The Found Arcana - Fifth Interlude [IC] Options

[Beta]

Jawsey nods along to AM's words. He doesn't know nearly as much about magic as she does, but it all feels right to him.

Well, it almost all feels right to him. Will the spirits that AM knows accept him? He only discovered his magic during those couple of years in the Sioux Nation, so he feels some kinship with their tradition. On the other hand, he ended up with a more general native shamanic tradition than a Sioux one. Maybe that means that he did not connect with the Sioux great spirits? Could he bring in any of the spirits of his people? But he didn't really know who they were; the actual spirits he called were a mash of what little folklore he remembered with stories his father had told him with things he'd read or saw on the trid with spirits he'd found on his own without knowing what they were. And no mentor spirit had ever claimed him, another suggestion that the greater powers didn't know what to do with him.

He thought some more, and finally something came to him, a way to provide a link to his homeland, that would hopefully help stretch this magical net to better cover him too.

In his room he dug through his duffel bag, finding the concealed inner pocket. From there he took a ziplock baggie, and from it a cleaned up dipping sauce container from Taco Temple, and from it he took a tiny pinch of sand. Sand his father had risked his job to extract before it went into cement at a job site, sand that MCT had dredged from Haida land and used to help build modern Seattle. It had been his father's token link to their homeland, and Jawsey had kept it, waiting until he knew what to do with it.

He sprinkled the few grains that he'd extracted onto his tongue, swished them around, feeling their grittiness, then swallowed. Quietly he declared "A part of you will always be a part of me." Then he split the rest into two. He returned one part to its container, promising it "I'll return you to to Haida Gwai, finally back home." The rest he poured into a tea cup, telling it "You will help forge a new home here."

When he finally returned to the others he brought his reagents, and the few spoonfuls of sand in a tea cup. He simply said "I bring sand."

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby had returned as a pelican - with a beak full of apples. Some still had little bits of wood hanging from them and they were comparatively smaller and less crisp than the standardized ones from the upscale super markets.
Once Bobby had washed them and put back on his trousers, he presented them in a bowl.
"There's this villa with a large estate - some Tir patriarch or something owns it with his huge private garden. I'm pretty sure he had whole old trees imported from Europe. He certainly won't mind me borrowing some fruits - and if he does, frag him. If he didn't want to share, he should have invested in tighter closing doors."

When the ritual began and it was time for his part to share, he picked up the knife and made a shallow cut on the back of his hand, letting four drops fall.
"This group is ours. We stand together, we bleed for each other, we feast together. You hurt one, you hurt all, you hurt one, we hurt you... worse. My father was a war shaman, my mother was an environmental engineer. One was of the land the other was not. The one fought the other build.
We do both. Those who want to be allies will find us steadfast, those who want to be enemies will find us relentless."

Bobby put down the knife and sat down again.

[Gilga]

"My family is dead. Perhaps my real father isn't, but I don't know who he is. I need another family, so I choose you.

"You go to the astral to advance your art; I go to a street doc. The spirits don't listen to my call, but it's obvious they exist and it's clear enough that they have plans for us. I'll walk with you as I have, to help you in your journey as you help me in mine."

Mato is gone for the same hour that Bobby is. He returns with everything you need for an indoor garden. He looks ready to participate, spiritually if not magically.

AM comments to Mato "Nothing is ever lost Mato, and I am an orphan too despite my parents both being very much alive. My father never acknowledged me publically. I only met him in secret. He got me educated, but as an orphan whose heritage is unknown. He is many things to me, but I orphaned the day I left my mother to develop my talent. I have no other family but you - but perhaps it is our way forward. Do you want to find your biological father? We are detectives after all."

She then excuses herself to prepare for the ritual, she has a lot of work to do. AM prepared to the ritual with a bit of an excess - she rationally understands how rituals work and can do them quite neutral and clean only focusing on the aspects of the ritual that have arcane benefit, but there was some truth and power to the traditionalist aspect of shamanism that she studied - and that power could not be explained. She could tell, that Iktomi was stronger with her than Totems, in general, were with more modern shamans. He was closer to her - something was lost when you took the experience of magic and analyzed it using unified magic theory - it was a good theory, but it was not the entire truth.

So she showers to purify her mind and soul and then wears her shaman outfit. Which is not a true spirit tuxedo (these costs too much for her) but is inspired by one. It has no effect on the spirits but it shows her effort to get closer. She paints herself white, and draws black circles around her eyes, solely for the spirits of her ancestors as her face are not visible during the ritual but covered with a wooden shamanic mask, and her hands and legs are covered with rings that made a stream-like sound when she walked and moves. These represented the presence of all shamans from the previous ages. She was not just herself, she invited them all to be with her at this moment.

paints her face white and draws black circles around her eyes and mouth, then she wears her shamanic wooden mask decorated with a hand-drawn symbol of each great spirit. She feels the regret as she touches it, the hours of disappointment where all her offerings were rejected and no reached for her but she now had Trouble. The Trickster has shown that there is a way to realize her talent despite its incompleteness. She is already chanting a wordless melody as she organizes the magical lodge, and places the reagents. The music and the strict ritual behind every action help her mind to enter a trancelike state, and for once in a long time, she experiences release.

Release from being hyper-logical all the time, from always expecting the worst outcome - and from always looking over her back. True, she studied traditionalist shamanism because her poor parents could not send her to university, and all that was left was for her father to leverage his tribal position, and ask for a favor. True - it was humiliating because she was introduced to the spirits as Shaman Maka the orphan daughter of mother earth, but the experience was so captivating. Suddenly feeling the weight of entire history has given her the perspective for once to feel like part of a great unbroken chain of shamans. Countless generations of shamans stood with her and all she needed was to be sensitive enough, open enough to channel their collective wisdom. She was not alone, never alone, she belonged in the great story and her life would live an imprint for all future generations. Her life had meaning, she was no longer a scared girl hiding from the world trying to live life without getting abused by stronger people. Living with her single mother trying to get by - doing some minor matrix works to get by. She was a spiritual leader, one of the selected few to interact with the great spirits.

She responds
"Sand of our ancestors, the sand has more stories and more knowledge it remembers the old seas and even times before our land came to be. Sand symbolizes the immortals, and the eternal spirits, and our ancestors whom we invite to share this ritual with us all." and she instructs Jawsey to spill the send in an offering bowl.

When Bobby makes the offering of Blood she says Blood is the strongest essence in existence, and it symbolizes the rare ability to change. Most spirits lack this ability - but any person has it. We all have many faces, and we can grow and change, and evolve into things that we cannot imagine. We are humble and respect the great spirits, but we are also wise and know our place in the world, and it is a place of power and influence.

She then makes her own offering an engraved data chip I give an offering of technology and tradition. I come from the most humble place in society an halfbreed, and a bastard. I was introduced to the spirits as an orphan. No world has ever accepted me, and my road has always been hard. I never had good answers, but I always asked the right questions. The great spirits in their wisdom have accepted me to be a shaman, but I never had a tribe to accept me. In this event, I make a commitment to my new family and form a new tribe, and I am no longer an orphan.

She nods at her friends and pauses for a bit. Then speaks to the great spirits or to the void.
The modern world gives us the gift of technology, a gift that we never had before. From the rifles that defeated our people in the past, to body augmentations, medicine, and worlds within worlds of existence in Iktomi's web. The data chip I offer has the capacity to store all the written knowledge of our people, and more. It has great value, and like all new knowledge, it has great danger.

Wisdom always brings mischief, and Ksa is the Destroyer. Not because he was prevented, but because something is lost for everything that is gained. When you enrich the world with new knowledge destruction is the inevitable result. The new ways challenge the old ways, and our people are embarrassed and lost. Some go excessively to the old ways and denounce all technology as a foreign influence. They fear the unprecedented wealth of knowledge and wisdom that Iktomi has blessed us with because they fear the destruction that would follow so much knowledge. By rejecting this knowledge they fail to embrace Iktomi, and therefore they do not fully understand our heritage.
We should not remain frozen in the old ways, we should change and grow.

Many others embrace technology and forget the old ways. They are so fascinated by this wisdom that they become trans-humanist and seek to evolve into something more than humans. These people embrace change, but they forget who they are and they do not even know what they are giving up. They are very powerful, but can they be happy? Can they bring harmony to the world? It would take them forever to relearn all the important things that they forgot.

We need new wisdom because our old ways do not have all the answers, and we need our old ways and their wisdom to progress. They are not conflicting. Virtual reality can be used to show our people what they lost, and can be used to guide our people when they are scattered across great distances and Shamans are rare. Modern agriculture can terraform our world back to a healthy state, and we cannot even feed our people without it. While destruction is inevitable, and some knowledge may no longer be relevant to our world. Destruction can be minimized. Today, I ask for your support in our search for knowledge and meaning. We know and accept our place in the world and would respect the knowledge, even if we chose to discard, or change it."

[Gilga]

.

[Tecumseh]

"Do you want to find your biological father? We are detectives after all."

"Yes," Mato says rather more forcefully than he expects. "Yes, I think that I do." The answer seems to surprise him even as he says it. The response seems instinctual rather than preplanned. Perhaps the spirits move in him still.

"I don't have much to go on. Rumors and innuendo. An elf of Aztlaner descent, perhaps a coworker of my mother's. But it could have been anyone: a vendor in town for a business trip and a quick tryst, the pro at the tennis club, a delivery man." Mato looks daunted at the prospect of trying to find a needle in a haystack, but the possibility seems much more within reach if there's a hacker helping him out.

Mato stands watch during the ritual, alert to the threat of the Halloweeners and the Crimson Crush. He finds the ritual more interesting than intimidating. He's especially intrigued with AM's thoughts on the past and the future, the blending of the old ways and the new ways. He agrees that they are not necessarily in conflict. If the old ways were to change and evolve, then perhaps the new ways aren't so different after all.

Do the words sting when she mentions transhumanism and the desire to evolve into something more than humans? Perhaps a little. Did Mato 'embrace change, but forget who he was and not know what he was giving up'? Yes and no. His cyberlimbs were a metamorphosis, the chrysalis through which he banished the weakness of his flesh form and emerged stronger and more capable than before. Did he lose something in the exchange? Yes, some of his soul. Did he know what he was giving up? No, not really. The loss of your personal essence was something difficult to contemplate and even harder to convey to someone who hadn't experienced it before. The detachment from your own humanity is no easier to comprehend in advance than detachment from reality, or detachment from the four fundamental forces of the universe. And once you lose it, it's easy for the effect to snowball, to forget what you've lost which makes it that much easier to give up even more.

But would Mato make a different decision? If he could send a message in a bottle back in time, what advice would he give? He'd probably tell himself to do it all the same. The physical confidence that the new limbs inspired lead to mental confidence, to an improved personal bearing. He can't imagine being weak and infirm, stuck on a sofa for the rest of his life watching the trid. Was there a middle ground, perhaps? High-grade bioware? Limbs with skin and muscle that are still soft to the touch? Perhaps, perhaps... but that's not the decision he made. A wise man was once asked about free will, about choice versus destiny. He answered, "What you choose is your destiny." And so Mato's destiny is here: in Seattle, in Redmond, in Touristville, in this dilapidated house with these three mages, with his cybernetic enhancements. And he's okay with that. No regrets. No regrets at all.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby sucked at the back of his hand until the bleeding stopped, following AM's words closely. Somehow he felt at the same time over- and underwhelmed. He was finely attuned to his own body as well as the ebb and flow of mana and he could feel the power that had been building inside the lodge. The pressure was not unlike having clogged sinuses. Just this little gathering of three magical active people had created more power than what each individual of them should be able to contribute. More than the sum of its parts clearly was a thing with magic. If they weren't careful they could flatten their flat with forces like that. Bobby briefly wondered if that was the kind of power the Great Ghost Dance also had created.
At the same time it felt surreal that they could do such a thing in their rather plain and simple flat with just a few cheap items. Somehow he had expected there had to be raging fires, flaring lights, shouting and dancing to achieve such an effect. That made him feel oddly disapointed - like bracing against a punch and then only getting a pat on the cheek.
He felt his thoughts starting to drift, and concentrated to retain what she said.
When the ritual ended and the pressure finally eased, as the circle was broken and the ambient mana was absorbed back into the environment, he breathed a sigh of relieve. He understood now how this circle could help you initiate. It was like a lense, amplifying your experience. But crafting that lense had also taken a toll. He could see it with his companions. Far worse how he felt when he had illadvisedly given some of his memories and potential to that motherfragging spirit. But at least this time he hadn't lost it so much as invested it, build something that only now was settling down. The dice were still in the air and the ritual could still fail. But he felt confident, that it could work. That these three people here were the right choice to start building.
Irritated he closed his eyes. He felt emotions stiring that he hadn't allowed to surface in almost 20 years...

[Beta]

Jawsey felt a bit intimidated when he saw Ana Maka in her full regalia. Did the spirits expect something similar from him? They'd never said, but would it strengthen his connection? He'd never really thought about how he appeared to them in the meat world, as he thought of them mostly from an astral perspective. Well, nothing to do about it now but to carry on as he was and think about doing something different in the future.

During the ritual he focused on using what little he knew about ritual magic to help support AM. In part because he was amateur enough to have to think through the whole thing, and in part because the whole thing was stirring up feelings that he didn't really want to address. AM's discussion of old ways and new caught him by surprise. What were Jawsey's ways? But now was not the time to think about that, and he returned his focus to the background chant that he was providing. Just get through the ritual, then you can have your navel gazing session. Not much longer now, so don't lose the rhythm, don't let the magic fall.

[Gilga]

"Yes," Mato says rather more forcefully than he expects. "Yes, I think that I do." The answer seems to surprise him even as he says it. The response seems instinctual rather than preplanned. Perhaps the spirits move in him still.

"I don't have much to go on. Rumors and innuendo. An elf of Aztlaner descent, perhaps a coworker of my mother's. But it could have been anyone: a vendor in town for a business trip and a quick tryst, the pro at the tennis club, a delivery man." Mato looks daunted at the prospect of trying to find a needle in a haystack, but the possibility seems much more within reach if there's a hacker helping him out.

AM says "I will do everything in my power to help you find him. Send me what you have and I'll dig up what I can. She pauses If he is out there, we can find him.

...
The rest of the ritual contains the usual stories, and chanting and is repetitive to give the participants a trans-like state. At the sealing of the ritual, the personal offerings are bonded together, in the bowel along with the other reagents. Physically nothing is visible, but the experienced can sense that mana levels ebb very high, and the keen-eyed can see that a similar bond now exists on the three members of the cycle. The spirits have accepted the offering and granted them this boon in return, either they convinced them with words or bribed them with items of significant emotional value it did not matter. They got the blessing, and the rest was hard work. At the sealing ceremony, she takes off her wooden mask and eat the apple looking like a skeleton or some shaman of old. Her mental state is euphoric as she fulfills her role as a vessel of spiritual energies and as a rare moment feels that she is not ignored by the spirits. Sure, these would mainly speak to conjurers but sorcerers also get their rare moments from time to time.



Once the ritual is done, AM makes a sharp change from a euphoric, trans-like state to her normal state. Yet, she feels drained it takes a lot of effort to do anything with magic - and rituals are long and you need to really be committed and let go of cynicism for them to work. The body paint and mask are more for her than for the spirits, she is well aware that they could accomplish similar results only with the bare necessities of the ritual foundation. Gifts to the spirits and meditation... but she needs to turn off half her brain to participate in such a ritual, asking invisible forces for favors and speaking to them as if they are in the room. Her mother would laugh at her for being so superstitious.

She changes her mental state as she changes her clothes, the ritual dress is replaced by pants and shirt, and then a coat, and a warm hut. The ritualistic facial paint is replaced with subtle makeup to bring out her eyes, and, mask what needs to be masked, and the short messy blond hair gets combed into order. Logic is now the queen of this lady, not instinct. The chaos makes room for order. Yet, she feels a little bit happier than she should be, perhaps after one would feel after having sex. Connection is something she yearns for and on some level, connecting makes her happy.

She executed the ritual very well, DB would be professionally proud but he would be offended at what she said about him and his education. Time builds up distance, which builds up perspective and critique to all of the teachings she studied which were very dogmatic initially. They conflicted with all her rational thinking, and that conflict was a hurdle most of the time. Iktomi has gradually guided her to a solution with less conflict. Would she be welcomed at DB's fire spot after such a speech? She is an embodiment of Iktomi, at least partially - is Shaman Maka the problem or is it Iktomi that is not welcomed at DB's fire spot besides lip service to the great spirits? Was this the reason why she only met her totem away from the fire-spot? Alone in the wilderness fixing a car? All the chanting and gifting and dancing did not help, but Iktomi came at his own will with the strongest manifestation she has ever experienced when she was fixing a car. Perhaps a lesson that when the spirits have a desire to manifest, the ritual is not needed.

AM feels robbed of any desire to study further, the ritual took its tool and the social implications for her out of all people going full tribal with all the bells and whistles and gimmicks that modern shamans do not use. DB taught her that way, and she was attracted to the universal magic theory even before she knew how to practice magic. Yet, Iktomi taught her that understanding is good, but one needs to be humble and know that any knowledge is incomplete. That any template you frame magic into would miss out some aspects of the phenomena. That even magic theory has its limits, and it only captures some of the aspects and not all. The world is too complex, and magic knowledge is too young to know it all - she needs to use also instincts, intuition, and charisma. Magic is a dialogue with the spirits and sometimes being convincing is better than being technically right. The ritual was a success, and the magical bond was now visible, a small tendril of mana that connected them and allowed for some mental textures to pass from one member to the others. Another arcane achievement, a lot to be proud of.

She could see it, after the ritual was completed - but was careful to declare success before she sees the tendril endures. A follower of the Trickster should always be careful and skeptical. AM returns to the living room shortly after and says Careful optimism about the ritual, the bond is there -we'll just need to wait to see if it endures. Good work! she declares, pauses and then suggested anyone wants to go out?" Since she is already dressed up it is clear that she'll go out regardless.

[Tecumseh]

The ritual lasted for several hours, but Mato was still up at the end of it. Due to his sleep regulator, Mato is up more often than not.

"Let's go," he agrees with AM. It's a Sunday night and Touristville might be quiet - might still be recovering from the New Year's binge the night before - but he's willing to go.

"Here's what I have," he tells her, providing AM with his mother's name, employer (Wind River Corporation, the king of agriculture in the Sioux Nation), and his probable window of conception.

"I think I was born premature," he says. "At least 3 weeks, maybe as much as 6. I was small, especially as an ork. My parents did a lot of drugs though, even while I was in utero. Mostly things like Psyche or Cereprax, but sometimes party drugs like Bliss or Zen or Aisa. Red Mescaline too. Redmesc complements the effects of Psyche, and combining the two is common. When you speedball the two, it's called a 'loco'."

This seems like unnecessary detail, but it shows that Mato was watching while his parents debased themselves. And that they were doing it in his presence.

"Anyway, I'd start with her calendar. Check her managers, her coworkers, maybe her calendar to check for meetings.

"Wait, this was over 20 years back, before Crash 2.0. Do you think any of these records will still exist?"

[Gilga]

AM is sorry when Mato mentions the drugs, she makes an empathetic face but does not say much - he obviously tells it to find his father rather than get support. Her mother sort of locked her home so that she would not try drugs, and DB said that drugs offer great power but are dangerous and should be used only with a very experienced shaman, a dream-catcher, and only for specific purposes require vision-quests. He said that it was like rudely poking the spirits for wisdom, when the need is great they may grant that boon - intruding on other realms of existence is very dangerous. In more mundane words, drugs were the priveledges of a selected few male full magicians and out of bounds for tomboyish blonde initiates that sabotage even the most simple rituals with sarcasm.

AM accepts that drugs have something to them, she really wants to experience them, but she is too much of a control freak to try anything serious. She is a tiny bit jealous that someone can just do that consequences aside, and at the sad time sad for the little boy that received no attention from his parents because they chose to be elsewhere mentally if not physically.

AM comments "Crush 2.0 is a challenge, I'll search for it nevertheless.

She seems pensive and begins processing the information in her mind. Creating tasks in her calendar so that the search will not be forgotten over other perhaps more enjoyable tasks. Perhaps we can physically go there and try to find clues. Talk to people, find her friends, or family, or coworkers. We have a name, and we know where she worked we can at least someone that knew her and can shed more light on the situation. Then we'll progress step by step from there, the first step is always the hardest.

Then we can use the matrix to find these people that may know her. Here we the trix to help us - most people are very visible in the Trix. If all else fails, we'll have magic and mundane investigation as a backup. DNA samples from possible candidates, perhaps even use the DNA records in their SIN entries if we gain access. In a pinch, we have you, and you are connected by blood - ritual magic may help but I do not know exactly how to do that... I'll need to research. We have no answers, but we got a very diverse toolbox, including technology, social skills, breaking and entering, and magic. If we use the right tool to every subproblem along the way we will prevail."

She grins and tells Mato "I am a bit hyped from this day. Let's find some food and drinks, and music. I'll start with the searches when I wake up.