2020-03-17 Columbia University

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## 2020-03-17 Columbia University

### PCs

Shiloh Young
K. Malcolm Lawson

## Log

> **K. Malcolm Lawson**Lionsgate Apartments - 17th Floor, Apartment 17C - 12:40 AM
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> Malcolm was still agitated about what had happened the night before. It was supposed to be another quiet conversation with a potential recruit for the Order, a slow and steady courtship, that would end with an offer and an acceptance, and the Order would grow stronger. These nights, the Hermetics needed all the allies they could get.
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> Recruitment wasn't even supposed to be his job, as his superior had pointed out, but Malcolm felt . . . somehow responsible for Shiloh. Witnessing her Awakening, he could only imagine how lost and alone she would feel - if only a new magus wouldn't show up every five seconds to give her yet another perspective couched in advice that was actually a recruitment pitch. Of course, that was what Malcolm was doing also, and he was concerned that people who were better at recruitment than he would prevail, and the Order would have another rival in the headstrong young woman. This was not in anyone's interest, or so Malcolm told himself. No, he would have to prevail in this task, however self - appointed.
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> Malcolm was inclined to wait for Shiloh to text him for their next meeting, and especially considering the hour, he thought it probably not wise to be the one to reach out, but he was awake, and something told him she was too. She did claim to be something of a Night Owl.
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> Reminding himself 'Fortune favors the Bold', Malcolm composed a brief message and sent it off to Shiloh.
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> Hi Shiloh, sorry to text so late, but I wanted to apologize for how last night turned out. I have no idea how so many of us managed to find us in that Study Hall, but it's clearly not the best place for private conversation. Whenever you're up for another chat, I'll have you over to my place, if that's okay with you. Being on the third floor down from the top affords a bit more privacy, as does a building with a doorman. Anyway, hope this finds you well whenever you get it. - M
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> Malcolm hated texting.**Shiloh Young**It doesn't take long for a response.
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> "Heyyo. I'm actually on my way back from that bar you guys talked about. Met some interesting people, heard some strange things. I'll swing on by once I wrap up a little problem."
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> And perhaps a half hour later, Shiloh did indeed show up, still dressed in same attire: black leggings and a black tank wrapped up in a little olive cardigan. Assuming the door man didn't give her too much trouble, the girl would be knocking on his door in no time.**K. Malcolm Lawson**The doorman had indeed been told to expect her, and it was a long ride up the elevator to the 17th floor. His door was unadorned and very nondescript, looking much like every other door in the hallway.
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> Malcolm answered, wearing a royal blue turtleneck which fit loosely around his lanky frame, and a well worn pair of jeans over black suede slippers.
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> "Welcome to my humble abode." he said with a smile, and a flourish of his hand opened the door all the way to let her in.
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> The apartment was modest in size for a unit in Manhattan. The Lionsgate was an older building, mostly used by Law Students, but a few permanent residents owned their units. This was a one bedroom unit, with a small galley kitchen in the corner, and a large window overlooking a balcony facing Central Park. A Red Telescope stood on a tripod on the Balcony, pointing toward the Heavens. A doorway off to the side, closed, probably led to the bedroom. The breakfast bar was clean and clear, except for a mug of tea still steeping, steam rising from it. Two comfortable chairs were set up overlooking the window, one facing diagonally off to each side, roughly in the center of the room. Underneath the window on the opposite wall, a small desk with an open laptop and a stack of books off to the side, one of them propped open. The names on the spines announced them to be Law books, prominent among them a two year old version of Black's Law Dictionary.**K. Malcolm Lawson**It was a small apartment already, and seemed all the smaller for the fact that every single wall was covered in bookshelves. Every square inch of available wall had a shelf or two, and they were all full of books on every subject imaginable. Shiloh could tell immediately they were grouped by subject, with Astronomy, Art, Architecture, a whole wall of History, another wall and a Half each of Philosophy and Political Science, a whole shelf filled with classic literature, and tucked off in a corner by the bedroom, a shelf full of hardback Roleplaying books, mostly of 3rd Edition and 5th Edition D&D, and another half shelf of what looked like Graphic Novel Trade Paperback comic books - mostly of Superman, but with a shelf of Wolverine and Doctor Strange as well. Almost all the books had a fine layer of dust on them, except for the roleplaying books, at least the 5E ones seemed to move regularly. There was no TV to be seen.
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> Malcolm offered to take her coat, as he had an old fashioned coat rack by the door. "I was just brewing a mug of tea for myself, would you like one?"**Shiloh Young**"Nice place." She gingerly hands over her coat, which was more of a fancy hoodie, cheeks flushing just a touch from the formality of it all. The offer of tea gets nod, and she kicks off her sneakers near the door (or wherever the designated place was, as such a neat looking place seemed likely to have one.) She gravitates over by the window with a pair of chairs, eying up the set of books he had (a few of them earning smirks that she tried to mask.) "Reminds me a little of where I grew up." She gestures out over Central Park, to the tower apartments over eastside, then back to one of the chairs.
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> "You, uh, don't mind if I sit here?"**K. Malcolm Lawson**Shiloh did indeed find a mat where most of Malcolm's footgear was neatly set, and even a pair of guest slippers.
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> "Not at all, make yourself comfortable. The left chair has the better view of the Park."
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> Malcolm went into the kitchen, pulling a mug from an overhead cabinet.
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> "Camomille, Ginseng, Honey Lemon, Raspberry Chai, English Breakfast?"**Shiloh Young**"Uh, Honey Lemon, I guess," it sounded appealing, at least, and she didn't want to admit for the second time this night that she didn't really know what she was drinking - curse a child hood of soft drinks and sugar water. Shi takes up the recommended chair, resting her head against her arm as she stared out over the city.**K. Malcolm Lawson**Malcolm poured the steaming water into the cup over the tea bag, and the scent of the steeping tea filled the air.
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> "Do you take it with Milk? How many sugars?"**Shiloh Young**"Uh..." So much for acting like she knew. She taps the armrest with her free hand. "...whatever you think is good? I gotta be real with ya, my family wasn't exactly big on the tea growing up,"**K. Malcolm Lawson**Malcolm smiled softly.
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> "It's an acquired taste, not as difficult as the bitter bean brew so many other people favor. I think it better without milk, but I have a touch of a sweet tooth, so I usually put in three sugars."
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> He fished the sugar cubes out of the jar by the stove and dropped them gently into the steeping tea, then lightly stirred them in with a stirring spoon, which he left in the mug before putting it on a small saucer that didn't match the mug. Picking up his tea and hers by the plates, he set the tea down on the side table off to the left of the chair.
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> "Tea needs a few minutes to steep, after which you remove the tea bag, and then let it cool for a few minutes more before you drink. It is a beverage the requires and rewards patience."
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> Setting his own mug and saucer down on the side table by the opposite chair, he settled into the right chair, which was his favorite, as it pointed towards the East and the sunrise.
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> Both of the side tables had books on them as well, the one by Shiloh had three - The Memoirs of the Campaign in Gaui by Julius Caesar in Latin, a book on the Philosophy of Heraclitus, and a Stargazing guide. There was a stack of two or three other books beside Malcolm's seat that Shiloh could not identify at this distance, but they were all large paperbacks, possibly textbooks.
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> "Did you enjoy your evening at the Lounge? You certainly dressed well for the occasion. Meet anyone more interesting than our company last night?"**Shiloh Young**"It was nice. You weren't the first guy to give me lessons on drinks tonight, there was this dude there, I think he was called Ibram? Told me all about alcohol and stuff. Had me drink some whiskey and scotch - that, uh, heh, burned." She propped herself up and clasped her mug, cradling it in her lap for warmth as it cooled. "There was another, Ember. They seemed to know each other, and had this weird vibe about them, like they were in the military or something. They seem nice enough, though. She told me a little about the groups, these people called Nephandi and Marauders and a council. And how they're dedicated to fighting off 'bad' people. Got the sense she didn't care much for politics, whatever the bad blood was behind this ceasefire thing. Oh, and space."
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> She threw a gesture to his bookshelf with the DnD collection. "They're looking to run a game night, too."**K. Malcolm Lawson**Malcolm listened intently while fishing the tea bag out of his own mug. The mention of the specific terms she had learned earned a raised eyebrow, but it rose even higher at the mention of game night.
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> "Really? I never figured other people among us would share that particular hobby. I mean, now we live it, so to speak, so why play it? Aside from love of the game, of course. Do you know what they were planning to play and when?"**Shiloh Young**"World of Shadows. I dunno what gameline, or what night, but she opening it up to people from all factions. Friendly factions, I guess."
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> "And, I mean, it's a game, it's all fun with friends. You don't see your friend running in terror from you after playing WoS." She pauses, frowning. "...Hopefully. Or like how all those people who play bus driving simulators or farming simulators while working in that field. It's huge."**K. Malcolm Lawson**"Shared experiences like that can make interpersonal connections that bring about peace between people. I was reading an article about it on a blog by a company called Reach Out Roleplaying Games. The author had some really neat ideas about peacebuilding using Roleplaying games. I'll have to email him should it ever work in this case."
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> "I haven't played much World of Shadows, a bit gothy for my taste, but I haven't met a roleplaying game I didn't enjoy in some way, so maybe when they get their act together, I'll check it out."
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> Malcolm stirred his tea, lightly blowing across it as he held it up to his lips. "Not quite, but a few more minutes."
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> "Did you ever hear back from your friend, the one you were chasing that night? Is he alright?"
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> (@Josh Heath (He/him) - you are now a part of the Consensus Reality.)**Shiloh Young**"That's deep. Always just looked it at as, like, entertainment, maybe a way to check out roles or explore ideas you might be too shy to try on in person."
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> He gets an immediate answer to that next question in the way her lips thin, the way her frown deepens. "No. He's completely avoiding me. Not even a text. I thought about trying to go to his dorm, maybe using my new sight to try and see what's going on, but I'm worried that might be too invasive, too creepy. Is it? Should I just keep away?"**K. Malcolm Lawson**"That's what I liked about it so much, peace through shared entertainment, and the article specifically mentioned he would have people from opposite sides take on the opposite role in a conflict scenario, to walk a mile in the other party's shoes, so to speak, in the hopes it might build some understanding and empathy. It's something the world needs a lot of now."
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> "Maybe, Maybe not. It's worrisome that he's avoiding you, but approaching him might provoke a confrontation. You know his patterns well, could you arrange to be at a place where you know he will be and just casually approach to check and see if he will be okay? Or have you tried calling him? I would exhaust all normal avenues of approach before deploying the Art, for a number of reasons, but if you can't contact him any other way."
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> "Also, Tati might be able to help you find him. Just a hunch, if you want to look her up for help on that front."
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> Malcolm sipped his tea, finally cool enough to drink. Shiloh's probably had a minute or so more.
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> "So, you've learned some names. Would you like to learn some history?"**Shiloh Young**She hums and nods, finally taking her own sip, savoring the taste. She smiles, though the strain of the topic is still visible in the lines on her face. "I've tried it all. Nothing. That's why I've been tempted to snoop, to figure out what it is about me that's freaking him out so much. But, again, I don't want to be a creeper. I just want to make sure he's okay. And that there isn't something wrong with me."
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> "Mhm. I'm surprised, you didn't seem to get on with each other at all." At the offer of history, she gave him a thumbs up.**K. Malcolm Lawson**"Tati . . . she seems to have a particular gift for getting under my skin, and to really enjoy doing so just for the perversity of it. Even so, I have noticed she has talents in the area of magick that would help you find out what your friend is up to these days."
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> "Well, as I said last night, it's quite an essay question to tackle the whole of the Ascension War, so the real question is where do you want to begin, with the groups involved, or the events leading up to it?"**Shiloh Young**"She really doesn't hold back. I kinda admire that." Even mentioning the woman still brought a sliver of red to her cheeks.
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> "And I guess with the events, the context for whatever this Ascension War is. Maybe a little on your Order, too. That 'Thrice-Great Hermes' is a name that's popped up a lot in my esoteric & alchemy texts."**K. Malcolm Lawson**"There's a lot of strength of personality in her, that I will admit. If she paired it with a bit of real discipline, she could be quite formidable. It's an object lesson, as ours is an Art that demands discipline to succeed."
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> "Fortunately, the two are inextricably linked, as the Order of Hermes has been at the forefront of the conflict since its beginning, probably even longer, and we've been involved in most of its pivotal events, often to our detriment."
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> "The Ascension War, as most magi understand it, has probably been raging since the first two magi disagreed over their choices for how reality should be, and decided to settle the matter violently. It has probably been going on since time immemorial, but most accounts place its formal start at one of two places - the destruction of Mistridge, or the downfall of the First Cabal. I personally think it was the latter - before that, the breach between the Council of Nine and the Order of Reason was not quite as irreconcilable as it is now."
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> "But I'm getting ahead of myself. To understand this conflict and our place in it, I have to explain a bit about the Order of Hermes itself."**Shiloh Young**She settles back into the chair, turning her attention from the cityscape to him now. "You know, she might be more receptive to your ideas if you didn't assume she doesn't have discipline because... why? Because she's no longer with you guys?"
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> Beyond that comment, the name drop of magi gets a hum, and the mention of another order a quizzical look. "This Order of Reason was separate from yours, yeah?"**K. Malcolm Lawson**"I read a lack of discipline in just about everything Tati does, and that it is inevitably a personal choice on her part to reject discipline. I could be wrong about that, she once was strong enough to stand with us, but I get the distinct impression that the rigor of our methods did not sit well with her."
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> "Yes, the Order of Reason is not a part of the Order of Hermes, but a splinter breaking off from our Order is responsible for organizing it, and was probably instrumental in its success. Ironic that we would sire our own worst rivals and bitterest enemies, but hubris is a lesson our Order has learned many times and forgotten many more. It is unavoidable - only one supremely self - assured can be the Will that forces Heaven and Earth to move as they command, after all, but that pride always leads to a fall, and we have stumbled often because of it."**K. Malcolm Lawson**"Our Order is as old as magic itself, and our arts originated in the oldest civilization on earth - Egypt, where our spells were scribed on stone walls and our wizards stood at the right hand of Pharoahs. It is said that some of the earliest mages of what would become our Order inspired the mythology of Egypt, and Thoth, the God of Wisdom and Innovation, may well have been the mask used by the writer of the Corpus Hermeticum as passed down to us. We learned spells from Solomon the Wise, who may well have been Awakened by the gift of Wisdom from God, and his Greater and Lesser Keys are still used in our practice. The Hellenic Age brought philosophy to organize our thoughts, and I personally suspect a great many Hellenistic schools of thought were founded by proto - Hermetics trying to enlighten their followers. We united our understanding of the world and how it operates into the first systematic approach to magic, one that became the foundations of all magical theory to follow."
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> "We take our name from the Greek God of Travel and Trickery, who likely had more than a touch of magic up his sleeve, and also from Hermes Trismegistus, the Thrice-Great Hermes your books refer to - I may have some of them in my private collection, come to think of it, we'll have to see which books the other doesn't have and make some copies - and he also exists as an idea, an ideal, and an archetype. He opens all the doors and finds all the paths, and invites us to follow along if we dare."
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> "So successful was our Order in defining what it means to be a magus that we have been the literal face of Western Wizardry for over a thousand years. Every famous wizard, fictional or otherwise, that you've ever read about has been inspired by our practices and methods. Merlin. Gandalf. Saruman before he abandoned reason for madness. Dumbledore and Harry Potter even use Hermetic Methods. We are what most Sleepers think of when they think of what it means to be a wizard."**Shiloh Young**Shi had to bite her tongue as he carried on with his dismissal, but her disapproval was writ large across her face. When he carried on about hubris, and the personal failings of this Order, however, the leash slipped. "How can you sit there and say that while judging her so harshly? Can't you, like, realize how prideful you're coming off?" It came soon as he finished, and it was regretted as soon as she said it - who was she to question him? Malcolm and Tati seemed miles ahead of on this whole Awakened thing, while she was just a baby playing with fire against the bedrock of this supposedly ancient organization.**K. Malcolm Lawson**That rebuke, however phrased, did land solidly, and Malcolm paused a moment, considering what she said.
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> "You know what, you're right. I was committing the very contradiction I was talking about, dismissing her because she didn't have the discipline to continue her studies with the Order. You were right to point that out, and no, that was quite prideful, wasn't it? My teachers have regularly admonished me to remain humble and keep the lesson of pride close to heart, but there I go, falling into the same trap so many before me have. You were right to point that out. I'll just have to remember to consider that her path is different, and ponder why without presupposing a judgement on it. You are wise to keep an open mind, and question those who don't, Shiloh, and you should keep doing so."
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> "Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, I was about to get to Mistridge."**Shiloh Young**That was unexpected. She was all puffed up, expecting an argument, but when acknowledgement came instead she deflated, seeping back into the chair, savoring the tea.
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> "Right. Mistridge. Sounds like the name of a fantasy novel or a retirement home. It was that big of a deal, huh?"**K. Malcolm Lawson**"It was a very big deal. It was a shock to the system. It was that whole 'pride goeth before a fall' thing writ large."
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> "But I'm still getting slightly ahead of myself. To understand what led to Mistridge, you have to understand a bit about the way the Order of Hermes organizes itself."
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> "Proto - Hermetic mages prospered throughout the Hellenistic Age, lent our knowledge to the Romans, and gathered the wisdom of the world in the Great Library of Alexandria, before religious fanatics burned it to the ground. Rome turned Christian, then Pagan again, before being split in two and sacked by the Germanic Tribes, and all the while we had our hands in it, but as the civilizations of antiquity gave way to a long night of the Dark Ages, a pair of magi named Trianoma and Bonisagus organized a great conclave of wizards, gathering twelve great masters of magic together to forge an alliance to guard what remained of the knowledge of previous eras."
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> "The twelve magi became the founding fathers of our Order, each one organizing their followers into one of the original 12 Houses of Hermes, some of which still survive today. They agreed upon a common regimen of training and apprenticeship that endures to this day, a unified legal code - the Code of Hermes - for handling disputes, a system of rank and means of distinguishing the progress on the steps towards mastery, and, most importantly, the Ars Hermetica, the 'universal metaphysic' that would later evolve under Hermetic guidance to become the Nine Spheres Theory that unites the practices of the Nine Mystick Traditions. It was a great achievement - no longer was every master operating on their own, magical knowledge was gathered, expanded, preserved, some of that in texts still extant today, some of which you may yet have read already, and the Order was born."
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> "It did not take them long to become fractious and divisive, if ever they stopped being so."**Shiloh Young**"...so, literally, your Order is like some ancient wizard college. Part of me wants to ask if these Houses are Harry Potter-style or more like Game of Thrones... I hope that's not insulting," she quickly adds, before gesturing for him to continue beyond her dumb little additions.**K. Malcolm Lawson**"A little bit of both, actually, and still is to this day. Art imitates life, and plenty of Hermetic Conflicts could have inspired Martin's Magnum Opus that he'll never get around to finishing." Malcolm said with a rueful grin, gesturing with his mug towards the wall of fantasy novels.
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> "And yes, it didn't take long for the Houses of Hermes to get into conflict. First with other Magi of different practices, fighting alliances of Celtic Warrior Witches, Norse Rune Crafters, Slavic Shamans, and Arabic Wonder Workers with mixed results at best. We conquered the great fortress-chantry of Doissetep, and made it open to all Hermetic Magi. We rooted out infernalists and madmen and incorporated new groups who formed Houses of their own under our banner. But inevitably, we turned on our own."
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> "The Wizards' March of 1003. The Massassa War against the instigators of the Wizard's March, which nearly devastated our Order as we expelled the traitorous House that started the March. And in the midst of all of it, Mistridge."
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> "Mistridge was not a place out of a fantasy novel or some retirement home for the aged among us, but one of our most vibrant and powerful chantries, and it was destroyed, in 1210, by an alliance between a splinter group practicing Hermetic Arts that called themselves the Craftmasons, and an army of Sleepers armed with cannons, a hundred years before any such weapons were known to exist in the wider world."
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> "The Craftmasons, you see, used our magic, but favored practical results above spiritual power, and applied that ruthless pragmatism to arming their confederates. Though the seeds of Mistridge would not bear fruit for two centuries, it was the beginning of the Ascension War, as it was the first time that Sleepers and their collective disbelief in our methods and magic were deployed as a weapon against magi with devastating effect. We chalked it up as another loss of the Massassa War. We didn't grasp its full significance until it was much too late."**Shiloh Young**Shiloh is quiet as he lectures, her face crossing into a mess of expressions: wonder, disbelief, even disappointment at how common it appeared that these supposedly enlightened people fought among each other. But that was hardly surprising. They were still people, flaws and all, just like she had been told in those first few nights. "Seems like there's a common theme here of infighting and you guys sorta becoming your own downfall," she quips, eyes straying to the clock and suddenly cough as she realized the time.
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> "...I hate to cut the lesson short, especially on that cliffhanger, but can we continue this tomorrow night? I need to note all this down. It's a lot."**K. Malcolm Lawson**Malcolm gestures towards his wall of History books "That's the common thread of Human History, Shiloh. We divide ourselves into warring tribes and try to exterminate each other. Respecting our differences and attempting cooperation is a very modern attempt at restraining an age - old problem, and one that hasn't always been effective. We may be students of magical Arts, capable of working wonders beyond imagination, but we are, and remain, all too human."
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> "It's as good a place as any to pause, as the next part of the story is the birth of the two great organizations of magi and the drawing up the battle lines of the Ascension War, and it gets really involved from here."
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> "One thing - start encoding your notes, if you haven't already. This sort of information is well known in our circles, but not at all outside of them, and could attract unwelcome attention if it ends up in the wrong hands."
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> He stands, stretches, and goes to get her coat for her. "Until tomorrow, then?"**Shiloh Young**She still couldn't hide her distaste for that common thread, shaking her head as she rose, but she held it in for another time.
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> "Already have. It's nothing fancy, but it should throw off most. At least, I hope." She mimics the stretch, making for the door and offering a small thanks and goodbye. "Until tomorrow." And off she went.