Cabal Building

[Campanella]

"Share knowledge..." Campanella nods along while he muses.

"Now that is a fascinating subject for the table," the Moros selects another delicacy and eats it slowly while he ponders the subject. "You may find this strange but the spell I am most fond of would be Eye of the Magus. Yes." He nodded. "A basic working of the Prime Arcanum; Initiate unveiling rote taught by my Order... A common rote to be sure, no doubt each Order has its own version... I like it so much for it opens the third eye to the true wonders of the Supernal that surround and filter down to us. Fills me with a sense of awe and mystery every time I work it. And... a simple joy that I can. Yes, I can improvise a weave with the other tools at my disposal but there is nothing that has the sheer visual impact that touches my soul. Workings of matter are... mind numbingly practical in application... and some might say mystically heavy. And well, Death is Death; dreary and heavy with meaning... drained of colour and soul... But that working of Supernal Vision..." The Moros reaches out and upward with his free hand, trying to express what words cannot grasp.

He pauses, coughs exasperated and stares across the table to the Thearch.

"I am Alchemist. I should be lauding the wonders of transmutation. But they are practical magic and Eye of the Magus is a work of the soul. Heh... That is about as succinctly as I can put it. What about you?"

He drank from his glass a little hurriedly.

[Benji]

"There's something I find very satisfying about mending things." Brother Rat toys with his glass, spinning the wine slowly within. "People, animals, plants. Not thing-things," he clarifies. "It gives me a sense of immediate gratification, like I'm being productive and making the world a better place, even if just a little bit."

"But one of the Truths that the Mysteries of Life hold is..." Brother Rat scrunches his face up, dredging up the wordage of an old lesson. "Let's see, one of my teachers said that 'all living things reflect all other living things and are thus reflected in turn'. I never could master the Rotes based on those lessons that they tried to teach me, they described it as 'reaching inside of the subject pulling out a new reflection to see in the mirror'. What works better for me is feeling more like I'm standing behind someone, with my hands on their shoulders while I encourage them to..." He makes a tossing motion with one hand as if he's releasing something. "You know, go out and be different. Plants are easy, they're like, super eager to please. Well, complex ones are. Fungi and Molds aren't, and neither are insects, but they're all not really bright enough to put up much of an argument. Higher-order animals are more difficult, Birds are crazy or arrogant or both, most rodents are very timid, cats are too vain, dogs are very... dog shaped, there's a lot of inertia there, and they share that with reptiles. Fish are weird in that it takes a lot to get them started but once you hit that point it's super easy."

Brother Rat looks a little abashed. "Sorry, rambling. I like changing things into other things. I don't think it's related to alchemy though, not unless you broaden your definition of alchemy to the point where almost anything can fall under that umbrella."

[Campanella]

"You like the process of transformation and change. If it is as you say, I would hazard that you enjoy instigating a change and seeing what evolves from your instruction. So not Alchemy. Power, perhaps?"

Campanella laid down his glass. His tone was not judgemental; he could have been talking about the weather.

"It sounds like you have a strong affinity with your Arcanum."

He snatched some finger food.

"I must admit that my skills are somewhat lacking in that regard. My mentor had... other uses for me... and a very different focus for my time."

[Benji]

"I'm not sure?" Brother Rat responds/asks. "Power for the sake of power doesn't really look good to me? I mean I'd be lying if I denied that it appeals to parts of me," he grimaces, "Other than it being sort of reprehensible, I'm not sure if there's anything actually stopping me from... say forming a cult dedicated to my aggrandizement and support while I deepen my understanding of the Mysteries. I get that it sounds kind of sappy, but I want to make the world a better place." Brother Rat shrugs. "It's very much a 'big picture' goal, so for now I focus more on the journey and not the destination."

Brother Rat nods, deciding to approach the topic of Mentors from an oblique angle. "It's my understanding that the Silver Ladder isn't a common choice for those on my Path. There's a lot of reasons, I'm sure, but to me it seems that there's this undercurrent that suggests the lessons it has for us are more suited to the other points of the Diamond." No one has ever actually said to his face that the Mysteries of Life were not suitable for a politician, but there was a lot you could infer by reading between the lines. Brother Rat had never been able to shake the feeling that some people, often Warlocks or Theurgists, looked at his Path as a small mark against his character. "So Mentors that shared my Path were in somewhat shorter supply for me. Every one I've worked with was involved in things that precluded taking on a full time apprentice, so I've had to take a lot of lessons apart and put them together with other ones and do a lot of self teaching. What kind of lessons did your Mentor have for you?"

[Campanella]

Campanella chewed slowly while Brother Rat spoke.

"Wanting to make the world a better place is not... sappy as you call it. That is a wonderful calling to have. The Sleepers may be quiescent but that does not make them any less people. I would say that your desire actually demonstrates your Wisdom. Perhaps more Wisdom than what is being currently expressed by some of our leaders," he added tentatively.

"My hopes are less general. And more objective."

He did not need to elaborate.

"As for lessons. Well... Mine was a Consilium at war, you understand. A shadow war. What passed for the D.C. Consilium was still quite fragile and poorly organised. It was all hit and run tactics and spy craft. Cordoba - my mentor - made a point of teaching me the principles of the Prime Arcanum. Yes: one supposes that could have been because she was one of the Mighty; I would hazard some of it was to teach me the beauty of the Supernal and introduce me to the inner workings of spell craft. Mostly though, I believe it was to impart the importance of counter magic. In a city thick with Seer pylons, my masters wanted me to survive. Any other training was a distant second. I had... contacts... then. They wanted me to turn my peers against the Seer's agents, even if all I could manage was interference and annoyance."

He raised his glass to his lips.

"She definitely imparted to me the importance of rotes over improvised casting. But of course, she was never able to... teach... many of them to me. Its something I will no doubt explore once I have established myself more firmly."

[West]

Brother Rat makes agreeable noises and excuses himself.

Been a week since Benji has been on/posted, time to close...