The biggest shock was again from Corn, who revealed Winter`s Obrimos Path- much to Philip`s surprise, during the discussion about Acknowledgement. That earned Corn an eyebrow, and again got Philip looking between Corn and Winter to see what his reaction to this would be. After all, Winter and Aurora had voiced the greatest concerns about Corn`s handling of the situation, dousing Corn in flak for his poorly thought-through and somewhat tasteless acknowledgement.
Oh, boy. If Winter can find so much impropriety in Corn`s acknowledgement of Witch, I could see him going through the roof over having his Path publicly revealed like this. Philip thought with no small amount of satisfaction, but again keeping it internalized and to himself out of respect for Winter.
Chambers` words about the pre-approved messages were certainly interesting, and heated up the discussion in Philip`s view. But Aurora brought Winter`s concerns to the forefront. Clearly, Corn had been too fast with his questions and didn`t convey them the gravity they deserved, much like Philip had thought, too. Corn`s excuse that he just wanted to get Witch`s acknowledgement over quickly seemed like a bad one when compared with the pomp with which he first adressed Witch as `Magus Witch` all formal-like. But all those things notwithstanding, Philip had to prepare for his biggest challenge yet that day, acknowledging Eidolon. So he let his acknowledgement of Eidolon speak for his opinion on Corn`s beliefs on acknowledgement as a questionnaire, by itself. While he did not want to have a fight with him, he still hoped the other mages could read between the lines from his interactions with Eidolon and understand his position, rather than joining the discussion. So he merely nodded to Corn, Winter, Aurora and Chambers in turn as they presented their arguments and counter-arguments.But it seemed after the discussion had ended, Witch surprisingly gave her answers shortly and succinctly, giving Philip the free info of her Order affiliation, to his glee, as she did so. But nodding to her formally, as she did so as well, out of common courtesy and respect.
Hoping the situation was now at least temporarily resolved, Philip hoped they wouldn`t have to re-visit that subject a third Consilium conference in a row. But it seemed the others were dead-set on making it a primary talking point once again. And that was too bad. After all, they were now substantially more mages than when Philip first joined, so he was at least thankful for the preliminary ruling in January on the subject. But that also made Philip slightly more annoyed that they couldn`t sort out the leadership discussion last Consilium with Winter`s sudden departure.
But he was curious about Witch`s opinions on the matters they`d discussed during her absence, and what she felt about being acknowledged, mostly agreeing with Corn`s questions and earning her a questioning look, that passed between her and Corn in anticipation.
So, waiting for a lull in the action, Philip finally introduced Eidolon. Or, however much he could gather from the texts. Walking up to and greeting him with a smile, but not giving him his hand to shake this time, he started:
"Hi. Eidolon, was it? We texted earlier today, I believe. Anyway, I`m Philip Crosen and I`m pleased to meet you. I`m also a Libertine and Acanthus. And because of our earlier contact, and especially if any of those two also apply to you, it falls to me to Acknowledge you in this Consilium."
After letting this fact sink in, while somewhat-expectantly looking towards him, giving him the chance for a reciprocal answer on his Path and Order affiliation but not pressing the subject, he continued.
"Anyway, so.... What more can you tell us about yourself? And, I`m curious what brought you to Sacramento, of all places and if you know how long you plan to stay. Are you one of those mover-and-shaker-types?"
he asked, a half-jest-smile briefly playing on his lips as he did so, before getting serious again, hoping he got the gist and questions asked even if he asked semi-casually, among other things. So he gave Eidolon a longer while to answer these questions before continuing slightly more gravely.
"And more importantly, and this is again just to be clear from the start. But do you bring any trouble with you?"
he asked, still conveying the gravity of the situation, while still giving him the chance to introduce himself somewhat- less formally than the stifling way Corn had done, holding off with the question about defense of the Circle until he`d answered the previous questions. After all, Eidolon seemed quite shy, given his erlier text, asking for permission to come inside, and now seemingly waiting on Philip to present him.