Chapter 1: The Fragile Glass

The newly Awakened Mages have been summoned to a meeting place called Marc's Place, owned by Ahriman. They have been formally invited by the heralds to discuss their placement with in the Concilium. After nearly a month of training to come to understand what they are and who they are working with order wise now is the time for them to take their first full steps into the world of being a mage.   It is nearly 8 when our scenes open on the 30th of December, the night before New Years Eve. The deep cold of Midwinter has begun to seep through the streets of Seattle along with the fog from the bay. The city is still mostly decorated for the passed holidays, with tinsel shapes still stapled to the light posts and fake frost still smeared across every shop window. It is as if the light of the next holiday keeps the spirit clinging like a slick of fragile ice to the glass.   Marc's place has no such decorations, since the only bending of the knee to the holidays the proprietor bothered with was a small 2 foot Christmas tree with raffle ticket ornaments and a line of lights and tinsel stretched along the shelves behind the bar. Otherwise he kept the same sleepy and warm atmosphere as he ever did.   Even today, mere hours before the busiest bar day of the year there is little fanfare. The dark hardwood floor is polished and swept, the tables are clean and well maintained. The carved support columns have lit candles in the little alcoves that help keep the electric bills down and make the entire bar and the brass fixings seem fire lit.   Agent Smith is nominally the first to arrive. He's been working in the back of Marc's Place all day. The bar is closing early for the meeting and he watches as Marc subtly guides the people around him to leave the bar. A smile there, a conversation here, a hand on a shoulder and a flash of Mind magic there. He's seen this routine before. Marc's isn't one to forcefully use magic, in fact he frowns heavily upon using it as a crutch, but he's certainly not shy at using it to grease wheels. By the time the final call has happened most of the men from the docks have left, and those that aren't are standing and stretching. They file out with some variation of "Night Marc. See ya later."   As the last Guest exits Agent Smith speaks up. "We having some guest tonight Boss?"   Ahriman starts to gather his hair into an iron chain, something smith now knows is a sign of him stepping into his Mage role in an official capacity, and nods. "Very." He turns and walks behind the counter, gathering up one of the bottles of whiskey. Tossing it to Agent Smith he smirks.   "Very special guests." The bottles special label has a light glimmer of magic, symbols drawn on it like a makers mark in High Speech. Smith would know means it's one of the special brand that Ahriman has shipped up from his hometown. It's a sort of Magical Whiskey that contains dissolved Mana created by a friend of his that lives down that way. He only cracks out Mana spirits for other mages, and Mana Whiskey only for close friends and special occasions. Yet he seems nonchalant as he slides on his Badge of Rank. "Go set up the back Area, make sure the tables cleaned and the glasses are set out."   "How many Guests?"   "Seven. Five of you, two guests." He pauses and sighs. "Make that eight. After this I am gonna need one."   With that he nods, and when he sees Agent smith heading back he turns back. "Oh, and Smith." He pats at his breast over his heart. "Your Rank."   Agent Smith nods, and as he moves back past the door and into the back, a small thin hall way with a patterned green wallpaper stained with the one leak Marc can never seem to fix in the old hole in the wall. Still it doesn't smell and it's short. There are two doors, on either side before the kitchen, which breaks from the homey old design to a sleek and modern kitchen. You can see the few cooks that Ahriman "employs" finishing their cleaning, before you turn to the right, putting your back towards Ahriman's office door and unlatching the door marked "Private".   This is, for lack of a better term, the V.I.P. lounge of the bar. It has a single large car table that can be turned into a meeting table with a few inserts. You set to work placing the inserts into the table and laying out the glasses. Through the one way glass mirror that is just behind the bar you can see the whole of the bar. Ahriman stands at attention as the first of the group comes in.   Dr. Jones approached the bar first, walking down the stairs carefully, making sure that in the slowly dimming light coming in from the glass sidewalks above he steps carefully. Dress casually in an open zip up sweater and a shirt. His short hair and beard are messy but well cared for. He adjusts his backpack and greets Ahriman.   "Hello are you Ahriman? Is this the right place?"   The man with the copper hair grins and nods, and though Dr. Jones can't see his eyes the smiles seems genuine enough. "Yes. You are Dr. Jones?"   "Yes that's me." The Professor smiles.   "Head on back, Agent smith has some good whiskey back there." He waves the Professor in just as a soft hum starts to permeate the air, causing both men to turn. They see a small four propellered drone hovering down the stairs. Ahriman raises an eyebrow but the Professor knows that spunky little robot.   "Hello Buzzy." He waves. Ahriman doesn't wave, but he does smile.   "Hello Roulette."   The Drone bobs and a small screen pops out. Roulette greets the man, and after the small talk she follows Dr. Jones through, landing on his head as he moves across the floor.   Shortly after Shade joins them and he smiles widely. He recognizes Ahriman from that night he was betrayed. Ahriman grins and gives him a warm handshake as they greet each other lie good friends. He waves Shade to the back and turns back to wait.   What he doesn't see is the short man who has always been in the corner. Warren waits until Ahriman relaxes before he pipes up. "Hello!"   The Thunderbolt Guardian jumps and makes a sound of surprise. Warren smiles placidly, standing. Ahriman mutters something like "fuckin' Moros" under his breath, but he smiles at the new comer.   "Welcome, head on back, the other two will be here soon." He watches as Warren stands and hads back towards the room.   Agent Smith watches as each of the others enters the room. They all greet each other, with Roulette recognizing Agent Smith and bobbing the drone in greeting.   They start talking to each other, and Shade notes that someone sees to be sweeping the room with magic. Shade, recognizing it's probably Ahriman attempt to dispel it but doesn't succeed. He can tell Ahriman caught him because he seems to smile, then he gets distracted by two people coming in.   While he is doing that Agent Smith asks into the air, knowing Ahriman does this, if it's okay to pour. He gets the affirmative, and starts to pour, then gets a great idea. Using his understanding of forces he starts to lower the temperature of the glasses, rather than put ice in them. Unfortunately he over shoots and as the frost starts form so too do cracks. A few of the more aware of the group move back but soon the glasses explode. Whiskey and glass go everywhere.   Many Snarky comments ensue as Smith cleans up the glass, but Shade notices that two people come in and start talking to Ahriman.   One, a whippet thin Samaish man, is wearing a pair of jeans and a white shirt. He has long hair pulled back in a braid. At his waist is a belt holding what appears to be a quiver filled with arrows at his hip. Across his back is a bow, highly polished and deadly looking. He stands just a little under 6 feet. He seems to be smiling and nearly vibrating as he talks to Ahriman. Dr. Jones recognizes him as Hunter, who came to collect him on the mountain that day.   The other newcomer is a woman with Straight black hair cut into a bob. She has brown bored looking eyes and sunkissed skin sprinkled with freckles. She is dressed in slim fit black pants and a green peasant shirt with silver embroidery around the bottom. She looks very bored.   Ahriman himself seem taken aback, and as he talks Shade notices that he seems nervous. They talk back and forth as the other Mages clean up and repour. Ahriman finally seems to relent and allow them in.   The group enters in and Ahriman introduces them as Break and Hunter. When they enter in Agent Smith and Roulette realize that these individuals are not the promised heralds but rather they are Provost. They introduce themselves and explain that the Hierarch has sent them to give them their first task.   Ahriman is dismissed and after repouring the drink he leaves and is told to pull the scrying spell he has on the room, which he does. When they are alone the Provosts discuss what is going on. They tell them that they are part of a mass awakening which has happened in the last month and a half. They are the third such mass awakening in the last five years.   The group seems uncertain what that means and the provost clarify that five people in a year might be a larger than normal group, five in a month is concerning. 23 new mages in the last five years, and all of them clumped close together is alarming. This means that there is something causing awakenings.   This group is unique though, and not only because there are only five of them but also because they can, to varying degrees, remember the run up to their awakening. When pressed she explains that the previous group, and the group before them, could not remember anything for up to a month before they were awakened. And when their past was scryed on it's like someone just went back and deleted their entire past. This is not something that the current group is exempt from, but the fact that they can remember the past month is key.   They explain that they are to seek out what made them awaken by comparing their recollections. They will then report to Ahriman who will be the only one to remember this meeting. Because they suspect this is a mage who is causing the awakenings they want to make sure they work in utmost secrecy. After Break and Hunter leave the room Ahriman will be altering their memories and making sure that they don't have a chance to blowing the case open.   When asked why Ahriman is being tasked with that they explain he's already in the know, he was part of the first set of mass awakenings.   The group presses for something to help and Break explains that likely they will find the answer they seek with in the last month as awakenings don't generally last for years after the thing that triggers them. Hunter offers up the Safe house for the moment and explains that it will keep them safe while they work.   They then exit and leave the group alone, who decide to continue on with the actual discussion here. They in turn go through each of their awakenings, and after a bit four out of the five of them have identified that the Doll Jonathan has heavily featured in the start of their awakening, along with the Golden Era Antiques store.   Agent smith, who continued the investigation after his awakening, brings out a list of locations that Evangeline, the owner of the store, has shown interest in buying. They decide to send Roulette off to check on where the Golden era is now, since she can Speak to her mentor in the Mysterium named Sisyphus who has been studying it. Mean while they continue to talk over what is happening.   Roulette takes three hours to attempt a ritual, but it fizzles. She is disgruntled, and as the boys debates she tries again. The others are trying to figure out how exactly Shade doesn't remember his. He walks them through what he does remember: That he was spoken to by the CEO of his company to be give a big job. At some point he saw a doll. That he was betrayed after he witnessed something akin to a man jacking striaght into a computer. He awoke during a psychadelic walk across the city, and ended up signing a contract before Ahriman and Soulsright had come to collect him.   The group sits around, considering the issue while Roulette resets the ritual. They manage, through much searching of the internet, to locate the historical mansion just of the southern end of downtown area. She seems to be holding down the old mansion she told Dr. Jones about.   Eventually she does manage it, after another three hours pass. She locates it at Queen Anne's Cascade, in an open air market place. But even as she glimpses it she realizes that the Doll can see her, and has turned to look at her. She becomes spooked.   Since they know where Evangeline is , and the shop, they address the idea of going to talk to her. Warren, who has up until now been fairly silent, joins Agent Smith in voting for the direct approach of going to the shop and just busting in. Dr. Jones and Shade favor discussing this with Evangeline, though Shade seems confused that his CEO is involved in this.   Dr. Jones decides to do a scan with life and realizes that his mind has been messed with. He realizes that certain circuits in the memory center of the brain have been "switched" off. He offers to help, and when it is agreed upon he starts to cast.   As he is operating on the poor man the others notice that Shade is slowly starting to sprout horns. It is at this time that Ahriman steps in and seeing the casting moves forward.   "Oh kid! No." He says but Dr. Jones does not reply to the response of calling him kid. He only responds when Ahriman tries again. "Dr. You are turning my pathmate into a cow."   This causes the group to ask about paradox, which Ahriman does his best to explain. After a while they clue him in and he sucks in a breath at the name Evangeline. He explains she's " a piece of work" and a seer who he "doesn't like sharing a path with."   He warns them to not trust her, but tells them that he apologizes, but it's about 6 am and he needs to be back here at 4 pm, so he is closing up. They break for the night and head as one towards the safe house.