My God, he thinks to himself, have I ever really seen before? It feels like he can see the world as it truly is. His Sight cuts through everything.

There is a robust manaline here. It leads straight toward Rainier, an obvious power site. The mana here is largely natural but the Sisters' have managed to shape it over time with their regular rituals and devotions. The mana combs through them now. The astral energy rises as steam off the forest floor, swirling through the Sisters, filling their lungs, passing in and out of them with every breath. It floods their minds, dulling their thoughts to the physical world. They are surrounded by the astral signatures of their spells: songs of healing, chants for courage, prayers for insight.

Stogie could swear that he could see their molecular structure if he tried. Unless the women are truly frightening initiates, there is no way that they could conceal their true nature to him now. They appear to him as ordinary magicians, certainly competent but none that could shatter the world. They are suffused with the power of the place and are capable of greater magic here than they would be elsewhere. Still, without that advantage Stogie feels confident that his Talent exceeds their own. That's not to underestimate what a determined team of clever magicians could accomplish, but these are hardly earthshakers.

He peers into their minds, searching for the influence of the wolf. He sifts through the connections there, none of which bear any noticeable trace of the shifter. However, he can tell the women share an attachment to each other. There's a strong link between them, an emotional and magical bond that ties them together into a group. Yet there are differences too: perhaps they have slightly different traditions, or possibly different mentor spirits. Magicians participating in ritual sorcery are usually from the same tradition, but perhaps their traditions are close enough for their magical techniques to overlap.

But what of their goals? Are the women Twisted? Here, for all of Stogie's insight, it's hard to say. Is there a bright line that divides an ecoshaman from an Avenger? Or an Avenger from a Toxic mage? Or is it simply a matter of degrees? At what point does yellow become orange, and when does orange become red?

But if Stogie had to answer, the answer would be... maybe? Sometimes? Is it possible for some of their magic to cross the line into Twisted territory, while the rest of it remains untainted? What makes for Twisted magic anyway? Is it the motivation of the practitioner, or is it the effect of the magic that makes it unnatural? Stogie can see some elements of their nature that aren't entirely straight, but maybe he's a bit uncomfortable by the similarities between their path and his and Smohalla's own.

Stogie can see a bit of everything that he searches for. There's anger, sure, but it's the outrage of seeing a loved one in pain, or in harm's way. There's camaraderie, there's devotion to a cause larger than yourself, and a belief in a higher power. There's zealous determination, there's unrealistic expectations, there's a drop of hope holding forth against an ocean of hopelessness. These women have a cause and they believe in it wholeheartedly, despite the costs. They've done the math and figured that the reward is worth the risk. After all, big things have small beginnings, and every mighty oak was once a little nut who stood his ground.