She stepped off the tram with a coffee in one hand, the other jammed into the pocket of her long coat. Dark charcoal, cut sharp at the collar, it was formal without being stiff. Beneath it, black jeans and boots with just enough heel to give her presence without flash. Her henley was deep rust, soft and collarless, buttons flicked open at the collar. Her hair was down on purpose falling in thick tresses, not too neat, not too wild. Her makeup was clean, matte, but her eyes were ringed in eyeliner, sharp enough to be taken seriously. 

The closer she came to the Sanctuary of the Ascendant Flame, the more that coffee cup felt like a lifeline. Her fingers were warm from it, steady, even though her heart stirred with something quieter than fear but deeper than nerves.

She passed the stone sculptures outside with barely a glance. She remembered the first time she’d come here almost a year ago now, under a different sky and under someone else’s orders. That visit had been secret, cautious, and very brief.

Inside, the Sanctuary smelled faintly of incense and cold stone. The air was still, the kind of stillness that made her feel like someone was always watching her. Morning sunlight poured through stained glass windows, casting fractured reds and ambers onto the tiled floor. She wasn't sure how to go about doing this, so she stepped forward mustering as much confidence as she could, and approached the first person she saw.

“I’d like to join,” she said simply, voice firm.

There. Said.

Local authorities are investigating a catastrophic incident at the Kameny Dar Geological Museum outside Kostroma, where the entire structure and its contents appear to have melted into a molten sinkhole early Wednesday afternoon.

The small field museum, known for its mineral exhibits and school programs, was hosting a student group from Moscow when the event occurred. Officials say twelve students and two teachers were scheduled to arrive that morning, though none have yet been located.

Emergency response teams from Yaroslavl and Kostroma reported that the surrounding forest was scorched in a perfect circle extending 200 meters from the museum site. Soil samples remain too hot for collection nearly 24 hours later.

Quote:“There are no signs of explosives or accelerants,” said Chief Investigator Pavel Grekov. “The stone itself appears to have liquefied from within. We’ve ruled out volcanic activity, as this region is geologically stable.”

Quote:“We understand the public’s concern,” said Deputy Minister Melnik. “There is no evidence of ongoing danger. The incidents remain isolated.”

Matvei Ignatiev is a new 19 year old channeler. He attends Moscow University and is a geology major.  He has an affinity for earth and fire now that he's come into his powers he's rather volitale when angered.

Matvei Ignatiev

Attached Files

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In a shocking incident late Tuesday night, a residential home in the Sokolniki District was reduced to a pool of molten debris after what witnesses described as a “wave of heat” rippled through the structure. Authorities report that the family of four escaped moments before the house appeared to melt into the ground.

Firefighters arriving at the scene were unable to approach within thirty meters due to residual temperatures exceeding 1,200 degrees Celsius—hot enough to liquefy the foundation and asphalt around the site. The molten crater continued to glow orange for nearly an hour before slowly cooling.

Quote:“It wasn’t an explosion. There was no blast radius,” said Deputy Fire Chief Sergei Antonov. “It’s as if the building’s core just… liquefied. We’ve never seen anything like it.”

Quote:“There is no danger to the public at this time,” stated Ministry spokesperson Irina Melnik. “We are treating this as an isolated event.”

Meeting with the Ascendancy so soon would likely be questioned. That's three in a few weeks. 
 
So. I know I just met with the Ascendancy but I need to request another. I've been in contact with the New Atharim. The Praeceptor of the Reliquiae, the self proclaimed New Regus of the New Atharim wants to meet with you. A new er, with me as his face puppet.

It wasn't long before Nox got a reply.  And not just from anyone, but the Ascendancy himself.
 
Why in the world would I want to meet with the Regus?

He is not the Regus. His name is Eliot Languex, an obsolete son of an Atharim benefactor who like us can channel. He wants to do things differently here in Moscow and wants your sign off. I wasn't planning on telling you this now. But I figured the truth sooner rather than later might gain him that meeting. He's willing to risk his life for the meeting. He's at least serious

And what is this Praeceptor of the Reliquiae?

The presumed leader of a new faction of Atharim I assume. One moving into this new age of gods and men. Working together? I guess.

What do you think he wants?

Well considering he wants me to be the face of this new Atharim, I think he's looking for a more transparent Atharim. Not killing human's outright because he's one of us. He's not like the last Reguses. He's a godling. If he wants me, that means he beleives like I do. He knows of the cases I've taken, and those I've refused. I don't know the full plan, but I think he wants to move the Atharim in a new direction. With your help.

The final message received was not anything of text, but two passes for himself and Eliot Languex to the Garden, with date, time and coordinates.  Lucky them.

Casey went and got some dados and a couple changes of clothes before heading back to Kallisti. She spent sometime there watching the shows and even got some personal attention from a dancer named Jasmín. Lots of dancers - both male and female. Some sang. Some (including Jasmín) had used magic. Elyse danced too. There were lots of skimpy outfits and a lot of flesh. It’s was a lot of fun. 

At the end she sent Elyse a message and found her quickly. To her surprise Jasmín was waiting there too. ”This is Anna - she kind of lives in the same building I do.”

Anna gave her a grin and the trio walked to a building a couple of blocks away. Anna and Elyse said good night and she continued up the stairs while Casey and Elyse entered a room. ”You can have the bed and I’ll take the floor if that’s fine with you.”

Casey shrugged. ”Its big enough for both of us and it doesn’t make me uncomfortable to share.” Elyse was being careful to show that she wasn’t trying to make this about being intimate. It made a set feel more comfortable as a whole. 

Elyse nodded and they change into pajamas. That also didn’t bother Casey. She’d already seen most of what Elyse had to offer and generally didn’t care if others saw her. Casey climbed on to the bed and waited. 

”Im going to lead you through the exercises I go through to get into the dream. If it works, I’ll see you there in a moment. If not I’ll be back soon and we can try other things.”

Casey nodded as Elyse turned down the lights and got in next to her. Then Casey followed her instructions, mostly breathing exercises to calm her mind. Even so, she felt herself getting tired and sleepy. She let herself succumb. It was was she was here. 

Then she was there. She recognized it as that weird dream she had been in. Knowing that she decided to come here herself made it less scary and she looked around.  She was in Elyse’s room, but it wasn’t.  For now she was alone. She waited for Elyse to arrive. She said she would and Casey trusted that was the case.

((Continued from here))

Claude had continued looking through Nox Durante's file. Another Atharim named Zephyr had done extensive research on him. The red light district was a sort of perimeter.  On top of that, a schedule, of all things.  Nox was a creature of habit it seemed. So he found himself entering the Red Light District. There were drones there and at times, he would see them, watching him probably. But they didn't do more than watch. At least now. 

Claude sighed. This was an incredible pain. He wasn't too thrilled about any of this. He wasn't scared of Nox. Nox was an ex-Atharim channeler and from what he could see, he was incredibly skilled. There were reasons why he should be, but given their conversation with Eliot, he wasn't worried that Nox would attack him unless Claude did something to aggravate him.  Eliot had no reason to lie, and Claude had no reason to antagonize the man.

So Claude found himself outside of the man's home. A building - looked like a business building too.  The research he had seen showed that too.  The bottom floor had businesses in it.  Claude hesitated a bit, wondering if he should ring the bell or just go in. He wasn't sure at all. He stood outside for a bit before finally ringing the bell.  He didn't want to intrude or anything and he wanted to do anything he could to stay on Durante's good side.

He'd done his due diligence. He'd scoured those he'd collected. They all had their uses and he'd work with them to accomplish what he wanted, but Durante fit his needs. Not only was he Atharim. He was visible to the world. And all Eliot had to do was reveal to the world what he actually did. Not the building collapsing or the killing of godlings at their behest, but the saving of people. Of using his power. And that was where he would use him -- he was the face of the New Atharim, his Reliquiae, as it were. 

But first he had to approach Durante, and that was truly the easiest part of it all, even courting Helena proved to be more difficult than it would be to finding the boy, and convincing him to help. And even if he said no, Eliot was going to give him no options.

That was why he had asked one favor of Jacob Dean. One favor to keep his little secret about harboring a godling. It was easy to manipulate folks when they had such juicy things to put out there.  Durante, he hid nothing, he was an open book. Though it was hard to make things stick with his pet hacker, but Nox hide nothing except his extra-ciriculars for the Atharim.  And the Atharim kept those hidden more so than he did himself.

Three days before Eliot approached Durante outside his home on his daily run, he released a multitude of videos into the dark web. And into the virtual sphere. There was some raw footage of Nox clearing the tunnels. Fireballs flying from the sides of the screen as creatures of the horde fell. Sometimes they came from other angels that weren't Nox, but Eliot cut away any glimpses of the others. It was easy when it was just him and Carpenter flinging fireballs. They stayed out of each others way and the horde melted under their attacks. It was epic.

There were no names, but there were subtle queues that this was the same 'angel', who had been fighting at the Almaz and dancing at Kallisiti. The change in name had been most beneficial.  An Angel, though not the angel Nox perhaps wanted.  But still the footage had been linked to him, and he to it perpetuity now. Fighting monsters was part of his persona.

Now all Eliot had to do was give him a proper face to the Reliquiae. He would lead even if he didn't want to. But he'd have the choice first.

It wasn't long before Nox crossed the street and in front of the bench he sat. Eliot called out. "Nox Durante. Might I have a word?" Eliot pulled his left sleeve up revealing the snake biting his own tail as the boy passed by. Eliot was frail and feeble, he was no threat to him, but he drew upon the power that they both shared. It was not a threat, but a welcome invitation to sit and talk.

Claude’s migraine was mostly gone. It was just the dull ache it had been at the start. Sleep it appeared had helped in that regard. He had a cubicle at Atharim HQ now and he was scrolling through some information. He really didn’t want to be here right now, but he needed access to the Atharim databases. He had to find Nox Durante.  He didn’t really want to do that either, but it seemed his survival depended on it. Nora had her own mission now - infiltrating the Brotherhood. She was finally getting field work.  She deserved it, but Claude couldn’t help but worry. He was sure that she was worried about him too. She wasn’t really thrilled with him having to find Durante, but there were few options. 

He started at the safe house, looking up Kallisti. Social media posts showed that it was obvious god powers were at work there. Still he’d rather go there than Almaz - but both made him uncomfortable. It wasn’t the violence or sex that did it. Well - maybe the sex did, but violence didn’t bother Claude. Useless violence did. So he made the decision to start there. He doubted going to the club and asking for him would do much good even though it was an option should he find no others. 

So now he looked through their databases, seeing Kallisti come up as well. It was listed as a dangerous location as well. Durante was probably protecting it somehow. He wanted to avoid looking up Nox directly. It was likely to be flagged and he’d rather avoid that, but he was finding nothing. He had to look at his file. That was the only option now. He hated being backed into a corner. He pulled up Durante’s file. The man lived in the Red Light District. Like Kallisti, the district was flagged as dangerous. A couple failed attempts at capture/elimination were listed. He began to scroll to see if anything relevant would pop up. If the file was flagged by fellow Atharim, he could say he was possibly looking in to pursuing him. He’d rather not have that conversation though.

((continued here))