"Oh yeah! Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim!" Midas said, chuckling. "That's a name you don't forget anytime soon."

He looked to Olympic. "Alright, makes sense. Personally, I was never good at sports. That's why I got an MBA- the worst physical activity you have to do in business is go out golfing every once in a while, and no one cares if you need ten shots to hit a Par 3." He elbowed Olympic gently in the ribs. "Plus, you get to get wasted at the 19th hole, which is the best part in my opinion."

Midas raised an eyebrow at Paracelsus' question. "No, I haven't got a clue who we're meeting. I thought that was kind of the point- be all mysterious and stuff to throw us off guard, make us quake in our boots. Kind of like pledging for a frat, although hopefully with less assault."

The conversation drifted on for a few more minutes before being interrupted. With the soft beep of an electronic keycard, Hierarch Faux entered the room followed by two other members of the Consilum. He did a quick count when he saw the others gathered in the room, smirking and waving the other two off into the other room without a word; the followed seemed used to this type of behavior, quickly shuffling into an attached bedroom and closing the door.

"My apologies for being late. I was hoping this wouldn't be the first impression I made." Despite having almost as many years on him than any three of the newly Awakened combined, the Hierarch carried himself with the strength of a much younger man. His blond hair was slicked back over the grey that grew at the back of his head, and his jaw seemed to set itself firmly at the end of every sentence. There wasn't much information to spread on him from their collective pools of knowledge. Hierarch Faux had maintained his role in Chicago for twenty years, appointed by the previous one before they stepped down. He had previously served as the Thyrsus Councilor for the prior twenty years, and was rumored to have roots in a powerful political family within Chicago.

"I'm glad you all seem to be getting along, hopefully that is a portent of things to come." He chuckled softly with the words, the barest whistle at the end of scattered words. "I'm also sure you're tired of that kind of talk, leaving the sleeping world and being treated like some sort of miracle- too many want to 'bang the boat,' if you will. They would call a bad lunch an omen if you let them stare at it long enough."

He shook his head, obvious stopping himself from going on a tangent. "Let's not talk about that, however; I called you here because I like to meet all the movers in my city at least once. I am Faux, Hierarch of the Greater Chicago area. I was hoping to talk to you about your future in this city before the we began libations. Has your Order spoken to any of you about forming a cabal?"

[Private to Mnemosyne: Most of the Chicago Consilium are members that have held their position for a decade or more; the political infighting had become frowned upon once they realized their own population had been dwindling. The only exception was that the Obrimos Councilor seat was currently open due to the mentor having disappeared without a trace for more than a month...]

Mnemosyne nodded deferentially at the Hierarch - who else could it be? - as he joined their group, laughing politely at his little joke.

She was ready to more formally introduce herself when he plunged straight to the point. "My master did mention something to that regard, yes," she replied after a moment. "I assumed we didn't have many other choices, given how few of us there are."

"I haven't met my master, as such," Midas said. "But from what I have been informed, it basically comes down to there being strength in numbers, right? Together we stand, divided we fall, and so on and so forth."

Paracelsus nodded politely to Faux, who was obviously the one they had been waiting for.

"I've been told about the many benefits of being allied with a cabal," Paracelsus said. "I had the impression that we are expected to form one."

Olympic shook his head a bit at the Hierarch's question.  "My... I guess you would call him a mentor, never said anything about forming a cabal, but he's pretty hands off.  It's probably a Libertine thing, let us make our own mistakes and all that."  He looks at he other mages appraisingly, and shrugs. "Sure, why not?  You all seem like you'd be interesting to spend some more time with."

"Well, some of you, at least." The Hierarch smiled at their reactions, nodding in agreement. "Most of the councilors feel that your arrival within such a timeframe of one another is not a coincidence, something I agree with. No one will force you to form or remain in a cabal against your will, but I won't lie, your appearance is something for the spirit of others." He ran a hand along the side of his head, smoothing his part before continuing.

"However, I didn't invite each of you here thinking that just standing and shaking hands would simply do it all, otherwise I would have sent my Herald. You are not as encumbered to the politics that will take place over the next few days, and since no one else wants to lose their voice in the forum, there is a task that needs to be done. It's a matter that involves a certain amount of discretion, however; I need your word of silence for now before speaking of it. I will assume your staying in the room is accepting my offer, unless any of you would care to leave first."

_____
ooc when Faux runs his hand along the side of his head, your Mage Sight tells you that the ring on his right hand is magical; he doesn't seem to make an effort of hiding it, and you can tell that there is no direct effect tied to it other than raw power.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:54, Thu 08 Dec 2016.

Paracelsus and Hohenheim both perked up at news of a secret mission. Whatever it was, it was bound to be interesting. They weren't going anywhere.

Olympic looks intrigued.  Since his the revelations about Brian on the night of his awakening, the trail had again gone cold.  perhaps a distraction was in order to give some distance.

"I'd want to hear what you need before agreeing, but I'm interested.  Would you like some precautions?  I've been playing around with this imago for a cone of silence type spell I'd like to try out."

"Its not a controversial move as much as helping to plug a leaking hole, if you will." The Hierarch spoke in an encouraging tone as he listened to Olympics suggestion, crossing his arms. "And silence is not a bad idea, if you would. Nothing fancy, of course. Just long enough for those that choose to remain to hear me out..."

Midas folded his arms. "I'm listening, and I'll promise to stay quiet, although I'm not sure what you think we're going to be able to do that you can't."

Olympic smiles at the group like a child who's been told that they can break their piggy bank. "Let's do this!"

He closes his eyes a moment, and intones a couple words in high speech, "^Let none eavesdrop.^"   A ripple of energy is felt, and suddenly sounds heard by the group seem to oddly lack a reverberance that the room had granted previously.  "Ok!  Speak freely, Hierarch."

---

OOC: Creative Thamaturgy! Let me know if I'm doing this wrong

Intended Effect:  Conceal sounds made in a radius around our group from the rest of the room = Forces Veiling

2 Free Reach:
Casting Time
Adv. Duration

Yantras: +4
Concentration +2
Mantra +2

Factors: -2
Scale -2
Range touch

Total Die Pool 3 Forces + 1 Gnosis + 4 Yantra - 2 Factors = 6 Spending 1 Willpower +3 = 9 Dice, no paradox dice.

17:29, Today: Olympic rolled 2 successes using 9d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 2,5,6,9,4,7,6,3,8.  Creative Thamaturgy!  Cone of Silence.

The Hierarch watched as Olympic cast the spell, a grin at the corner of his mouth. "Excellent." He glanced around the room as if searching for his own voice, uncrossing his arms when he saw the spell was still in effect. "I see it comes naturally to you. That is a gift that ill help you along the way."

Rubbing his hands together, Faux looked between the mages again before speaking, as if confirming their own commitment. "With that in place and your assured silence, we can proceed. As I said, it's of a...sensitive nature. Councilman Leviathan, who has been occupying the Obrimos seat, seems to have taken a leave of absence without arranging his affairs or informing anyone that he would be missing. We have been working to track him down, but in the meantime, some of his holdings have gone vacant- specifically ones we don't want to sit vacant."

"Councilman Leviathan had control of a small Hallow downtown, and while we normally wouldn't dip into his affairs, places of power have a tendency to attract all sorts of unsavory types. We would look into them from here, but he was paranoid enough to have a series of wards in place that prevent scrying from a distance. I was hoping the grouping of you, if not forming a cabal, would at least do this job for me together and check on his holdings and report back to me?"

_____
ooc marking 1 Willpower spent for Olympic. Spell completed excellently, thank you.

Paracelsus was ready to jump at the opportunity to investigate a hallow, but she wasn't about to go in blind.  "Does Councilor Leviathan have any specialties that he might have used to protect the Hallow?"

"A fair question. He did not reveal all of his resources to us, as is his right, but we aren't completely devoid of information." Faux went to a desk that was in the room, quickly scribbling an address down on a piece of paper. "Leviathan believed that the best defense was to not be found in the first place, and due to that, it's main defense is obfuscation."

The Hierarch held out the folded paper to the collection of mages, tossing the pen back on the desk with the other hand. "The key is the journey there, not the location. There is a sequence in the elevator of ups and downs between floors that you have to complete before arriving there. I believe we have the sequence that was last being used, although I don't know if he would have changed it in the interim. Of course, any other way in you find would work as well."

"When you find your way into his hallow, reach out to my provost Araxis; I've included his phone number. We are hoping that it may provide some details to where Leviathan is, or at least, why he is no longer in contact with anyone."

"Just tell me we're not going to wind up in John Malkovich's head," Midas joked, taking the piece of paper. "But alright, we'll check it out. Hopefully, he's not dead... or if he is, whatever killed him isn't still around."

Paracelsus was ready to go right then; too bad they still had a meeting and a dinner to get through. She was curious to see a senior mage's sanctum- not to mention the presence of a Hallow.

"I'm sure we'll be able to handle it," she said to the Hierarch with a smile.

"Well, I can assure you we wouldn't knowingly send you into danger. Still, if you feel it is outside of your scope, don't needlessly endanger yourselves; it would be a blow to the society to see our newest members snuffed out."

He clapped his hands together, which notified the two servants to return from the adjacent room to his side. "Now, I understand it is getting late, but you may certainly proceed tonight if you wish; the meeting would be informative as our newest members, but as I'm assuming none of you yet have grievances to air, it could also be somewhat of a bore. If not, then I implore you to proceed early tomorrow, as time could be of the essence."

"Are there any further questions before I take my leave?"


_____
ooc time for a quick one, as it turns out. if no one wants to drill any more information, we will just move forward to the next scene instead of getting involved with the politics of a dinner...

The thought of the missing Councelor being a fellow Obrimos caused Olympic to raise his eyebrows in interest.  He kept quiet for the conversation though, maintaining his focus on his spell, and releasing it when the Hierarch raised his hand to clap his servants to him.

Taking a deep breath after the rush of magic left him, Olympic's smile returned. "I think I'm ready to go out.  How about you folks?"

Paracelsus nodded; she was eager to go. She certainly didn't want to wait around for a meeting. She had been to enough work meetings to know that she would find out a lot about the local mages at one, but that they could be deathly boring at the same time. "We'll report back as soon as possible."

As they left, she asked "I don't suppose any of you knew Leviathan personally? Or anything else about him that might help?"

"I've been doing this for a couple of weeks," Midas said to Paracelsus. "I wouldn't know Leviathan if he were my own best friend. And if he's the kind of guy who builds a secret hideout in the middle of town, you can bet he's not the most friendly or open guy around."

Midas stretched. "Yeah, let's head out. But be ready for anything- who knows what insanity might happen in a mage's hideout?"

"Are any of you experienced in scrying?" Paracelsus asked. "He probably has heavy wards around his sanctum, but we might be able to get a glimpse."

She paused, then added, "I'm not sure if this breaks some kind of protocol, but if we're going to be working together, it would be helpful to know something about each other. I'm Acanthus, I specialize in Fate and Time with a little Spirit on the side."

Mnemosyne shook her head, finally speaking up. "No, thank you, Hierarch. We'll be sure to let you know what we discover as soon as we do."

She kept up her polite smile and poise until the Hierarch was out of earshot before letting out a sigh. "Um, guys? I'm glad you're all excited to get started on this, but..." She lifted up one foot and pointed down at her shoes - heels. "Some of us didn't dress expecting to do any, um, 'fieldwork' tonight. Can we at least stop by my place and let me change? Because I'd really rather be wearing pants for this."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:24, Sun 18 Dec 2016.

Midas shrugged at Mnemosyne. "I don't see how it'd make much of a difference either way. If you want, though, we can just stop off at a shoe store somewhere on the way and get you some sneakers. I can cover the bill, at least."

scene [1.1] fade out...