⇨ The Tourist Trap: PROLOGUE

[ringleaders]

Who: Anyone, anywhere in Portland.
When: Any time before the start of the event.
Where: Portland area, in the new reality.
What: Once you've submitted your AU summary, you can use this post to do some CLOSED THREADING to play out some character interactions that happened before the event start. This means that memory regains will not be in play yet. Open top levels are not allowed - these threads are intended to sort out closed interactions between planned backstory connections, during the week leading up to the actual event start.
Warnings: Could be anything.

PORTLAND, AS YOU KNEW IT↴ The shift went unseen and unfelt. One moment you were one person, and the next, another. This before all that, though, in the new life that you remember living here in Portland. No memories of your true self have arisen yet, and at the time this was the only life you knew. Did these events truly happen at all? Or do they only exist in memory?

Comments

Re: Negotiations for Sanctuary

[promnibusanctis]

Helen was, by all means, not late even if she had ordered a tea to bring with her to this meeting. She sat without preamble, her expression pleasant. Aligning with those around her was absolutely necessary to avoid certain conflicts. This meeting was one of many and she nodded to the mage.

"Helen Magnus," she murmured warmly. "Shall we get started then?"

[amusicaladventure]

Helen Magnus. Really? What was she, a master of magnetism?

Well. She supposed, given her own last name, that she had to allow some slack there. "Ashleigh Mischief," she said, with a cordial and cool nod. "A moment if you will."

She tapped a key-combination, then hit enter. At that, their conversation became indistinct to those around them, merely two women discussing the most idle of pleasantries. Ashleigh intended the spell to impress with its simplicity, but she betrayed nothing as she folded her hands on the table.

"You wish to set up your neutral ground here in the city," she said to start the talk.

[promnibusanctis]

While Helen noted the magic, she wasn't easily impressed so she gave not reaction at all. It was all well and good but in all honesty, as an angel, there was little she could be impressed by at any given time. She took a moment to sip her tea in an unhurried fashion.

"Quite so," Helen said. "It stands to be a mutually beneficial operation, given the rise in certain elements of the population. My library within the Sanctuary itself will, after all, contain a great many highly valuable volumes that will be of great interest to those looking to broaden their horizons."

[amusicaladventure]

If she didn't understand the advancement Ashleigh's little spell represented, so much the better. It meant she would underestimate the Circle, and that was all to the good.

"But a precarious one, if those who wish to rob and steal from us can simply run there for safety. Our work inspires envy and covetousness, after all." That was hardly the only reason someone would seek solace in Sanctuary, of course, but no need to argue that.

[promnibusanctis]

"My sanctuary is not that sort of refuge, Ms Mischief. It is there for the use of all who wish to use it without prejudice but that does not mean I abide lawlessness. Whatever ill has been done shall be repaid in full from whoever has done the damage - preferably without damage to either party. This place will be a place of understanding and knowledge for all, somewhere safe to, among other things, learn about who they are and what they are capable of becoming in a safe environment."

Helen gestured delicately with her cup.

"I have already succeeded with this model in London, no doubt you have independently researched that aspect of my life? If you have, then you know that the model is sound. Those of your pedigree in London have benefited as much as those here will. Not everything is about one particular organisation, this is about those who find themselves with nowhere left to turn."

[amusicaladventure]

"Research is valuable, but first-hand accounts are more so." Tricking someone into thinking it would be one way while really making it another would be far too easy in most cases. Ashleigh would make no assumptions, even ones based on the information she'd received on Helen's other setups.

"'Damage' is a very nebulous concept, and we of course work with beings to whom the letter of the law is of far greater import than the spirit." While she might be implying 'demons', Ashleigh suspected they both understood that she meant, 'whoever it would benefit'. "So if I'm to put my Circle in the business of supporting or even enforcing the rules of your sanctuary, we need clear terms."

[promnibusanctis]

"Clear terms?" Helen leant in. "I'm offering you, without any strings attached, access to some of the most influential and hard to find books your kind have ever seen. I think that's amazingly clear goodwill on my part. Now, I don't have to do that, I could pull that off the table entirely. If, say, there was a murderer, I would be willing extradite. But a book? You get the book back, there's no punishment. None. It's enough to not have the book and to not have access to the knowledge within it."

She crossed her arms and frowned, though there was a rise in power with her words. It wasn't a threat but it was genuine angelic power, the kind that meant that she was getting extremely irritated with this woman. Helen had already been more than generous.

"I look after my own Ms Mischief, I won't need help enforcing anything. I have a techno mage at my disposal and an energy shield for emergencies. I have also been at this longer than you have been alive and I know what I am doing. Right now, in case you missed it the last few times I mentioned it, I am offering your Circle the opportunity to study using my own materials and the only thing I am asking is for you to let me operate freely for that extremely generous exchange. I could just as easily go elsewhere."

She finished her tea and placed it on the table with a soft tap.

"Take the deal or I walk, right now, and you have nothing to show for this meeting whatsoever except a particularly terrible coffee." She moved her chair back and stood, taking her cup with her. "Your choice."

[amusicaladventure]

Unpleasant. Angels had no room in their great flaming books of rules for subtlety, Ashleigh mused, and Helen here was clearly no exception. That always spelled trouble down the line, when those pesky shades of grey showed up. And considering how often mages were in the shadows...

Well, she'd hoped they could be very careful about this, but instead it was damn-the-torpedoes, full-speed-ahead, huh? Well, she could work with this. And she definitely felt better when she heard Helen's listed assets as a 'techno mage and an energy shield'. Nobody knew technology in magic like she did.

"If noninterference and a presumption of good will all around is all you want, then we'll be happy to give it to you," she said evenly, not so much as twitching a finger. Phrase it like that and everything should flow nicely from it... "You're absolutely right that your offer is of inestimable value to us."

[promnibusanctis]

"Good. I'm glad we're in agreement, Ms. Mischief," Helen said, raising her eyebrows. "You really should find a different coffee shop, though. Something a little more Old World. I can highly recommend Alla Venezia Trionfante, ah, no wait." She held up a finger. "It changed names, Caffè Florian, that's right I'd forgotten. It's located in Procuratie Nuove of Piazza San Marco. That's in Venice, Ms. Mischief. I suggest you take a trip, I'm sure it would broaden your mind. Do have a nice day."

She offered a crisp smile and turned towards the exit, neatly tossing her paper cup in the trash as she left. Father preserve her. Why on Earth these mages seemed to be so sanctimonious was beyond her. As an angel, Helen had access to magic that a mage could only dream of wielding. The disrespect was absolutely astounding. The deal should have been sealed from the instant she'd given access to her library.

Helen pinched the bridge of her nose.

What a headache.