23:22 <banana> The night's grown long. The unnatural vitality of the glamoured yew-tree does seem to confer the same properties upon its guests - as Willie noted, there's something in the food. So it isn't difficult for Aster to remain on his feet, on the alert, but it wears on the mind. This isn't exactly a quiet stakeout. 23:24 <Crion> Social situations. In England. Ugh. 23:25 <banana> Just over there is a vampire talking to a teenage boy, behind the trestle tables of soiled glasses is some sort of construction of glass poles and windchimes on which changelings play like children, up at the table where Badawi makes her complaint one of the kings has vanished... 23:27 <Crion> Aster should probably object to the vampire/teenage boy summit, but really in the grand scheme of things, not his place to protect English children from their elders. With or without dread powers. It is quite annoying that the inestimable rake-stepper Bob Goreman could not keep his mouth shut around the Barrowsmith woman, but then, what did anyone expect? 23:29 <banana> Samantha's been having a time of it. He's spotted her with ghouls and goblins, and even a Valkyrie. She's looking overwhelmed in a way he's rarely seen - not wanting to take a break, because there are so many leads here, and so much novelty. It isn't her beat, though. 23:30 <banana> At the moment she's resting with both hands on one of the picnic tables, gathering forces for (Aster thinks) another sortie. 23:31 <Crion> Aster approaches with a water, a beer, and a scotch for himself. "How goes it?" 23:32 <banana> Samantha: "Ah! Hello. Wow." 23:33 <banana> "Do you want to put some of that down? How's it going? Have they offered you any more prophecies?" 23:34 <Crion> Aster does so, quite smoothly. He retains the scotch; the other two are an 'either or both' proposition for her. "Not quite. We -- the team, that is -- have been fulminating on various schemes involving mages and other top-end types at the High Table, and doing damage control on Bob not being able to keep his mouth shut around a woman who will acknowledge his existence. Heads-up for you, 23:34 <Crion> when he eventually finds you." 23:35 <Crion> "I don't think his latest indiscretion will be lethal, but it will mean I have to play lawyer in the morning. Evening. Whenever the vampires wake up." 23:36 <banana> Samantha drinks while she listens, grinning a little. "Oh, it had better not be. I understand some of what you're dealing with now; he already found me." 23:36 <Crion> Aster shakes his head. "That man." 23:37 <banana> "Now that is a dude who has been ill-used by the demands of the armed forces. He only escaped a whistleblower sentence by, I gather, faerie magic." 23:37 <banana> "It's not 'fairy', turns out." 23:37 <Crion> "He essentially told the vampires we were two-timing them because...well I don't know why. He thought it would be impressive. The man is not single but is catastrophically unable to not mingle." 23:38 <banana> Samantha: "I hope the others are making less work for you. Willie seems.. effective, and Agostina is very impressive, at least to look at." 23:39 <banana> "Possibly all-round, but we didn't get a chance to speak." 23:39 <Crion> Aster: "Willie is having the time of her life, which on the one hand is understandable -- just look about -- and on the other hand is shorthand notation for why she's dating a vampire, engaging in high-stakes dangerous supernatural hunts, etcetera." 23:41 <banana> Blackfin: "The appeal is real. All of this is.. you called it breakable; I keep wondering whether I'll remember any of it in the morning." 23:42 <banana> "Intellectually, I understand that fascination is what they do. Faeries and hemophages alike. It's not worth the risk, but.. it is a very shiny gloss on what's otherwise - frankly - Manchester." 16:54 <Crion> Aster: "Well. World-trees aren't that Manchester. Though they're becoming quite prominent in Western mass media, some of the meta-analyses are pointing out." 16:56 <banana> Samantha: "That's an interesting touch. It's congruent with the myths, but not... actually in them. Any idea what it does? The magic have talked pretty freely about their own magic, but they're cagey on the group-level stuff." 16:59 <Crion> Aster: "If I had to guess -- and I do because I've had four scotches, been dancing most of the night, and have explicitly not snooped on this subject due to respect for our hosts -- I would guess that it is responsible specifically for the Mask-Mien fusion. That is to say, the phenomenon by which us putting on these mundane masquerade objects has turned us into various thematic characters. 16:59 <Crion> If it is not the generator of such an effect, it almost certainly is an amplifier." 16:59 <banana> As the night goes on, it's become colder. You don't feel, somehow, it under the big yew's shadow, but it's there - when everyone leaves at midnight, the trip down the hill will have to be rapid. 17:01 <banana> Samantha: "That makes sense, but... if it's a source of power, where does the power come from?" 17:01 <banana> She hums for a moment. "I hope they don't mind me snooping. You brought a plus one snoop." 17:01 <Crion> Aster waves a hand. 17:01 <Crion> "If they were going to say something they'd have said it already." 17:02 <Crion> "Or they'll say it later, when I have better leverage and positioning." 17:02 <Crion> "Either way, it's fine." 17:03 <banana> "It's hard to turn it off, in this setting. I'd like to, because it's also a fantastical party. Not very 'drink to forget', though... the ostentation, too, has a purpose. Being inquisitive and demonstrative come through as themes." 17:04 <Crion> "There are a few mages you might want to actively avoid. I won't say the name of the main one, because that pings him, but he's been stomping around in armor." 17:06 <VoxPVoxD> "...oh we simply *must* chat again. Still, the needs of the hour are what they are." Willie's saying goodbye to a woman and her various hangers-on, backing away across the dance floor. She's liable to trip and fall on her strawberry bum, but she has the presence mind to turn around right before backing over a folding chair, and then she sees "Aaron! Dr. Blackfin! And how are you!" 17:06 <Crion> "Ah." Sip of scotch. "Willie." 17:06 <banana> Blackfin: "Oh. Not just changelings and a few hemophages, then. Yeah, mages can be... dangerous." At least for vampires you have a playbook. (Literally; Aster was allowed to keep a copy as long as he could attest to his paperwork security measures.) 17:06 <Crion> "Ah." Sip of scotch. "Willie." 17:06 <Crion> "Ah." Sip of scotch. "Willie." 17:06 <Crion> Sure, why not three sips. 17:06 <Crion> Sure, why not the glass. 17:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie beams at him, and then at her. This is the least kempt Willie's ever seen him. He looks just a bit like Alfie once Alfie's into his nightcaps... if Alfie had the sense to shave off that ridiculous moustache. "The undisputed victor of the dance floor, and the lady in whose honour he battled. Am I interrupting?" 17:09 <Crion> Aster: "Yes. But have a seat. I'm going to the bar; does anyone need anything?" 17:09 <banana> Samantha: "Oh? Miss Wellesley, Lady, whichever you prefer?" Dr. Blackfin puts a notebook away in her handbag. The velvet that the glamour's made of her face doesn't reflect light much, so she looks like a padded shadow. 17:10 <banana> To Aster: "One last long strong drink would be good. I think I saw the guy with the soul patch pouring Bacardi shots." 17:10 <VoxPVoxD> The Marchioness Douro: "Oh, do call me Willie. I'd love a bitters and soda, if you'd be so kind." 17:10 <Crion> Aster: "Do you prefer clear or dark?" 17:11 <Crion> Oh, to Samantha he should already know that. 17:11 <Crion> So he will simply get the correct answer to that question in a double on the rocks. 17:11 <Crion> "And a bitters and soda. I'll return." 17:12 <VoxPVoxD> "Thank you very much." To Samantha, as Aaron steps away: "How are you finding the evening?" 17:12 <banana> Samantha prefers the original white rum. To Willie, she explains: "That guy's mixology incorporates another glamour. It invigorates you, so it's sort of... sobering as well as alcoholic simultaneously. He said it 'makes things tomorrow's problem', which sounds like an ordinary drink, but.. glowing hands." 17:13 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yes! I had an enchanted sausage roll earlier to much the same effect. They're quite generous with their magic... perhaps there's something to the occasion or the ritual of service that invites it." 17:16 <banana> Samantha: "I wish we could bring in an analyst or two to parse the details." She eyes the dessert-shelled skirt. "Mr. Bonasera's left you alone again?" 17:20 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Oh, yes. He's been so eager to look around, take in the sights, meet people. I'll have to find him before the ceremony." She doesn't immediately see him around, does she? "And I was pulled in every different directions. What about you? Even without a team, this must be a feast for the inquisitive mind." 17:26 <banana> Samantha: "I don't think I'd want 'inquisitive on my salary review. It's an amazing experience. A facet of an alternative reality." 17:26 <banana> The music's over now, and its last refugees are fleeing the dancefloor. Party staff, including the greeters from earlier, are beginning to set up rows of plastic chairs, and something about their mien is menacing enough to increase the velocity of their flight. 17:26 <Crion> Aster returns with the three drinks, skillfully carried in two hands. 17:27 <Crion> Aster: "Seems the festivities, modern are wrapping up and the festivities, occult are about to begin." 17:29 <VoxPVoxD> "The conquering hero returns," says Willie. "And it's not just an alternative reality. The seelie folk have day jobs, families, lives in the day-city, even as they hold court for the night-city at the turn of the seasons. And they carry these sentiments out into their daily lives. It's rather a religious experience." 17:29 <VoxPVoxD> "A high holiday." 17:29 <Crion> He snorts. "No one here truly knows how to dance." 17:30 <Crion> "It's a sport as much of an art. You must cultivate stamina." 17:30 <VoxPVoxD> "Mr. All-American." 17:30 <Crion> "Synchronized swimmers and ice dancers know this." 17:31 <VoxPVoxD> To Samantha: "Did he tell you about his Olympiad in the canal?" 17:31 <Crion> Aster: "If you're just going to sit there giving me fawning nicknames I'm going to have to have someone drive you home." 17:31 <VoxPVoxD> Grinning: "I am completely sober. This is all me." 17:32 <Crion> This time he shakes his head before taking a sip. He hasn't, incidentally. Told Samantha about voluntarily swimming in the Manchester locks. 17:32 <Crion> Seemed too stupid to bother with. 17:32 <banana> Samantha: "The *canal*? The one that fish can't live in?" 17:32 <banana> She's also smiling widely. 17:33 <Crion> Aster: "I was wearing my running body sheath. It was perfectly safe." 17:33 <banana> Particularly after another shot. 17:33 <banana> Samantha: "But why was there a race at all?" 17:34 <Crion> "Some of Benjamin Athletic's dipshits had brains and guns drawn on an old man and a teenage girl. The other route was running up the canal to a bridge, then coming back down. Unacceptable." 17:34 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Efficiency-minded! No thought at all to what sounds like a very expensive workout outfit." 17:35 <VoxPVoxD> "Naturally, Goreman jumped in after him." 17:36 <Crion> Aster: "Thankfully, here in this very city, in 1862, there was invented something called 'the laundry.' We sit in the birthplace of laundry; we might as well use it." 17:36 <Crion> "We Americans patented it first, of course, but it was basically unrecognizable outside of dunking clothes in water." 17:36 <banana> Speaking of dance-floor stamina.. one of the couples coming off it, too caught up in each other to have left until the last violin ceased to fire, looks familiar. A falcon-headed man in gold and a woman with etched wood paneling in squares all over her body like a wardrobe, carrying a cane Aster recognises. They're headed your way, arm in arm. 17:37 <banana> Blackfin: "They do have a lot of rivers here for ye olde washerwomen." 17:37 <banana> "Womene." 17:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie giggles. "Is that Horus come to bless us?" 17:42 <Crion> "Fantastic." 17:42 <Crion> Instead of drinking, he idly runs his finger around the rim of the glass. 17:42 <VoxPVoxD> Ah! Flirting. 17:43 <banana> The woman who got too close to Samantha earlier is keeping her distance now - or rather, she's got too close to one of the animal-head people instead. But she does drag her conquest up to say hello. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Ballet. Miss Sumi's Friend." 17:44 <Crion> Aster: "Hrrr. Good evening." 17:44 <VoxPVoxD> Sumi's Friend: "How do you do? Willie Wellesley." 17:44 <Crion> That first noise is a...growl-sigh? 17:46 <banana> Samantha: "Blackfin." The man in lamé says "Michael, with a y." 17:47 <Crion> Aster stares at the woman who hasn't given her name, and doesn't say his. 17:47 <banana> Cane woman: "Where'd you learn your moves? No cheating there. It was your own spirit dancing your body, I'd say." 17:48 <Crion> Aster: "The Philadelphia Police Benevolent's Fundraiser." 17:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie grins into her glass. 17:52 <banana> Cane woman: "Apparently we've got competitors when it comes to putting on a party. How are the Philadelphia cops for special FX?" 17:53 <banana> Samantha: "It's more of a traditional thing." 17:54 <Crion> Aster: "Well, they don't use blanks." 17:54 <banana> The changeling looks unsure how to interpret that. 17:56 <VoxPVoxD> Willie sizes up this falcon-headed man, Mycal or Michyl or perhaps literally the phrase 'Michael, with a y'. Does he seem relaxed? Is he letting this woman lead him around? Hard to read a giant bird's facial expression, obviously... 17:56 <Crion> Good. 17:57 <banana> The falcon's face is fierce.. but his stance is relaxed, maybe even nervous. He's happy to let his dance partner take the lead. 17:57 <banana> Cane woman: "...well, it was a good scene. Would you like a party favour?" 17:58 <banana> Samantha looks at Aaron. She would... as long as it's not an ambush. 18:00 <Crion> Aster: "There are very few circumstances under which I'd answer 'yes' to a question such as that. This is one of them, as I trust saying yes is somewhere below cackling-witch grade accession to peril." 18:00 <VoxPVoxD> Whatever this is, hopefully Bob's going to get a kick out of it when Willie tells him about it tomorrow. 18:01 <VoxPVoxD> ...where has Sergio gone off to? 18:01 <Crion> "The thing about party favors being, of course, that you don't have to ask. They're simply given. As favors." 18:05 <banana> Cane woman: "A lot of people ask questions about you, though. They ask me questions. All I can really do is pass 'em on!" She raises her walking stick, pointing it more or less straight up. 18:05 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's attention is drawn back to the cane woman when she raises her cane in such a manner that, from the corner of the eye, looks a bit like brandishing it. 18:06 <Crion> Aster sighs. "So the party favor is questions. Well, as The Guardian says, Question Is Free. Or Comment. I assume most of these questions will actually be comments." 18:06 <banana> There's a flurry of leaves above, falling from the Tatterdam. They colour and crisp as they fall, becoming more like the autumn leaves that it should have - rather than the bare branches you saw on the way up, or the bright illusionary green. 18:07 <banana> Willie's eye drawn to their fall, she notices Sergio at last - he's up at the High Table, talking to the Spring regent. 18:07 <VoxPVoxD> !! 18:08 <banana> The leaves form patterns, geometric and then just confusing, and turn to snow at they hit the ground. The woman who summoned them plucks one out of the air, and holds it out - it's become a business card. 18:08 <banana> "I have no questions. You might have questions, eventually." 18:08 <VoxPVoxD> Oh, she's so pleased. 18:09 <Crion> Aster's eyes follow Willie's for a quarter-second, then snap back. "I always do." 18:09 <Crion> He accepts the card. 18:09 <VoxPVoxD> "How very autumnal." 18:09 <banana> It reads CARNELIA CHARN, Augur of Worms. 18:10 <VoxPVoxD> "Michael, how are you enjoying Samhain? Is this your first time?" 18:10 <banana> "Oh, yeah, it's pretty great. The mask's just a bit of paper, but it looks so real, right?" 18:11 <Crion> Finally, because it's only polite: "Aaron Aster. Nice to meet you." 18:11 <banana> Mychael: "I was here three years ago, all just routine back then... ah, but I shouldn't go into that before the tributes." 18:11 <banana> Carnelia: "You too, Aaron. Tell me: Does anyone here not love secrets?" 18:11 <banana> Samantha opens her mouth, and then closes it. 18:12 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'd always rather know than not know." 18:12 <Crion> Aster: "Yes. Presumably you've met my associate Bob Goreman." 18:13 <VoxPVoxD> Bob loves secrets. He just loves sharing and showing off even more. 18:13 <Crion> That just means he loves knowing things and kindergarten. 18:13 <VoxPVoxD> Yes. 18:13 <banana> Charn: "Not as yet! He's the man who just entered the service of Winter, right?" 18:13 <VoxPVoxD> Prepared snacks... the odd midday nap... 18:14 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That's right." 18:14 <Crion> Aster: "Indeed. An odd choice, as I understand it, but also an earned one." 18:14 <VoxPVoxD> "He will be of exceptional value to Hatch Starling's court." 18:14 <VoxPVoxD> Hopefully the reverse is also true. 18:15 <banana> Charn: "Then I'm sure we'll catch up, but I'm not sure which way the secrets will flow." She giggles. "It's funny to watch the four of you putting together pieces, nibbling at the edges of this millieu while applying its etiquettes barely-formed."." 18:15 <Crion> Yeah, fuck you too. 18:15 <banana> Mychael: "..." (He turns his head to the side, like a raptor, to look at Carnelia curiously.) 18:16 <Crion> Out loud: "Glad to be of interest." 18:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'd be eager for any advice you'd have, ma'am." 18:17 <VoxPVoxD> Now the real test: would she rather be condescending or smugly secretive? 18:18 <banana> Carnelia: "Erm.." She passes her cane from hand to hand, tossing it up in the air and carefully observing the twisting of the stick. "Advice: stay away from windows at night." 18:18 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Very sensible!" 18:19 <banana> Blackfin: "Yes, but is it another prophecy?" 18:19 <Crion> Yes, yes, we've all read 'Salem's Lot. This particular in-demand blood vessel has her own house vampire. 18:19 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We'll have to get a second opinion from the Augur of Early Birds." 18:20 <banana> Mychael bows. "The earliest of all. The mask represents Horus, first of the gods' children. Unfortunately, I'm not much of a glazier." 18:21 <Crion> Aster: "Presumably not with a 'c'." 18:21 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Ah! A keeper of the old religion, then?" 18:21 <VoxPVoxD> "Do you find it difficult to maintain, nowadays? Or thesenights?" 18:22 <banana> "Horus isn't real, milady, but it's an appealing aesthetic." 18:22 <banana> Carnelia: "Do Americans have a different word for glaziers?" 18:23 <Crion> Aster: "'Window guys.'" 18:23 <banana> Carnelia to Mychael: "As long as you've got a window guy's muscles, you'll do." 18:24 <VoxPVoxD> Get after it. 18:24 <banana> Mychael: "You mean a window-washer?" 18:24 <Crion> Aster: "I do not." 18:24 <VoxPVoxD> I don't think she cares, Mychael. 18:25 <banana> Samantha's finished her rum. "Of course if it was something other than a window you'd have a specialist. Probably they'd just be called a contractor." 18:26 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I bet the US Department of Labor could tell you about glaziers specifically. Or perhaps construction unions." 18:26 <VoxPVoxD> "But mostly, in America, you've just got a guy." 18:27 <VoxPVoxD> Not unlike our dear Carnelia! 18:27 <banana> Carnelia: "I kind of like all the glass in the new buildings around the city center. I guess it's an architectural trend, and you can see fascinating things in the reflections. Pity none of the city looks coherent at all." 18:27 <Crion> "The difference between a window-washer and a window-fitter is that one is unskilled labor you can chase to the bottom to find the most precarious laborer who won't report you to your local, state, or federal government. A window-fitter is skilled labor and charges accordingly. And somehow when you report HIM to your local, state, or federal government, less gets done about it, because there's 18:27 <Crion> not a psychotic crew of modern cowboys on literal horseback willing to ride in and whip them." 18:28 <VoxPVoxD> Willie waits a beat after Aster's monologue on the American police state before "...Manchester's managing better on that front than Liverpool, at least. They got their waterfront de-listed and now they have to pretend like it's better this way for anyone but the developers." 18:29 <banana> Mychael: "Listed? Like, a list of glass buildings?" Mychael hasn't been paying a lot of attention. He's mostly just waiting for Carnelia to leave, which she shows no indication of intent to do- she seems to be observing Aaron and Willie closely, for as long as they'll put up with her. 18:30 <Crion> Aster will leave further explanation of extremely basic terms from a comedy show to Willie. 18:31 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "On the Historic England's registry of heritage assets. The buildings that are important to preserve for historic or aesthetic reasons." 18:33 <VoxPVoxD> "Grade I buildings are the ones judged the most significant, like the train station on Liverpool Road, the terminus of the first ever passenger rail line in the world." 18:33 <banana> "Oh, right. Well it's not like we've got any real history, it's just- what, a few hundred years old at most?" 18:33 <banana> Carnelia: "May I introduce- a relativist." 18:33 <VoxPVoxD> Or giant stately homes gifted to war heroes to rear generations of addicts and bankers. 18:34 <Crion> Aster is at least glad to be in the presence of someone who surely makes Englishmen as mad as England makes him. 18:35 <banana> Mychael is English, by the accent, but he's weird. Maybe just kind of stupid, or maybe... weird. 18:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Conservation of natural terrain is another department. But we have some quite old structures here." 18:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's just going to talk to him like an adult who doesn't know anything. 18:35 <VoxPVoxD> Been doing a lot of that lately. 18:35 <VoxPVoxD> "Do you know Stonehenge?" 18:36 <banana> Mychael: "Of course," 18:36 <Crion> There's nothing about being English that disqualifies you from infuriating the English. You just need to try slightly harder. 18:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Or Skara Brae, that's properly Neolithic. Not a patch on the Middle Kingdom, of course, but then civilisation did radiate quite slowly outward in those days." 18:37 <banana> Samantha, to Aster: "I've been meaning to visit while there's still anything left. It's not exactly on the way to Brighton, but close enough." 18:38 <Crion> Aster: "It's a cultural site, so you know how that is. The technical letter-of-the-law specifics maintained, everything else a gift shop." 18:39 <Crion> Is he admitting to having been up there himself? Quite possibly. 18:39 <VoxPVoxD> Technically Wiltshire is 'down there' from here. 18:40 <banana> Mychael looks at Willie. "You're fishing, ma'am. Making assumptions based on the mask." 18:40 <banana> Carnelia: "It's called divination." 18:41 <banana> Samantha: "Have they got keychains? I like the idea of a menhir that you could dangle things from absurdly." She's drawn away from the others a little, perhaps uninterested in the falcon boor. 18:41 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You're right, Mychael. Carnelia intuited that I am quite far out of my depth. But the careful leap to conclusions can bring you, if not to the truth, at least to a deeper sense of what one doesn't know. I appreciate your directness!" 18:41 <VoxPVoxD> What an odd man. 18:42 <Crion> Aster is more than happy to slowly draw away. Willie will not only survive but thrive in the presence of morons with things to tell her. 18:43 <Crion> When they're alone-ish, except for their drinks, which Aster preserved at least one of (his): "We should probably get going soon if we wish to do anything else tonight besides retire as soon as we get back to the room. The rest of your trip is all business, schedule-wise?" 18:50 <banana> Samantha: "Mm, someone mentioned that guests have to leave at midnight anyway. I guess everything will turn back into pumpkins." 18:50 <banana> "I'm up to Blackpool tomorrow, then back here after a few days, when I've got meetings scheduled at Strangeways. I'll let you know if that changes, but..." 18:50 <banana> Mychael sighs. "I guess I should proselytise, it's just... you've obviously got your own thing." 18:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "What do you mean?" 18:50 <Crion> "Understood." He takes a big sip of the remaining drink. "We take the time when we find it. Who knows what I'll be doing in three days' time." 18:51 <banana> Carnelia: "What that thing is remains to be seen, but I'm looking forward to the discovery." 18:51 <banana> Mychael: "It's, uh... I guess you could say I'm in... a cult? Do you want to join a cult?" 18:52 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You sound unused to proselytising." 18:53 <banana> Mychael: "Yeah. I was born into the, uh, the faith, and same for my Dad and so on. We don't usually need anything more than that." 18:53 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Family does have a way of setting these things in motion, doesn't it? I have kin who'd be very distraught to learn I had joined a cult." 18:54 <banana> "Ah, so you are already in one. Thought so." 18:54 <banana> Carnelia's watching over this exchange benevolently. Perhaps she's divining things from it. 18:55 <VoxPVoxD> "Some would say so! I'm not one of them." Willie smiles. "So I won't command too much of your attention. But in the event you would like some more, I’ve got cards—” Two more cards with the unlabeled house stencil and the contact information are produced. 18:57 <banana> Samantha flicks Aaron's glass to make it ring. "Whatever it is, make sure to make it through, ok? I've been hearing things throughout the night." 18:58 <Crion> Aster: "Good. That's what I promised when we put it on the calendar." 18:58 <Crion> Aster can be interpersonally annoying, but rarely moreso than when someone clearly wants him to ask a follow-up question and he's not on billable. 18:59 <Crion> For Samantha, though, he'll relent: "...Nothing too scary, I hope." 18:59 <banana> The changeling and the cultist take Willie's business cards. Carnelia Charn produces another in return, by magic again - but it's much less dramatic, she just picks up one of the leaves that have already fallen to the grass. 18:59 <VoxPVoxD> Splendid. 19:00 <VoxPVoxD> Now to find Sergio... 19:01 <banana> Samantha: "Your-" She hunts for a word. "Ally, Bob - I know the kind of work he does, and men like Rolf. The guy Rolf's named after got arrested for pedophilia in the big wave of BBC prosecutions. Willie and that other woman are flashy, self-assured- trouble magnets. On the whole I like them okay, but... it's a fireteam." 19:04 <Crion> Aster: "Ah. Yes. Noted and accounted for. That's why I've got the safehouse, separate work arrangements with the local vampires that don't go through the House, etcetera and so forth. The issue is, quite simply, that the jobs do actually pay out a million pounds per. And even split six ways with a slightly smaller seventh split for institutional upkeep, that's an incredible amount of money 19:04 <Crion> to prospectively be making once every month or two." 19:04 <banana> "...it would be nice to be very rich." 19:04 <Crion> Aster: "So they say. I intend to find out." 19:04 <Crion> "And then I'm done with this fucking island." 19:06 <banana> Samantha: "How do you feel about Ibiza? Or Majorca? 19:06 <banana> "Not La Palma, obviously." 19:08 <Crion> Aster: "My main concerns are official extradition and informal Philadelphian feeling, respectively. I'm perfectly fine just never using the modules again, signing out of the work e-mail, and heading off to the beach forever. I can turn it off," he says, confidently, possibly from the alcohol but also possibly because self-assessment has never been Aster's strong suit, "but I'm only 19:08 <Crion> going to do that on my terms." 19:08 <Crion> "Frankly my concern is that, should you come with me when I go, you'll find retired Aster quite boring. Just so much jogging places and old PBS shows on Youtube." 19:12 <banana> Samantha: "I guess it's possible that the last case really is the last, despite popular demand." 19:12 <banana> "Luxury would compensate for a lot, though." 19:13 <Crion> Aster: "My get-out number is ten million dollars. That sounds like fifty or sixty jobs depending on exchange rate, but when you're a good investor, money has a way of appreciating...and I'm already sitting on seven figures." 19:20 <banana> Dr. Blackfin looks over to where Lady Wellesley has just departed from the 'Augur' and the man who doesn't believe in Horus. "I wonder how much money Willie's got. That is- I wonder how much she can spend before the family starts taking Steps." 19:22 <Crion> Aster: "I think the circumstances under which I found that information out would qualify as an emergency. But whatever her number is, it's plus some hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling. Which probably explains why she's asked me to come look at the property she's purchased as a security consultant." 19:23 <banana> "That's sensible. Perhaps I'm getting the wrong impression of the team." She watches Willie reunite with her vampire boyfriend. The one on the wrong kind of their ongoing or upcoming civil war? 19:25 <Crion> Aster: "Well, it's been a bit over a month and we've only gotten into one firefight, and the most dangerous participant on the red team in it was a haunted tractor." 19:26 <Crion> "I think we're doing fairly well at risk avoidance, at least as a group. When Bob needed to do his thing to earn entry to these hallowed...boughs...he did it by himself, on some shitty island somewhere. Some smaller shitty island, for clarity. He didn't involve us in anything but a consultant's capacity." 19:30 <Crion> After following her eyes. "Look. I like Willie. I really do. But if the question is a vampire civil war or one beautiful eighth child of a decaying aristocratic line disappearing into the night...she's made her choices, and if there are consequences of the worst sort, they'll be efficiently localized." 19:30 <banana> Samantha, wistfully: "They do go on the pile."