Markos walked up to the Crone's temple and took a deep breath. In one hand was a large thin case that held the Acrylic painting with the woman on it. He was nervous. He knew this woman was powerful and he had never been comfortable in temples and such. But Obsidian and Dirge trust this woman then he will give her the benifit of the doubt.
Markos walks into the Foyer and asks,"Is Heirophant Circe in." With the ascent of the person he asks, "May I speak to her please ?" His voice is quiet and scratchy, the normal boyish bravado not present.

In attendance at the Old Temple is a young woman with dark hair and ill-fitting clothing. Markos recalls seeing her at the most recent court, apparently a new arrival.

"She is here," Moray says. "Wait here. I will see if she wishes to speak with you."

She walks off, then returns a minute or so later. "She will talk with you. Please follow me."

She directs Markos to the sanctuary area of the temple. There he finds Circe dressed in her ceremonial robes. There are some ritual implements on the stone altar... bottles, jars, a basin with what looks like bloody water in it.

More immediately capturing his attention, though, he notices that Circe is accompanied by a wolf at her side and, looped over the back of her neck and circling one arm, a long, thick-bodied rattlesnake, nearly 6 feet in length. The snake turns its yellow-eyed gaze at Markos as he enters, flicking its black and red tongue. Circe turns toward him as well. The top part of Circe's face is shadowed by the hood of her robe.

"Deputy," she says. "Welcome. What can I do for you this evening?"

"Hello Heirophant, please Call me Mark, I apologize if I am interrupting anything. Did you need me to combe back later? Mark asked but it was evident on his face that he really, really did not want to come back later. The black case swayed a little in his hand as he looked at the animals and then back to he beautiful leader of the Circle of the Crone.

"Now is fine," Circe says, stepping away from the altar. "I had just finished with something, so you aren't interrupting. How may I be of assistance?"

Mark set down the case next to him and unzipped it. Taking out the Acrylic painting and set it down on a table. He looked to the Heirophant and then back to the painting. The painting was of a Woman with long flowing black hair. Her figure was obscured by a long flowing red robe but the most apparent feature was her lack of a face. It was blurry, fogged out, like the reflection of a Vampire in a mirror.

Mark waited to see what the Heirophants initial reaction to the painting was.

Circe says nothing for a time, instead taking time to study the painting. "Tell me about this painting," she finally says.

Mark looks to the painting and then to Circe, "Heirophant, I think I should tell ya the insperation for the painting." Mark said.

He paused for a moment unsure how to proceed. "The woman in this painting, and countless other paintings, sketches and drawings I have at my Haven, is a complete mystery to me. She has been showing up in my dreams for several months now. Sometime she is dressed in a robe like this, sometimes she is only covered by her hair. Sometimes she is covered in blood. The thing is, she never has a face. Her face is always cloudy like this." Mark stops letting his eyes rest on the Heirphants waiting for a response to what he had said.

"I see," Circe says. She is silent a bit longer before asking. "In your dreams, this woman... does she speak, either to you or otherwise? Or does she do anything of note? How do you feel during and after the dreams?"

"No She never speaks, Just jestures. Holding her arms out for me to come to her. Sometimes her arms... snake out and envelope me. In the dreams I am always bewildered and fearful. When I wake up I feel the same and sometimes." Mark pauses for a moment or two, unknown how much he should tell the Heirophant. He doesn't want to look weak in front of the woman. Especially now after everything that has happened to him. "Sometimes I feel a warmth. Like that of being needed or Wanted. not a Sexual thing but.. yeah." Mark said finishing his statement. Maybe coming to Circe wasn't such a good idea....

"A spiritual warmth, perhaps?" Circe asks. "Tell me, Mark... do you subscribe to any particular spiritual beliefs?"

"If by Spiritual you mean a religion, I was raised Catholic. But I consider myself Agnostic. If by Spiritual you mean Covenant, Well I am Agnostic there too. Unless I get some proof in either case." Mark responds.

"Proof is a hard thing to come by in regard to matters of faith," Circe says, her blood-red lips curling into a smile. "That, after all, is part of what it means for something to be a matter of faith."

She reaches out the hand of the arm the snake is wrapped around. Her fingers, and the snake's tongue, almost, but not quite, touch the surface of the painting. She then turns toward Mark.

"I suspect this woman in your dreams represents a visitation by the Goddess, or one of her agents," Circe says. "I cannot offer you proof of this, but I do have some ideas how you might seek an answer to this matter."

"The Goddess... I figured you would say something like that. So how can I find out whats going on?" Mark says skepticly.

"Whether the figure in your dream represents the Goddess or not, the answer is most likely to be found within yourself," Circe says. "Many cultures and faiths have means of looking inward... vision quests and the like. I have means of inducing the proper mental state for such a purpose - in fact, I assisted one of the Circle with a similar matter in the recent past - but there are other ways as well."

"Alright lets do it. Tell me what I need to do." Mark said, Dirge trusts her as does Obsidain... Mark reminded himself.

"I will mix a concoction, which you will need to drink," Circe explains. "It is poisonous to our kind, but it also opens the mind to visions. If you can withstand the ordeal of the poison, these visions may lead you to the answer you seek."

"I am ready Heirophant, and ... Thanks for this." Mark said his face still Void of the playful smile.

"Don't thank me yet," Circe says, as she starts to take things out from a bag behind the altar. "This should give you the answers you seek, but the process may not be enjoyable."

From the bag she takes a carved wooden box, about a foot wide and long and 8 inches deep. She opens the box and removes an item wrapped in black silk... a gilded goblet, decorated with mystic runes. She also removes from the box first a small, clear bottle, from which she pours a couple teaspoons of clear, green liquid into the bottle, then an even smaller bottle of brown glass, from which she pours perhaps a half-teaspoon of fine, black powder. Then she holds the goblet near her snake's mouth. Circe hisses, and the snake opens its mouth in response. She takes its head in one of her hands and presses the sides of its upper jaw with her fingers, causing droplets of yellow venom to drip from the serpent's fangs into the goblet. Finally, she uses a glass rod to mix the concoction before handing the goblet to Mark.

"Drink this, and draw it from your stomach into your blood," she says. "This is the first step of your journey."

Circe's eyes are not visible beneath her hood, but the snake's eyes are. It watches Mark, unblinking, apparently curious what he will do.

Mark needs to roll Resolve + Stamina to drink and keep this acidic concoction down. If he succeeds, he needs to expend one Vitae to absorb the drug into his system, and this inflicts 1 Lethal gamage and an additional loss of one more Vitae.
3suxx

Mark takes the goblet from Circe and looks into the glass. He sees the acrid liquid floating in the glass. Mark says nothing as he took the goblet and taps the bottom of the goblet on the table, as if taking a shot, and drinks the Acrid liquid down. "I've *cough* tasted *cough* worse." Mark says without any struggle to keep it down. He burns a Vitae to absorb the drink into his system. That is when the burning starts. He feels the poison running through his system burning away, Digging and driving through Parts of his anatomy that hasn't been used in years.

As the poison makes it's way through Mark's system, his joints begin to ache as every muscle in his body seems to be on fire. Slowly his vision begins to blur until there is nothing but blackness and a small pinprick of light in the center.

After a short time of floating weightless in an expanse of nothing, the pinprick of light begins to expand. Suddenly, he finds himself ina void of white as bright as the other void was dark. There is a woman standing before him. He regocnizes her instantly as he had drawn the curves of her body and shape of her face dozens of times.

Her face is clear this time, however, Her dark eyes look at him as if she were baring his soul. Her slender arms reach out for him and there is a slight smile on her full lips. She seems to be gesturing for him to come to her.

Mark shakes his head and smacks himself in the head a couple times trying clear the cobwebs. Mark moves toward her and asks "Who are you?" with his voice echoing through the open expanse. "Why are you haunting me?" the echo comes back and Mark picks up the pace trying to catch up to her.

The woman smiles slyly. "I am the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. I am the Savoir, the Creater, and the Destructor. I am the woman who holds you tight at night, the one who kisses your forehead while you sleep, and the one who embraces you when you die. I am the world, the void, and everything inbetween. I have been calling you for some time now, Markos. Why have you ignored my call?"

Every time he takes a step she seems to be one step further. He feels as if he is walking through water and he cannot seem to reach her. No matter how fast he tries to move, she still seems to far away to reach.

"What do you want with me?" Markos asks Answering the question with another question. "How do I know this is real and not some drug induced dream." Markos' pragmatic mind forced him to ask. Markos then stops wading through the sludge like water.

Mark looked within himself and felt something that he had rarely felt before. Hope, maybe all this is happening for a reason. Maybe the years he spent in servitude and slavery, maybe loosing his family and his embrace was for a reason.

The woman seems to stop moving away from him and her arms fall to her sides. She inspects him for a time, as if he were a bug in a jar. "What do I want from you? I want to give you what you have been asking for, Markos. It is up to you to have the faith to grasp it. Do you not want a family to hold on to? Granted I cannot return your lost loved ones but I can lead you toward a different kind of Family. They will embrace you. They will accept you as the person you are not the person they expect you to be. Isn't that what you want Markos? To be wanted and needed for yourself? To be the master of yourself?"

An elegant hand comes up and points a slender finger at him. "You called to me Markos and I answered. How do you know this isn't a drug induced dream? Faith, my dear. It is all about faith. Do you have faith in the Dark Mother Markos? Because I have faith in you."

Mark hears her words echo through him. And he feels them ring true. Those are the things he wants. He knows this has to be real, she knows to much. She wants him, she wants what is best for him. Markos Drops to his knees, bloody tears burning from his eyes.

"Mother, Dark Mother Help me." Markos says, "I am lost. Help me please. Help me find my way..."

The woman smiles and shakes her head. "I have already shown you the way child. Did you not come to my temple to find me and seek the aide of one of my Priestesses? You know the way. You are on the path as we speak. The only thing left for you to do is open yourself to me. Then your learning can begin."

She stops and tilts her head to the side, considering him for a few moments before continuing to speak. "What your Sire did to you was foul. It is time to let go of such negative memories. It is time to move toward a more positive goal. If you wish to join my children, then they will be more then willing to open their arms to you and accept you. Perhaps you could find solace in the wisdom of my temple."

Her face and body begin to fade and the darkness starts to creep in on him again. He can feel the ache in his joints and the fire in his muscles, but even that sensation seems far away. He can feel the hard floor beneath his knees and he knows he must have fallen to his knees back in the temple as well.

"I have already accepted you as my child. It is time you opened yourself to me. Seek the wisdom of my children."

And then the blackness takes him.

When he opens his eyes he is back in the temple. Circe still stands before him watching with a sort of detached curiosity.

Markos looks up, a face of near shock with a mix of sadness, Joy and understanding on his face. "Hierophant." Mark said in a low whisper. "The Lady, The Goddess, she came to me." His voice was dry and scratchy as if he had been yelling.

"She said..." Mark paused trying to find words, "She was so beautiful." another pause "She said that she has accepted me, and to follow the ways and to seek the wisdom of her children."

Circe nods her understanding and begins to put away the ingrediants to the potion she'd made earlier. "Seems as if you have had a powerful vision. What do you think she means by seekinjg out the wisdom of her children?"

"It can only mean one thing," Mark raised himself off the ground and looks to the beautiful leader of the Crone, "Heirophant, I wish to join the Circle of the Crone. The Dark Goddess came to me in my time of need and has shown me a path. She said she wants me to join her family and they would welcome me." Mark's voice is exasperated. His face shows his exhaustian but his eyes show hope. "Will you?..."

Circe gives Mark a slow smile. "Of course we will welcome you. The Dark Mother has seen potential in you and has brought you to us. We would be doing you and her a disservice by turning you away. Welcome to the Circle of the Crone, my child."

She spreads her arms as she speaks, encompassing the temploe and everything in it before letting her arms drop and considering him for a few moments. "I know you have been spending a good deal of time with Dirge of late. Maybe she could counsel you on what path you would like to take within the Circle. Or perhaps Primogen Nagaraj can assist you as well."

"Thank you Heirophant," Mark gives a bow to the leader of his newly found Covenant and family. "I will speak with both of them at my first opportunity." Mark said. "Is there any kind of Initiation or ritual or anything?" Mark asked

Circe considers the idea for a few minutes but shakes her head. "I think speaking with the Dark Mother was initiation enough. As far as I am concerned you are now of the Circle. I am sure the others will be fine seeing it that way as well."

"Thank you Heirophant," Markos said, "May I be excused I want to go talk to Dirge and begin on my new path."

She motions toward the door. "Yes. I am glad to see that I was of some help. Have a good evening child."

End Scene