Manifesto boasted impressive security, though she was not without her own. None of it was so gauche as to be on obvious display of course. In the ethereality of Block 1, Sofia sat alone in a private booth overlooking the floor below. One slender leg hooked over the other. She was dressed in pristine white, with designer gold circling wrists and neck. Clean lines hugged the temptation of curves but there was little flawless skin on show. Just enough to tease. She ignored the servers as they arranged the iced bottle and poured her glass.

Uncle Sulteev had neither time nor inclination to entertain the American heiress sniffing around for his attention, but the Moreau family was too important to snub entirely. When her father asked her to step in, she’d only agreed sweetly and kissed his cheek.

For now she watched the world below like a queen, haughty-eyed. An e-cig pressed and pulled from her perfect lips. The smoke wreathed electric pink.

[[Colette, for whenever you’re ready. No rush. This thread is open]]

In the depths of winter an infant is left on the steps of the Santissima Annunziata Maggiore. It is swaddled tight in a basket, cheeks pink from the cold. It does not cry. Its eyes are open and unblinking. On top of it lays a heavy crucifix, and pinned beneath there is a note. It reads: This is not my baby.

Years later, a carnival arrives in Naples. A small child wanders amongst the stalls, drifting as if in a daze. She can be no more than eight. Her clothes are poor and her hair ratty, but she is clean enough, and she has shoes on her feet. No one seems to claim her. She does not speak to anyone, though occasionally she tags behind other groups, following a while before her attention splits to something else.

Eventually she stops near where another girl is playing a violin. The first girl does not smile but she is apparently transfixed. She settles into contentment, and listens for a long time.

When everyone else has gone, and the carnival closes for the night, she is still there.

I was born on the road like all my siblings except Nusa, who was born in our tiny house we shared with the Kádár family, Papa’s sister, and her kids. Sadly, we lost my uncle defending the caravan two years before the anchor set in Moscow.

Before the anchor, the caravan roamed all the CCD taking money and setting up the tents wherever anyone wanted to be entertained. But in Moscow, things all changed. We traveled all over. I’ve seen the Great Wall of China, had real Thai food in Thailand. We traveled through India one summer. We found Esper in Italy. Those were the best times. I miss traveling, but living in Moscow now has its own adventures.

We stayed in Moscow because Dominick could do what the news says now is channeling. And I soon followed. The sickness followed the caravan, so we stayed. Easier to hide among the people and get care. Not that care was ever found.

We all learned to control this ability through music and dancing. It gave light through our performances. We could make sounds without an instrument. It was magical and wondrous.

We all take part in the carnival. Everyone except Nusa. She is still a little too young. But she is there with us all the time happily babbling about while Mama reads cards or I play my violin.

The first time the lights played around me, the crowd was in awe. I was in awe. It was like the Aurora Borealis had descended from the heavens while I played my violin. And in the weeks that followed, the fever and chills nearly killed me, so the elders say.

We didn’t know until the Ascendancy revealed the sickness was related to this gift we share with him. But it seemed to remedy itself like all the others in the Caravan. I practiced the violin for Esper — she loved to listen to me play and I loved playing for her. Every time I practiced, I willed those lights to happen. And then one day — it did. The light inside felt glorious. The world was brighter, more colorful. The sound of the music was even more beautiful than ever. Even Esper was more beautiful, if that was possible.

Alone in the tunnels was better than being surrounded by people at Kallisti.  He was spiraling and the two people he could talk to weren't there.  One didn't have their phone and wasn't actually talking to him, and the other was miles away too far to catch him before he fell.  But that didn't stop him from sending Thalia a text.

  So. I fucked up pretty badly. Broke the only thing I had to give. 

  So I feel like we're not talking about your other arm here. My signal is sketchy, this might be a little jittery. Calling!   

The phone rang immediately and the video switched on as soon as he answered.
 
"Hey! Hey? You hear me okay? Nox, why is it so dark?"

Nox forgot where he was kinda, he pulled the ball of light a little closer to the screen so she'd see him better. She was a bit fuzzy but that was likely due to both their crap connections. "I can hear you just fine."  He stuck his tongue out childishly and she giggled which made him smile even in the dark state his mind was in. "It's dark because I'm camping out in the tunnels for now.  And nope not about my other arm." He laughed, but it trailed off into a sad one. "How do I put it nicely. I... I cheated on Raffe. Told him. And now my life is ending. Plus side.  I told him.  I never intended to tell Elyse I cheated on her with Jay.  Irony: it was with Jay -- again."

Thalia's image wobbled around making him a bit dizzy as she tried to find a place. He clamped his mouth shut.  He rambled when he was nervous.  He looked behind her and saw nothing out of the ordinary and the sounds of the country tingled in the back.
 
“Woah. Okay woah, we need to circle back. You did what? That’s not… but it’s just, I thought you and the boy were doing good? That it was serious? And with 4th of July Guy? Again.” She blinked, surprised. Then leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, “I mean, the cowboy hat. I get that part, Nox. But I thought you were happy.” 
 
She paused for a moment, clearly concerned. 
 
“Side note, your life isn’t ending. Also side note, I’m not sure I’m the best person to dish out relationship advice. But I can listen. What exactly happened?”

"Happy doesn't even begin to cover how I felt." Nox sighed. "It's not like it was planned. I knew it would happen but I was on guard. I thought I was stronger than that now." 

“You knew it was going to happen? You mean you have feelings for Jay too? Or are we talking about the, uh, the other ‘other’ thing.”

Nox sighed.  "Being completely honest, a little of one, and nail on the head with the 'other' thing."  He told Thal about the conversation he'd had with Raffe before he even went into the tunnels.  The one where he told Raffe about Jay to explain the 'little bit' and then added. "I don't have feelings for Jay -- at least not those kind.  He's my friend.  Hot as fuck, but still he's just a draw.  The first guy I kissed since... "  Nox didn't expand on it.  He'd told Thal enough times about how he remembered and what he had remembered.  And the reasons for the repressed memories.  And then he spilled straight into the first leg of the hunt.
 
And then right on through to the end with barely a breath between the words. Nox cried softly when he told her about Nova. "He kissed me. I told him I shouldn't that I'd message a promise. He kissed me again. I thought the horde was dead. His hand went in my pants and what little control I had was gone. Was never more than that. But it was a broken promise."

Thalia listened quietly to the story. By the time he got to Nova her eyes were wide and slicked with tears. The moment he began to quietly sob they fell. She hugged her knees. She’d shuffled so close to the screen it was like she planned to somehow jump right through. 
 
When he paused she wiped the tears from her cheeks. “You’re not a bad person, Nox. It doesn’t make you one. You know that right?" Her voice was soft, but the absolution was firm. "I take it things didn't go well with Raffe, then.” 
 
Nox chortled. "He kissed me first and I could have just went with it.  Raffe I  mean.  First thing he did when he saw me was missing -- right in front of Elyse, not even caring."  Nox smiled softly at the memory but then the story went bad.  "He cried. I didn't. I didn't want to influence him. When it was his turn to talk he said he needed time.  So I gave it to him.  I left Kallisti that night, I didn't want Raffe to see me fall apart.  Because I did.  I still am.  Before I left I gave him my wallet. I had another one coming, I'll explain that in a bit.  But I gave him the wallet with a message for him on it. Told him all the things I couldn't say then. I wanted him to not hear the emotion in my voice when I told him so I told him in a message.  Been a few days, haven't seen him.  He took leave from work too. I'm so fucking lost." 
 
“You’ve seen Elyse too? Why didn't you call me sooner?

"Embarrassed.  Didn't want you to yell at me.  I wasn't ready for that yet." He smirked a little but it was the complete truth.

"You know what I mean. You’re such an idiot, Nox." 

Nox had nothing but a smirk to offer.  She spoke the truth.

"What had you promised him?” 
 
He sighed in resignation at the promise.  [color#0072bb]"I promised to be faithful.  It's not the cheating that's the big problem for him.  I betrayed a trust."[/color] Nox growled. "He didn't even ask for the fucking promise.  He didn't care, not until I said the words 'I promise to be faithful'.  All I have is my word, Thal.  That's all I fucking have to give him and I broke it." 
 
Nox angrily stood up in one lithe movement the power floating the ball with him as he paced back and forth with the wallet hovering in front of him.  "Doesn't matter that all the moments that lead up to it.  All the pain I fought through, the temptation of Jay right there for a week.  It all blew up in one fucking lapse of fighting.  I stopped fighting for one fucking moment because I thought they were fucking gone. No matter how many I kill, if their all fucking gone, it's still going to be in my fucking head.  Every fucking day is a fucking fight. One misstep and my life tumbles to shit. One fucking promise he didn't even want."  Nox wasn't mad at Raffe.  He was mad at himself.  He hadn't realized how mad things made him until he verbalized it to Thal.  For Nox the broken promise stung, the fact that Raffe didn't care that Nox was worried about Jay hurt on top of it.  He hated that he had let his faith and trust in Raffe put that temptation into his path.  His choice.  His problem.  And now Raffe was paying the price. 
 
"And not only did I implode my life and Raffe's but I fucking upended Jay's too.  Told him I couldn't be friends in a fucking text."  Nox growled as he stomped back and forth. "And then I saw him at the Almaz he attacked me.  That went over well we got thrown in the pit and he beat the shit out of me.  Then left saying good-bye.  I don't know what happened I'm still reeling from that."  Nox pressed his fingers to his head and gripped his hair tight.with his only good hand.  He didn't want to hurt himself with the mechanical one -- he still didn't trust it. 
 
“Please sit down. I don’t want to see you hurt yourself more.” For a moment her eyes were wide, her expression still concerned. She squinted, trying to see evidence of his injuries in the glowy light of power, but the screen wasn't that clear. 

Nox stopped his rapid pacing and slide down the wall and unhitched the arm and set it in his lap between his stomach and knees as he pulled in on himself.
 
“Maybe Raffe didn’t expect monogamy until you promised it. Had you actually talked about it at all before then? Like actually properly? He knew about what happened with Jay and Elyse; you told him not to expect different before things got serious. Doesn’t mean he definitely doesn’t care about what you do. Least I don't think so. If it upset him enough to cry he must do, otherwise why not just be mad about it and move on? Or just tell you to fuck off? I think if someone I loved did that to me, I would be mad. Unless I didn't want to let them go, you know? But maybe I didn't want to make them stay either." 

She paused for a moment, thoughtful. And Nox took the moment to fill the silence with his frustration.

"Raffe, get mad." Nox growled.  "I'd love to see that.  Fucking wish he'd yell at me.  I'd settle for him punching me in the fucking face like Jay.  Least them I knew I rated somewhere on the scale."  Nox knew it wasn't healthy but that's what his life was like growing up.  It's what he expected of family and loved ones.  Even Aurora yelled at him when she was pissed off.  And he knew his sister never stopped loving him.  He could feel the tears flowing again as she started speaking again.

"No more punching. Just listen to me a sec. That's all besides the point. You’re not responsible for their reactions, okay? Not Raffe's and not Jay's. Don’t get me wrong, you did fuck up,” she laughed a little, still wiping tears, “but we all do that at one time or another. And icebergs, right? Bear with me, it makes sense. We don’t know what else is going on in someone else’s life. That part isn't your fault. And maybe they don't know everything that's going on with you either. You hid stuff, and maybe they did too. There's this thing called talking, you know. And you're pretty good at it usually. Not texts and voice messages." 
 
"Are you still there? God, this connection is rubbish. You have more to give, Nox.  Stop talking like that. If Raffe asked for space you give it. And then you talk. Maybe Jay too now the punching is all out the way. Or, it better be all out the way. And I can’t promise what will happen with Raffe, but I can promise that you’re not alone, Nox."

Nox was grateful for Thalia's small comfort.  He only wished she was actually close by."I know I fucked up.  And we've not talked about it exactly.  I've labeled things for myself but no idea if Raffe feels the same. He never objects when I've called him my boyfriend in the past.  But the serious stuff -- monogamy, explicitly -- no."  Nox took a deep breath.  "Thing is though, if I stop fighting this thing inside me I'm going to fuck up again. It's hard.  I can't do it alone.  And I love you dearly and I'm grateful for our friendship but there just are some lines you don't cross. Raffe helps in so many ways. So, so many ways."

"It's been only a handful of days and I'm lost without him. Pardon my french, but, I'm itching for something to fuck.  The horde has no concept about human reproduction.  The fucking need to replicate itself drives the libido. That's what ultimately fucked me over with Jay. He's not so goddamned hot I can't keep my hands to myself. I fucking can.  I do it every fucking day at work.  Hotter guys and gals at work all the time.  Eat, fuck, fight, that's what the horde wants. What happens when I'm too tired to fight their drive?  This obviously and probably so much worse." Nox leaned his forehead against his head and sighed.  "I don't know how much of this even with Raffe's help I can manage.  I won't stop fighting but I'm getting tired."

"Then that's what you need to tell him. What's done is done. You're both upset over something neither of you properly talked about in the first place. For now, you have a show to get ready for, right? A fabulous, glitzy extravaganza of a show that I am not at all annoyed and disappointed to be missing out on first-hand again. Brooding alone in the tunnels going over everything you should have done differently, or everything that might go wrong in the future, is doing you zero favours. Promise me you hang up and go back to Kallisti. Don't make me use Sage-sense to check that you do."

"And promise me you'll call next time. I can't fix things, and certainly not like that, but you don't have to suffer it all alone. I can listen. Don't promise not to yell though. Not if it knocks some sense in, hmm?"

Nox nodded wiping tears from his eyes. "Yes ma'am."  He grinned at her and took a deep breath. "Thank you.  I wish you could be here, maybe next time. I should go." 

"Love the new hair, by the way."

Nox ran his fingers through his hair with a smile. "Me too.  Talk again soon.  Be safe in that strange land of wherever you are.  Next time maybe I'll let you talk about you."

She laughed and Nox was happy to hear it."I already met the Pope. Not much else to tell anyway, don't think I can beat that. Speak soon."

He hung up the call and leaned back against the stone and thought long and hard about how best to make things up to Raffe.  He promised to go back to Kallisti, and he would but not just this second.  He let the light wink out and sat in the darkness pondering his next move.

Dorian sat at his desk.  He hadn't been out in the field since Nox started training the officers in the Atharim way.  It really was his fault -- turn about was fair play.  Nox had no love for Dorian so when he came up with a training plan that the Captain approved, Dorian had no choice for to give up his life's work as Atharim.  Every weird case he filed reports for were now the scrutiny of every Domovoi agent, and Internal Affairs.

The last IA agent who went after him had been Atharim -- and for a whole different reason.  This one was an actual IA agent investing his corruption.  As a detective he was useless to Yun Kao's successors and unworthy of any attention and he intended to keep that way.  He didn't care why the former officer was dead -- just glad she was.  He only regretted shoving Nox under the bus.  Because now the boy had no love for him, and didn't care if he went under the bus now.

Turn about was fair play.

But he wasn't sacked, nor was he put out to 'on leave'.  Now he just sat a desk and curated Atharim cases.  Nox had old data from the Atharm archives thanks to his connection with the Wicked Truth.  And there was a program written by the very same hacker that created droves of articles and set up tasks for every Domovoi agent to go through and practice their monster research on.  They were learning the way Nox learned -- the American way.  Not the Vatican way where you were handed a pre-done file and told to do your job.  Domovoi would be able to go through the case files and the news articles on the web and rare in print papers and such and find strange occurance.  Nox was teaching them how to identify weird.  We all knew what weird was.  But they didn't know what could be the source -- the cause.  And that's what he did.

He taught them signs and signals and things to look for.  He was good at it though whenever said anything to compliment his talents, he always said, 'I'm not even half as good as Aurora.'  Dorian would have liked to meet the girl that Nox idolized so much.  But Nox was too busy, he only spared Domovoi a few hours a day tending to the lessons and it was Dorian's job to do the rest.  He was a glorified babysitter and test grader -- the teacher's assistant at best.

But he could be home sitting in his bachelor pad bored out of his mind.  At least now he still did his job -- he was just reverse engineering his work -- and the work of other cases.  

There were boxes of unsolved cases the more advanced detectives were handling.  Nox took files from the box every time he finished one, he put it in a pile on Dorian's desk and would write 'dead' or something on it.  Dorian didn't know if he meant he killed it, or the file was dead, but he put it into the mix and let the grunts blow through them too.  

[[ ooc: Domovoi guys are welcome to jump in.  But this was just a show case of what was going on with Dorian and how Nox is working with Domovoi. Or anyone wanting to interrupt Dorian in the Domovi offices otherwise it's just a singular post. ]]

In her 2nd age life Thalia was primarily a researcher at the collam daan who studied the connections between dreams, memories, and the soul. This culminated in the experiment that led to her own soul being tied to TAR.

That means her life in the 1st Age has to be the one in which she’s released from that binding, in order for it to happen again in the next Age. So I’ve been thinking about the whys and hows.

I’ve included that she studied the Horn of Valere, since that is an obvious link to souls that are bound and also exist in TAR between rebirths. But of course we don’t know how or why or when the horn was created, just that it’s one of those legendary objects that persisted in various myths through the Ages.

Quote:The Horn of Valere was known in the Age of Legends, though it was an artifact of an earlier age, but it was never used in the Age of Legends. In part, this was because there wasn’t any need in an Age that knew universal peace, but also it was because what it could do was considered a sort of myth by most people in that Age. No one who is serious spends time trying to test out whether a myth might be real. (Seen anybody sacrificing a white bull to Jupiter lately?) And once the Dark One touched the world, before the War of the Shadow actually began, the Horn was among the items lost, and thought destroyed, in the first rush of mob violence, terrorism etc. So it wasn’t available for use then even had someone wanted to try. It was later recovered and sealed up with the Dragon Banner because along with the Foretellings that made up the Prophecies of the Dragon was one saying that it must be.

What do you think? Looks like Moscow? Cool building?

http://thefirstage.org/wp-content/upload...Adrian.jpg

A Thursday night. Not so far from the weekend to make his visit remarkable. At least, not by those in his inner circle. For the valet, doorman, coat check, teller, server and dealer...? Maksim was a familiar face. Almost as familiar as if he signed his bills Vasiliev rather than Marveet.

Maksim strolled through the casino floor like an arrow on target. He stopped part-way to respond to an email that inconveniently popped up. The reply was short. He relied on auto-grammar and auto-spelling to convert what emerged from his fingers into legibility. Then he continued on his way without interruption.

He came straight from the office wearing the same suit from the day’s work. The true blue suit slicked him with a fashion-forward look without sacrificing panache. The color was spectacular against the intense set of his gaze. He paired it with a crisp white shirt heavily starched, red polka-dot tie and matching pocket square. His hair was a mop of curls pushed back from his forehead about a hundred times throughout the course of the day. The fit was trendy and close to his form. He looked like money, and the reaction he earned from the casino staff made him feel like it too. There were hundreds of people milling about the common floor. Some were dressed up and some were casual, but there was a reason he strolled straight through the crowd. No need for Maksim to check in at the teller’s window. He deserved a better level of service and frankly, a better level of player.

He walked to the high-limit room and was greeted by the occupants inside through doors that were opened for him upon arrival. 

A short conversation with the host told him about some of the current games in progress. Due to his longevity and the fact he was married into the family, Maksim’s personal comp rate was significantly higher than probably most people in the room. Even before marrying Alina, his rebates kicked in at half a million, a hefty sum sooner than the average. Of course, easily plying 200-400-600 k a night into the casino made up for the rebates long term. Still, he appreciated the gesture. So the host graciously offered a suggestion of which game he might enjoy most. He thanked him for the information.

“I didn’t eat lunch today,” he told the host then delivered precise instructions for what he wanted for dinner. His usual drink was in hand before he reached the table.

The game he joined was already in progress, and he filled in the fifth seat. Two of the four faces he recognized with a nod. The others were soon to be introduced.

When Zef had gotten dressed to go Kallisti she hadn't been thinking sexy but more about practical and functional.  She was there after all to hunt a god.  But that hadn't seemed to bother Jaxen in the least.  But it was hardly attire for sex drugs and likely rock and roll.  Or some form of electronic beat thumbing music that was too loud to hear your self think.  But they were in the Red Light District.  And there were Atharim safe houses all over.  Because what better place to be a monster, but in a place where no one is going to miss a person living there?

She looked for the signs of a safe house that posed as a fashion store.  There were a few -- for occasions such as this where breaking and entering was part of  the case.  Zef nodded towards the store.  The windows were thick but you could see the dresses inside. "I need something a little more appropriate to wear." 

Zef didn't wait for Jaxen to offer, she pulled the lock pick set from her belt and started on the lock and was in with in a matter of seconds.  The alarm would trigger, but there was a special Atharim signal that would disarm it while still cutting the wires.  She'd only done it on one other occasion in another city for another makeshift trust issue.  But that had been a totally different hunt -- this was something else.

The store smelled musty like old books but the clothes were decent enough and she pulled down the dress from the window.  "Probably have enough time to change." 

She moved behind a stack but it barely covered his view -- modesty was not something she cared too much about as she pulled off her practical clothes in favor of the red dress that barely covered anything.  Almost the full breathe of her tattoo was visible, only a small portion of the back was obscured by the satiny fabric.  The oroborous tattoo was obvious for any Atharim on her left forearm, but it was mixed in perfect cohesion with the rest of the tattoos that formed the picture of the Atlantia clan from Atlantia to Zef herself.  The four winds inked just above her wrist and the birth of the huntress at the base of her back near her spine. 

Zef looked in the mirror and admired the dark ink against the red of the dress.  But the lines from her panties in the tight dress marred the beauty and they had to go.  She watched Jaxen from the mirror as she did the last of her accessories -- spinning up her hair in the long silver spikes she carried in her belt for just that purpose -- and also for killing monsters should the need arise.  They'd be her only weapons going into the Devil's Lair.

"Ready, darling?"  She slung her clothes in a bag she grabbed from behind the counter and waltzed out the door leaving the door open.  Someone would be by to clean up the mess like she'd never been there.  That was what the Atharim teams were for.

Two blocks down the road Zef tucked her things in yet another Atharim safe place and tagged it with a location beacon.  They'd be by to pick that up later too.  It was well hidden and she was free to go deep into the depths that only Jaxen knew the way. 

She dangled on his arm.  He was a handsome man -- a man of wealth and prominence even if it were a little tarnished.  But she liked this man.  Confident and smooth.  Too bad he was a fucking god.

But that didn't stop the fun.  The neon signs lead them through darker and darker places.  The music was loud enough to hear from a ways away.  It drew them down the tunnels and around dark corners, until it was there and they were let inside. 

The thrum of the music coursed through her body and there was a distinct sense of danger here.  Monsters would hunt here.  Best be on the look out.  Zef took the crowd of people as an advantage and wrapped both her arms around Jaxen's neck and she walked backwards deeper into the crowd leaning in to shout in his ear "Find us some fun."


[@"Jaxen Marveet"]

So I noticed that Thal and Asc were collecting their threads and putting them on the wiki and in order to facilite that now and in the future (and making future updates easier).  I made a WordPress short code for everyone to use that will list all the character threads a user has participated in.

You can dd it to any wiki page (or a blog post, or page or whatever inside of WordPress)

Right now it just lists everything in order.  I want to add the ability to exclude posts for NPCs or just cause it's not in there.  Posts are only from the IC boards.