A Sentinel and a Herald

[Zodiac]

Gathering the man a glass of water, she chuckled a little bit and shook her head. "Within our duties we are cogs, but our duties alone do not define us," Zoey responded as she set the glass of water before the other and took a seat again with a smile. "Purpose and duty are often overlapping, but they are not the same." Of course, she'd already spoken with Asp on the subject of purpose and will a little bit, but she hardly knew this man well enough to offer further information there.

"At the end of the day we are no longer mailmen, office workers or firefighters... at the end of the day we are simply who we are."

[Animus]

Animus nods quietly. "I suppose it's as reasonable a view as any. But ... I look at a machine." One hand almost unconsciously traces along the table. "I see something that doesn't live, that doesn't grow. That barely even exists. To describe people as parts in a mechanistic context, is just a bit chilling."

A long pause, as his gaze drifts idly around the room. "I understand what you are saying, though. Perhaps I just need to think of it in a more biological context."

[Zodiac]

"To say that a machine doesn't live or grow is to limit your way of looking at machinery," she smiled a little more. "The human body is a mechanical system of pullys, levers, fuel... from infancy through until adulthood, however, it is ever growing and changing. An ecosystem is also a machine of a sort, each part contributing something to the greater whole... but those contributions do not mean that it is all that any being is good for."

[Animus]

"It's not ... not the same." The shaman's eyes drift closed as he lets his attention drift outward. "Life glows, I can feel it. You, me, even the smallest insect or blade of grass. But this table, for instance," a quick rap for emphasis "is just a blank emptiness. How are those the same?"

[Zodiac]

It took her a brief moment before she rested the palm of her hand gently against the table, looking to the Thyrsus with a smile. "Do you mean to tell me that the essence of the spirit within that table... means nothing to you? It's desire to contribute to the whole is not relevant? You limit yourself, Animus."

The smile became more full as her other hand rested flat against the surface. "All things are part of the greater whole, they desire to be. Those who are dead still contribute to the machine, those who are alive, things that are stationary, things that are mobile, the very essence of magic. There is nothing empty about this table," she shook her head. "This table holds purpose as well. If it had no purpose, it would not exist, would it? This table is our meeting place. This table is an element of our discussion which allows us to understand each other better, thus allowing us to work more efficiently together. This table is a gateway of a sort..."

[Animus]

A short nod. "Everything has a spirit, it's true. And perhaps something I could use reminders of. If you don't mind ..."

A hand traces several inches along the table edge, before tapping twice. A gentle nudge. Not to awaken, just to stir the spirit that slightest bit that would make its presence felt.

  Coaxing the Spirit

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-10-05 16:40:52		Animus rolls 10 to Gno + Spi (10 Again)		6, 10, 1, 5, 8, 10, 10, 4, 9, 5, 9, 5, 10, 3		7 successes

"It exists, it stirs, and yet ... it slumbers. It could still be more. I suppose the same can be said for any of us, though."

[Zodiac]

There was a gentle smile on her features as she nodded lightly. "All of us are capable of more. All things are capable of more." Her hands moved away from the table as she gave both Animus and the object in discussion a surprisingly warm smile.

"Perspective and the changes one has in perspective are the things that give importance. It isn't impossible that the table itself would feel sad to think that you felt that it had no purpose... All things have purpose. To say that we are cogs in a machine is an indication that we have a purpose that may be greater than what we can see. But that is not all that we are. It's important not to forget that."