I'm baaaaack. With some more mage fiction
Dec. 16th, 2003 07:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sparkindarknessActually a little bit of a muse build up, mainly because I had a lot of "nothing fics" Fics that set up the scene, but nothing really happened (I still do, but I have less) and I'm getting tired of creating fluff.
Then there's the horrible "forced fic" syndrome. I hate that, when I'm trying to write and nothing wants to be written? I've deleted the worst, but none of this is particularly stellar.
As ever, old editions can be found through the memories section.
I’m not a hundred per cent ready to trust them yet. But at least now I think they can look after themselves, to some degree anyway. I always feel guilty when some Sleeper anarchist reads our stuff then takes it upon themselves to save the world. We weren't the only supernatural creatures out there, and there’s some that make the Technocracy look positively friendly. Normal humans didn’t really have much chance. These guys go off and get themselves killed, well, they should know better, right?
Still, the Traditions can’t afford to throw away mages like that. So we work with them, for their own good if nothing else.
“Well Nik, what’s this breakthrough?” I asked with all necessary doubt.
“Wow, good to see you have faith in me.” He managed to roll his eyes even with them squeezed shut. “Happens in four days. Something big’s going to cause a mother-load of chaos there. Security scrambling everywhere, files left unlocked. Everything laid out for whoever wants it. We just have to walk in and take what we want.”
“Or do what we want,” Matthias broke in eagerly.
“When an unexpected gift drops through your door, check for bombs before opening.” Janos intoned quietly. He was even more suspicious than me. I could tell he was excited about this though, he despised Sistech. He also had a point.
“Something’s going to rip Sistech apart? Catch them by surprise? How?”
“And how do you know?” Sebastian asked, sounding as suspicious as us. The Cult can never live down their reputation. “I’ve been lurking all power the net for info on how to crack Sistech. Not a whisper on anything major happening.”
“One question at a time, guys.” Nik waved his hands in the air for silence and nearly fell on the floor again. Whatever was in his bloodstream hadn’t quit yet. “Yes, it’s going to catch Sistech by surprise. No, I don’t no what it is, not exactly. Just that it’s going to be violent and messy. And no, it isn’t going to rip Sistech apart, it’ll hurt them, but they’re going to pull it back together.” He managed to glare at us all through closed lids. He was expecting an argument, you could always tell. “And I know because I Saw it.”
I didn’t roll my eyes. It took an effort of will, but I didn’t. Janos was polite too, merely looking curious, but then he had his own form of second sight. Alright, it was really unfair of me to automatically dismiss Nik’s sight. He was a Seer. The whole Cult of Ecstasy were the best seers the Traditions had, the best seers anyone had for that matter. Trouble is, it’s bloody difficult to believe someone when they say they’ve had a vision when you’ve seen them, popping hallucinogens all day. It didn't help that prophecy was usually quite hard to interpret... Still, truth was, he’s been right far more often than he’s been wrong, and he’s good at telling us when he isn't sure about something
“You ‘saw’ it.” Sebastian made those annoying little quotation marks with his fingers when he said it, pretty pointless considering Nik’s eyes were still squeezed shut. “Well then, I’m fine with raiding an armed camp then. Sure, after all, if the stoner says it’s going to happen...”
“He’s an Ecstatic.” Matthias rumbled in a hoarse whisper. “They were called the Seers of Chronos once, long ago. I remember; it wasn’t an idle boast. The Verbena watched the skies, we watched the lands of the dead, the Order of Hermes consulted the Kabblah and the Celestial Chorus prayed for guidance, but only the Seers really knew what was going to happen. If he says he’s seen it, I believe him. Why would he lie?”
Ok, that was unexpected... Janos coughed, politely. “The best eyes can be fooled by mirages,” he said in that wonderfully quiet, penetrative way he had. “But Nik Sees well, and tells us when his vision is clouded.”
“Ok. I give. We’ll follow the druggie. Not like we have a better plan anyway.” I think Sebastian was still angry about being punched repeatedly by said druggie. “What is the plan anyway.”
Finally we got down to some serious conversation. And of course, as is always the case, there was little to say. Nik’s vision hadn’t told him much more than he'd already said, not that I expected it, the future is yet to be written, so detail is a little blurry. Matthias was all for a commando raid doing as much damage as we could (which is frankly very little considering the scale of the company). Janos wanted to go in and find as much information as he can about their current projects to see if we could throw a spanner in the works (unlikely, but I was with him on that). Sebastian and Nik were both for digging up something incriminating to cause trouble with the authorities, the media or anything else they could pass it along to (with the company’s influence that might mean little).
Still we had to take the opportunity, it was literally once in a lifetime. Sistech was a shipping company that shipped goods around the world. Meaning it could cause trouble round the world. It used its vast wealth to lobby for damaging free trade agreements as well as to legalise trade items like wood and animal parts regardless of the environmental impact. They were willing to ship pollutants, from near illegal (and completely illegal) pesticides to oil, and were quite happy to cut costs by cutting any expensive safety precautions. And anything they couldn't ship legally, they could generally sneak in illegally (they were far too big, too rich and too influential to ever be held to account in this modern world) so narcotics, weapons and any number of unpleasant things generally passed through their hands to any number of unpleasant people around the world. Yes, they were a giving company. They gave the world hell.
So the plan was? The plan was to sneak in quietly, wait for the party to start then move in and do any of the above if we got the chance. Simple, right?
Yeah, I wasn’t happy with it either.
Then there's the horrible "forced fic" syndrome. I hate that, when I'm trying to write and nothing wants to be written? I've deleted the worst, but none of this is particularly stellar.
As ever, old editions can be found through the memories section.
I’m not a hundred per cent ready to trust them yet. But at least now I think they can look after themselves, to some degree anyway. I always feel guilty when some Sleeper anarchist reads our stuff then takes it upon themselves to save the world. We weren't the only supernatural creatures out there, and there’s some that make the Technocracy look positively friendly. Normal humans didn’t really have much chance. These guys go off and get themselves killed, well, they should know better, right?
Still, the Traditions can’t afford to throw away mages like that. So we work with them, for their own good if nothing else.
“Well Nik, what’s this breakthrough?” I asked with all necessary doubt.
“Wow, good to see you have faith in me.” He managed to roll his eyes even with them squeezed shut. “Happens in four days. Something big’s going to cause a mother-load of chaos there. Security scrambling everywhere, files left unlocked. Everything laid out for whoever wants it. We just have to walk in and take what we want.”
“Or do what we want,” Matthias broke in eagerly.
“When an unexpected gift drops through your door, check for bombs before opening.” Janos intoned quietly. He was even more suspicious than me. I could tell he was excited about this though, he despised Sistech. He also had a point.
“Something’s going to rip Sistech apart? Catch them by surprise? How?”
“And how do you know?” Sebastian asked, sounding as suspicious as us. The Cult can never live down their reputation. “I’ve been lurking all power the net for info on how to crack Sistech. Not a whisper on anything major happening.”
“One question at a time, guys.” Nik waved his hands in the air for silence and nearly fell on the floor again. Whatever was in his bloodstream hadn’t quit yet. “Yes, it’s going to catch Sistech by surprise. No, I don’t no what it is, not exactly. Just that it’s going to be violent and messy. And no, it isn’t going to rip Sistech apart, it’ll hurt them, but they’re going to pull it back together.” He managed to glare at us all through closed lids. He was expecting an argument, you could always tell. “And I know because I Saw it.”
I didn’t roll my eyes. It took an effort of will, but I didn’t. Janos was polite too, merely looking curious, but then he had his own form of second sight. Alright, it was really unfair of me to automatically dismiss Nik’s sight. He was a Seer. The whole Cult of Ecstasy were the best seers the Traditions had, the best seers anyone had for that matter. Trouble is, it’s bloody difficult to believe someone when they say they’ve had a vision when you’ve seen them, popping hallucinogens all day. It didn't help that prophecy was usually quite hard to interpret... Still, truth was, he’s been right far more often than he’s been wrong, and he’s good at telling us when he isn't sure about something
“You ‘saw’ it.” Sebastian made those annoying little quotation marks with his fingers when he said it, pretty pointless considering Nik’s eyes were still squeezed shut. “Well then, I’m fine with raiding an armed camp then. Sure, after all, if the stoner says it’s going to happen...”
“He’s an Ecstatic.” Matthias rumbled in a hoarse whisper. “They were called the Seers of Chronos once, long ago. I remember; it wasn’t an idle boast. The Verbena watched the skies, we watched the lands of the dead, the Order of Hermes consulted the Kabblah and the Celestial Chorus prayed for guidance, but only the Seers really knew what was going to happen. If he says he’s seen it, I believe him. Why would he lie?”
Ok, that was unexpected... Janos coughed, politely. “The best eyes can be fooled by mirages,” he said in that wonderfully quiet, penetrative way he had. “But Nik Sees well, and tells us when his vision is clouded.”
“Ok. I give. We’ll follow the druggie. Not like we have a better plan anyway.” I think Sebastian was still angry about being punched repeatedly by said druggie. “What is the plan anyway.”
Finally we got down to some serious conversation. And of course, as is always the case, there was little to say. Nik’s vision hadn’t told him much more than he'd already said, not that I expected it, the future is yet to be written, so detail is a little blurry. Matthias was all for a commando raid doing as much damage as we could (which is frankly very little considering the scale of the company). Janos wanted to go in and find as much information as he can about their current projects to see if we could throw a spanner in the works (unlikely, but I was with him on that). Sebastian and Nik were both for digging up something incriminating to cause trouble with the authorities, the media or anything else they could pass it along to (with the company’s influence that might mean little).
Still we had to take the opportunity, it was literally once in a lifetime. Sistech was a shipping company that shipped goods around the world. Meaning it could cause trouble round the world. It used its vast wealth to lobby for damaging free trade agreements as well as to legalise trade items like wood and animal parts regardless of the environmental impact. They were willing to ship pollutants, from near illegal (and completely illegal) pesticides to oil, and were quite happy to cut costs by cutting any expensive safety precautions. And anything they couldn't ship legally, they could generally sneak in illegally (they were far too big, too rich and too influential to ever be held to account in this modern world) so narcotics, weapons and any number of unpleasant things generally passed through their hands to any number of unpleasant people around the world. Yes, they were a giving company. They gave the world hell.
So the plan was? The plan was to sneak in quietly, wait for the party to start then move in and do any of the above if we got the chance. Simple, right?
Yeah, I wasn’t happy with it either.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2003-12-17 04:05 am (UTC)And I Know EXACTLY what it's like trying to write up between-chat filler. Garg. Only thing worse is trying to re-write a lost chat. Yer lucky you got em all lined up and ready. ;-P Much Envy!
(no subject)
Date: 2003-12-17 04:49 pm (UTC)I have them lined up, TECHNICALLY, but I'm working from very scrappy notes here, padding out a roleplay (afterall, I can't technically say what anyone is feeling except Emrys, hence his pov all the time) and still slightly awed by how WEAK these characters are compared to what they became (having to change mental pathways a lot, Emrys became very... confident).
But I found the STARTING character sheets! Minus hundreds upon hundreds of experience.