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  A young woman opens the door, just before you knock. Her eyes focus in on you for a moment, then drift away as she greets you. As you walk in, she happily chats, "Come in, I've been expecting you. Tea, yes? The kettle is just boiling. The biscuits are on the table, I'll be right there. Red chair, if you don't mind, it's an awful mess if you sit on the blue one. Milk? ...Ah, no, of course. You don't take it that way. Not any more. Reminds you too much of her. My apologies. Please, take a seat." She bustles around in the kitchen for a moment, then returns with a pair of cups. quote:Who are you? "I'm Ariana Rees. I'm in my second year at UCL. I'm in information studies, was thinking of being a librarian." She points to a packed shelf full of ancient books. "As you can see, I've got a bit of a collection myself. Always did enjoy books. They're so much easier than people. You're really quite exhausting to talk to." She grimaces and rubs her temples. "Sorry, sorry. I mean people. You and everyone else. I can't stop hearing things, you know? Snatches of conversations, thoughts and feelings, secrets, so many secrets..." She looks at you in alarm. "No need for that, your secrets are safe with me. In any case, I'm what they call an Oracle. Not too much like that lady from Delphi, but same general concept. She was all about channeling the divine. I'm more of an aggregator. Kind of like what Google does, I guess, but with thoughts and feelings of humanity." quote:How long have you been in the city? "London? A fair few years now. Seven, I think? It's been about that long since my dear parents took a permanent vacation and left me a ward of the state. We're from Wales, originally. Swansea. I didn't always have the visions. They started later. I must have been about 13." Ariana sighs. "I don't blame them, really. It couldn't have been easy. I don't remember sleeping much in those days. So much information just flooding through me. I didn't know what to make of it all. I thought I was losing it." "Well, things ended up working out. The stuffy old fools who fancy themselves the Royal Magicians Advisory Society — everyone I know just calls 'em Arr-Mass — keeps eyes out for cases like mine. Wild talents blooming. They do some good, I'm not going to deny it, even if they are a bunch of hide-bound idiots too blind to see what's coming for them. I must have heard their line about being the Merlin to a new age a hundred times." Ariana shakes her head. "I don't know about that, but they did save me. I just hope they wisen up before things get too dire." quote:How do you cope with the visions? Ariana leans forward and carefully examines your face, "Cats. I keep at least a dozen in my flat. They're in my room right now, most of them are pretty shy. The rest are territorial." She leans back, offended. "I'm serious! It helps. I can't explain why, you'd need a real wizard for that, but it's like they dampen—" She gestures at her head. "—everything that's coming in. One or two help a bit, but once you get a bunch all close together? It's so much easier to think." She fidgets for a moment, then adds, "And I like cats." quote:What are the nightmares like? Ariana's eyes grow distant, "Terrible. They're terrible. All fire and blood. Pain. If my visions are the aggregation of humanity's thoughts, then the nightmares are their fears. I haven't had them lately, what with the cats, but I can feel it coming. Hints, even through the filter. There's something big. Something really, really bad is going to happen. And like it or not, it's going to find me." She looks back at you, eyes fully focused, and adds, "I plan to be ready." quote:What do you desperately need? Ariana laughs. It's a bitter laugh, half-despair and half-hopelessness. "A miracle? Let me tell you this. Last time I felt something even a little like this, the Hunt carved a bloody path through downtown. They played it off as a terrorist attack, but we all know better." She stops laughing, breathes in deeply, and looks back at you. "You're serious? Well, I'm going to need some real muscle. Someone with guns. Someone with magic. All sorts of connections. And, most of all, I'm going to need to figure out what, exactly, is going to happen and when. If I can get that, maybe I can stop London from burning. Maybe." quote:Who’s an important person from your faction? "They call him — more of an it at this point, I suppose — The Arbiter. RMAS didn't land on the top of the magical heap by accident, you know. For all their posh affectations, there's steel beneath that velvet glove. The Arbiter enforces their whims. I've never seen it in action personally. But the stories? They're horrifying. I've heard that the last time the druids tried to reclaim London it waded through their ranks like a scythe through wheat. It didn't just leave bodies, though, it left them empty. No magic, no soul. I don't know what it does with them. I hope I never find out." Ariana shudders. "The word, as far as anyone wants to talk about it, is that it used to be a wizard. A real hot-shot. He tapped straight into the Source and drank deep. Too deep. Would have been ripped apart by it all if it wasn't for the seals and bindings that the RMAS put on him in the aftermath." She leans forward. "It's curious, is it not? What would push someone to do that?" A small smile. "Perhaps the more pertinent question is who? I think you already suspect. You are quite bright, after all." quote:What’s one thing that your faction does better than everyone else? "If there is one truth in this world, it is that Power attracts power. The magic of man is different from the strange parasites and creatures of the Night or the terrible beauty of the Wild." She shrugs. "People like people that look like them. The wizards in the highest echelons may look a little nutty, but at least they're human. That's why they — we — have the tightest relationship with the mundane authorities. It can be hard to see where one stops and the other begins, at times. England does have a grand tradition of magical advisors, you know." quote:Who’s an important person locally outside of your faction? "I don't know which umbrella he falls under, but I'd say Hraefn is the first that comes to mind. He's definitely not human, pretty sure he's a tengu, but I don't hear of many of them in the UK. In any case, he runs one of the best shops around. I'm usually in the market for ancient grimoires and other books of prophecy, but he has all sorts of interesting objects. I'd imagine they aren't all exactly legal, but Hraefn is too useful for anyone to hassle." quote:What’s an important part of town for your faction? "The Clock Tower, naturally. Big Ben. Why do you think that it is the only major landmark you can't go in and explore?" Ariana smiles. "That's where the RMAS hold court. Prime real estate, you know. It's right next to Parliament. Past that, I can't tell you much about it. I'm a little too loosely affiliated for their tastes, they don't exactly invite me into their sanctum." quote:What’s an interesting place in town? "I like the gardens in Holland Park. It's not as busy as Hyde or Richmond, which is a plus, and the nature spirits there are quite pleasant to talk to. I'm pretty sure that they're authentic kami from Japan, but I haven't pried too hard. It seems a bit impolite, you know?" Ariana's smile deepens. "There's even a bakeneko that lives beneath the bridge. It does appear quite intimidating, but we've struck up something of a friendship over the last few months. If there is one area I have confidence in, it's befriending cats of all stripes. Even monsterous, murderous cat spirits." quote:What's a good thread title? (Optional) [Urban Shadows] This is London Calling The Oracle posted:Name: Ariana Rees Tricky fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Mar 27, 2017 |
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Mar 20, 2017 23:38
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Ferrosol posted:Ariana Rees the Oracle Ariana slowly nods, "I figured you might have heard about it. I don't deal much with the creatures of Night. Nothing personal, really, we just don't run in much the same circles. In any case, my name doesn't carry much weight among that community. They don't know much about me or what I can do. Normally not something I concern myself with much, but..." Her mouth tightens. "I was having the nightmares. A face kept popping up. A werewolf howling in pain and loss. They really do look a lot alike when they're all wolfed out, so that wasn't much to go on. But the rest... I saw streets soaked in blood, an entire pack laid low by a man with a terrible smile. He was angry, so angry, and they were just there." "It was about a week before I worked up the courage to approach the pack in question. I did a little digging when I recognized the street and it turns out that's the usual stomping ground of the Howlers. Not an imaginative bunch, eh? Doesn't much matter now, but..." Her eyes snap back up to meet yours. "Oh! I forgot to tell you what happened to them. Right, right. I met with their leader, a chap going by the name Bloodtalon or Shadowfang or Moonclaw or something. He had like a million titles. It was really rather odd watching his boys talk him up like I was meeting the Queen herself. In any case, he didn't take me seriously. I think he thought I was threatening him." She sips her tea. "I didn't hear much after that, but word eventually came. They'd found that man, foolishly decided to prove their masculinity by discounting my warnings, and were slaughtered to the man. Wolf. Whichever." "It was a pity, but it told me one important thing. I can't simply change the future by telling someone about it and hoping that they'll make a different choice from that which they would have with no warning. This is why I need connections, need people who will take what I say seriously. And, worst comes to worst, people I can trust to make things right when I see something awful." Ferrosol posted:Who in the RMAS keeps trying to get you more deeply involved in the group and why do you keep refusing them? Ariana pulls a slightly crumpled photo from her pocket and offers it to you. "They call her Nimue. I don't know if she's all that the name claims her to be, but she has the chops to pull it off. Likable enough, especially compared to the usual stuffy old bags, but she's hungry for power. Really, really hungry. Being in a room with her, it's like... I don't know. It's like that feeling in your stomach when you haven't eaten for days and it feels like everything is curling up in on itself." She sighs. "The worst of it is that she's, as far as I can tell, completely convinced she has my best interests in mind. I don't dislike her, I'm just... Cautious. I'm afraid that if I let her in, she'll just be like the rest of them. Just with a prettier face." There's a pause in the conversation as she sips her tea, "I suppose my greatest concern is what might come to pass when the visions paint something contrary to their interests. I'd rather not sit by and see the people suffer, not if I could hope to stop it. If I tie myself fully to the RMAS, the expectation would be that my talents would be for their exclusive use. I think they're a decent lot, for the most part, but I'm not some tool to monopolize. Besides, I need to pay my way through school and make rent somehow. I offer consultations to anyone willing to pay. If they want to augur some course of action or another, I have bookings free as early as next week."
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Mar 27, 2017 22:20
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My Backgrounds: quote:Someone helps you understand your dreams and visions. You owe them 2 debts. Victoria Levintane - "I've known Victoria for a while now, actually. It wasn't long after RMAS took me in and they started training me on how to control the visions. How to harness it. Sometimes the visions are clear. Those are the easy ones. At other times, they draw on strange symbology and metaphors. Imagery that I can't hope to understand. Victoria, though? She's a natural at it. I suppose that comes with the territory. And, um, I think that she likes talking to me and taking me places. I'm something of a recluse by nature, but I like spending time with her." quote:You've had a dire prophecy about someone, but you don't know how to help them...yet. You owe them a debt. Michiko Fujikawa - "For the past few weeks, I've been having a recurring dream. A girl, about my age, is looking for something. She's searching harder and harder, but she can't find what she's looking for. All the while, a fog is rolling in. A deep fog, full of terrible things. It covers her and then she's just... gone. I didn't even know where to start with this one. It was a lucky break that I met the girl, Michiko, at a local bookstore. I talked with her for a bit, trying to find out how much of the true face of the world she knew, and it turned out she knew enough to pick up on the hints I was giving. I gave her the cliff notes version and it seems like she knows what that's all about. It also seems that we share a class at UCL. Small world, right? quote:You are helping someone realize their true potential through your visions. They owe you a debt. Amy Brooks - "She's wasted as a glorified tough. I know that she can do some real good, I've seen it even, she just needs to be pointed in the right direction first. The spirit that possesses her will only grow stronger with time and if she is left to her own devices, it will consume her. She needs to push herself mentally and physically to be strong enough to resist it. It's a good thing I've got all sorts of problems for her to fix that'll toughen her up!" Other Backgrounds: Michiko Fujikawa posted:Someone thinks they’re protecting you, but it’s really more like you’re protecting them. You owe each other a Debt. Dale Fitzroy posted:Someone mourned your death, truly and deeply. You owe them a Debt. Emily Ainsworth posted:You’re protecting someone from a dark power. They owe you 2 Debts. Amy Brooks posted:Someone keeps you equipped and supplied. You owe them 2 Debts. Tricky fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Apr 2, 2017 |
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Mar 31, 2017 21:32
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