will probably not change the outcome; just prolong it to perhaps tomorrow or, at most the day after. The fetus is still very much in danger. It is beyond our hands now, I don't want to add to your pain, but it is unlikely the fetus would survive for 24 hours. You are both still young, you can try again. But for this child, I am afraid that you will need a miracle to save him."

A miracle.
Corn hasn't called anyone from his family yet. He had avoided doing so when Maria complained of pains. He didn't do so when the bleeding started or as they were rushing to the hospital.
They need a miracle. Theodore doesn't believe in Miracles. Corn knows they are real. There was one person he could call at this time...

I apologize for the time. I desperately need your help. Please come to [Address] as soon as possible. I will pay for the cab or whatever if you need to. Time is of the essence and it is a life or death situation. Please, come quick."

Aurora Orianna Aeolus

[Aurora]

When you get a text like that, especially from your Order head, you drop what you are doing and move. For her, that meant pausing practice for the show. A t-shirt thrown over the sports bra, so she was somewhat decent at least.

Have my own car, on my way

His words chilled her.

Life or death.

Was he ok? Did someone or something attack the Circle? Was another mage hurt? While she wanted to speed, she didn’t. Luck was not in her bag of tricks and if she was needed as urgently as it sounded, then getting pulled over would really suck.

Pulling up, she quickly throws the car into park and jumps out, rushing up to the door.

*Knock Knock*

[Corn]

There was no delay between the steps that rushed to the door till it flew open to reveal Corn, still wearing his 'outside' clothes and even having shoes on, in a sorry state. No pause to check the peephole of the door, no questions of 'who is it?' not even the sounds of a door unlocked.

"Thank you!" The mage said holding the door open for her. Corn's eyes were red, his lips have lost most of their color and he was pale.

Corn's home was... homey, from what Aurora could see. Family pictures of him and Maria, of Maria's family, of Corn's family and a big, big picture of the couple dancing at the wedding, both of them beaming, Maria in her wedding dress. The apartment is mid-small in size although the living room - separated from the kitchen by a 5 ft counter - was spacey.

The moment Aurora was in, Corn closed the door and turned to address her, trying to get his composure. "Please follow me, " he said and pointed towards a door leading to room where Aurora could feel a faint magic aura coming from. That room was just a few square feet with a large built-in 'closet' with metallic doors on the wall, and a few posters of sci-fi and fantasy movies all around - several of them included a few symbols hidden in the mix of 'alien script' or 'magic runes'. A desktop computer and a bookshelf with a few game DVDs was there. There was some power in the way the posters and the various 'fantasy' drawings on the walls were arranged. This was clearly Corn's sanctum.

"We can talk here. It is protected. " Corn said. "Thank you very much for coming Aurora. This is a personal matter of grave importance. I will be short, as time is of essence here. A few hours ago, my wife complained of pains. The baby was a bit too quiet. I wanted to remain optimistic but less than an hour later, the bleeding started. We rushed to the hospital. My wife is not in danger, I don't think so, they would have told me, I think.
But we are going to lose the baby. My son is dying, Aurora. The doctors give him less than a day!

Please, please, save my son. I could get you to the hospital and in Maria's room. She is sleeping, she won't see a thing. If the Consilium finds out, I will take all the blame and say I did it or that I forced you to do it. I don't care if I will be banished. Do this and I will do anything I can to repay you for it.

I can give you access to my hallow." Corn said pointing to that closet. "I gather tass. It is edible tass. I can vow to give you half of it, if you want.
If this is not enough, I am prepared to give you a soul stone. My soul stone. Become your thrall. You can tap my mana out of the Soul-stone. We can go beyond the 3 favors that are traditionally required; I can do 5 favors. Or 10. Name your price, I will do it. "
Hell, this is not the time for negotiations...
"Look, I can do both. I can share my hallow with you AND give you my soul stone. Or anything else you can think of. Just please, please, please, save my child. He is dying. "

The player of corn is aware of what being a thrall means.

[Aurora]

Well, clearly Corn had seen better days. Was he the one hurt?

A brief nod of her head, “No problem, it sounded serious.” Cause life and death. That meant serious.

While she naturally looks around as she followed him, not much was committed to memory. This was his space, and she wasn’t about to memorize the layout.

Now the feeling of magic was weird, it wasn’t unexpected. Her own Sanctum containing a Hallow. But for Corn to bring her to his, when they were not even close, spoke of how serious this was. Why would he want to ask for help here and not at the Circle?

Then it became clear. This wasn’t a call to help another Awakened…this was a call to save an unborn life.

She lets him talk, and talk. Not interrupting, not moving.

Could she understand what he was feeling? No. But she could try and be sympathetic.

Eyes close briefly as she gathers her thoughts. He was desperate, that was obvious.

“Can we sit?” cause this wasn’t going to be an easy conversation.

“Corn,” she begins, “do you know what you are asking of me?” of course he did, or he wouldn’t be asking. But did he truly know. “You have clearly put some thought to this, but what are you asking with?” this was a question asked straight from the heart and not mind. Something she doubted he really thought through. Because what he offered her was immense. It was something not to be offered lightly, and could very easily be extorted with his mind messed up.

[Corn]

" @Aurora, it's about my unborn child. There are very few things I wouldn't do to save him. I have not planned for this. I have not put any thought to this. All I can think is that my child is about to die before he even draws breath. "

If Aurora uses mundane empathy or magic to check: no, Corn isn't thinking clearly nor negotiating, he is offering everything and anything that comes to mind out of desperation.

[Aurora]

She wouldn’t be human if his words didn’t hurt, if she didn’t feel bad. Of course, she wanted to help.
But there were things to consider. Important things, ones not to be forgotten.

Looking at Corn, she listened to his words, looked at his face, tried to read his eyes, and it hurt. He was hurting. And not thinking clearly.

“I understand this your unborn child, and you are willing to do everything and anything to save him. That’s commendable Corn.” Then her voice softens, “But have you thought of the repercussions this may have? You are asking me to go into a hospital room and play god. Do I have the ability? Yes. But don’t you think there are lines we should never cross? When does it become ok for us to use our power that way, and a Seer not to? Who gets to decide these things?" she didn't want to hurt him, he clearly already was. But he needed to think.

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-05-02 17:50:24	Aurora rolls 4 to Get a Read(Wits+Emp) (10 Again)	10, 6, 8, 9, 1	3 successes

[Corn]

Shit, Aurora is hesitating. Talking philosophy as my kid is dying...

"Aurora, please! We are given those powers for a reason and I believe God made this world and the Supernal Realms. You are not playing God by saving my child any more than the doctors would. The Seers don't want anyone else to have those powers and they want to eliminate us because we stand between them and the Exarchs controlling the world, making sure that people like you would never exist to save dying unborn kids. Before the Fall Atlantean mages would heal people.
You are hesitating to use this power to save an unborn child... my child. We have dreamed about it Aurora. We really want a kid.
And you can save him! Please. I am not asking you to play God, I am asking you to use the powers you are given, that exist by God's Grace despite the efforts of the Seers to save a kid, the way a doctor would if there was a scientific cure available. "

Corn's hands are trembling. He was putting as much emotion and reason as he could behind these words, but his emotional status makes this very difficult; it is clear that Corn cares about one thing now and it is not debating ethics. He would say anything and everything to get Aurora to that room.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-05-02 23:44:39	Corn rolls 6 to Pre+pers (10 Again, WillPower)	2, 5, 1, 4, 4, 1	failure

[Aurora]

A hand was held up, “I don’t want what I said to come across that I believe in god. Quite the opposite.” But it was the best way to phrase things.

“What we are able to do and what doctors are able to do are two different things.” First and foremost. “Sleepers die every day without us interfering. Medical miracles happen every day. While some Thyrsus would jump at the chance to save your childs life,” eyes look down for a moment, “I don’t. I decided a long time ago to not mess with what the universe decides. If for some reason you and your wife are not destined to have a child at this moment, who am I to change that? Just because we can do something does not mean we should.” She had always been against Fate. And it seems Fate had decided this was not the child for Corn.

“And you want me to use magic, very fucking vulgar magic at that, in a hospital room. Where there are Sleepers, where I could lose control of my spell and bring about a huge paradox. Think about this Corn, really step back and think about it.” Seriously, think about it. “I know you and your wife want a child, and you are going to be wonderful parents, but maybe the time isn’t right.”

[Corn]

Corn wasn't going to surrender that easily. "Perhaps the Universe doesn't care whether you save my child or not. Or perhaps we are destined to have a child and you are the universe's answer to the complications. Regardless, if I may, how can you be sure that you should not do something you could do? Yes, being able to do something doesn't mean we shouldn't. But sometimes we should do it. "

The threat of a big paradox backlash in the hospital, that could endanger Maria on top of the child did make Corn to stop for a moment, to doubt that this was the right path... but he shook his head. "Maria is in a medical coma, there would be no sleepers to notice that spell. Sleeper presence increases the risk of paradox only if they are aware."
Not that a master spell doesn't have a good chance to bring a big paradox, Corn thought (but didn't vocalize) as he has found out when he was making cake and ended up as bad as if he has been in a car crash.

"If I was dying here, bleeding out, wouldn't you try to save me? How would that be different? Except that I care more about saving my unborn kid than my life? If you believe that saving an unborn child is messing up the plans of the universe, how is saving an adult any better?"
Damn paradox...

[Aurora]

Eyes studying Corn for a moment, words thought over, giving herself a moment to just breathe.

“Corn, I am not the universes answer to the complications. Nature,” something a Shaman is close to, the Primal Wild, “cannot be trifled with. I do not have the right to override what has been decided.” Did it sound a lot like Fate? Yes. And that was because there would always be a part of her that identified with it. “How can I be sure?” another deep breath, “The magic we possess comes with great responsibility and we have to be Wise in what we do. There has to be a line we will not cross, there needs to be ethics. Crossing that line, deciding who should live or die, where does it end? Who decides which life is worth saving? Should that decision rest with the one who wields the power? Or should others get to decide when it is used? Look, I’ve taken life, and that almost mentally did me in. I crossed that line and decided three, maybe four Seer’s deserved to die.” Her voice pained as she remembered, “I did it without thinking, I acted on pure emotion.” Looking to him, “Which is what you are acting on right now. I will not decide who lives and who dies again.” It just was not going to happen.

“She may be in a coma, but a hospital is still very much filled with Sleepers. Hell, there could even be other Awakened we don’t know there, or by some off chance, a Seer. You’re asking me to cast a spell that will certainly draw attention and could very well hurt myself. Which I have no problem doing, but how to explain injuries away on an otherwise uninjured woman. It is a huge risk. I cannot express that to you enough. It’s a risk not only to your family, but our community as well. A risk I’m not willing to take on.”

Eyes shift down to her hands, “Here, in this room? I would do what I could to save your life. If you were in a hospital or had Sleepers around you? Then I would only do mundane lifesaving.” Protect the Veil. “I’m not sure I can make you understand this, Corn. There has to be balance in both the Spirit realm and within the living. Life and death follow each other in a never-ending cycle. Your child dying could serve another purpose in you and your wife’s tapestry. We do not get to decide and control when someone dies.”