No Smoke Without a (Servitor of) Fire
We left Matt lurking among the plants in Rook's garden. We left everyone else talking, as ever, in the War Tether in Colorado Springs.
Around sunrise, Matt observes a car pull into the Board's parking lot. Subtlety incarnate, Matt sneaks to the edge of the building... then, upon identifying Sangeeta, saunters around to say hi. Sangeeta, it must be noted, is less than thrilled to find Matt lurking before opening hours. She goes into her office, reads Rook's note to her... and immediately commences the Get Rid of Matt plan. Eventually she chases him 'away' with promises that cleaning happens on Monday morning, and she must have at it. Then Matt gets a phone call from the police advising him of a robbery at the Painted Pot, and asking for him to come down and answer a few questions. *Like* he believes *that.*
Meanwhile, the angelic discussion group is hard at work in the Springs. Arashiel wants to know Arabis' prophecy. Arabis waxes verbose: "Iıve been ordered to return to my original mission; to destroy Daspit, or punish him. Technically, if I may 'Go home, return to your work. One of the lost must be saved, and cruel must be punished. Revenge is the lordıs and mine.ı Thatıs the latest from her . . . almost. She DID pick up Irad, for better or worse."
This entails another round of "What Do We Do Next" -- mostly, should we split our resources to pursue Daspit and help Arabis, or do we dart off into the Marches and take on the Scourge? Adriel offers Scourge Lore to the interested, but there are no decisions made... and then Matt calls.
"The Board is becoming an active place," he understates. "Can I talk to Rook?"
While in the midst of Rook's cold reassurances that cleaning is the Monday norm and Matt's paranoia, the back garden gate explodes in a tangle of metal. This is not standard procedure. And Matt's phone soon suffers from the same infestation of Calabite as got the gate. Matt prudently flees upstairs and into the Board itself, where an unhappy Dinhabah waits for him.
Phone goes dead. Panic ensues. Well, not quite -- Arabis takes off up the Tether at Fire Ofanite speed, having no need to *discuss* what's obviously a demonic attack on her ally. Arashiel wants to talk, though.
Matt, however, must face the Phone Killers -- three of them, incoming... and Sangeeta coming through the inner stairway, with a gun. Now would be a *fine* time for the Seraph of Novalis attunement... which goes off a split second after Sangeeta shoots. Ouch. Vessels are tough, luckily. The three agents of destruction trap the Elohim in the hallway while Sangeeta begins the process of setting things afire.
With Arabis gone and faint scorch marks on the floor, Rashi wants some creative solutions from Rook, and then inquires of Rook if she caused him to somehow break a promise to Victoria. Rook, being himself as ever, says nothing at all. Oh, wait -- he does lie outright about the promise bit. (GM wonders if her Malakite is possessed by a mute spirit. She wonders what she has to do to get a reaction. She gives up wondering and lets Arashiel's player live out the frustration on character.) Adriel leaves the room on Rashi's request, and the Cherub tries repeatedly to acquire a response from Rook. Nope. She eventually tells him outright he should get to the Board, and he leaves.
Arabis does the Tether-hopping thing, and streaks out of Destiny in celestial form straight for the Board. No time for a vessel. Must... smite...
One last bit of procrastinati-- erm, research for Arashiel. She uses her special cell phone to access the Jean Information Line, which suggests a 79.4 percent likelihood that Matt's phone was Calabited. At last Arashiel will go back to Boulder, and she and Adriel do the Tether-hopping thang like everyone else.
Arabis arrives to a burning Board. Ah, the beauty of flames. No reason not to go right on in... well, a demonic someone in the garden (also torched, much to Matt's distress) does see her and say hello, and she does not recognize the vessel -- but that's still no reason not to charge into the conflagration.
Of course, once she hits the hallway, there's that pesky Flowers attunement in action. Drat. And Matt has Sung Shields round himself and Dinhabah for fire and smoke protection, since Dinhabah is vessel bound and could asphyxiate. Naturally, this did not happen before one of the demons got a hand on him... non-aggressive, of course. Just a ... touch.
Matt is pleased to see Arabis.
And Arabis is less than pleased to see Sangeeta making such a mess... toss fire at Fire, will she? Arabis does Dance of Atoms and things *really* get hot. Everyone leaves, prudently. Well, some demons do die in the fire. Tragic.
And out in the garden, Arabis spots the smallest demon, the guard, pinned to the car by a bit of garden gate spike. A small woman is calmly screwing the iron spike into the demon... and it is not Gabriel, wild dark hair notwithstanding.
Rook arrives, takes in the Shielded Elohim, Arabis, this little woman serenely murdering a demon. Sirens shriek in the distance. The Symphonic disturbance is insane. Rook says nothing at all, does not even crack an expression, and goes round the front to meet the emergency response units. He does not even acknowledge Matt's "I'm sorry" or his report on Sangeeta's behavior.
Meanwhile, Arabis has inquired of the little woman who she is. Irad, newly Redeemed, much fewer in Forces, sent because Gabriel thought s/he might be needed. Irad happily hands the demon over to Arabis for interrogation; Irad is enjoying the killing far too much to continue. So Arabis asks, and the frightened demon fails a bunch of Will rolls and answers. He's Game. Sangeeta is. Some connections to Daspit, too. And Arabis toasts him when she's done -- Trauma is better than soul death.
Finally Arashiel and Adriel arrive in a vehicle. Rook is waiting calmly for the emergency crews, and ignores them. The others are visible, since what was an intervening building is now missing. Time to leave, since Dinhabah has visible manacles.
"This is subtle," Adriel says. "If subtle is a synonym for blatant."
Arabis goes Raven and flies up near Rook -- Irad she send with the others, who accept the addition of a strange and pretty woman in their midst without blinking (GM notes her players are mostly men). "*We* did not set the fires," Irad murmurs. So the very packed angel-car swings back by the Painted Pot, and it is predictably undamaged. "It was Game demons set the fire at the Board," Irad murmurs again.
Ah, this gets Arashiel's attention. "And YOU are?"
Blink. Tiny smile. "Irad."
Arashiel lets go the wheel and the car swerves obediently... ah, she grabs it again, and commences moving into the back seat to sit beside this new Irad, while Adriel, convinced of the utter madness of his companions, wriggles into the driver's seat.
"I just survived a burning inferno and now I am at risk once again, in this car," Matt quips. Good that someone keeps a positive attitude, isn't it?
And Arashiel attunes to Dinhabah, which he does not like.
Then the angels discuss the Board's burning. How will it affect Rook's role? Is it Game vengeance? Will Arashiel have to make all Rook's decisions for him? (The GM hopes not. Fervently.) What sort of nastiness did Sangeeta perpetrate under his nose?
The Rook and Arabis scene: she watches. He stands. He talks to the authorities. They notice the body staked to a car. There is consternation. Rook returns to the Tether, Arabis in tow.
Everyone else arrives at the same time.
"Iım sorry," Matt says to Rook.
"For what?"
"I couldnıt stop them. I tried." Guilty Elohite.
Rook says nothing. He is resonated by the Elohim: cold and emotionless.
"He needs my Lady," Irad murmurs to Rashi. "He needs Fire. He has none of his own."
Giles has set out an entire tea service in honor of this latest madness in the Symphony. He is duly informed of the events.
Arabis shares the info wrung from a dying demon. More concerns are aired, much like the ones in the car. Angels speak of Rook as if he is inanimate and unaware of the conversation. Perhaps they believe he has become a chair. Then again, he is about that interactive. Perhaps they are correct.
Finally Arashiel talks *to* Rook. "Rook, I assume you will go about the tasks to maintain your role."
"If you wish."
"I will not state an opinion. I require you to form your own opinion on this, take your own actions."
Rook does not answer, and Irad looks back and forth between them.
Giles asks if Rook would like to stay in the Tether.
"If youıd like."
"Are you incapable of stating an opinion?"
"No."
"Then do you want to stay here?"
"Certainly."
Adriel has mocked Rook once already, and does so again, having dim opinion of such a Malakite.
"You should have some sympathy. You have not suffered. You are proud. Sympathy doesnıt cost you anything." Irad and Adriel stare at each other a long moment, then begin chatting. "You can continue to harass me. It wonıt be fun as before, but it will still be fun," Irad assures him.
"I personally am glad to see you here," Matt says and offers Irad his/her first Flower-flower.
Arabis is disgusted by the number of Elohim in the room. Feh. For that much objectivity, everyone's getting sidetracked too easily. Back to the subject people... the Scourge, this time. Matt thinks he wants to see it himself, but we all know Matt is not the most stable of angels.
Giles, font of information, hasn't any on the Scourge. And Irad asks if anyone got Victoria's jacket. Ooops. No one has.
And Dinhabah, Outcast Angel of Wet Blankets, points out that everyone is aiding and abetting an Outcast of Judgement, and will get in Big Trouble (tm) for such actions. He does not wish to die at Dominic's hands... but neither does he wish to Fall.
At last a decision is reached, after much more conversation. Irad and Adriel (that's a scary duo...) will use the Tethers to get to the Springs and head for Victoria's apartment from there. Arashiel and company will backtrail from the Fate Tether at Rocky Flats to the Springs, and see if they spot anyone coming back who might possibly have the jackets with them. Arabis and Rook, as avian angels, will go directly to the apartment fast as they can and see if they can find anyone, and cover part of the road in the meantime. And Arashiel reluctantly attunes to Arabis.
Matt, ever irreverent, to Arashiel: "You seem to be good at this... what should I do?"
Flat glare from the Cherub. "If you start requiring orders, I will cut off your penis. Now, we need to remove Dinhabah from this Tether. Judgment could appear at any moment. But before we go, have you any suggestions for how to help, to restore, to persuade Rook to acquire some sense of self-motivation?"
Ah, now everyone can talk about Rook without that little spasm of guilt because he's in the room. The conclusion: Arashiel does not know what to do, and Giles thinks she and Matt are the best qualified to figure it out, as they are 'the touchy-feely contingent of Heaven.' Matt resolves to fix the ruined garden for Rook while he's not looking. Finally Arashiel decides they can leave, and she, Matt, and Dinhabah take Alaric's car and go. Since allowing Matt to drive does not set off any of Arashiel's Attunement Alarms, she permits this.
Rook spots Tictoc below them on the road, and tells Arabis -- it's heading toward the Springs. Arabis stops just long enough to call Arashiel - which involves a vessel-switch and goes far to explaining where all Arabis' essence goes every session. Arashiel, angelic coordinator, calls Adriel and Irad in War and tells them to hop to the apartment and to 'do something subtle' and 'wait at the apartment.'
"Do we wait to engage?" Irad asks.
"Not necessarily."
That's ominous.
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