[Anyone who wants involved can know about this: through Ginger or another avenue. There's probably a note posted in the kitchen at the chantry, et cetera.]
On a certain day at a certain time in a certain room of a certain house west and a bit south of Denver proper, a meeting is in progress. Or, rather. A meeting is just starting. Sera brings beer enough for all, and of course her own rather sweet ass. She's sitting on the spine of the couch with a beer in hand, wearing her usual bustier-and-cut-offs combo, with thigh-high black lace stockings, garters disappearing beneath the frayed hems of her cut-offs. Cold outside so instead of putting on an actual shirt with actual sleeves, Sera layers on a sherpa lined leather coat, which she wears even inside. Drinking as she waits for whoever is going to show to show.
[they could also have gotten news of it from Sid! Sam: Sid would let Trent know about the meeting and it's meeting place.]
Sid is there, half-sitting half-propping herself up with one leg on the arm of one of the couches in the Chantry's formal-living-room-turned-rec-room. She's dressed in jeans and dark multi-colored socks, and an old sweater with a neck wide enough (stretched from age mostly) to slide off her shoulder from time to time. When it falls, she hikes it back up, and she takes a sip from the bottle in her hand. She needs to go shopping for fall/winter clothes but between work and studying for school and studying for magic and trying to have some semblance of a social life there simply hasn't been the time.
She waits with Sera and whoever else is already there - probably Jim because he probably needed a ride and she was probably at his place or in its vicinity. Her contribution to the food is a 50ct plastic container of chocolate chip cookies from Safeway, tossed onto and swirled around the largest platter she could find in the kitchen.
Shoshannah lives at the house. She spent weeks (with help from Kalen, Lena and Sid) perfecting the autumnal, Halloween-y (elegant, atmospheric and spooky, not kitschy) decorations amongst which the assembled mages of Denver sit. This is to say, of course, that she's here - and that her contribution to the days gathering is a plate full of a layered feta, tomato, green onion and dill salad-dip-thing with crackers next to it, and a home made array of juices from whatever was left in the vegetable gardens. Even Death's handmaiden can't kill Verbena (and Sid!) tended gardens, or so it seems. And the girl who can't go unnoticed even when she tries sits in an out of the way corner, the better to listen. It behooves the Guardian to know what's going on in the city, after all, even if the vast majority of her time is spent out here, at the house. She's dressed as casually as she ever is in a cute skirt that falls just above where her finger tips reach on her thighs and may be butter-soft brown leather, a long-sleeved shirt in coordinating fall colors, knee socks and slightly wedge-heeled clogs with the top part of her hair caught back loosely in a barrette to keep it out of her face. Her piercing-cutting blue eyes study everyone in turn, but she's not the most outgoing of sorts. Only Sid (and maybe Kalen) get hints of smile, and for now the Dreamspeaker only speaks if she's spoken to.
++++++++++++++++++++
Garrett is new. He arrives with Kalen, maybe, or on his own in his American-ish sedan (by which we mean American company, but still probably made in Mexico or somewhere in Asia or something) dadmobile having gotten directions from his friend. He comes bearing wine, both white and red, mid-range in price but pretty darn good quality for what it is. Sera (and everyone he doesn't already know) gets a nod and a smile, all friendly and charming and every inch the professor. "I'm Garrett," he tells anyone who looks at him questioningly for now, though the full introduction will come when everyone's arrived and settled, if and when reason for him to speak comes.
"Doctor Garrett Franklin in the mundane and academic worlds. Or to those in the craft, Kyriakos Socrates Magnan, Sixth Degree - Adept, or Disciple in the common parlance - of the Order of Hermes, bani Quaesitor," comes to this end. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. I gladly offer my abilities to your aid."
There's the confidence of age in his voice and bearing; he's easily older (by appearance, anyway) than anyone here, resting as he does in his mid- to late-forties. There's also that gregarious charisma, all inclusive, and the feeling of stability, subtlety, renewal, and scholarship.
When Grace arrives, there are several cars out front, and somewhat more than a few resonant notes in the air to follow. In the mix, she can't quite place them all, but it's not unexpected.
What is unexpected are the Haloween decorations, and Garrett, someone Grace has not yet met. She gives him a little smile and a hello when she notices him, as she has been doing to most Mages she's met. However, when he goes on with all those titles and names, she affects a noticeable distance. Oh, a sixth degree Adept bani Quasar, eh? And you had to wait for everyone to arrive before educating us on how awesome you are? With a few words? Please. Well, then she certainly isn't going to be afforded any respect, having no titles nor wanting them.
She goes and sits with Sid. Sid's cool. Grace starts bringing up biology concepts almost as soon as possible, to stave off boredom, and give her something to think about other than the actual topic at hand. This is done with complete disregard for whoever might be unnerved by the Science talk.
Grace's uniform of the day is a jeans and tee combo under a gray turtleneck jacket. The t-shirt is black and reads "I play keyboard for the Internet"
As soon as Garrett walks into the room, or as soon as Sid feels that slightly unfamiliar array of resonance, she rises and quietly goes into the kitchen. When she returns her beer bottle has been exchanged for a glass of water, which she holds in both hands as she takes up a different seat, this time next to Shoshannah, in that sort of out of the way place that gives her some distance from a man who makes her uncomfortable. Not as uncomfortable as some have, but uncomfortable none the less. There she will remain unless one of the Hermetics tries to draw nearer. She offers the Dreamspeaker a small, slight smile, one that widens when Grace arrives. The science talk is a slightly uncomfortably distraction - one that very quickly becomes considerably less uncomfortable the deeper into biological concepts and theories. Sid tells Grace she's been working on that rote she tried, that she's trying to make sturdier, more durable plants for people - friends really - who she thinks would probably not take good care of them.
Lena is there of course; the Ecstatic is generally always there at the Chantry and while she has been focusing on the mages' headquarters itself while others have taken on matters regarding the film, she does make a point to be here so she stays in the know. She comes down from the upstairs as people arrive, her auburn hair left to fall freely around her shoulders. She's not dressed up for the occasion because...well, there's not much reason to. So it's a simple black T-Shirt reading "Kill Your Heroes" in the blocky text of AWOLNATION'S band logo, a pair of close-fitting blue jeans and a pair of strappy sandals.
She looks around the room, smiling to people she knows: Grace, Shoshannah, Sera, (possibly) Jim and Sid of course. Garrett she only briefly knows, but she gives him a little smile of greeting before she moves to congregate over with Sid and Shoshannah, sitting down next to Sid.
-----------
Garrett isn't the only Hermetic making his first visit to the location. Sid has informed Trent about the meeting and where it will be, and he has promised to attend. The academic parks his car and slips out, adorned in tan V-neck sweater over his white dress shirt (no tie, collar unbuttoned) and the sort of tweed jacket that is practically a cliche for professors with a good pair of slacks and sensible dress shoes. He walks with that vaguely strange gant that others have seen of him; it doesn't come off like a limp or anything that actually hinders or pains his movement; it’s simply that his leg is a bit oddly positioned, a few degrees to the side than it should be.
He makes his way around and he knocks instead of just entering. Once he is let in he smiles politely, graciously thanking the person who answers the door and slipping into the <i>de facto</i> gathering place in the rec-room. He knows several people in here or has met them before; he walks over to say hello to Sid, extending a hand in warm greeting and gives Grace an equally warm one, even if the Virtual Adept has been a touch wary of him (for reasons he understands). Sera and Shoshanna, he has not met and he makes introduction to each of them:
"Good afternoon, thank you for having me. Aereias ben Lakhsmi, bani Fortunae of the Order of Hermes."
Each of them get extended hands as well, though he isn't offended if they don't take them.
Once those greetings are handled, he finally moves to say hello to Garrett who he knows and (perhaps oddly, considering their status within the same Traditions) is slightly less warm to. He is very polite though and engages in a bit of small talk before moving to take a seat off to the side, away from any individual person.
Whitney is totally here. She wears the winter garb she picked up at Buffalo Exchange last month and would drink the hell out of a beer but she's underaged and doesn't want to get her hosts in trouble so she doesn't drink anything. When she spots Shoshannah sitting in the corner by herself she gives the Dreamspeaker a look like not today, weirdo and sits near but not all-up-ons next to her.
How do you like them apples.
For those who've never met her before: "Hi. Whitney Terrell bani Euthanatos. Nice to meet you."
Shoshannah, who'd thought she'd be alone and quiet and out of the way finds herself surrounded by the majority of Denver's female mages and with some old dude Hermetic - oh, right, that old dude Hermetic - introducing himself to her and is a little alarmed and a lot bemused. The initial impulse is to shrink in on herself and she does a bit, for a moment, but relaxation comes fairly quickly when Trent moves away. It's enough that she even offers, like Whitney, in a voice that crackles with the temper that even now feels just barely contained. Sure, most people already know? But not everyone does.
"Shoshannah Mitchell, Dreamspeaker. Chantry Guardian."
Táltos poured clear fire (liquid) from a flask onto the ground when he first arrived. Táltos brought some bread: crusty sourdough, gold as coins, white as milk, Amish Friendship Bread, but he dropped it off in the kitchen when Sera gave him a tour. Táltos is loud. He doesn't sneak up on people. His boots clomp, his bracelets and cling, the fabric of his jacket swishes and the zippers of the same tink. His voice carries. So when Táltos is there, there is no surprise.
Táltos: a man in his mid-to-late twenties or early thirties or heck forties isn't it hard to tell sometime? And the discerning reader of fantasy might already know his name. Táltos: deep-set expressive eyes, straight eye-lashes, vaguely aristocratic arches to the eyebrows, large hooked and sharply delineated nose, cared-for mustache thick the points waxed up, sallow-pale skin, a face comprised of expressions, of mobile-mobile-mobile expressions, thick mane o' dark brown hair, kept down by a felt fedora. He is not shy, and curiousity is alive in his eyes when he meets any Magi he hasn't already met (most of them), lives in his eyes like something glinting off the sinuous back of a re-surfacing eel, lives in his eyes like poking a stick in a bed of coals and finding a live one, lives in his eyes like some more woodsy metaphor might help with. Seated, knees poking up - this gangling thing - he rubs his long fingers occasionally, kneading around the knuckles, and also drinks something from a travel cannister which smells sharp and herbal, stinging nettles and other green things.
He's not very secretive. He introduces himself to whoever he talks with, but doesn't make a general announcement. He has no idea how many Awakened individuals are in the city or connected to the House like spokes on a wheel. "Táltos Horváth." If they've given him their Tradition or he overheard them giving somebody else their tradition, they're given a phrase in Hungarian, which is followed by the more courteous: "Dreamspeaker."
More specifically:
He swings by to say hello to Grace and is chased neatly away by science talk. He doesn't remember Sid, though probably in part because - as he broods/complains/scoffs to Sera earlier, "I don't know what saint or god sneezed on me this morning, but their phlegm has given me a cold of feeling," and promises himself he's going to figure out which saint or god did the sneezing, and then get rid of this mild headache and an inability to distinguish resonance, feeling it only as a bruise when he feels it at all: like knowing there's fire at the center of a stone, but only holding the stone.
And Shoshannah, as another Dreamspeaker, gets an enthusiastic hello and an interested it's always fascinating to meet another shaman; we should speak later.
--
I decided to roll his awareness n' see what he made of all these new resonances. The answer: NOTHING. Bad dice. *grin* He has a "cold of feeling," instead.
Dice
[Táltos' Awareness.]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 4, 5, 5) ( fail )
Dice
[Boo, botch.]
Howl
[witnessed!]
When Táltos is there, there is no surprise. Except for one Mage in this house this day, seeing him there suddenly is a surprise, and not an altogether nice one, either.
Sid feels that barely familiar sensation of beguiling lustiness, that joie de vivre slide over her skin and she shudders. She grabs Shoshannah's hand but doesn't crush it, only holds it, cold as it seems to be, in hers which is forever offering warmth. The science talk dies dies down for a few moments when the other Dreamspeaker wanders over and Sid sort of starts to curl in on herself. Grace is forced to carry on that conversation alone for a bit, but that's okay, the Virtual Adept is more than up to the task. Needless to say, she doesn't introduce herself, her voice completely stolen away from her throat. After Táltos has wandered off to someplace else, Sid starts to relax a little. After all, she's literally surrounded by friends. She is in a cluster of smart, wonderful young women off away from the main group.
And after a little more time has passed, she remembers she's holding a glass of water in her free hand, and she drains it.
=====
niko @ 1:46PM
[Sidley Rhodehouse, what is your awareness in this meeting]
Roll: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9) ( success x 3 ) VALID
niko @ 1:53PM
[int+alert: Do I remember j00? not sure if analytical applies for int but let's see what happens. diff +1 for each month since meeting, -1 because you freaked her out]
Roll: 6 d10 TN8 (2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 3 ) VALID
niko @ 1:54PM
Yeah. Yeah I think she remembers Taltos hahahaha
jamie @ 1:56PM
Hahahaha