Rafferty was wide-eyed.

He had seen his share of magic for a twelve-year-old. Academic demonstrations from his theory teacher. And of course his parents took him to the best circuses.

Then Dana's various displays - no show, those. But just when he'd thought the past few impossible days had inured him to shock, there were now mystical beings trading threats before his eyes - beings that transcended the domesticated manifestations of the spiritual world he'd seen up until now.

But there was no time for marvelling at such things. This young man was clearly suffering. Rafferty went to his side.

"Hold on. We'll bring you some water, clothing. We have food, too. What's your name?" he asked. And in an attempt to bring up the traumatized youth's spirits, he added, "Or shall I just call you Hawkboy?"

"T....tha...." He said shivering and panting.

"Shhh," said Raf, cradling the youth's head and waving the others to get one of the fur blankets and some water.

Of course it was unnecessary since Maya was already all over it.

"Save your strength. It's perfectly clear you are trying to say, 'That's a lovely set of flats you're wearing, my friend.' To which I would simply reply, 'Oh bless, these old things? They're just something I woke up in one day.' So you see, there's absolutely no need for you to carry on trying to speak. Just lie easy there, Hawkboy."

"Tha....that... Was the most badass thing I have ever seen...My totem...is soooo cool..." Vincent said weakly.

"Oh...my...yes, of course. Your totem. For a second there when you started speaking, I thought you were going to say my tender comforting and valiant attempts at humor were the most badass thing you'd ever seen. Silly me. But yes, the manifestation was quite impressive. Now lie still and let us look after you properly."

"H...heh...thats actually...pretty funny..." Vincent closed his eyes and stopped talking... But he did say one thing. "B...black...shaman..." He was alive but exhuasted...and he was too tired to stay awake.

The youth's voice had been so quiet...Raf looked up at his companions to make sure they'd heard his...was it a warning of some kind?

"Black shaman? Anyone know what he's on about?"

[Cailin, Small Camp] #31

Cailin seems completely bewildered, overwhelmed by the situation. She looks calm, but obviously doesn't know at all how she's supposed to react. And judging by the colour of her cheeks, the nakedness of Vincent probably doesn't help.
When Raf' asks his question about a Black Shaman, she shakes her head, bit doesn't add anything to it.

Dana was surprised, it was difficult to be completely powerless to stop the happening and then some spirit interferes - and a 'totem' no less that was just incomprehensible. The boy came to their help and ended up rescuing himself... sort of. Dana is silent, embarrassed she cannot explain such magic and a spirit refusing to leave this world at the end of a summon was unheard of...

A shaman? Vincent say - that could explain some things but raise a completely different set of questions. Spirits were mysterious indeed and Dana's rudimentary understanding could not explain it. Dana is embarrassed - and again her hair seems to tell that story much clearer than her face as it turn's red-orange shade, kind of like her cheeks. If that Shaman ever comes after them... she could punch or kick him. He cannot do astral tricks at her.

Silent, Dana carries Vincent to the stream and offers him some water with her hands. Food she knows is manageable for two days but the poor boy must be dehydrated. "Please Vincent drink" she says, and covers him with her flats. Luckily for the boy, he arrived during the day and it was about to get hotter.

Vincent drank the water but did nothing else.

Placing Vincent at a shade covered with the tiger blankets Dana looks at the others "At least I did not kill him." she says softly mostly to herself. To Caillin she said "We should try to bargain at least access to the medical kit, he might benefit from it." Dana could feel the adrenaline going back to normal and her magic retracting from her fists to its regular peaceful balance.

To Rafferty she said "His name is Vincnet, the other kids call him adept boy. He came to me asking to assense the sky - apparently there was some wired lighting or something like that. He was running around the camp asking people if they can assenese or not. Nobody believed him that he was really an adept, most people that behave like that are delusional - but as he is awakened, I tend to believe that he really is what he claims to be and he probably come from a background where people are open about their magic.

Anyhow, because he seemed so trusting and so receptive to magic, I made him a hawk in order to help him find the nearest town. Keeping him in that shape for so long is not my doing, this is light-years beyond anything that I am capable of doing, I cannot explain what happened. "

She looked at Maya silently, as if asking a skilled doctor - "is he going to be okay?".

Maya is already kneeling at Vincent's side. The display of power she had just witnessed has unnerved her a bit, but the naked boy is something she can understand and can do something about. She sends Summer off to get some of the herbs she had picked to dry earlier, as well as some of the creek moss they had found. She makes a poultice and applies it to draw out any poisons and to soothe aches. She does not force food on him, but tells him that he should eat something of the fish or cat they have cooked up. She looks about at Cailin and Dana. "Do either of you have any magical healing powers? I think he will be alright, but it never hurts to get some aid. She is pleased at the result and hope that it helps the lad.

Once he seems stable, she looks at him and says, "My name is Maya. You must be quite confused. We are a small splinter group formed from the larger camp group. I will not lie to you that your chances of survival might be greater with the others, but I would certainly welcome you to our camp if you would like to stay here. In any case, you should stay here until you are healed."

[Cailin, Small Camp] #32

Cailin nods "I do know a Healing spell. I'm not quite sure it could really help, but since it couldn't hurt anyway..." with a frown, she adds "I'm not really good at this though, I never really had any cause to cast it... Seriously at least..."
She looks at Dana "Maybe you're better than me at this?"

Seeing Dana's reaction, Cailin puts the tips of her right hand fingers on Vincent's forehead, blushing a bit, and casts the spell. Taking a step back, she looks at the result. "Here. Is it better?"

Dana smiles, how can she not smile when looking at the charming elf girl. "I cast it all the time... on myself mostly though.... go ahead try it, judging by my hair style I am sure you would do a good job. "

The summons to the tribunal came just as Addie was finally believing Pierre that with an internal commlink and a datajack, she could view visual files. "It's all in the default settings" lectured the young dwarf, "it should be something like 'default hardware for file types' and in there you set visual files to play on your DNI, instead of going to the viewer you don't have."

Gem managed to sound simultaneously bored and dismissive when she came to fetch Addie -- Addie had seen enough of Gem by now to assume that meant she was curious and a bit jealous that she wouldn't be there. Trying to at least wing two birds with one stone, Addie suggested to Gem "Let Rick know I'm coming, I'll just be a couple of minutes. In the meantime maybe you could find out when he is planning on finally punishing our would be rapist from the first day?"

Addie screwed her eyes shut, blocking out whatever response Gem might have made, and focussed on her commlink. Her datajack was still new to her, and it was hard to deal with things just floating in space without really seeing them, pushing and manipulating blocks without really touching them. But she found the right menu and sure enough, there is was just as Pierre had said. She changed the setting to "Play all possible files" for DNI, then launched the file of the attack.

When she opened her eyes again, she was sure she looked paler. To Pierre's questions she just said "It worked, but I need to go tell Rick now."

* * * * * * *

Rick had called the tribunal to a spot up-hill from the camp, where they could look down on it and be seen from it, but where they were out of easy listening range. By the time Addie came jogging up his temper was clearly not good, and he snapped "This thing was your idea, and you're late!"

Addie apologized, then explained "I just got to see who attacked the hunters. I know you've talked to them too, hopefully both line up -- the recording that was sent out to the commlinks, it shows some big guy, dark and mottled with some sort of camouflage maybe, moving really, really, fast. He made beating those three look easy. Fast, strong, skilled. I didn't recognize him, but like I said his features were kind of obscured and the light wasn't all that great. Bigger than the boys he attacked by quite a bit, but I didn't see obvious tusks. Definitely not Dana, unless she can like double her body weight by magic or something, but he didn't move the way Dana did when she attacked me, either. Not Maya or Raf either, for sure."

Vincent nodded. "I need some rest." He said weakly.

[Cailin, Small Camp] #33

"Oh..." Cailin looks around. "You should probably go in the cave then. Even with the blanket, you could catch a cold tired as you are if you stayed here. It wouldn't improve things..."

Once Cailin hsd settled Vincent in the cave and come back out, Raf spoke to her.

She was very pretty.

"You are very kind. Helping him like that. As disconcerting as this whole experience is for all of us, what he's just been through..." He paused. Unsure. "My family's home is in Surrey. Close enough to the Smoke but far enough too. You understand. Where do you call home? Exactly, I mean." As if the general answer was obvious.

[Cailin, Small Camp] #34

Cailin smiles lightly at Raf's praise. "Surrey?" she frowns, nibbling at her lips "It's in England right? I'm sorry, my geography is not as it should be. My tutor would be quite ashamed but..." she shrugs, apologetically. "As for me, I live near Tara's Hill, in Tìr na nÓg."

Looking at the sky, she sighs darkly "Or maybe saying that I lived there is more appropriate..." She shakes herself a bit, then asks "What do your family do in Surrey, close enough to Smoke but far enough too?"

The group pauses for a moment as everyone digests the news from Addie and Lindsey is the first to speak, "Do you think he's working with Maya and them? It would make sense; I wouldn't want to go it alone out here. Although he didn't take anything... could they be trying to intimidate us? Maybe they're thinking if the camp is scared then more people will join with them for 'protection'? That's how it works back home, and she certainly seems to be accumulating the right people to do something like that."

"What do your family do in Surrey, close enough to Smoke but far enough too?"

"Well, it's just me and my parents. Mostly I study, and practice. My parents, they take care of things. Me, for instance. Certain charitable projects require a personal touch. And they are very hands on with regard to their corporate responsibilities. In another age it might have been expected. Now, they simply expect it of themselves. And of me someday. What about you? I go with my father on business to the Tir sometimes. It is a wonderfully beautiful place."

[Cailin, Small Camp] #35

Cailin smiles wistfully "Yes, there are many beautiful forests and lakes, it's a wonderful place". With a small grimace she adds "As long as you don't look under the hood at least. Then, you'd see a lot of things that are...wrong..." she sighs a bit "Especially if you're not an elf or at least human. Or a poor foreigner." Her tone becomes quite sardonic with a matching smile "Or if your da... Father happens to love to rock the boat..." She chuckles darkly.

"Mother is mainly a philosopher and a writer. She's very good with a violin too. She tried to teach me a bit, along with dance and stuff like that, but with my Magic lessons I didn't have time for much so I'm not really good. As for Father..." she groans "Let's just say he's more into politics. He would say that he's trying to improve Tìr. Most would say he's trying to get on everyone's nerves. And some, that he is a traitor." She shrugs "Were his name...our name I suppose... different, he wouldn't get away with it, but things being as they are... And of course he's a very good Mage, which helps quite a lot."

"In which Corporation are your parents? I heard a lot about the Corporations, but we don't really have them in Tìr. Or at least, not in the same way as everyone else I think, but I don't know exactly how. What is it like?" Looking at Dana and Maya, she asks "I was told Corporations owned everything, were you in corporations too? What was it like?"

"How delightful that you're interested in corporations!" Rafferty replied, warming now to the conversation itself, and not just to the presence of the most beautiful girl he'd ever imagined seeing. "The corporation has undoubtedly brought greater aggregate wealth and prosperity to this world than any other invention in the history of mankind. The general uplift in the standard of living of the world's populace brought on by this single innovation is simply incalculable. And yes, as a point of fact, they do own everything. Not directly, of course. Direct corporate ownership of tangible and intangible assets has been estimated as no more than ninety-two percent globally, but if you add in the future value of debt receivable, the figure actually grows well beyond a hundred percent. So I guess in that way we're all a part of our corporate parents. To be fair, however, while I've been on many site visits and spent experience-days in a number of roles, my own situation is somewhat different from most corporate family members. My parents are not actually listed as employees of any corporation. Rather, they help to allocate and ascertain the efficient use of capitsl. Sorry. What I mean to say is that they are stockholders. Or, as we prefer, stakeholders."

[Cailin, Small Camp] #36

Cailin seems a bit confused "I'm pretty sure the corporations don't own much in Tìr... But what I don't understand is how anyone can own more than 100% of anything..."

Klarissa seems ready to barf "Frag, what a joke! You make me want to barf. Like everything is nice and shiny. Sure, maybe as long as you have a SIN. Spend a day or two in the boots of us SINless, and we'll see what tune you sing afterwards. If you survive that long that is. Corporations frag up anything they touch, only caring about their bottom line. They don't uplift nothing to those they smash in the ground. There is not much good in Tìr, but their rules about corporations are."

Dana looked at Caiilin and said "My case is more literal than most, I was designed in the institute of biological research in Ness Ziona. They are part of Israel's industry block, that was merged into Ares Marcotechnology like decades ago. So it is not just wealth cooperates own, it is people as well, I was created as a prototype but new generations are designed as soldiers."

[Cailin, Small Camp] #37

Cailin smiles at Dana "Well at least, they did their job right."

Klarissa seems to have another point of view though, that she expresses with a muttered "Freak." There's not much heat in there, but then again, is it needed with such a word?

Cailin frowns "Please Klarissa, that was not nice. No matter what are the circumstances of Dana's birth, she's innocent of them. And the only thing that matters is what she is now and what she wants to become. Not how she came to be that way. Do you really want to be forever defined by the circumstances of your birth? I may be mistaken, but isn't that what you would condemn anywhere else? If you want to have the ability to evolve, to be more than your birth made of you, shouldn't others be able to, if they want it?"

Klarissa grumbles under her breath. She doesn't seem to like what she just heard, but finds it difficult to argue...

Dana looked at Klarissa with curiosity, she was used to that treatment, pure heart were thinking just that. At She said "Leave her alone, at least she speaks her mind to my face. ", and it still was painful but an old pain the kind of pain you grew up in. Escaping the institute was a good decision... on paper. Freedom, religion spirituality, but people do not like to be around what they cannot understand.

To them she is a freak, an abomination if they are religious, to her most people are weak. Weak and need to be protected, Dana was grown to show it is possible, educated as a fighter - but becoming a warrior was her own twist of it. No senseless fighting, killing with a purpose, to serve to protect. To make life meaningful, it was not easy without the instructors from the institute, Dana could do some very dangerous things and controlling them without guidance was very difficult.

[Cailin, Small Camp] #38

Cailin seems taken aback "Of course. Sorry." And maybe a bit...miffed?

Klarissa just sniffs disdainfully, not wanting to enter any kind of debate with the silver-tongued elves.

When Rick doesn't shoot down Lindsey's suggestions right away, Addie feels she has to say something. "I don't think so. Like, Maya being that subtle and indirect? I don't think she even knows how to spell subtle. And Dana might be able to do as much or worse by herself, and I don't see her as the sort who would hide behind a guy when it comes time to fight." Then, to be fair, she has to add "Although if they know about this guy, maybe they'd have made themselves a hard enough target that he'd come this way instead? I don't know if they'd warn us about him, they might even be happy enough that he did this, but I just don't think he is part of their group."

Dana said to Caillin, "Most people would have a similar opinion about me. I have made my peace with it. There are so many possible reasons to treat me like that, that I've grown a troll skin. It takes much more to offend me. The most difficult ones are these that would only say these things behind my back."

With the levitate spell in place, the three girls have started a slow walk toward the main camp.

At first irritated at being contradicted by Addie, Lindsey quickly grasps onto her second idea, "If that's the case and he's a separate rogue element, then that makes dealing with both of them pretty straight forward. We just need to make our group more of a 'hard target' than Maya's... It's obvious the patrols aren't working; if we keep together instead of separating like that, we should be more than a match for one razorguy and that should encourage him to go bother them. And if he *is* with them, then we're still better off as a group. We have the numbers." Looking pointedly at Rick and Sim, she continues, "That brings up something else as well. There's an area with some aspect of man's influence on it down the river from here. We might as well pack up and head that way as a group. That gives us protection from the others and maybe gets us closer to figuring out why we're here."

Maya has kept quiet through the discussions. She can see the right of both sides. She has been called a freak since she was very young, and that was just because of what she liked to do. It was even worse after the accident. The phrase "Coyote Ugly" certainly comes to mind as a recent epithet. She makes sure that the three girls are ready and watches them go. She, Summer, and Raf begin the daily chores that are necessary around the camp. Her bone implements help with finishing the second pelt and the spirit that Cailin left to do the fishing is extremely helpful. Maya is as careful as she can be when examining the first fish and prepares them for the noon meal as something to go along with the cooked meat. She and Summer do most of this while Raf is working on his bows and arrows. All in all it is a busy morning and the afternoon looks to be even busier.

[Cailin, On the way to the main Camp] #39

Once her water spirit summoned, Cailin accompanies Dana and Klarissa to the main camp. She's not really eager to get there and it's visible. After a couple of minutes though, she seems more relaxed. At one point, she looks at...well, she must see something, but... "Oh, hello." Maybe something in the astral? "What?" a pause "Here?" new pause "Are you sure?" one more "No no, it's just... Ok!"

Klarissa looks a bit perplexed at Cailin who's picking pebbles, small twigs and other leaves, before discarding almost all of them, still speaking to...something... "Has she finally gone mad?" she glances at Dana, frowning.

Dana looks at at Klarissa and said "I think she is harvesting reagents, they are small objects with some mojo in them. I am not familiar with the craft so I could be wrong."
Dana seems to enjoy the physical exercise, she insists on climbing the cliff on her own and seems more eager to run the trip rather than casually walk it. Then she said "Now it is some sort of spell-casting... I can feel the tickle. You could feel it yourself if you train to be sensitive enough."

After a while of unexplained behavior Dana asks Caillin "Care to shed some light on the situation?"

[Cailin, On the way to the main Camp] #40

After a while, she seems a bit annoyed of keeping her "bounty" in her hands, and tries to modify her flats. Once...Twice... Still not getting the intended result, she seems irritated. She tries again. And again... Groans, and tries once more. Finally, after her seventh try, she seems to succeed what she wanted to do: getting a small pocket, where she puts her harvest. Grumbling all the while, clearly pissed off by the difficulty she had to get the result she wanted. But apparently not marked by all the spells she just cast.

In the process, her flats took quite a bit of different colours. Finally, on the last try, she gets her pockets, and the flats are now in nice green and brown colours, with a golden torc symbol on her heart. In addition, the flats are again in pristine condition, and the cut is much nicer compared to the original model. Certainly not high-couture, but it's quite an improvement.

Klarissa looks at the clothes, scowling and answers to Dana "As if she needed more of that mojo..."

A bit surprised, Cailin looks at Dana "The situation?" she blinks, seemingly surprised "Oh, you mean that?" she shows one of the leaves she took "Brigid is teaching me how to find reagents. She says it could be useful for some spells, or if we wanted to cast rituals or... I don't really know more though..."

Dana smiled at Klarissa "I guess she misses the nice clothes from the Tir, perhaps it is her way to cope. If I had such a nice place waiting for me, I'd find it hard to adjust as well. I kind of like it here, I'd probably do something much more fucked up on the outside. The only jobs I could do were not exactly legit. "

To Caillin she answered with surprise " You actually speak to Brigid? They are very useful, few people know how to find them though and this place is probably a bad place to harvest. It is amazing that you can, just speak to a deity so easily. I mean, I pray but nobody ever answers. "

[Cailin, On the way to the main Camp] #41

Klarissa groans "I know what you mean. I don't have a nice place to go back to, but I wouldn't mind going back either though..."

Cailin grins. "To be more accurate, I mostly listen. I seldom get to speak, go figure." she shrugs, pensive for a couple of seconds "A lot of people don't agree about the deity part though. But...yes I guess..." she walks silent for a minute "Maybe you're not praying in the right direction? You can't really force those things, if they want to talk to you, they'll find you. Or at least that's what Brigid did to me. Took me a while to figure it though, that was at the very beginning for me..."

She frowns "I'm not an expert but... I think that in most cases they answer to what you are, what you feel, how you see the world. Not to what your religion is. Standard prayers don't mean much if your heart is not in there. I could pray Cúchulainn all day and it wouldn't give me much. Well, except pissing Brigid off of course. I'm not a warrior: I wouldn't be able to put my soul in those prayers."

She stays pensive for a while, then shrugs "Anyway... As far as those reagents go... Most of them are useless. Or so I'm told. But I'll keep them to look at them in more details when I have time, maybe it's not that bad. And in any case, it can be useful for me to know what to look for, and what to avoid."

Back at the small camp, hard at work on his bow, Raf spoke to Maya as she passed by with a load of water. "Maya, we've obviously been so preoccupied with the day-to-days...but I haven't heard your thoughts on why we're here, or how we might extricate ourselves not just from hunger and cold, but from the entirety of this positively surreal situation...."

Maya stopped moving and looked at Raf, surprised at her reaction to his statement. She carefully considers her response then says, "You know. I am not truly sure that I really care that much, Raf. I have been preparing for this sort of life since I was twelve, probably even earlier if you count the time spent studying in school. In effect, I have lived the last seven years in the wilds of one country or another. Maybe, of all those here, I am the one that really likes it here. I look at the challenge as a way to live, Raf. A way to be me. I am curious about the who and the why, but I am not sure that I want to go back. After all, the place I was taken from is not too different from here. It would be nice if my parents knew that I was alright, but beyond that? No, I would almost rather just stay here and see if I could start something. It would be great if someone else wanted to stay with me, but I have been a loner for a long time and could manage on my own if I had to."

Dana said "...Maybe if I wasn't a freak. That bolthole I lived in was less comfortable than living outdoors and I do not bland very well with the neighbors."

To Caillin she said: "Cúchulainn? I just pray to the Lord, well to be completely PC to the Hebrew god. My mojo is dangerous, I usually pray not to hurt anyone by accident."

[Cailin, On the way to the main Camp] #42

Klarissa shrugs, not really wanting to say more.

"Oh sorry, he's a Celtic hero, a warrior. Some say he's an incarnation of his father, Lugh. And Lugh is a Tuatha Dé Danann warrior. You can think of them as Celtic gods. Brigid is one of them." She smiles a bit "Anyway, Cúchulainn is the patron of the Way of the Warrior, in my tradition. Or Tìr's tradition I suppose... The Path of the Wheel."

Tapping her lips with her fingers, she cocks her head, looking at Dana "I don't know a lot about your god. Almost nothing in fact. But he isn't a warrior, is he?" She shakes her head "You must have some kind of warrior figure in your pantheon right? No wait, there's only one god for you right? Hum... Well, maybe a Saint? Anyway, try a Warrior figure. Someone that you can relate too. Someone that is you, at least in some way." She smiles, reassuringly. Looking in the air, probably listening to Brigid, she adds after a while "And maybe you should pray for your powers to protect innocents, or to overwhelm your enemies or...well I don't know, stuff like that. Positive stuff. Positive warrior stuff. Not I don't want to make mistakes. While it's nice and all, gods - or totems, or whatever name you want to give them - are interested in people that remind them of themselves on some level. They don't like people that want to hide behind them." She shrugs "Maybe it's a very Celtic way to see things and I don't know if it can relate to your situation. But maybe you should think about it?"

Maya's answer surprised Rafferty in the extreme. He didn't mask all of it - it was an unexpected answer, and she knew it would be. So he showed just enough surprise. But not all of it - not the part that tore at his insides. Not because of any offense on her part. Her feelings were her own. But that anyone's feelings could stand in such contrast to his own desperate longing for his mother's embrace brought his own pain into unbearably sharp relief, and had he shown the extent of his true response to her reply the flow of tears would inevitably have marked him as weak in the eyes of the others.

So he mastered himself and kept his grief, now felt more than ever, to himself.

He spoke politely. "Well, I won't say I expected that, but I'll admit I'm happy to hear it. Firstly happy that you are not suffering, but rather finding yourself some contentment here. And secondly I feel reassured, in a way. Your commitment to this situation makes you eminently qualified to be our leader."

What he said was true - he never lied - but there was something else about her answer that worried him. Finding a way back or out or through whatever this situation was had to be their paramount, their overriding purpose. And if the one leading them had no interest in it...she increased their chances of survival considerably. But she brought their chances of life to zero.

Dana said "Just one God, no saints or other figures. He is beyond our perception. There is Kabbalah that is a religious magical tradition, but it is forbidden unless you spend all your life studying the mundane parts of the religion and are over 35, married and a male. So obviously, I cannot practice Kabbalah."

She then said "Well I would not know about these, Celtic gods. I am not important enough to have enemies and few people are truly innocent and I am not the one to know if they are. I do have a totem but I do not speak to it and it does not manifest like Vincnent. It feels like a hungry beast inside of me, it makes me stronger but it has its own agenda. An agenda different than mine and while powerful it is difficult to contain. I need to be strong enough so that I do not seek its help. I'd be a bit suspicious about Celtic gods speaking to me - who knows what the price of their kindness is. Though alchemy can help you survive in here."

[Cailin, On the way to the main Camp] #43

Cailin chuckles "You'd like the Morrigan..." then groans "Ok, maybe not. As for Alchemy... The situation I'm in apparently is not a sufficient reason for me to stop learning." looking in the air, she pointedly says "Even if no self respecting Mage uses preparations. What?" She pauses "Oh..."

She seems...pensive. "Well ok, if it allows me to find the resources to make a Lodge then... Not that I'd need one soon but... I could learn new spells that way..."

Smiling, amused, she looks at Dana "Maybe you should consider converting yourself, I could give you some reagents that way. You could find them useful too."

Dana said "Indeed, do not refuse gifts just make sure that you are the one in control." She watches conflicted the young elf speaking to herself, the entire thing is odd to her but mages are justifiably believed to be odd. Dana thinks "Converting? The idea of selecting a tradition and following it, ignoring others seems odd to her. The truth, it fells through the gaps, all traditions have some perspective, but they all look at the same object. To understand the object is to understand them all... "

She then said " I hope it is not one of the algorithmic traditions... I am terrible with calculations. I am missing quite a bit from school. My version had less books and more physical exercise. I can use reagents of any tradition, it is just that their potency is not as much. Does that makes sense to you? I never find ones for my own tradition - whatever it may be, anyhow."

[Cailin, On the way to the main Camp] #44

Cailin smiles "Oh, it's not an hermetic tradition no, it's more in the shamanic family. But it was more a joke than anything, and you probably wouldn't like it anyway. Among the many rules, there is one prohibiting me from teaching anyone not from Tìr, and Father made me promise to not make too much trouble so..."

She looks at her "reagents". "I don't know anything about reagents' potency to be honest... I suppose it won't surprise you if I say I had all those I needed, whatever it was I wanted to do..." She frowns "But it's weird that you don't know your tradition. No one ever taught you?"

Maya looks at Raf and Summer then over to the cave where Justin was sleeping off his experiences. She senses that she may have said the wrong thing, somehow, but is not entirely certain what it is. "Don't get me wrong, Raf. I am going to do my best to see us through this and back to civilization. Or at least the edge of it, anyway. If I can do that, one of you can contact my family and let them know I am safe, but I think I might just stay out here. Unless, of course, something changes my mind. Civilization has no lure for me. I have never experienced companionship of even the level we share in this small group, and would not be comfortable with the trappings of buildings, power, vehicles and the like. Especially the trappings that include greedy and powerful people bent on corrupting, enslaving, and misusing the wild spaces left on this world."

"I love my parents, but they are very much like I am and would understand and give me their blessing. They would love it here, but they are tied to a AAA and chaff at the same things I have just mentioned. This would be an escape for them and I look at it as one for me." She finds herself looking a bit sideways at the man opposite her. "Of course, living alone out here would be a challenge, but eventually I would get old and still be alone, with no one to pass on what I know to. I could greatly appreciate a man that was willing to stay with me and help raise a family and start something great."

Vincent woke up. He was naked... Still... "Uh...hey?... HEY!!" He yelled out corsely.

Maya hears the voice from inside the cave and turns her head. "Let's see if we can do anything for our guest." She rises and walks into the cave to where Vincent had been left to rest and heal. She spies the young man wrapped in the blanket and kneels next to him. "Well, and how do you feel now. You have experienced some sort of magically induced damage and are resting here. I have not detected any injuries that my limited abilities can deal with. My name is Maya. Welcome to our small camp."

(His name is Vincent.)

"Small... Did the other people die? When I left... There was two camps one had lots of people... Did... The shaman get them?..." Vincent's eyes widened and he started shaking and speaking faster and faster. "Theres a shaman out there. His skin is unnaturally black and covered in spots! HesentasmogthingaftermeTHENHETOOKMEAND...." He started shivering and gasping and holding himself in the blanket.