(2401) Consilium

[Witch]

"We are not Free Council." Her words were not said loudly, but there was no give or apology in them as her gaze flickered to Philip.

"Seeking the everyone's agreement on acknowledging someone seeking it worked when there were only 3 of us. There are now 5. It grows prohibitive as has been noted."

She turned her attention to Chambers, "I appreciate your attempt to soothe concerns about power being housed in a single role with rotating it but," a slight smile as she called back to their conversation some days back, "I'm always a proponent of simple."

"I suggest picking path or order and letting the respective set up of those acknowledge. For those who arrive where there is no representative of whichever we choose - whoever they speak with first gets the honors. I would suggest Path."

It was after all what she had pushed already with Walker. Leaning on Philip to declare or not declare.

Though. Then again.

That could have been just because no one else had been willing.

She paused for a second to let her suggestion be considered before continuing.

"As far as criteria, again, as already noted, we've all done it. So far the standard has been a name, a confirmation that they seek acknowledgment, an agreement to support-slash-defend-slash-etc our city, and then a question on if they bring any risk with them. A yes to the last doesn't result in a denial of acknowledgment, but we do need to know that if acknowledgment is granted, that we can be ready for whatever is on their heels."

[October]

To Winter, “I as well, would like to see our numbers grow. I bring it up now because with our low numbers, it would be easier to implement and give everyone a chance to get used to it. Change can be difficult.” For some more than others.

A shrug to Philip, “Do we really expect a bunch of people to not show up?” bouncing it back to him. “Some might see our lows numbers as chance to prove themselves, to make a name for themselves. We simply cannot predict with any real precision the future of new arrivals.” As an Acanthus he should know that. “The only power you speak of is Acknowledging a new arrival, I hardly consider that concentrating or giving someone too much power. They won’t speak for the Concilium as a whole when it comes to more pressing matters, like say if someone broke a Law. Any friction is caused by peoples on beliefs on how simple Acknowledgements should be done. If this Concilium was large enough, and Acknowledgements were done by Path or Order, would you have this much of an issue with it?” or is it simply the push back against any form of structure you have? “Would you then raise issue with how another Path or Order decided who they wanted in the city? Especially if it was someone you took issue with?” bigger picture here.

“I had thought that was pretty straight forward. Every time I’ve been through a city, it’s usually the same thing, who are you, what’s your Order and have you ever broke the Lex. We all want other Awakened in the city that we can work with to keep ourselves safe.”

A nod to Chambers as he chimed in, “Exactly. We waste time on prolonging Acknowledgements, potentially losing someone who could benefit us.” This was why she hated and avoided places without an existing structure.

“Respecting each other’s right be secrecy also requires trust on both ends.” And there was a large lack of trust in this room.

Witch provided logic with her words. “I believe Path or Order would be the best way to go. And like you said, leaning more heavily on Path, as they are the most likely to be represented.”

[Winter]

"Let's not turn this into a match. For now, given our numbers, setting a procedure is really a matter of organizing for the future. Paths sounds fair, even though, given how close is the community, I won't object if in absence of a path representative, acknowledge is dealt swiftly by an appropriate substitute", he felt they were really splitting hair at this point.

[Chambers]

Witch says what he had been trying to avoid falling back on. As true as it is, to isolate and push away is only going to make this harder. 'I agree Winter, This doesn't need to become more than it is.' The least to say, but the only one to try and keep things cool.

Turning to Witch. 'What you suggest serves both to provide some structure, and assuages the concerns raised.' That it was in a different form from his suggestion didn't bother him in the least. 'So Yes I concur. Path works best to my mind because to also gives apostates someone to go to.' A little surprised he is the first one to openly consider that such mages exist and might wish to join. 'Likewise those criteria are nothing more then we expect of ourselves and each other so work for me just fine.' She might be young but has a decent head on her shoulders clearly.

He gives a moment for any further discussion on the point but a majority were in agreement it seemed.

'Now if I might, the day wears on. While some of the agenda can be tabled for other meetings there is a point I feel needs raising. That being item three.' He steels himself now. This could very likely be unpleasant. 'Shortly after arriving I noticed the lock to the Mysterium wing had been taken out of the door.' There's a bloody great hole where it should be. 'I raise this here hoping it is some property of the circle that it opens the wings when membership falls to nothing so new arrivals can access them. If not it is a very real concern.' Because mystagogues know better then to leave the door to where they kept secrets unlocked.

[Philip Crosen]

Philip took a while to answer, thinking for a long time. He was kind of annoyed by October`s venom although he wasn`t surprised after his scathing criticism earlier. When he did speak again, the first point was mostly adressed to Witch, but also all others present.

"No, you aren`t Free Council but I can`t help but being affected in my judgement and opinions by being one, or playing devil`s advocate. So please bear with me. I also have to admit you guys were faster at adressing my concerns than I expected. So I guess I apologise if I made a big deal out of it, because this sounds good."

He then turned to October.

"Yes, I believe this status quo is going to stay like this for a while, but as you said we can`t know for certain. And yeah, order-internal business is obviously order-internal business."

"With that said, I`d accept the idea way we just discussed it with path as the go-to and rotation."

After some time spent letting his acceptance and semi-mercurial turn-around sink in, he turned to Chambers to adress the next point of concern.

"A hole where the lock should be? So your Order`s place was totally insecure? Interesting. I didn`t notice anything of the like in the Free Council section."

He then turned to Winter.

"What about you guys, notice anything? Winter, as probably the longest resident guy here, is this a thing, what Chambers said? Is it something to be concerned about or does that have anything to do with the mysteries sorrounding this building or whatnot?"

he asked, with a questioning frown. After all, this was a concerning issue, if it was an issue.

Then again, if only Pentacle Mages know of this place and could enter it, it wasn`t that big of a problem. he thought.

"Speaking of that, have there ever been people in here who weren`t supposed to be here, just for the record?"
he asked curiously and concerned, wanting to set the record straight.

[Witch]

Witch felt her back teeth press together and didn't fight it. She didn't quite need to count to 10 but she did to 5 anyways.

And so it was decided. Even though they were still small, acknowledgement would now be handled by Path.

An eyebrow lifted at Chamber's announcement regarding the missing lock to the Mysterium section. She had respected the boundaries even when there were none here, so she hadn't noticed the lack in all her times here. But no doubt he was uneasy at the discovery. Though it seemed late to be bringing it up.

She shook her head slightly in the negative, "I noticed no such issue."

[Winter]

"Not uninvited", is his curt reply to the Libertine. The mention of the mysterium's vaults elicits a raised brow. He knew Campanella wouldn't have skirted on security.

[October]

A quick nod to Winter, “Sounds fair.” She was truly surprised the idea was embraced, expecting full push back from everyone.

Chambers brings up the Mysterium issue, and she was curious to see how it would be received. She didn’t really have any answers for the questions he presented, so she’d have to rely on the others. “I’ve volunteered to take a look at where the lock was with some Time spells, see if I can find any useful information.” It was really all she could offer.

Looking to Philip, “It doesn’t sound like it was unsecured, it sounds like it was broken into. I hear that a lock has been taken out of a door as a being broke into, but maybe that’s just me.”

But it didn’t sound like any other wing had the same issue. “Worth keeping an eye open.”

[Chambers]

Well things sure got quiet fast. 'I'm in agreement with October that a lock removed from within the door strikes me more as a forced entry. But as no one seems to have the same issue or have seen anything, just keep our wits about us for the time being.' Seems like I have a targeted problem to handle then. Not to mention how do I go about securing the wing to prevent this happening again? 'With any luck it was whoever was here last being courteous enough to leave it open.' That remains as the only non concerning option at any rate. For the gathered mages it is clear that, now he's spoken of it, unbottled this secret, it is something that weighs on the necromancer.

Problems for another day. 'Well then back tracking to point two.' So far this is going alright. 'I would like to keep a record of our history for those who join in the future.' A pause let the idea sink. 'Somewhere accessible to all but out of immediate sight. I'll clear an attic space, basement, the organ loft, something like that.' Address that concern first. 'So that those who come after us do not face the same lack of direction and slow start we have. Things like the map of ley lines and hallows, records of threats that need monitoring or hotspots of supernatural activity.' Not personal details or the like. 'That way they can be brought up to speed and made useful faster.' While I'd usually prefer to keep things on the need to know, with so few utilising what we have is going to be important. 'These records would of course be open to a vetting process and anything considered to dangerous for public knowledge moved into the Athenaeum ... once I have the security issue sorted out and tightened up.' Which I most certainly will. Somehow.

[Philip Crosen]

Philip was shocked, and spent a while thinking about what had been said and implied. "I agree, that is what it most likely means. I just didn`t want to consider the possibility because as Winter said, no uninvited person gets in here. So yeah, using time magic to look into how long this problem exists is prudent to see who could possibly have anything to do with this and how long ago this happened."

he said, looking at everyone present, reaffirming October`s, Winter`s and Chambers` points, in a smooth and relaxed manner. Somehow the air in the room had gotten tense with the unspoken accusations making the rounds and Philip possibly having become the unwitting target because of his failure to adress this as forced entry from the start. All he knew was, whatever was wrong, he didn`t do it, he was sure of it. So he felt he had nothing to prove and Philip remained unphased and relaxed.

Chamber`s idea surprised him as he`d thought about that idea, just from a Free Council perspective, as well. We think alike, Chambers. Too bad you have to go and ruin it with your Mysterium protocols about information exchange. he thought, still with no small measure of admiration for Chambers nevertheless.

"Good idea, Chambers. Speaking of that, should one of us be writing whatever is said in these Consilium sessions down to add this info to the collection Chambers suggested we make, and how high is the risk of someone other than us obtaining any of this information?"

he asked, looking around the table questioningly. The last point, he tried to formulate more as a rhetorical question, hoping others got his gist, as he`d basically already asked the same question to Winter, just without the analysis of probability and likelihood part he implied at the end.