An Info Dump with Cookies

[Thirteen]

The Free Council wing of the Circle of Creation was... a bit of a mess. Much of the interior had been long out of use, and it showed. There was, however, a small central area that Thirteen kept clean and functional for times like this. Well lit, dusted, respectable. Mainly it consisted of a old table and chairs for meetings, with some storage space. As Order Sanctums go, it was kind of sad. One could only imagine that the Diamond Orders kept their wings in better overall condition.

The Acanthus was seated at the table, leaning back in her chair, booted feet up, and busy scrolling social media on her phone. Her leather jacket was hung on the back of her chair. She was otherwise dressed in black jeans and a blue tee with crossed white lines, an approximation of the Scottish flag.

Set upon the table was a six pack of cans of something called Irn-Bru, and a couple boxes of what appeared to be shortbread cookies shaped like dogs. Thirteen had one can open and resting by her feet.

Also on the table was a crow, who was busy eating one of those dog-shaped biscuits. Well, he was pecking at it, anyway.

The Free Council Sanctum currently has just one dot in Size, so this is as fancy as it gets. Welcome Salem and Zhu Wu

[Zhu Wu]

The Obrimos walks in and sets a paper bag on the table. "Big place for the three of us. Although I guess that might be true for everyone here in Sacramento." He opens the bag and pulls out a box of 6 assorted doughnuts and a small box of coffee. "These come from a place I passed on my way here. They look good but I can't really say. And this," he pauses as he pulls a small package of Sichuan beef jerky out of his pocket and looks at the bird, "is for the one who wasn't in on the email. Familiar or just friend I thought I might see them again."

After getting a paper cup of coffee he walks around the space examining things and sipping a little coffee before sitting down and taking a shortbread. He nods to himself in thought before sprawling completely at ease. The mix of his relaxed posture and casual attire of chinos and a green Henley makes him look like a grad student waiting for a seminar to begin.

[Thirteen]

The Acanthus looked up from her phone screen as Zhu arrived. "Better to have the room and not need it, then need it and not have it, aye?" She set her feet down and leaned forward to pick up her soda can. "Place was in complete disrepair when I first arrived. I try to keep this area cleaned up for meetin's. I'd like to do more, but I haven't found the time." She took a sip before speaking again, "Thanks for comin'. We can start once Salem arrives."

The bird eyed the Theurge cautiously, but perked up at the offer of food. He hopped over to inspect the jerky. "I didn't know we had our own Uber Eats!"

Thirteen rolled her eyes, "We don't." She turned her attention back to Zhu. "This is Jinx, my familiar."

The crow picked up the package with his beak and hauled it back over to his mistress. "Open this! And give me one of those coins!"

The Enchantress sighed and fished a quarter out of her pocket and offered it to the black-feathered avian. Jinx took it and bounced over to the Obrimos, where he deposited the coin on the table in front of him. "A tip for you, my good man!"

[Zhu Wu]

The quarter is tossed back to Thirteen with a chuckle. "Glad to meet you Jinx. No need for a tip when someone brings food to friends and associates. Unless you are going to start asking for something special." After the exchange the phone comes out to kill time until the third member appears.

[Thirteen]

Thirteen, working to open the jerky package, just watched the coin bounce back her way and come to a stop. She did not touch it, expecting that Jinx would come to fetch it. Which he did.

"No no no no!" the crow fluttered over to grab the shiny quarter, then brought it back to Zhu. "I insist you keep!"

The Acanthus watched this a moment before adding, "Please just humor him. A gift for a gift. It's a crow thing."

"Yeah!" the familiar returned to his mistress, very curious about the jerky. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You sure you want to try it, Jinx? This stuff is spicy."

"Gimmie!"

"Your funeral, lad."

[Salem]

"He should be fine..." the Warlock says as he enters the Libertine Assembly Hall, if you could call it that. "Spice only really effects us mammals."

Salem is dressed in a pair of acid-washed jeans and a t-shirt beneath a wind breaker. He's got a white plastic bag dangling from one hand. He pauses a moment to look over the new face, giving him a curious if wary once over from multiple angles as his detached sight zooms about like a drone around the area, unseen but seeing all, or at least most. He tugs out one of the chairs before setting his bag on the table. "I didn't know what folks wanted so I erred on the side of non-alcoholic." He pulls out a trio of bottled waters and a quartet of Mexican Coke bottles, setting them on the table before settling down. He turns his head towards the Theurge, though his gaze never left the man, or himself, or Thirteen for that matter. "Howdy. I'm Salem, Mastigos."

[Zhu Wu]

"Zhu Wu. Theurge" He turns back to the bird and picks up the coin. "Ah, a gift is altogether a difference beast than a tip. Thank you."

With that exchange over he watches the two longer serving Free Councilors. Seemingly a good diverse group and, from what he's gathered, now a significant minority in the entire Consillium.

[Thirteen]

"Hullo, Salem. Ah, right! Only mammals are affected by capsaicin. In that case, enjoy." She took a piece of the jerky out of the package, tore off a small chunk, and set it on the table for the bird. Jinx pounced on the piece of dried meat, pecking away at it.

"Thirteen, Acanthus," she added for the record. The redhead nodded at the snack and beverage offerings the other Libertines had brought. "It's all good. Thanks. Welcome, both of you. I thought it'd be a good idea for us to have a little assembly. Lotta shite has happened in the past year, and you both should be kept up to date. Also, you can bring up matters you want to talk about. No one's in charge, after all. I'm just playin' Host. Sound good?"

"Num num," the crow nibbled at the jerky. As predicted, the spiciness did not appear to affect him in the slightest.

[Salem]

Salem gives a nod and a grin, popping open one of the sodas with a bottle opener on his keychain. "Nice to meet you, Zhu Wu. Good to have a Theurge in the area again," he says.

He turns his head towards the Enchantress as she speaks. "Hey, Thirteen. How's it going? Is that shortbread?" he asks without actually 'looking' towards the container. He does reach for it, snagging one of the cookies without even looking at where he's reaching, at least to the others in the room. He munches happily on it before swallowing a swig of soda after.

He nods as the Acanthus makes clear the exact nature of this meeting. "Yeah.. Would definitely like to know what I missed while I was gone..." he says, turning towards the Obrimos for a moment to explain, "I took a bit of a hiatus from the group for a good chunk of last year. Was dealing with some personal stuff, but now I'm back."

He turns back towards Thirteen. "Good. Don't need any leaders this time, eh?" he asks with a roll of his eyes.

[Zhu Wu]

Zhu Wu nods at the Enchantress's mention of being the Host. Clearly a group this small didn't need even minimal hierarchy but some level of structure to a meeting was good.

"I hope that the personal issues were resolved successfully," as he turns to Salem. "It's fine if you don't want to sidetrack things but can I take the mention of no leaders this time to mean that there was an issue within the Free Council prior to your absence? Or perhaps in the entire Consillium?"

While waiting he takes another shortbread and refreshes his coffee from the box. "My biggest questions relate to any threats I should know about as I set up a sanctum. I will mark the area in adherence of all rules but my security both physical and magical will be weak at first." A sip of coffee. "Other than that I got the distinct impression that you," indicating the redhead, "were slightly surprised by my stated willingness to cooperate." A smile flashes at both of the others, "Hopefully that isn't because I've walked into an active war zone."