Chapter 1: __________ is Magic

Post by **Trogdor** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 6:16 pm

"I've dealt with the Council," Jon replies. "Though mostly in China, I must admit. A little on the East Coast, where I've been for the past ten years. Nothing too involved," he adds. "But I've gone to a few meetings and have kept in contact with some other Mages and have kept myself in good standing with the local representatives of the Council."

"But Pixel is right, the Council probably considers you under their jurisdiction. Most of the time they'll be happy to leave you alone. But there are two things that will draw them into action."

"First, is if you're too obvious with your manipulations of reality. The Council wants the magical community to stay hidden. And they'll do whatever it takes to keep it that way. Keep things subtle and unnoticeable and they won't bother you. That's why they probably never bothered you before - you weren't doing anything to draw undue attention to you. But do inexplicable things in plain sight and they'll come down on you like a hundred weight of bricks."

"Second is if you do bad things, summoning dangerous entities, killing people, that sort of thing. They view it as their duty to keep the world, which includes themselves, safe from magical threats. Besides, such magical threats tend to draw attention to our world, which goes back to my first point."

"In the present case, they'll probably be investigating what happened at the festival for both of those reasons. They'll want to know why magic was used openly, and they'll want to know how the Snow Maiden came to be there. Was it because of a 'bad' Mage or was there some other reason. They are likely to take this matter very seriously, and they'll want to get some answers, one way or another."

"Now as I said, we have good excuses for what we did. We can show that the summoning of the Snow Maiden was a fluke - though the Council will probably want to take steps to keep such a fluke from happening again. And we can demonstrate that although we used some rather obvious reality alteration, we did so to prevent greater chaos at the hands of the Snow Maiden, and that our actions all took place in an atmosphere of confusion. If we approach the Council and explain what happened, I have every confidence that our word will be accepted, especially since Pixel and I can testify as members in good standing." He's not certain of the status of everyone in the room so he only speaks of him and Pixel.

"But if we dodge their questions and refuse to answer, it will make them suspicious and will cause them to escalate matters until they have assured themselves that there's nothing to worry about here. Better, I say, to talk to them now and keep them off our backs."

Hermit · Post by **Hermit** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 5:34 am

As much as he tried to genuinely listen to what Jon was trying to say, Dexter for the most part found himself tuning out several portions of his lecture on Council politics. Instead he favored June with a look that seemed to say Are you fucking kidding me? from her understated response on the subject of choosing to deal with the Council or the Union earlier.

Snapping out of his bewildered stare, Dexter manages to catch most of the tail end of Jon's conversation and decides to throw his two cents in, if for no other reason than to affirm that he'd been listening (somewhat). "Long as they leave me alone and don't try to rope me into their club, I have no qualms with giving an honest confession."

Hayabusa · Post by **Hayabusa** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:55 pm

"What?" June shrugs as she catches Dexter's look. "I just don't want to end up getting told what to do and what I can't do. It's not like I harm someone and I'm suspicious of that happening. And it did not seem like Council people jumped in to help either." She turns to Pixel, John and Ulrich. "That's not meant to offend any of you though. I kinda like a bit of freedom and not oversight if that is what might happen."

Muskrat · Post by **Muskrat** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 6:21 pm

Pixel says defensively, "I like my freedom too, but ... I don't like the mundane government telling me what to do, since all they do is protect capitalists who exploit people, but they think they have the right to tell me what to do, and I have to deal with that, whether I want to or not. We all have to. The Council's the same--you may not want to deal with them looking over your shoulder, but they're going to do it whether you want them to or now because they think they have the right." She sighs and drums her fingers on the table. "The Council is not all one thing--there's a wide range of philosophies in it and plenty of us in the Virtual Adepts would prefer they act with a light hand. But still think they have the right to keep tabs on you and punish you, whether you want them to or not. We're gonna have to deal with them. I think things are likely to go a little better if we approach them first, which will hopefully make them less suspicious of us. Much as I might like to tell them to piss off, that's not really an option in a case like this. I'm not saying you shouldn't rebel--this just might not be worth rebelling against through--you want to be smart in picking your battles."

Hayabusa · Post by **Hayabusa** » Sun Jul 23, 2017 4:44 pm

"Punish me? If that is what this Council does then I can see why some would not be happy to join them. Or want to deal with them. And I guess you're all good with that even if the only thing would be not to follow their own rules or whatever? I do and did nothing wrong nor intend to harm someone. Quite the opposite." She looks sideways, silent for a few moments. "Well, I guess listening might be a thing to do, that's true." Her eyes jump to her oldest and best friend. "What do you think?"

Karstil · Post by **Karstil** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 9:28 am

"Sorry, but even the mundane government doesn't ask if you want in to their jurisdiction." answers Ulrich solemnly. "Now the Council, is not a homogenous Entiti, as Pixel already mentioned, but the largest Meeting-point of People with our Power, so they have a right to lay some ground rules."

"Now in our Situation, it's clear that we three with ties to Traditions have to talk with our superiors, which ever we call them. So even if you don't like it you will be part of the Examination, not for punishment but for clearing all questions."

Hermit · Post by **Hermit** » Thu Aug 03, 2017 5:56 pm

Hayabusa wrote:"What?" June shrugs as she catches Dexter's look. "I just don't want to end up getting told what to do and what I can't do. It's not like I harm someone and I'm suspicious of that happening. And it did not seem like Council people jumped in to help either."

Dexter gave June a puzzled look. "What are you even- that's not what I meant, I-". He stops mid-sentence and lets out a sigh as he shakes his head in slight frustration. "Nevermind." He breaks away from the conversation to refill his glass from a nearby water pitcher, all the while keeping an ear tuned in to the ongoing discussion.

Hayabusa wrote:"Punish me? If that is what this Council does then I can see why some would not be happy to join them. Or want to deal with them. And I guess you're all good with that even if the only thing would be not to follow their own rules or whatever? I do and did nothing wrong nor intend to harm someone. Quite the opposite." She looks sideways, silent for a few moments. "Well, I guess listening might be a thing to do, that's true." Her eyes jump to her oldest and best friend. "What do you think?"

Reflecting on what has been said thus fair and the question June has favored him with, Dexter shut his eyes and knocked back a large gulp of icy water. "Like I said before, I have no issue with fully disclosing what went down that night to the best of my knowledge," he stated after wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "All I'm saying is I have no interest in joining the club as it were, so if at any point this council tries to pitch any proposition or suggestion of the sort, my answer is a definitive no."

Muskrat · Post by **Muskrat** » Fri Aug 04, 2017 6:28 pm

Pixel thinks on Dexter's words for a moment. "I think they'd rather you joined the club, but I don't think they'll actually force you. I think they're willing to tolerate orphans--as long as they don't perceive you as a threat. And if you volunteer to talk about what happened, they oughtn't to regard you as a threat." She pauses, then shrugging, adds, "But who knows? People in positions of authority, mundane or reality hacker, aren't always reasonable."

Hayabusa · Post by **Hayabusa** » Sat Aug 05, 2017 1:59 pm

"That is true, we can't know," June says, looking to the side, focusing on a point to her side for a moment. "Yeah. it might be worth, however it turns out. We can't know what the council might say so... we can only know when we meet them. How would we arrange a meeting?"

Post by **Trogdor** » Tue Aug 08, 2017 5:40 pm

"It should be fairly straightforward," Jon replies to June's question. "Any of us associated with one of the Traditions has contacts we can use to get word to the Council. They'll probably arrange for somewhere to meet us where they can ask some questions."

Fellowship of the Dice