Nazareth Awakened - Chapter 02: Wives of Solomon

[Shayuri]

Chance sat still...her silence suggested she was deep in thought, and so she was. It was a quandry.

Unleash a nightmarish bloodsucking creature on Nazareth, but have a chance to SEE and to SPEAK with an immortal creature...or do the sensible thing, leave it buried, and tell Penrose to find someone else to set up his stupid 'warding.'

In fact, more and more she was starting to wonder if their association with Penrose was worth the cost. Magellan had essentially told her flat out that she could learn to do these things without instruction. It might take longer, but she was young, right? And if there were wizard governments and factions and so on, there must be quite a few of them, even if they scattered thinly.

It wasn't like Penrose was the only one who could do this.

What if he wasn't teaching them things, and because they limited themselves to his lessons they'd never find out for themselves? What if some of what he was teaching them was wrong? Was he paranoid enough to build flaws into his lessons, to ensure that the young mages would always be vulnerable to him?

Chance thought maybe he was. In some ways it would even make sense. He came to Nazareth to be alone and apart from mages...and suddenly a slew of them appear out of nowhere. He wasn't a murderer, so what to do? Clip their wings, of course. While they're young and can't stop you. Before they get a taste for flying, and can hate you for what you did.

"You guys," she said. "What do you think about meeting sometime, all of us, on our own? Not at the bookstore, but some other place, and just practicing and trying things out?"

 

[Rubberneck]

"You guys," she said. "What do you think about meeting sometime, all of us, on our own? Not at the bookstore, but some other place, and just practicing and trying things out?"

Law stops midway through dialing Faye's number.

"Never really gave it much thought, practicing magic without Penrose looking over my shoulder. I guess I could be up for that."

He says with a shrug.

 

[GlassEye]

Harper, Thyrsus mage

[section]

Harper is surprised at Law's offer and it shows in his face. He turns introspective for a moment then nods and a smile curls up at the edges of his mouth. "Yeah, I'd like that. Thanks." A bit of moisture gleams in the corners of his eyes; if you aren't mistaken it looks like he is starting to tear up. Probably thinking of his estrangement from his own family.

Harper finds Chance's proposal interesting and is nodding agreement before he even realizes it. "Oh, yeah! I'd do that in a heartbeat. The other night at the hallow when I was scanning for dogs and people I felt there had to be a way I could tweak it to get more specific information. I couldn't figure it out..." He trails off and grins in a bit of self-mockery at his own excitement. He chuckles. "Umm, that's a 'yes' from me."

​

[/section]

 

[Shayuri]

Chance nods happily...relieved that her idea had been welcomed.

"Great! Okay, lets find Agnasci before we do anything else. We should have at least heard from him by now. Anyone know a spell or something that can find him? Or...Law, can you use your police powers to track his cellphone?"

 

[Rubberneck]

"Law, can you use your police powers to track his cellphone?"

"I can try, if it's even turned on."

Law stops dialing Fayes number and instead hits a single digit on his phone to call his contact in Phoenix to get her to run the trace.

 

[TillForPie]

Chance, Harper, and Law

Law hangs up before his Phoenix contact can answer her phone, realizing that he won't be able to get what he wants that way.

The Phoenix and Nazareth police don't have the ability to trivially track cell phones on their own. They get triangulation information from the cellular provider (nobody is sure what carrier Agnasci has but that wouldn't be difficult to discover) of the phone they're trying to track. For that Law would need a warrant from a judge. He knows that the judges the Phoenix and Nazareth PDs deal with the most are quite cooperative and often approve warrants as a matter of course. The problem is that Law approaching a judge personally isn't how things are done - it will require approval from Nazareth's Chief of Police, Donald Walsh. Chief Walsh is a good boss as far as bosses go, but he'll want to know what he's requesting the warrant for and it will establish an official connection between Law and Agnasci. If this is the route that Law wants to go it will take finessing.

Law re-dials Faye's number and asks for Penrose. She declines his request at first, but reluctantly tells him to hold when he starts asking about vampires. A few minutes later he hears Penrose's exhausted voice. "Yes?" Has he still not slept?

A van pulls into the space beside Law's Tahoe, sending Crow flapping from its spot on the ground into the night sky. MANY ARE CALLED FEW ARE CHOSEN is printed in bold white lettering on the vehicle's side. Its driver, an obese man in a shirt and tie, climbs out and waddles into the store, leaving the vehicle running.

Law asks Penrose if he knows that the group has been tasked with reviving a vampire. Penrose's response sounds somewhat annoyed but he remains patient. "Yes, I'm aware. Just make sure it makes it to Nazareth in one piece." The way Penrose refers to the vampire as it is perhaps telling of his opinion of the creature. When Law mentions it staying in the bookstore Penrose interjects immediately. "It's not staying here. I'm sure the four of you will figure something out." It almost seems like Penrose is going to hang up but he continues after a short pause. "Dominic, you're a capable man. You don't need micromanagement." There's a second pause. "Anything else?"

Agnasci

Mad Dog digests what Agnasci has told him, but doesn't seem likely to actually release his prisoner. Still, he's much less hostile toward the mage than he had been when he first came downstairs, so Agnasci has scored a success of a sort.

"I know who could find out, though."

"And who's that?"

"There has to be more than just one way to change the future, right?"

"We'll see."

 

[Rubberneck]

"Anything else?"

Law's answer is a short and swift no and he hangs up the phone. He doubts Penrose cares about how the group feels about letting a vampire free among the citizens of Nazareth. Law relays everything that Penrose said to the other two,

"So the old man knows about the Vampire, he doesn't care, and it seems like he dislikes them enough to refuse letting it stay in the bookstore. So we need to find a place for this thing to stay. Maybe in that rundown church with the Hallow in it? I doubt the vamp would notice and the setting certainly fits. All I know is he is not staying with me."

If anyone decides to go into the store Law will wait for them to return, if no one wants anything he will continue on his way to dig up the vampire.

 

[GlassEye]

Harper, Thyrsus mage

[section]

Harper doesn't need anything from the 7/11 and says so. He also understands Law's desire to get this over with but doesn't think rushing off right now to do it the best idea.

"We're gonna need shovels. The old guy also said it would probably be better to wait for the weekend. That's only a couple of days from now; I think we can survive without Magellan's wards until then. And, really, I wouldn't want to deprive Agnasci of this fun. Besides, that would give us time to figure out where we're going to stash the blood-sucker."

Harper rubs his hand through his hair and peers over at the van next to them. Something about it, not just the words stenciled on its side, has drawn his attention and he studies the obese man after invoking his Second Sight as the man walks towards the store.

Distracted, Harper continues with a slight wave of the hand that indicates his train of thought has been disrupted. "And, umm, the church... holy ground, might not be suitable."

​

[/section]

 

[Shayuri]

"Look, I still think our first priority should be finding Agnasci," protests Chance. "This vampire has waited a long time. He'll keep! Agnasci may really be in trouble!"

 

[Mosier]

"And who's that?"

Agnasci considers opening up further to Mad Dog. He can't help but feel like he's being played, though.

"I can't tell you, until I know you won't hurt anyone," Agnasci says. Agnasci has decided not to answer any more of Mad Dog's questions. Doing so would just risk digging himself deeper.