Bless the nobles of Locus Noctis. That damned Mimic no longer has my image, and vile things are to be done to him. Just wish I could watch. I catered the ritual to show a little appreciation. Only Fungus presented any problems but it turns out the Graf likes to consume first editions. Fortunately there are lots of first editions of bad books available if you have money.

Conspiracy, predictably, tried to make a big deal of letting me use her family’s library to become a better backup against Excrucians. It’s good to be the thunder god -- but a lot of dumbass, Homeric divine politics go with the job. Anyway, I’m now reasonably well informed about the Enemy. It’s much worse than I thought.

I’m convinced that Terminus is up to no good and that sending Macy off to take care of Orochi’s errand is bound to go badly. The phrase “cluster-fuck” comes to mind, with extra layers of meaning in her case. June is at least doing something useful against the Enemy. Nothing to do with our Grand Opening, but useful. As to how that came about, well Amaciel works in mysterious ways. I guess he wants to watch Nobles at play. Just looking around at my Family and Noble associates, well, I’d rather pass.

From the Annals of His Excellency, Lord Terminus
Antonio Escobar, Archivist

Day 3824470: A day of relative leisure for my master, the details of which I list below.

(a doodle in the border of this page depicts the face of an old woman with missing teeth and a sizable moustache)
The doddering old witch, June, was to meet with one of her presumabe accomplices, an Excrucian named Izaz at a restaurant. Although it is unknown what the two spoke of, it is assumed that some sort of plot against Creation was discussed over expensive foods, most likely paid for by the chancel. From my underworld sources, I understand that she is looking into branching out her drug trade to include prostitution as well.

(another doodle on the next page is a crude depiction of a woman having carnal relations with a rifle)
Macy Hamilton, the Prostitute of Lust was to perform a task for one of the Great Wyrms, a favor owed by the chancel for some trifle performed by the Wyrm. It is assumed that she will fail, her constant distractions of bodily desires make her a less than reliable agent for my master. From what pieces I can gather from overheard conversations and second hand retellings, she seduced a spirit of hunger to assist her (and sate what ever lewd desires should arise during her journey) and the two were assualted by insects on the Tree of Life. The two escaped the attack and hid in a crevasse of the tree, presumably for a tete' a tete'.

(the doodle on the next page depicts a man with spiked hair, one finger in an electrical outlet, the other in his nose)
Ambrose Donner, the Duke of Electricity finished a liason with another chancel, some sort of ritual with The Graf and the Viscount of Punishment. Afterward he spoke with Depa the Conspirator. Using the library of the Conspirator, he "discovered" some weaknesses of the Excrucians, reporting them to Reality.(must investigate links between Conspiracy, Electricity and Reality, perhaps some sort of intrigue against the master)

(the doodle on this page has been fiercely scribbled out with black ink, but careful examination reveals a skull with a penis for a nose)
My master began his quest to reverse the nettling against him. The details are unclear to me, but from what I understand he was travelling backward in time by following the ongoing death of some nearby creature. The specifics of how this is done are unknown to me yet. Once there, his plans to return the Black Hills of South Dakota to their original inhabitants continued (see pages 3824478 through 3824479 for additonal information)

1. If you say so, dear.

So I talked to Conspiracy and found out what she knew about Iaziz. As usual, that woman had lots to talk about but not much to say.

Mainly she wanted to insinuate that Iaziz was just like Amaciel. He can shift perceptions, raise the dead, and act as a corrupting influence. Maybe they were twins separated at birth. Iaziz doesn’t like direct conflict, but he can fight. Didn’t we know this already? He doesn’t do anything but it’s for some goal. Good to know it’s not all a whimsy.

2. Life is like a cake baked by an idiot, full of castor oil and curry.

A limousine picked me up from the antique shop. I left Jonathan behind. The woman I’d followed to the penthouse sat in front with the glass raised, like I was some dark and powerful monster from the outer dimensions. Heh. They’d called the restaurant L’Idiot. Iaziz had a table in back. He was dressed in a suit, hold the eyeballs. I was dressed in my best floppy hat, with a fake sunflower, and a big pink dress. Never wear something too fitted when there’s good food involved, I say.

Hmm. Some dissatisfaction with the way that Bonds are coming out (or, more to the point, not coming out) in some people's stories.

Bonds, in spirit (heh), are an excellent method for involving you in the game world but as implemented they don't actually do a lot to make that happen, outside of the whole Nettle Rite business (which can be fun but can also suck if that's all that Bonds are good for).

Accordingly:

• Everyone must have at least 15 points in Bonds, but no more than 20, "to start".
  
• No listed Bond can start at a strength of less than 2, nor a strength greater than 5 or 6 without excellent justification (there are few possible Bonds I can think of that would merit this). So, I'll be lopping off everyone's 1-point Bonds from their sheets. If this leaves you with less than 15 points, we'll need to do some adjustments of what's left.
  
• Nobles will be considered to have an infinite number of 1-point Bonds, which you can introduce during the course of play (or which I can point out when you act as if you care about something). These can be 'upgraded' as time goes by using the "Lines of Development" below.
  
• Bonds must be "things" of some sort, be they abstract like philosophies and goals, or physical like places, people, and possessions. They have to be riskable.
  
• Whenever you proactively involve a Bond in a session (or, if I put them at risk), you will be able to use a number of Miracle Points equal to that Bond's strength, but only for Miraculous actions which directly involve the Bond in question. So, if you had a strength 3 Bond for "Preservation of My Estate", then when acting to preserve your estate, you'd get an extra 3 Miracle Points specifically for actions involving that goal until the end of the scene. If you're also involving/risking an Anchor Bond in this scene to help preserve the Estate, then that Anchor's Bond strength would be available as well.
  
• Bonds used in this fashion get "tagged". At the end of a session, all tagged Bonds get one or two "lines" of development (depending on the severity of circumstance, and GM-Player negotiation and discretion). A line is a sentence you write underneath the Bond, describing the circumstance that Bond was used (e.g., 'Defended Estate against a Flower Rite').
  • Since we're adding this retroactively, folks can add Lines to their Bonds from previous sessions if appropriate: sadly, I don't know if we'll have that many to retrofit.
  
  
• In future sessions, if your Bond is involved in a circumstance that is similar to one or more of the lines listed with it, then its Strength is considered one higher for the purpose of determining MP availability (e.g., you have 'Met secretly in Locust Gardens with a Cammora representative', and another secret meeting in the Gardens is afoot, you'd be at +1 Bond strength).
  
• Once a Bond has over three lines (so, four+), those lines are erased, and the Bond's Strength goes up by one.

Thoughts?

Resulting modifications come, at least in part, from the Marvel Universe RPG's notion of "lines of experience", and notions from Fate RPG (www.faterpg.com) and the way you can risk Relationships to get rerolls in Trollbabe -- alot of this was originally via discussion with Fred Hicks on the Nobilis list.

Really. Well, not yet, anyway. Wait until Haley's done with her ...

[Not safe for work]

Stray snippets of thought:

I confess my sins to my brethren.

That seems a bit melodramatic. Say, rather, I confess my suppressed memories of burying the chest of Excrucian weapons at the Chancel of the White Tiger, at Cathetel's behest.

They take it with relative calm. Guilt -- Mariska -- from whom I expect some ribbing, seems merely thoughtful. Fungus is phlegmatic, as usual, seeking to place this piece of the mystery into place.

If I was expecting immediate understanding of why Cathetel had me do this, or why the memory was suppressed, I am disappointed. As if I should be surprised by that.

If I am confessing, though, am I damned for confessing but one thing of three? That was the only item, though, germane to what we now do, so far as I know. The secret of the first apple remains a puzzlement, and something I will pass on when time permits. The secret of the third apple, though, is mine, and mine alone. It is not something I can share with the others.

It is tangled web I weave. I wonder if something -- other than I -- will be caught in it.

Dealing with an Excrucian.

It seems anathema, though my own role in the Valde Bellum has been more in support of my Estate than in the front lines. Indeed, to battle directly is to have lost, I am told, though that has rarely been my experience. Still, little have I battled with the Fair Foulness before -- at least that I can remember.

Still, one must, at times, deal with the Devil. I cannot directly attack him, without provocation, and fighting over his fellow, the one we call "Pretty Boy," seems absurd. So we reach a compromise -- we keep the dagger Pretty Boy has stolen, so that we can use it to determine where the other weapons have been cached. And we keep the Excrucian doppelganger for a time, so that we can remove from him the memories of those he has counterfeited -- Electricity, Guilt, Fungus. Both are returned to the hunter at sunrise.

And so we achieve all our goals -- guidance to the weapons (which the hunter also seeks), removal of memory and secrets from Pretty Boy, and removal from the playing field of Pretty Boy himself. While it will not be at my hands, I know the punishment he will incur from his fellows is at least as great as we could provide.

So, perhaps, we have gotten the better of this deal with the Devil. Perhaps.

Noah offered me "scones." Sweet Lord Jesus above, American scones. With frosting.

It is with bitter amusement that I consider how, in the Five Centuries Now Lost, the scone -- unfrosted, mind you -- became the great culinary masterpiece of the Immortal Empire. A master chef's scone would cost a small fortune, and be hailed across the galaxy as a triumph of British High Cuisine (a concept which, subsequent to the Rollback, was excruciated).

Now, of course, they still cost a small fortune, if purchased at Starbucks, but are a pale shadow of their former selves.

The irony is not lost on me.

Noah natters on and on about teaching, about helping children, about the importance of the future.

The future. Hah. As if that were something one could count upon, any more than one can count upon the past.

At the very least, he offers me decent tea, with milk. Not (as some have served me in the past), "Lipton's." With, or without, Coffeemate.

Some things are beyond punishing.

"We can go ride the faeries this afternoon."

What?

Ah. Ferries. Idiot.

Granted, I hate faeries. No, I do not hate them, they simply strike me as magical chaos, emblematic of the mythic, as nonsensical flibbertigibbets without discipline, all anathema to me, to my way of thinking, to all I stand for.

And then I think back on the Fae Guard, and what was lost, and I would weep. If I could.

I need to have a talk with Haley. She called earlier, and I put her off. But I need to let her know what I know -- and ask her why she has kept this secret from me. Mayhap she has a good reason. Certainly her interest in me has been inexplicable. Knowing what I now know provides a reason for that. Or maybe more.

How could she let me do that?

And what do I do about it now?

GUILT, PUNISHMENT, FUNGUS
Fungus maintains watch outside, to make sure nothing and nobody untoward enters or exits the building.

After exchanging pleasantries, Noah goes off to pick up baked goods at the local Starbucks, with Sian accompanying him. Mariska chats with Ofrah, and manages to snag a bloody rag from the bathroom sink.

Sian grills Noah lightly, but only learns enough to know that he's lying about having been mugged.

Upon returning, Noah announces the arrival of muffins, then goes to make Sian tea. More chit-chat. Ofrah then heads into the kitchen, with Sian providing cover, while Mariska grills Noah.

Noah eventually confesses to having memory blackouts, often returning to awareness with some injury. The previous night, he'd just ascended from the subway, in sight of Oprah's apartment complex; he then "reawakened" some hours later, in front of the building, bloodied.

Mariska give him her card, and urges him to call her if it should happen again.

The quartet (minus Fungus) spend the afternoon touring NYC, taking ferry rides past the Statue of Liberty.

FUNGUS
Fungus travels to chat with Orachi about Bodenheim. He says various cryptic things, but essentially describes the place as a land of Norse myths where Ragnarök has come and gone. They all welcome help, even from non-giants, against the Excrucians. Their allies have suffered reversals of late.

Orachi mentions that Cathetel was once much more tied to Jotunheim in the past. He also drops a hint that Abram is probably waiting for that delivery of Glantri Shelf Fungus from the Graf, as promised.

Finally, Orachi offers some information to assist in that quest -- should Fungus provide him with some of the good stuff, too. He directs Fungus toward Locus Sanaischara, which was the previous chancel (Scent, Melancholy, Ordeals) that dealt with Glantri Shelf Fungus.

Fungus heads off to Jotunheim, while dispatching an Anchor to track down Chancel Sanaischara, which is thought to be in the Aegean.

GUILT & PUNISHMENT
While Sian keeps Ofrah busy on the ferry, Mariska continues to grill Noah. She eventually drags out of him that the blackouts began the day after the funeral of his first fiancee, Eliza Levy, who had died in an automobile accident while he was driving, back in his old home of Seattle.

The Levy family took Eliza's death with mixed feelings; Freda, her older sister, was particularly bitter toward Noah.

He also mentions that he has particularly vivid dreams, though without any great meaning to him. Angels, stuff like that. Flowers, too -- unearthly ones.

Mariska heads off toward Seattle to learn more. Punishment heads down to Miami, to have her postponed chat with Haley.

FUNGUS
A flaming rainbow bridge -- Bifrost. It is intact, but showing cracks in its surface. It lands in a realm of very Norse terrain, and a great, very ruined city.

Amidst the ruins, figures flicker -- weaselly/rodent-like humanoids, with razor-sharp weapons. Fungus take on a giant size, and demand that they direct her toward the smith of the gods. They shout out that she is clearly in league with the giants, and launch themselves toward her in battle ...

With apologies to the producers and writers of Playhouse Disney's Stanley:

It's ... the ... Great White Book of Nobilis,
With everything inside,
But with this sketchy Index
The info we will hide.
You're sure you've seen it there before,
But you will find it nevermooooore

Flowchart of the Excrucian Weapons that passed through Locus Noctis over the course of the campaign, who had them, where, and how they moved from place to place ... so far as we know.

Punishment calls and I let her know that we are at the Fairy-Ring juncture at the chancel on my way to Staten Island. She joins us their before we finish speaking.

Punishment describes her recent travails with the fruit from the tree of triumph. She then goes on the share her deeds around the Pen-Lo weapons. C had her take the crate from Pen-Lo’s chancel during the fall and burry it in the chancel of Extinction, Autumn and Apathy. C then had Punishment forget the deed. In recent conversations with C, he refused to explain his action, which is his prerogative. He only said that we understand when we understand the greater picture.

We discuss our priorities, Pretty Boy and Jotunheim. We continue on with Punishment in tow. Using the e-compass, we track pretty boy down. We find him across from Oafra’s apartment in an ally. The ally is empty, except for the power.

I do a major divination on Oafra’s room. She is dabbing at air and cooing. Noah must be there and injured. I seal the doors and window, so we won’t have any surprises from that quarter.

Pretty boy is sprawled in the ally, worked over well. Another Excrucian is kneeling over him. Punishment approaches and declares – “I claim this one.”

“That is strange as I claim him as my own and am here first.”

Long and short – E was tracking the ships’ crew because they had stolen something from him. Pretty boy is the only one the he had found. The deal – We get pretty boy and the knife until sunrise then, by Punishment’s honor, we will turn them both over.

Oafra’s door at first light – Guilt guilts the building into letting her in. Punishment and Guilt go up. I stay in the ally, looking like a homeless person.

“Oh!” Noah says with a mouth full of Cheerios. “Hi, mom.” Oafra slides into view.

My Daughter’s doorway.

It has been an interesting twenty-four hours since I was last standing here.

The Noah question hopefully will be answered in a few minutes time. I have no idea who or what is in my Daughters apartment, but I have a suspicion that I’m not going to like what I find. The evidence, such as it is, is very odd. An entity that doesn’t scan, and who looks to have the ability to incapacitate an Excrucian that took several Nobles full attention to even slow down.

The Cabin-boy… the Excrucian that reeked of death and destruction reminded us that Pretty-boy was just the Cabin-Boy. This does not bode well for us. Our new job is to take care of these…things, and to deal with those that do business with them, and we are bunch schlemiel pisher’s running amuck without any kind of idea as to what to do. And yet, here’s Noah with the ability to take it out with just a cut knuckle to show for it. I was shot in my thigh by one of Spenders men because it was able to be me. It had enough of my knowledge to come to New York to threaten Ofra.

At this point I see a problem. Something that came up yesterday an know needs to be confronted. Noah. What is he. Is someone else’s Anchor. Is he a Noble. Or is he something like what we turned over to the Excrucian in the alley. Wouldn’t that just be lovely…After Christofer, my darling Daughter takes up with an Excrucian.

Yesterday was a one thing gone horribly wrong after another. Noah, pretty-boy escaping, the Watergate blight, and Pretty-boy’s fleeing first to the capital of Apathy and then to New York. All of it was very wrong. I’m going to have to deal with the outcomes of all of this for some time to come.

One of the up-sides was that I got to meet one of Conspiracy’s Anchors. Good to know. I got to spend some time with Donner in Washington D.C. before he need to take off and deal with some problem that his Familia need help with. Well, that and Pretty-Boy had managed to pull a fast one on Donner on the Mall when Donner shot him.

All in all, this has been a bit of a learning experience for not only me, but the Graf and Sian as well. We learned that there would be no education, no training and no forgiveness. We are Lord Entropy’s hate Anchors.

HG, about a World Tree bee: "It's about the size of New York."
Jackie: "The BEE?"
Lee: "The city or the state?"

Jackie: "Aspect doesn't save you from the plot."

HG Re: Feeding the Hunger Spirit some Noble blood on the cheap. "Towel off with the TONGUE? That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard."

Apparently, there was some confusion about who was going the log, so we have two... s'what happens when a month goes by, I guess...

Double MPs?

TERMINUS and DONNER
Lord Entropy asked Terminus what boon he’d like. T asked that his new Anchor be granted access to LE’s library.
“He is human?”
“Mostly.”
“Very well. He will be admitted with a suitable gift.”
Terminus pointed out, very respectfully, that he had been acting – as usual – as a tool of Death.
LE: “Yes. But now you are a Noble with free will.” A messenger came in and whispered to LE. “You are to be congratulated, both of you. I’ve just received word that your Imperator is fully recovered and ready to rejoin the Val Bellum.” He dismissed them with a slight gesture.

They left via Terminus’ Gate and stood in Miami. T immediately detected the presence of something like the Excrucian bullet that had narrowly missed him earlier. They quickly located the object, lodged in a corpse with a small area of utter desolation – bereft of even any trace of death -- around it. Donner blasted the corpse away. Neither was eager to touch the thing. Donner put an electric fence around it to keep out the unwary.

Terminus shifted uneasily. . . someone was nettling him.

Donner studied the Blighted area. It was wrong, unnatural, evil, loathsome, an offense to nature, to his Domain, to himself. In an instant he went from regarding the Excrucians as merely the Enemy to hating everything about them. He recalled that Guilt was off chasing a Deceiver on her own, one wearing her form and power. He contacted her indirectly and offered to help out. She accepted and he zapped to her location.

Terminus prayed to himself/Amaciel. He described the blighted area and suggested Amaciel send another lackey to deal with it.
“IS THERE ANY REASON YOU CAN’T DO IT YOURSELF?”
“I don’t care to.”

Terminus attempted to Gate to Storeyville and ended up elsewhere. While he pondered that, the Power of Doors stepped out of one and handed him a message. T asked his opinion of the Gating problem. Doors said his methods worked differently but gave it a try. Bangkok. No idea. Doors tried to take Terminus with him – T ended up in a bar in North Dakota. Doors stepped in through another door. “Very curious.” He suggested T scan the path connected with the Gate; the thing was writhing like an angry snake. “It doesn’t seem to like you.”

Doors left for Storeyville to let them in on what was happening. Terminus read the message,

”Greetings, my children.
I have received a message from Lord Entropy regarding the recent Excrucian breakthrough. I take it that there were a number of deaths.

JUDGMENTOF LE

Doors: “Oh, that doesn’t sound very pleasant, does it?

Doors pointed out that the world paths seemed to have developed a certain Scorn for Terminus. He told a story of Joktan, who had once spent a century being hated by everything.

MACY and FUNGUS and CZERNY
Discussed possibilities for striking at the faux Bronze man deep underwater. They contacted Nyssa, the Power of Water and oldest living power from Earth, a survivor of the Second Age. The Graff and Czerny dealt with Nyssa while Macy left for Storeyville, stopping in Locus Noctis to drop off the Excrucian whip.

JUNE
June triangulated and traced the Excrucian to San Francisco. Mythic San Francisco had a bad case of the wiggins. June followed a flood of metaphorical blood uphill to a single house. Looking downhill she could see the mythical blood staining the waters of the mythic bay. The flood of pain, remorse and guilt looked like a good job for her corrupt evangelist anchor Jonathan. Jonathan talked his way inside past a stern woman guarding the sufferer – he’d been delivering Meals on Wheels when he heard the wails of a soul in torment, he said – and, with June’s power backing him, calmed the wailing woman who was the source of the mythic blood down. The woman had thought her boyfriend was having and affair. She accused him. He left. She found out he’d been innocent – and that he’d died in a bizarre case of spontaneous combustion just after leaving her side. The stern woman tried to get to Jonathan to leave but he stood firm and continued to comfort the sufferer. (Jonathan is good at this.) Eventually the distraught woman fell asleep. The other woman put on a jacket and left. June’s attempt to nettle her failed. She followed on foot through the blood-soaked streets of San Francisco.

“Are you leavin’ me with this cryin’ psycho?”

June crafted a false memory for the poor woman, of her boyfriend forgiving her, and forced Jonathan to leave her $200.

The stern woman walked fast.

June tried to capture her quarry’s picture in her compact mirror in order to find her anywhere. No go. She put real power into it and it worked. She ordered Jon to come to her and they followed the trail in a trolley car.

Their quarry walked into the Hilton and took the express elevator up. And up. And up, past the mundane levels of the hotel to open into a lavish penthouse. The Excrucian of the Eyeball Cloak was there, lounging yet tense. He got up and went to one of the huge windows. Their quarry doffed her jacket, revealing a carved disk.

MACY and AMACIEL
They strolled by the main square. Amaciel studied Bossou. “Perhaps next time we should freeze him in a less tumescent state.” He looked at Macy, “You’re smaller than I remember.”

“Why is there an Aaron’s Serpent surrounding my chancel, prevent normal egress for everyone?”

“Orochi – a promise we made, to get something for him at a castle on the World Tree.”

“Go. Talk to him.”

Macy turned to go, then looked back, “The last time I saw you was 300 years ago. How weird is that?” Macy went to Locus Noctis via their permanent Gate. She took a plane back to New Orleans at supernatural speed. Orochi nearly covered the whole chancel. She approached the serpent’s head.

“NOBLE.”

“Our apologies, great Orochi, and you have become priority Number One.”

“YOU ARE TAKING CARE OF THIS?”

“Right now.”

“I AM NOT AMUSED BY MY IMITATION OF A BASKET. YOUR SPEED IS APPRECIATED.”

“Stay right there if you want.”

Macy returned to Locus Noctis. On her way to the Graf’s fields of mushroom-Gates a big, Amerind-looking man with his hair in a Mohawk intercepted her. “Ah, Lust. I want to inform you of something. I am Joktan, Scorn’s Regal. Lord Entropy has assigned me to train you in conflict. Just as the Excrucians know that you will try to stop them, you may try to stop me. I will find one of your Bonds, destroy it, nettle you and use no miraculous abilities doing so. As you have no chance of stopping me –“

“OK. I got something else to worry about now.”

DONNER and MARISKA
Guilt traced the Deceiver to the Watergate Hotel. The hotel was horrifying in itself, a great big Blight on Washington DC. They brainstormed. They were too far from the Beltway (where it and she would be weakened for some reason) to knock the Deceiver there or drag her there reliably. Crashing a plane into the hotel was right out. Moreover, Donner had been impressed by Lord Entropy’s instructions regarding Excrucians, particularly in light of the massive destruction in Miami and its marginal payoff: Find them, foil their plans, nettle them. Both Guilt and Donner really wanted to kill the thing but couldn’t see a reliable way to do it. They prayed to Cities and got an Anchor out to advise them. They did get one really useful bit of information out of Cities: while impersonating someone, a Deceiver had to obey a command given in the real name of the original.

Eventually they settled on surrounding the hotel with spies – FBI, Black Ops types under Mariska’s control and paparazzi lured in by lies – to attempt to follow Excrucians that left. Mariska would call the Deceiver out using her name and Donner’s ability to control the Watergate’s commo systems. Mariska would keep the fake busy with questions while Donner upped Aspect and glad-handed every possible Excrucian shard in the hotel, posing as a RNC flack. That should interfere with its plans enough allow Mariska to nettle it.

The faux Guilt came out when ordered to report for questioning. Donner managed to pop one Shard before the plan went to hell. Faux Mariska summoned more troops to ambush the real one and got away. Real Mariska took a bullet in the leg. Donner zapped off half a mile in the Excrucian’s direction of escape while Guilt made the park’s paths insanely guilty about allowing FM to escape. That slowed it down enough for Donner to put a supercharged bullet into it. As he walked up to finish it off, it said, “You’ve killed me,” invoking its power to make anyone believe one lie completely, a power Donner and Mariska were unaware of. So when Mariska and Cities’ anchor found Donner he was smiling at an ichor stain and insisting there was a corpse. Massed incredulity slowly eroded Donner’s surety to the point where he could allow that they just might be right. The nettling was moderately successful though, and they were hopeful that they’d disrupted some plans. Donner left.

Several failed attempts to zap into Storeyville later, Donner diverted to Locus Noctis and their inter-chancel Gate. He stopped at their hospital and inquired after Tomas, the wounded Locus Nephys Inquisitor. When Donner approached the room he felt the Blight effect spreading out from it. Tomas was aware that something was very wrong, but not how bad it was. Donner offered to try to surgically remove the bullet. Tomas accepted with impressive Gallic savoir faire. At higher Aspect Donner was able to do the surgery with long-handled tools while Tomas dealt with the agony of the procedure with great courage – the bullet didn’t want to come out, but did. Donner vaporized it and the tongs holding it. Tomas collapsed. Donner did what he could to set up contrary influences in the mildly Blighted hospital. He contacted Tomas’ sister-noble Conspiracy and informed her of Tomas’ condition. She wanted to know why Donner had helped Tomas. Donner said their chancels had dealt well and honestly with each other in the past, that all good Nobles should come to the aid of Reality and that anything he could do to undo the works of the vile Excrucians, he would do. Donner asked after Tomas’ favorite wine.

Back in Storeyville, he sent a bottle of Tomas’ favorite to him, sent another to his quarters to try out and went looking for Amaciel. There seemed to be a lot of holes in their knowledge of Excrucian tricks. Where could they go to remedy this lack? Amaciel suggested he use his new pull with Locus Nephys to study in their well-established Inquisitorial library.

I seem to have a new hobby, destroying Blights.

I would have helped Tomas out anyway, though ordinarily I would have let one of his Family do the real work. I don’t want anyone else working on my Family. The idea irritates me. But there might have been delays. Tomas might have died. An Excrucian might have won. With a fucking BLIGHT weapon.

No.

(So now Conspiracy is giving me the hairy eyeball. She’ll either go looking for some darker reasons or figure I’m a dolt for acting on such simple motives. Maybe the request to use their library will make it more palatable for her. She’ll probably have me watched though. No problem.)

The Watergate is something else again. If there’s a heart to the blight, I can blast it out and get rid of it. What if it’s the whole hotel? A Blight lacks everything. Therefore, it shouldn’t really matter what you put back in to attack the blight. Electricity, Reality, Conspiracy, City-ness, Eternity, Imagination, Fungus, every big Domain power I might be able to interest. On second thought, maybe not Fungus, not if we want this thing standing when we’re done. And I do want it standing, bright and cleansed, as a big Up Yours to the Excrucians.

In other news, I knew we shouldn’t have bargained with Orochi. I just couldn’t think of any way to say, “No way Big Snake, you’re gonna try to screw us,” without getting destroyed. Or even hint it to the others. Hope our little psycho bint Macy’s OK.