• Fate is the Occult Engine behind reality.

The strings of Fate are akin to plumbing, wiring, and the moving parts of the machine. Reality is the final output for everything that goes into it. Fate is the RAM and Processor. The fine wiring of a motherboard, circuitry delicate and ever present. If I can learn to read and better understand this ‘programming’ that Fate uses, perhaps a greater understanding of its interconnections will come about, and lead to a deeper computing capability.

A better understanding of the Changeling’s Oaths may also prove beneficial in understanding the programming of Fate.

On other notes, I’m looking into a deeper use of the Keeper’s of Knowledge Legacy. Various activities that could be done:

• Collectors and Recorders of History and Knowledge
• Couriers of Knowledge
• Spy network
• Protectors and Keepers of Knowledge… duh
• Researchers
• Database of Supernal Expertise

I’m looking into getting another member for the Legacy, and it would seem that the Legacy will be an Acanthus based Legacy. Still not sure how it worked out with Poe, but it would seem the Legacy only holds for her while she is within Isidis. I’m looking deeper into that as I can. The most simplistic response would be “there is a slightly different working of the supernal within Isidis than without.” Not sure what, why, how, when, or where… or who, as the case might be. Sadly, that is on the back burner at the time being. Focus currently resides on the store opening, the new library retrieved from the Selomite Order, tracking down the Atlantean Temple under Isidis (which may have something to do with the Legacy thing working for Poe), and of course, finding Smirnoff’s Tass reserves.

Ah, looks like the Drinker’s of Aleph have a full plate for a little while.

Not to mention the conclusion of the task I have with The Free Council. Well, both tasks. The computer, and my ward.

Guardians are present at the library. Portal to the library can be found on campus in the basement of the biology department. As you approach the boiler room, you will find a door marked storage room. With the right password, it will open to the library. Elemental guardians. Unknown state.
Each guardian responds to a different password.
Once inside the temple, will have to find the library, it will be a room in the temple.
• Password for Storage Closet Door: “We do not hold Selomite to be the one true god.” in Arabic.
• Password for Sirrocco Wind Spirit: “We honor the desert wind for its cleansing scourge.” in Arabic.
• Password for Djinn/Ifriiti: “By your grace and wishes three, we demand passage.” in Arabic.

Taking a moment to jot down a few notes about this temple, along with this sketch of the map I am making. Well, considering I am making it in this book as well, it is the map I am making, lol, not just a sketch of the map I am making.

Rupert is along with us, along with the Scribe.

That warrants mentioning today’s divinatios.

• A new place provides new insights
• I’ll follow you into the dark
• Are you certain the scribes goals are your own
• Prepare to find the hidden

Huh, this will be an interesting endeavor. I wonder what we will find in the library. Oh! Moving again! Write more later.

It was with mixed feelings that Poe walked to her room after the Counsel meeting. She was happy that Consuela and Brother Beck were on the counsel. Nero’s place was a given, even if she didn’t like it. It wasn’t the best thing, but also wasn’t the worst. No, the worst thing was Suede. If only there had been a way to stop that.

Poe walked up to her door and let her head fall against it. There had been a way. They had Suede’s soulstone.

Fuck. Fuck Fuck Fuck.

Why hadn’t she thought of this before? Goddamnitall.

It was too late now. They might be able to use the stone to make her step down, but damn if that didn’t seem like something that could bite them in the ass. Even if Suede couldn’t take revenge on them directly, she was clever enough to fuck with them other ways.

If Poe had acted earlier, Suede would still have been angry, but it was better to stop someone from getting something than to take it away afterwards.

Poe lifted her head and went into her room to change. She would remember this. This was another opportunity to learn. And she would remember this lesson.

Been a while since I had time to sit down and write. Where to start?

Hawaii blew up. Holy crap. Though I’ve been trying to keep everyone from feeling like that’s our fault, I kind of wonder myself. It seems fortunate in a way that there’s so much going on in our lives, because it means we don’t have time to sit down and think of the millions that have died and will die because we helped the Archmage ascend. Kind of makes me wonder what would have happened if we had failed. Of course we couldn’t know she would do that, but still. Have the Banishers or Seers ever done something so bombastically catastrophic anytime in recent history? How did killing millions serve mankind’s interests?

The whole New Watchtower thing is one hell of a mind trip. It’s like reality just restructured itself, into a world where destruction is so much more common. Helping new mages learn the ropes is certainly interesting, too – The two apprentices we’re teaching really make me think about what I’ve learned, and it’s very thought-provoking to watch how they learn. On top of that, making sure they learn how to be decent magi is rewarding too. Feels like I’m part of the world again, and not living in a universe comprised of just my Cabal and our personal problems.

Which leads me to think about my recent encounters while shape-shifted and out and about. Saw a pair of rather odd deaths, one an accidental squirrel-pizza caused by my presence, and the other a cold-blooded murder in an alleyway. Death happens, regardless of whether or not I’m there, and though it’s often tragic it does seem sadly necessary for new life to grow. I feel almost as if the city’s trying to tell me something, though, and like an itch on my brain I just can’t quite scratch, I’ve yet to figure out what it is.

Oh well. Back to work.

Poe sat on the park bench with bluetooth firmly in ear and phone firmly in hand. She stared straight ahead, pointedly refusing to look directly at the person sitting next to her or the stack of books he was going through. It would have been obvious to any passerby that she was avoiding acknowledging the man sitting with her, if any had been able to see him.

“So Frank, how have things been?”

“Oh you know, same old same old. Float around, say ‘boo’ get ignored.”

Frank was one of the most self aware ghosts living around the Park that would talk to Poe. A homeless vet that had fallen prey to the more mundane dangers of homelessness, Frank had also been one of the first ghosts outside the cemetery that Poe regularly visited. He had actually come right up to her when he noticed her trying to talk to some of the park’s other permanent residents. He was also a sucker for history books and a fair hand at knitting, both hobbies that Poe had been able to feed during their relationship.

“How would you like something more interesting to do with your time?”

“Like what?”

Frank’s voice didn’t sound the way normal voices did, not to Poe anyway. Despite being loud and clear, it had a strange distant, detached quality that Poe was only able to liken to listening to music through an old shitty stereo with no base. The tone still came through, wary… but interested.

It was a good start.

June 28, 2012
The Word of the Heirarch, delivered by Herald to the Members of the Isidis Consilium:
“Greetings to all of you. I do hope the shockwave that recently ravaged the city and it seems the world did not disturb too many of your workings. In light of the recent events, and with more information now available to me, it seems I need to take a stand on certain things.
“Firstly, the Selemite Order. What remains of the Organization has stepped forward to receive the justice of the magi of Isidis for the crimes they have commited. In review with the Councilors, the Consilium has decided that while Death is no longer an appropriate punishment, neither can we simply turn the other cheek. For that reason, the Consilium has sentenced the entirety of the Selemite Order to Banishment. A week will be given, afterwards any and all loyal Consilium members are expected to contact the Sentinals or deal with them appropriately. In regards to the Selemite Order the Right of Nemesis is given in all domains of Isidis.
“Secondly, the Janni. It is my decision that the Janni represent a great victory in the war against the Exarchs, as the veil in front of Humanity’s eyes is pulled back a little further and more are given the chance to reach for the power that is their Birthright. That being said, the Consilium of Isidis welcomes any and all Janni that wish to join the Atlantean Orders with open arms. Until such a time as the influx of newly Awakened settles down, the Consilium asks its constituent members to act as though Sanctuary had been granted to all Janni.
“Thirdly, the stalemate with the Free Council continues and the war with the Selemite Order has run its course. As such, the Consilium of Isidis revokes Addendum 4 of the Charter and returns to the forms of government present therein, without reversal of any wartime declarations, amendments or standing orders save on a case-by-case basis.

Signed,

Corvin Chambers”

June 28, 2012
Welcome Ryu Hon!
You have 1 new Announcement from P.Murata:

“When I was elected as your President I stood for three things: Progress, Power, and Responsibility. I still stand firmly behind all of those virtues, and more besides. In my time as President I have taken it upon myself to review and familiarize myself with the history of our ‘Order’. As we ourselves tell it, we came to be in order that we might guide and shepherd humanity; not to Awakening as the Silver Ladder would, but to a discovery of their own Mysteries.
“We were formed in a time when radio was new and the telephone was coming into being, when the greatest advancements of Human technology were reaching a level un-dreamed of in ages past. The Free Council rose up to tell the Seers of the Throne that these magical beings, endless in their font of creativity, were not to be touched: We had assumed guardianship. The other orders, seeing an ally in us, then called us Friend.
“From that moment onwards we took on a sacred trust, a trust that often times has put us at odds with the Orders of the Diamond. We tried, even here in Isidis to work with them, and they helped us gain our footing and become a force for humanity. But when they looked to us to aid them in shadow wars that were fought with no consideration for ‘mere mortals’, we could help no longer. We broke away from them and their petty concerns and continued our trust as best we could.
“The Selemite Order, for all their violent means, did not engender that trust. In fact, the Selemite Order, as we have come to find out, is responsible for a greater portion of our trust than we ourselves contented ourselves with. They have kept Isidis safe from horrors we had not conceived as threats. For that, we now turn to the Selemite Order and call them Associates. Any and all refuges from that Order that seek admission will be granted such within the Free Council. It is our understanding that those that remain are as foot-soldiers in a larger war, without motive for malice, and without direction.
“The newly Awakened Janni, on the other hand, form a force that we cannot so pleasantly excuse. The Janni are representatives of terrible things to come: a future the Silver Ladder has strived for since their inception. The Janni represent the Death of Human Mystery, a force which is intolerable to our Trust.
“But we are not monsters seeking to create more Banishers. Any Janni that shows an aptitude for our ways, for our interests in preserving Human Mysteries, can be considered for membership within the Free Council, but their trials will be befitting the so-called Path of Conflict, and the final decision, absent a Senator for the Janni’s Path, will be myself.
I urge all of you to remember our Trust, and represent yourselves and our Order accordingly.”

Wow, I totally fail at keeping a journal. It’s been what…A month or two? I really ought to start dating these things.

My aunt had a dream about me before she died, about how I have a destiny and my doom is a black dancer. It better not be Aaron. That would be altogether too fucked up, and I’d hate to die with “touche, fate, well played!” on my lips. Besides, I like the guy, it’d be a shame to have to avoid him.

Unrelated: Going to be spending some time up on Guardian Hill just observing the place through the gauntlet. Not planning to go back in there and try to talk to the Guardian again, of course…That would be fucking suicide…Holy crap. Still can’t figure out what the hell Nergui was thinking, talking to such a potent spirit in that kind of disrespectful bitchy way. I suspect I’ll never get to find out. Pretty sure she’s fertilizer at this point. Would have done more to save her if I could, but frankly I had to choose the survival of my cabal over playing the hero. I very nearly opened a doorway under her feet to get her out of there, but that would have neatly fucked the rest of us with a gigantic, angry, splinter-covered incarna-level dildo of hatred. Ugh.

Also got that message from Mobius. I’m really glad he’s okay – Even though he had to leave us, I always figured he didn’t really want to. I mean sure, he took the reassignment gracefully and probably didn’t fuss much, but I always had the feeling he was acting in our best interests even when he was being mysterious and offputting. Just a feeling about the guy – He thinks of himself as a bastard, but deep down is a man of strong loyalties. Can’t say much either way about his personal morals, though, and a loyal man can still be a terrible monster if driven too far. I miss his ties.

Anyway that’s it for now. Sorry, journal, you’re getting dusty and my mind’s been pretty occupied with plumbing the mysteries of the magi-verse lately. Maybe I should make a fetish out of you at some point, to like fly around and bash me in the head when I need to clean my brain-cobwebs out with your pages.

To: Drinkers of Aleph
From: :undefined:
Title: So little time, so much to do…

Holy shit I did it. And Ryuhon made it look so hard… wait, not the point.

Okay Alephs, so I found a little hacking toy the Veil just up and forgot to take off their desktop (who knew?) and I only got a minute or two before the firewalls notice my elite computer skills are that of a 12-year old.

Starters, my apologies for leaving so abruptly. I’m sure the Guardians weaved a fanciful tale of flowers and bunnies about how I cried and pleaded for more time, but whatever the story was probably wasn’t even close to true. I’ve been relocated, that’s it, and until the status quo changes I’m stuck here. They said I couldn’t tell anyone or leave a trail, but when do I listen to anyone other than myself?

Anyway, you all are good people. I’ll leave it at that. Don’t screw it up. I may have seemed like a prick and a half, but only to further the cause and take a peek at what we could really be up against and I wasn’t about to bring the cabal down with me. I suppose this where we have the “all for one and one for all” speech, but we’re magi, not French. Even though I went it alone, I was glad I could come back to a group like you at the end of the day. Now every day is business as usual and I try to look out for telltale signs Isidis hasn’t been swallowed into the earth. I’ve even tried to send a little help your way, but I have no idea if it’s made it to you or not.

Lastly, some parting advice I guess. I’ve been reading some Lao Tzu and so far I think some of this will work if you ever get into trouble:
Poe – Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides.
Ryuhon – The words of truth are always paradoxical.
Jack – Man’s enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.
Dina – Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.
Eron – When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
Drinkers of Aleph – It is better to do one’s own duty, however defective it may be, than to follow the duty of another, however well one may perform it. He who does his duty as his own nature reveals it, never sins.

Game on Drinkers of Aleph. Game on. I’m always keeping tabs on you.

So a few days ago, I got into a duel atop one of the tallest buildings in Isidis. A duel fought because some idiot got mad that I shot him after he TRIED TO KILL ME. Honestly, if not for Dina and Ryuhon giving me some damn good explanations of how different Middle Eastern honor can be, I’d be tearing my hair out in frustration about how big a waste of life this whole thing is.

It was still a waste of life, and I still don’t feel good about having cut a guy in half long-ways, but there you have it. An honor duel. Somehow, feeling like ‘more of an Arrow’ for having defended my honor in lethal combat doesn’t seem like much consolation for having taken human life.

On the other hand, I seem to be making leaps and bounds (pun intended) in my knowledge of shape shifting and the Life arcanum ever since. I think taking a human life shocked me into realizing that all life is precious, albeit not in the sense Fern Gully and Disney would have us believe. Life is precious the same way gold is precious – In other words, only really useful for something when spent well.

Will I keep saving lives whenever I can? Abso-goddamn-lutely. Will I hesitate to take a life to save my own and others? I really hope so.

Will I keep turning into animals to go frolick about and pretend I’m not a damn murderer? Absolutely.

Poe popped open Ryuhon’s hood and frowned at the crippled engine. She had a tool kit she had bought from Home Depot that advertised itself as a home motorcycle repair kit, it didn’t matter though, it was just a prop for anyone that might be walking by. She didn’t know how to use the tools to fix anything anyway.

Actually, she wasn’t all that clear on how to fix cars, either.

She closed her eyes and stilled her mind, when she opened her eyes again she understood exactly how the engine was supposed to work and what she needed to do to bring it back up to snuff. It wasn’t going to be hard, but by god was it going to be tedious.

Hours later, she was laying on her back under the trunk fixing the tail lights. One of the bulbs in the middle brake light was out, which would be a bitch to replace. It would be a lot easier to just… change it. Closing her eyes she reached inside herself once more. The filament twisted and changed, renewing itself.

An electric shock hit Poe like someone dropped a toaster into a bathtub with her. She screamed and jerked herself out from under car, managing to bang her head only twice. Stomping around the car and cursing, Poe tried to shake off the pain. Slowly it faded and Poe gathered up her tools. Three tass was so not enough for that shit.

Your recent Adept.magi updates:

VP.Clairday has upgraded her status to Master (Time). (Dec. 31, 2011)

E.Malmanger has upgraded his status to Master (Matter). (Jan. 6, 2012)

JonathonPalier: MIA —S.Leota. (Feb. 21, 2012)

S.Bouwens: Currently in a coma. —VP.Clairday. (Mar. 2, 2012)

SongChadsey has been declared: Deceased. (Mar. 11, 2012)

P.Murata has upgraded her status to Master (Matter). (Mar. 15, 2012)

You’ve been invited to the following Event by S.Epimetheus: Spring EQ — 3D Map Peer Review! (Mar. 15, 2012)

Undated Journal Excerpt, Sometime Mid November

I am so far down this rabbit hole I’m in a dinosaur infested jungle in a completely different book.

Today we met a vampire. A really fucking vampire. Not even Dr Claudia knows anything about them. It was sleeping in the underground and Ryuhon, the tit, woke it up. And then he dragged me along with him to go met it. Didn’t even give me a heads up. He was all like “Poe, I’m doing a thing, come with!” not “Poe, I want to got chat with an undead blood drinking abomination while not having any kind of plan, come with!”

The tit.

So. Anyway.

I think we should sick the Arrows on it. Sure we could get in trouble for waking it up, but only if they find out, right? I don’t even want to think about the cluster that was the high rise.

I also found out that Claire, Erin and the others that I’m sure also have names are some other sort of not properly dead. So there’s that. I don’t even have a name for what they are.

Fuck me. The world is like a thin layer of ice over a bottomless lake, every time I think I’ve found my footing the ice cracks a little more. This shit needs to stop happening.

Oh, where to start. Janine suggested I keep tabs on things and keep records, but I just see them as paper trails. Not particularly agreeable for a Guardian, but for everyone else it’s just fine. Makes my work easier. Speaking of work, there’s a damned laundry list of things to get done. Maybe I should start by writing that down…

#1.) Obtain large enough boat to host dog fighting over international waters.
#2.) Submit design to the Veil (assuming they haven’t made it already…)
#3.) a. Approach Tadzio about legacies.
b. Practice summoning for sake of experience. Actually, this should be point a.
#4.) a. Address the issue of the cabal charter. All of it.
b. Justice for Eron and his crew. Again, this should probably be a.
#5.) Take the BAR exam.
#6.) Think of curriculum for political and ethical teachings.
#7.) Make more money. Make nice with people who have more than me.
#8.) Look into subterranean construct firms and digging contractors.
#9.) Spirits. WTF. That’s all I have pretty much for the time being.
#10.) Infiltrate a secret cult so we can free an Oracle before Isidis is destroyed.
#11.) Don’t get caught.
#12.) There’s a vampire running around and I really REALLY want to catch it. However, I like my blood exactly where it is. Decisions, decisions…

So, yeah. Looking pretty shitty from this angle. I’d hate to waste another favor from Suede only to come up with nothing again. Batting 0/2 isn’t good in the 3 strike system. Someone has to get their hands dirty and it doesn’t take much of leap to say it’s going to be me. You know what? Fine. Let’s see how well all the little devil advocates do against a Mastigos. Now I have a damned good idea what I can do for number 3. It may not be “clean” or “wholesome”, but I GET RESULTS DAMMIT! And that’s what counts. The results. No one argues with results. So here’s where we’re drawing the line. No more concessions, no more looking the other way. Someone has to do the jobs no else wants and I’m sure as all hell not sacrificing my integrity and reputation on carelessness and frivolity. I can find another cabal if worse comes to worse, but there’s no analogue for the Veil. At least not without diving head first into the Abyss. I might come close, but that’ll just give me a better idea of what I’m up against. Just have to tread carefully or I’ll lose myself forever. If there’s something I care about more than anything else, it’s me. I just have to stay focused and disciplined to avoid THAT hubris. Keep it together man, there’s always a bigger fish and it just might be your own demons…

Now let’s get to work.

casts Memory Hole

“So uh…” Jack stumbled over how to proceed, as he stood in a center aisle, surrounded by barking dogs in tiny little cages. Something, deep inside, yearned to set them all free, run with them, howl alongside them. Instead, he was there at the pound looking for one he could doom to a gruesome death.

His gut felt sour, and Jack made a mental note to take something for it when he got back to the sanctum.

The pound worker sighed, and flipped back her obnoxious-pink emo-flip hair, staring at the taller man like he was deliberately wasting her time. Jack grimaced, apologetically.

“Look…I’ve never done this before, and I’m um. Kind of against the idea of pets getting euthanized if I can help them out. Can you show me the ones who’re next up on the train to needle-town?”

The goth girl blinked at him and tilted her head, seeming uncertain whether to be amused or disgusted at his odd turn of phrase.

“Sure, dude. This way.”

Jack slipped into the Undercity, carrying a muzzled, mangy dog, as it wriggled in his arms, trying to bite its way free. The pound hadn’t yet detected that it was developing rabies, making it perfect for what he needed. Still, he felt like shit, carrying the poor thing to its doom when he could much more easily have cured it of its illness.

A long walk later, he stood before the great bone beast, holding his sacrifice. It looked up at him, whining, suddenly vaguely aware of danger.

“Sorry, pup. Sorry…”

With a sigh, he looked up, shaking his head as he activated the Sight.

“As required by our deal. Here.”

The door to his room thudded shut, a quick flick of his wrist pushing home the dead bolt with a sense of finality before he stalked angrily to the bed and sat. Bottle in one hand and a copy of the contract in the other, Jack glared angrily at the text.

It was well-written, sound, binding, a solution to the problem. Yet it still didn’t feel right.

So far, he knew of at least four people whose souls had been eaten by the gods-damned cat. If the cat were a mage, he’d be hunted down by every member of the Consilium in no less brutal and thorough a manner than Tom had been. In fact, to Jack’s mind, Codex had done worse than Tom ever managed.

A quick scrounging under his bed brought out his journal, which he slapped on the desk and flipped open, scrawling angry letters between mouthfuls of whiskey.

_Dear Journal,

Does the natural amorality of a spirit make it any less accountable for its actions than a human being?

I hate the monstrous bastards. Never trust a fucking spirit. Never. They aren’t people, they aren’t human, and they don’t give a fuck about us._

Giving the journal an angry shove that sent it to the floor, Jack laid back on his bed, growling as his head thumped into the wall. The bottle seemed a better consolation than most. At least if he drank enough, he wouldn’t have to dream about those empty eyes, the soul-less hobo he’d had to coach on how to eat beans, or the stricken look on Ryuhon’s face when Dina had so angrily told him the cat had to go.

He didn’t want to think about how that was going to play out – How he was going to convince Dina to give the cat a second chance. How he was going to convince Ryuhon to trust Dina around Codex. How he was going to deal with the energetic, excited look Mobius had gotten over the whole thing.

With a grunt, he slid off the bed and to his knees to scoop up his wrongfully-abused journal.

“Sorry, buddy. Not your fault. …I’m talking to a fucking book, what the fuck is wrong with me?”

Nonetheless, he put the journal to his forehead and sat, wishing he could talk to the bit of dead tree, ask it questions about what to do and get real answers. Bothering Spider with this seemed silly. After all, though Spider was a good friend, he wasn’t the emotional type who would easily understand this sort of thing.

After a while, he slid back up onto the bed, laying the book in his lap, and continued to worship the grain. Among its many blessings, dreamless sleep beckoned. He’d do chiminage in the morning, in form of hangover.

The printer hummed softly as it spat out the headline articles. Dog eared paperbacks sat in a haphazard pile waiting to be put into her travel pack. A small lantern flashlight rested in its charger. Sticks of incense weren’t necessary, but Poe liked to use them anyway. It appealed to her sense of aesthetics.

She liked to visit the graveyard at least once a week and read to the residents. It was a little like an old folks home, not everyone there could talk to her, not everyone there would talk to her, but the ones that did loved it when she came around. She shared local and world news that they didn’t normally get a chance to hear, she also would read a few chapters from best sellers. Not a lot to pass the time in the cemetery.

She had started doing this while still under Claudia’s care, she wanted a network of people who, even if she couldn’t find a mage, had a first-hand knowledge of the past. This would be the first time she went to them with questions. She needed to find a member of the Selemite Order, the rest of her cobal was still debating whether or not the vision was true but she knew it was real, and very very important. Without the sacrifice of the heads of the Order, terrible things would happen and it was up to them to make sure it happened.

Oh God.

It was up to them to make sure that those people died.

It hadn’t really been real before. The first images she had seen had been in the far past, so far that she had a hard time conceptualizing it. It was almost myth, She had maintained that shield of disconnection for the rest of her time in the dream world. But now that shield was pierced. She would have to help make sure that these people died, and died horribly.

Poe stood up from the computer so fast she knocked over her chair and sprinted from the room. She made it to the toilet just in time. After, she stayed kneeling and trembling for several moments before she was able to pull herself together enough to flush and wash out her mouth.

In the hallway she ran into Jack.

“Are you feeling okay, Poe?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she mumbled, not looking him in the eye. Thankfully, he didn’t push and she was able to escape back to her room.