Food, Drinks, and a chat

[Chambers]

He nods. ''That is all I ask. No work or research no oaths. I to know how to alter them. And thus understand the less then secure nature of such things. Just a secure location is all I ask.'' Which he seems to be willing to do. ''Maybe she could I do not know, but we never made any sanctified oaths just words between friends as you and I are doing now.'' She was the one who got me thinking about about what would happen to my work should I die.

He frowns a little now, confused. ''How is me securing an additional safeguard for something careless? If I die any defences I have in place will eventually unravel or be broken. Ensuring someone who is capable is watching over the work is far more secure.'' Oh maybe he thinks I need his help right now. ''While I live my defences hold and can be tended to or reworked if needed.'' Something I assumed was a given. ''While I live nothing at all is required of you.''

He positions the pad so both can see it. ''Everything here represents connections. The connection between legacy mentor and mentee is intimate and remains so, the nature of soul craft ensures that.'' Another reason to be careful of your tutor. ''So yes mage to mage should be easy if I just chase the legacy back.'' In theory. ''However my tutor has scrubbed our connection clean. Something powerful mages do regularly.'' Heck I can stop my sympathy in a number of ways. ''Beyond that many mages practice occultation and to that their stronger will to contest the spell, and other difficulties. It becomes very hard to scribe the names of mages from long past.'' He holds up a hand. ''Yes I know what your going to say. How do I plan to scribe the name of an Atlantean mage then. The most powerful of all.'' To which I say. ''I haven't figured that out yet.'' It is one of many monuments hurdles.

[Philip Crosen]

"Never mind. It seems I misunderstood you. You`re absolutely right to be prudent to keep your secrets safe in the future."
he said, dismissing it. He`d inadvertently questioned his life`s reason for being, so he felt it was right to placate him by agreeing with him. After all, he did mostly agree with him. But only mostly. And he just wanted that topic to be over.
"Oh, that part I understood- that you have no need of me right now except to safeguard later. Not that that makes it a lesser responsibility, but still. Nevertheless, as long as I don`t have to join your legacy, I`ve got no problem helping you achieve your goals, even while you`re still alive."
he said, before continuing. And he meant that too. He would support and uplift Chambers, if asked, because he was his friend and for no other reason.
"Just don`t count on me doing fancy spells or delving into Death, as I said. But I`d be happy to do some research for you."
he asked, leaving the offer up to Chambers to accept or refuse.
"But I do have another question for you. If even your tutor scrubbed his sympathetic connections to you, despite the bond you described. And seemingly didn`t give you knowledge of all his work, then how do you guys get any progress done at all? Does each Stone Scribe have to start from scratch? Surely there has to be some sort of joint effort? This is exactly why the Free Council believes information should be free among the Pentacle. Because if it was and always had been, I think you`d be in contact with an Atlantean mage right now through your legacy because the dead mages wouldn`t be stonewalling your efforts, pun intended. And the little-steps-approach I described would have worked."
He then turned around, surprised. That wasn`t the question he wanted answered from Chambers. That was obvious even to him as an outsider. Really, even I can see how you`re planning to do that. Your idealism is way more obvious than you think it is, Chambers. Hah. he thought, chuckling loudly as he continued, while Chambers threw up his hands, seemingly flabbergasted.
"As for how you plan to scribe an Atlantean mage? I think you`re counting on them letting you scribe them because they know it`s for the good of all, or something like that. Am I right? I believe this because I think they represent an ideal to you just as much as a person. A hope for a brighter world as soon as you get their sign. Otherwise I don`t think you`d be pushing as hard as you`ve described."
He then paused to think, another series of questions popping up in his mind. Very personal ones.
"Just how far can you go back with your own powers right now and what have you personally achieved so far, on this mission? And as for occultation or will, I mean I know Time is a thing, but just how much will and resistance can dead mages still exert? Have you been able to quantify the increases with time? After all, surely a dead person can`t resist as strongly as an alive person can, unless he was wayyy stronger still when he himself was alive, or am I getting this wrong?"

[Chambers]

And there it is the thing he can truly respect about Philip the ability to listen to reasoned argument and adapt to it. Not getting bogged down in a war of pride. I think it is what enables us to make the head way as we do. ''I appreciate it. Truly I do.'' Knowing that someone even a libertine would have the collection was more comforting then knowing seers could get a hold of and abuse it.

As for the offer of aid. He raises his eyebrows. ''That is generous of you. If however in the course of this endeavour we find connections to grimoires, supernal artefacts, abyssal secrets that should never be known.'' And all where a possibility. ''What would you do with the information?'' Because I can for see this being a matter of conflict.

He coughs to clear his throat. ''She was the apostate I scorned by joining a pentacle order. When she learned of that she scrubbed the connection.'' A choice that has yet to play itself out. ''Otherwise when we encounter each other, yes we do work together. Stone scribes I mean.'' We even have joint libraries and strongholds if enough of us are in residence. ''But as any legacy our numbers are small enough most of us do not know the others.'' And besides. ''Beyond that having each working on separate tracks is a good model. You never know when a road might dead end, If it does thee is some comfort in knowing other still work on other roads.'' Only one person has wasted time and effort rather then several.

He shakes his head. ''No.'' Far from it. ''I have no knowledge of the attitudes or personalities or even states such mages will be in.'' And I can't take the risk. ''I don't expect them to let some random spell from who knows how far into the future just target them like it was nothing.'' I'm going to need to muster as much power as I can if I ever make it that far. ''It is unlikely I will finish in my life time. I have accepted that.'' Hence such a need to pass along my work.

Another awkward cough. ''Right now. erm well. One month.'' Which is better then it sounds. ''I am close to achieving sufficient skill in death however that broadens that to indefinite.'' That's right death not time. ''The dead themselves cannot contest the scribing effect. Burt whatever I use that sympathy for.'' Which is where time does come into it. ''That they can resist with all the might they possessed in life.'' So a lot.

[Philip Crosen]

"Do with the information? Give it to you, of course. I can be a team player when needed. But I`ll be honest with you. If I find info that`s also relevant for my work for the Trust, and only then, and we`d have to discuss that on case-by-case, then I`m using it there also. My thinking was both our fields could enrich each other, tackle the Lie from different approaches, as it were. I give you info that pops up from my work, connections and research, and in turn you help me form more connections for my work? But that`s the extent of it. You may remember I told you that I`m sworn to secrecy on much of my client work too and I won`t always be as forthcoming on that front, either. Just because we`d be working together, doesn`t mean we`d be entitled to every secret of the other, and I respect that. "
He then got lost in thought, So that was that famous apostate he keeps mentioning. Guess they really had some beef with the Pentacle to get so draconic.
"Do you remember what the problem was that your Apostate had with the Pentacle? Did she mention it to you? Because that`s quite scorched-earth, if I do say so myself. And it also almost seems childish of her, from an outsiders point of view."
he asked him. And he was genuinely curious about this. Internally, he finished the thought: Was it the same problem I have with the Mysterium, just more extreme? I mean, I could see their closed-mindedness as having burned quite a few bridges across time. He couldn`t help but laugh internally at the thought, the irony of that hypothetical clear as day. But of course, that topic was much too serious for this as he remembered from the one-on-one discussion in the Circle that his Apostate contact was a major sore spot for him. So he continued his serious, outward deadpan for much of that discussion.
"Sure, working seperately is a good idea. Decentralized, franchise-like structure models are sound. But I thought when there`s fewer, they know more of the others, unless of course they try to keep themselves hidden from each other. Then again, from how I understand it, your work is too important for you to just advertise who you are. I can see that. Have you ever bothered trying to actively seek out others of your Legacy, besides your Apostate friend? And how would you go about scrubbing your connections?"
he thought out loud. He then had an idea spark.
"So what you`re saying is you need to find out about the states they were in and attitudes they had when they were alive? Sounds to me you need to do some research on your targets. And then ideally communicate with them through Time to explain the situation, have them let you scribe them. And to ask them to do the same with their own precursors? Although that runs into the same problems with the Time arcanum, doesn`t it?"
He asked him, despite being the one of the two to have significantly more knowledge of Time. This discussion was having the effect of increasing his understanding of the interplay between Time and Death. A truly fascinating facet he never thought he`d be talking about at the start of that day. He then frowned at him.
"But surely, even your current capability of a month has some effect. Although of course, that `only`probably means contacting recently deceased mages that might have been active in the 20th century. And they most likely weren`t Atlanteans, unless you believe the universe was created last Thursday? Who knows, perhaps there`s some truth to the meme. But how do you go from one month to indefinite? That sounds like an incredible leap. Good for you."

[Chambers]

He rises an eyebrow. Somehow I think this might not work out so well. ''And if I deem whatever you pass to me as needing to be locked away, what then?'' For most things surely would end up in the The Athenaeum. ''What if I decide that its something that should not be shared?'' It is important to understand that the work of my legacy and this side project are not the same thing.

He shakes his head. ''You know this is something of a difficult subject for me. Another time perhaps but, not today if you don't mind.'' The other question gets an answer. ''Death, space, prime, time even fate has ways of hiding, removing or changing sympathy.'' That just fell into the preview of those arcana.

He chuckles. ''How many mages do you personally keep in contact with from your order or path say? It is not as simple as having a directory book with them all listed.'' Mages are elusive, secretive and suspicious by nature. That is the status quo, trusting only those they must or have very good reason to.

He actually snorts. ''If researching Atlantis was that easy we would not have so many questions.'' You might as well research the Oracles themselves. ''I will give all the years of my life to this project and even if that spans several decades I almost certainty will not mange it.'' To reach so far back, to build such sympathy and over power those I hope to educate me it is all such a tangled mess.

And now confusion. ''One month would not get me out of this year, never mind decade or century.'' I thought he knew time? ''It is the same leap anyone makes as they progress through advanced uses of increasing the duration of a spell, only rather then penalise my efforts I must achieve degrees of knowledge of our craft to access it.'' But yes, month to indefinite quite a common jump.

[Philip Crosen]

He gave Chambers a surprised look. He hadn`t expected him to be so dense as to require him to spell out what he meant.
"Oh, it seems you misunderstood me here. I understand the difficulty of reaching Atlantean mages, as well as the time spans involved. And I understand you said you could `only` go back a month. But you can use that to contact elder mages that died less than a month ago when you find one, and such an individual might already have been active in the 20th century and so might be able to do something themselves in the last couple of weeks of their lives at the height of their power, such as to go even further back.

You said more recent mages were also difficult to reach. So I suggested researching about mages that `only` lived a few hundred years ago, or perhaps only as little as 20 years or so ago, not Atlantean powerhouses. Someone could try reaching them with Time to try to talk with them to convince them to let you scribe them, once you can reach them. And also to continue the Stone Scribes` ideas further back in time by inducing them into your Legacy and to relay you that info forward via Time. Obviously they`d need to be highly skilled in Time for this to work, in addition to Fate and Death and hence the research. Then you could use that to reach even further back and try the same thing again. Basically, I was trying to find some way to incorporate decent knowledge of the Time arcanum to speak with past mages in order to incrementally overcome the resistance barrier, theorycrafting, if you will. Not that I`d be willing to do that, but still. It was just an idea. And if it`s promising I might even be convinced to help you with that. Again, only as long as I don`t have to join the legacy, though."
But Chambers gave him another thing to think about, his Apostate friend. He`d inadvertently done what he already decided during the one-on-one in the Circle was a bad idea. And that was, mentioning the Apostate, at all. Granted, Chambers brought it up and he`d been curious. But now it seemed was the time for damage control.
"Sorry about that, yes you told me. Never mind then. You`ll tell me when and if you`re ready of course."
he said, giving him an apologetic look.
"How many I stay in contact with? Less than you might think, actually. I mean, I have my contacts but not that many mages to be honest. Although we keep something similar to a directory like you just called it. But I know some of our overarching strategy and my role in it. That`s enough for me."
And so it became the time to placate him again, and explain his position in plain english, that Chambers had apparently refused to understand.
"As I said, it would have to be decided based on the situation and I`d of course explain the value a specific item would have for my work, if it comes up. That is, if it`s a sufficiently pressing issue for you. As long as you don`t demand every every single thing be locked away merely out of principle and without considering my explanation, I`d acquiesce and accept that you lock it away. Hey, I`d give you all the backups, delete it irretrievably from my systems and possession, not share it with anyone and take it to my grave. In such a case, well, it`s not exactly the same thing because I`d be helping a friend. But I`d inofficially treat you as one of my clients I`m sworn to secrecy over, hence why I can confidently give you my solemn word on what I just said. Would that be acceptable?"
he asked, giving Chambers a questioning look. It was the best he could do to stay true to himself, while helping his friend and not crossing over to becoming a Mystagogue himself. And that was a thought he shuddered over. Waiting for an answer, he interjected, looking at his order tool-slash-phone that was paging him that he`d had a new e-mail. His next client beckoned him and the time had run away. Well, he hadn`t lost track of anything and it was mostly an excuse to give Chambers time to think about everything they talked about, but it also happened to be a perfect coincidence.
"I`m sorry, but it seems I have to go quite soon. I thought I turned my phone off, but this seems to be important. We can discuss what we just talked about in a few weeks in a reciprocal visit at my place? Let everything sink in what we discussed? How does that sound?"
he asked, giving him a note with his adress on it, just in case he hadn`t already given him one. With that, he respectfully waited for Chambers to answer his questions and give him leave to exit his sanctum, before departing for his own sanctum again.

[Chambers]

He was going to continue but then the phone went off and he waits politely. Contemplating.

''No, no of course we rarely have the luxury of a spare afternoon in our world do we.'' He smiles. ''You have given me much to think over and shall do.'' He stands and will see to getting the washing up into the bowl. Offering to drop Philip somewhere if needed, or seeing him out the door if not.

Thank you the scene it was very interesting. I am both curious and excited to see where this goes in the future.