Log:Dark Bargain for Knowledge

2020/06/29 	 Sasha Grimm

1

Grimm texted Harlequin to set up a meeting to discuss some magical items. She still had his number from back in their raving days, when he was still with that high school kids. They arranged to meet at the ruins of the abandoned church. From the shadows of one of the still remaining pillars, there's the sound of foreboding whispers before Gabrielle steps out into the dim light.

Harlequin sits on one of the pews. The interior is a bit less battered looking now with the pews all restored in the space left for them. And the altar actuially has fresh flowers and two large candles on it, unlit at this time. In fact, the sacntuary area actually has a sense of peace to it now.

Sasha looks over at the whispering and waves to you, but keeps his seat. As usual, a lit clove is in the hand he waved with. A new addition since you saw him last is a heavy ring on this right hand that just reeks of old, old, old Fae magicks.

Grimm certainly knows how to break the peace. It's a wonder holy ground doesn't make her burst into flames. "Well, this place is looking better than I remember. Are people actually using it now?" she asks, nodding to the fresh flowers as she walks between some pews to draw closer. She raises a brow at the ring and smirks faintly. "Finally tied the knot?"

Sasha murmurs in barely European accented RP English, "It is a sanctuary over a tomb now, Ms Grimm. So, I thought it best to, hmm, spruce up the place a bit. Not quite hild ground, but then, so hard to find someone willing to sanctify places here in the 'Burg."

He seems confused for a moment by you 'tied the know' comment then looks at the ring. Sasha shakes his head as he adds, "No, no marriage. It is a, hmm, symbol of my office and lordship of a castle. A reward and burden wrapped in one for a good deed."

"That sounds just about right for old stuffy Fae," Gabrielle says with an amusing smile, turning to plunk down on the pew a few feet from Sasha. Her shadow sight pervades the area, seeking out the tomb in question. "I'm surprised there aren't any priests about trying to convert people and do acts of charity. I'm afraid I don't know anyone willing to do it. And my last confession was," she pauses a moment and smiles to herself as she remembers the drinking game she and Carpenter played, "in a bar."

Sasha smirks as he says, "Well, as the Catholics say 'In Vine Veritas'."

"What is that? Like ...in wine, truth?" Gabrielle chuckles.

Sasha takes a puff of his clove blows out a ring. "Yes, it is....or perhaps Catholics don't, no idea really asd I'm a good Russian Orthodox boy." He then adds, "As for priests? Well, no, we don;t encourage missionaries, religoius or otherwise, in the 'Burg. They so clash with our unique...culture."

Grimm shrugs her shoulders. "I'm not exactly religious. I had to actually look up the sins you're supposed to confess to on my phone while I was flirting. Seems way too strict if you ask me, because I was guilty of just about everything on the list to some degree." She looks over her shoulder towards the doors leading out to the street. "Yeah. A culture of kids patrolling with guns," she snorts.

Sasha shrugs. "Most of the Watch are in their 20s now or older, Ms Grimm. Time marches on after all. And, it's kept the 'Burg, well, the southern half, safer than otherwise. We have infrastructure now thanks to various civic minded metas. OF course, the northern half is the dregs of the Earth."

"Doesn't change how they had to grow up and what that does to a developing mind," Gabrielle frowns and leans back in her seat, sinking down a bit so she can kick up a leg on the pew ahead of her. "What would've been safer was to not shoot at the metas trying to help in the first place. That slowed them down a lot. Anyway...that's not why I'm here. I'm here because apparently the Anarch has been spying on my life like it's a show, and I want to cut his 'subscription'."

Sasha turns to look at you as he raises an eyebrow.

He then drawls, "Really? Is it that interesting? Should I be tuning in on the Grimm show on my crytal ball?"

"I actually have one now. Part of the castle I own now. I don't know if I can pick up Earth on it though. May not be on it's, hmm, plan."

Grimm snorts. "Parts of it were of interest to Chaos. That's enough reason to want to keep him out of my business. Thankfully he only watched the 'professional' parts. I think." She raises a brow in turn now. "You have a crystal ball? Hah."

"I could always scry, Ms Grimm. I just prefer using ravens and crows, not pools of water or mirrors." He smiles slightly. "Apparently the former lords of my castle were either paranoid or voyeurs or both.

Grimm tilts her head and smiles a bit. "They were fae, right? I'd say both."

Sasha nods. "Yes, they were, Ms Grimm. Very ancient Fae. Castle Black floats above the, now, slowly reviving lost Fae home dimension."

He starts to flick away some ash from his clove, then apparently remembers where he is. He reaches into his messenger bag and takes out a covered ashtray and suses it instead. "But, enough about me. How may I assist you, Ms Grimm? And may I say, I'm surprised you contacted me. Have you mellowed?"

Grimm shakes her head slowly and looks up at the vaulted ceiling and it's holes. "A...bit. Things've changed. A magic user saved my life, so I'm a bit more...open to magic. I've studied it plenty. Just never cast more than ritual spells because I haven't needed to. I could do anything I wanted with my abilities. Though I'm not exactly sure -how- to stop the Anarch from spying on me, because I'm not sure how he does it."

She finally looks back over to him. "So of the mages in this city to ask, you're the one who -only- has a castle floating in the clouds, which makes you, hah, the 'humble' option."

Sasha shrugs slightly. "I earned the castle the old fashioned way, Ms Grimm: I undertook a quest for a high queen to rescue her daughter's soul and kill a evil undead necromancer." He chuckles. "My life often resembles a poorly written epic fantasy novel..."

He then sobers. "As to your abilites, yes, I know, no, I suspect you could do great deal with them. But, they are not magick. Not magick of this Reality in any case. But, you have always fought successfully the corruption, so, yes, I am more than willing to help you."

His smile fades slightly as he adds in a serious tone, "You are more of a hero than I, Ms Grimm. I am more simply, hmm, a protagonist."

Grimm's smile dims a little. "I'm no hero. Heroes aren't f*** ups like me. But I've fended off the corruption better than some other versions of me. So...yay?" She sighs and lets her head drop back against the backrest of the pew. "I'm trying to be better, though. And you shouldn't sell yourself short."

"I am simply honest with myself, Ms Grimm. I don't have the internalized respect for law and the rules of society of a true hero. I am more Merlin Satanspawn than anything close to Arthur of the Britons. And I'm content with it." He shrugs. "Nor do I regret it."

But again, enought about me. So, you need protectoin against prying eyes? Temporary or permanent? Spell or enchantment?"

"We can't all be saints," Gabrielle smiles. "But the saintly types need us to do things they can't sometimes," she shrugs. She looks towards the flower display in thought. "I'm not really sure. I didn't even think there'd be multiple options. What's the difference between a spell and an enchantment? I'd think permanent would be good...except maybe if I wanted friends to find me when I was in trouble? So maybe something I could turn on and off?"

The mage holds up a finger. "Well, a spell is cast each time you would wish to be unheard and unseen by eavedroppers, Ms Grimm, Depending on the spell's limitations it might only last for a certain length of time or even fail if you went unconscious or were stunned."

He holds up a second finger. "An enchantment is always on. It may be lifted for a time or ended at will, but, by default, no matter your level of awareness, it is active."

HE then holds up a third finger. "And there are always enchanted items. Which are usually, butnot always, active depending on the enchantment on them."

"I have permanent protective wards inked into my skin. They allow me to, for the most part, ignore heat and cold as well as protecting my mind from outsdie influences. To end them, well, you'd need to flay them off me."

He gets up and walks a dozen feet from you. "And, if you focus on me, you'll notice you cannot, if your senses are typically mystical, sense me at this range. Nor, if you could, scry me with anything save technology. This is the result of spells. They only last hours and must then be renewed."

Grimm cringes, her foot slipping from the pew in front of her with a loud bang. "Ew, flay? Okay, the magic tattoo thing sounded cool until you said -that-. No thank you!" She shivers and rubs her arms at the very thought of it. "Guess my cool sleeve idea will have just be for looks."

She calms down and watches him as he steps away. She raises a brow at him at this claim. "I can still, uh, see you and sense you."

Sasha smiles. "Are you trying to scry me though? Use clairsentience of any sort? I fear I've never mastered physical invisibility. And unless you are a mentalist, I doubt your ability to sense my mind or presence would be affected."

He then raises a hand, twists it slighlty, and the mystical aspects of his nature seem to fade away. You can sense the spells about him, but his innate magickal nature, his aura, is now wholely mundane.

"Whoa...that's weird. What'd you just do?" Gabrielle frowns faintly. "I can't quite feel or sense minds like that, no. I...hadn't really tried. But okay, let me try something." She closes her eyes and tries to peer through the shadows to spy on Sasha...only she doesn't see him. Her eyes fly open. "Holy shick, you were right. I couldn't feel or sense you that way. Not even with my shadow sight that time."

Sasha smiles. "It is variant on Faerie Glamour, something I've picked up from consorting with goblins. It masks one's innate magickal nature. I could even seem..." He twsits his hand again and he feels demonic now. "Like I work for yet another team."

He then obviously ends the magick by will as you can feel his normal mystical presence again. But, if you shifted back to clairsentience, he's still absent. "I learned how to hide myself when I, hmm, left home. Ziand taught me the spells he'd used to avoid the rulers of Atlantis and their servants."

Grimm rubs her chin and grins. "Oh, that's sneaky. I like that."

Sasha murmurs as he comes back over to sit by you, "The only drawback of the the spell is that within 2m or so, the invisibility to clairsentience fails. I could probably fix that, but, against clairsentience, what is the point? If they are within 2m of you, well, they can see you in any case/

"Or if their spell focal point is that close...I guess I can see why not to bother with it," Gabrielle ponders as she considers. "What if the Anarch isn't using a spell to do his spying, though?"

Sasha smiles slightly. "The spell works versus all types of clairsentience: mystical, mutant, mental, etc. The only distance viewing it doesn't block is technological. And I doubt the Anarch is using spy drones to spy on you, do you?"

Grimm chuckles. "No, I don't think he's doing that. But I do wonder if he's just peering through dimensions."

Sasha shrugs. "It is fairly simple to block peering through dimensions. There are even fairly mundane ways such as lining one's walls with powdered ectoplasm. But, I can easily find a spell to block dimensional viewing...Well, I assume I can in any case."

Grimm tilts her head at that. "Well...if you have ideas, I'd love to know. I may need both methods to be sure."

Grimm adds, "It's not just him I want to block, anyway. I think it'd be smart to avoid the Cartesian as well. If Chaos thinks I'm an asset, the Order might think I'm a threat."

"So, spell or enchantment? If your are not a skilled caster, I'd suggested an enchantment embedded in an item perhaps. Makes it easier to use: just slip something on or off and poof! No scrying."

"A...spell. I can manage a spell. I've studied magic enough," Gabrielle says quietly.

Sasha nods. "And do you practice a certain style, Ms Grimm? The spell I know is Thaumaturgy. But, well, I know many styles of magick. And can, hmm, fake in those I don;t know." He shrugs. "It's a gift."

"I've studied a bunch of styles broadly while working with Frankie," Gabrielle answers hesitantly.

Sasha nods. "Yes, but is there one you are most comfortable with?...Let me re=phrase that: other than potential Qlipophtic origin, is there a style you are most comfortable with?" He chuckles softly. "I cannot touch the Qlipophtic I fear. It's beyond, hmm, sane mortals."

Grimm quirks a brow and grins. "Are you saying I'm insane?"

Sasha looks at you for a moment then says, "Not as far as I know, Ms Grimm. But, you are unique. Every other person I've encountered or heard of who is touched by the Qlipophtic is insane, whether openly or hidden. The power is, hmm, corrosive to the sanity of those of this Reality." He smiles slightly. "But, as I said, you are unique. You hold onto your sanity."

Grimm wonders about that sometimes. "So...I guess thaumaturgy it is?"

Sasha nods to you. "Thaumaturgy it is then." He then coughs slightly. "I fear, I must ask for a payment though. It's not onerous."

Grimm raises an eyebrow. "Oh, right. You charge?" she chuckles, surprised.

Sasha grins slightly. "Well, I shouldn't just given away ancient Atlantean secrets. Especially as my teacher still lives. He'd likely, hmm, criticize me." He hurries on. "As I said, it's not onerous. I simply may need you to, hmm, babysit my Little Wolves once, no more than twice. I may have to leave on a extended trip soon. Just a few days. And they need an adult around. Well, one they won't ignore."

Sasha grins slightly. "Well, I shouldn't just given away ancient Atlantean secrets. Especially as my teacher still lives. He'd likely, hmm, criticize me." He hurries on. "As I said, it's not onerous. I simply may need you to, hmm, babysit my Little Wolves once, no more than twice. I may have to leave on a extended trip soon. Just a few days. And they need an adult around. Well, one they won't ignore."

Sasha grins slightly. "Well, I shouldn't just given away ancient Atlantean secrets. Especially as my teacher still lives. He'd likely, hmm, criticize me." He hurries on. "As I said, it's not onerous. I simply may need you to, hmm, babysit my Little Wolves once, no more than twice. I may have to leave on a extended trip soon. Just a few days. And they need an adult around. Well, one they won't ignore."

Sasha grins slightly. "Well, I shouldn't just given away ancient Atlantean secrets. Especially as my teacher still lives. He'd likely, hmm, criticize me." He hurries on. "As I said, it's not onerous. I simply may need you to, hmm, babysit my Little Wolves once, no more than twice. I may have to leave on a extended trip soon. Just a few days. And they need an adult around. Well, one they won't ignore."

Sasha grins slightly. "Well, I shouldn't just given away ancient Atlantean secrets. Especially as my teacher still lives. He'd likely, hmm, criticize me." He hurries on. "As I said, it's not onerous. I simply may need you to, hmm, babysit my Little Wolves once, no more than twice. I may have to leave on a extended trip soon. Just a few days. And they need an adult around. Well, one they won't ignore."

Grimm stares for a moment. "-You- want -me- to babysit kids?" she asks skeptically.

Sasha looks at you with an innocent expression. "Yes. They are not infants. The youngest is 12 and the oldest you'd need to keep an eye on are 17. Those are the twins. The 17 year olds, well almost 17. A few more weeks. And the Little Wolves will look after BlueRose, the dragonet."

Sasha smiles slightly. "Thank you. And trust me, I thought I was insane when I took them in as well. So did Ziand. And Amelia. Hunter just glared but, well, that's Hunter. And I couldn't in good conscience leave them on the streets of the 'Burg. Even if they were surviving well. They deserve to thrive." His eyes dance with humor though.

"Now then, here is how you start..." And he proceeds to teach you how to shield yourself from clairsentience in all it's myriad forms.