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| | "Now, that being said, I'd be okay with Dale witnessing, if you think it'd be helpful. Oh, and for this particular summoning, I'd also be alright with Rebecca." | | "Now, that being said, I'd be okay with Dale witnessing, if you think it'd be helpful. Oh, and for this particular summoning, I'd also be alright with Rebecca." |
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| − | '''CARL'''
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| − | Carl nods.
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| − | “Sure,” he says. “I don’t think even Rebecca will have any objections to this one, though of course you can bet she’ll want to watchdog. As for Dale, well, maybe he’ll see something new.” He smiles.
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| − | '''REDLAND JACK'''
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| − | Redland looks around their makeshift campsite for a minute.
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| − | "Hmm. I don't see Rebecca. Perhaps she went back to the train for something. Well, no hurry. I wanted to ask you about the Hayes-Waite ward, anyway."
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| − | He consults his notebook for a moment. "Now, you say that it will keep out various things. With things that are bodiless, is it impenetrable? Or can more powerful entities (without bodies) still pass through? You also say that Outsiders might have trouble getting through. Presumably, the better material you use, the stronger the Outsider you can stop. However, if I wanted to stop somebody like the Dark Pharaoh, am I pretty much out of luck with this technique?"
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| − | '''CARL'''
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| − | “I think you will find that there is never a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer to that sort of question. The range of possibilities is simply too large.
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| − | “In the case of the barrier, well, Waite’s ward was never designed to stop Outsiders; it was intended to protect goetic sorcerers from summoned spirits and demons. In fact it works pretty well against Outsiders who are sensitive to such things, but the Principle of Will applies to them as well, so it isn’t perfect. Nonetheless, as an empowered symbol it works pretty well. The summoner has declared to the summoned, ‘you shall not cross this line’; and to the extent that the summoner has executed his ward well, and with confidence, it succeeds.
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| − | “Even embodied creatures can be constrained this way, if their nature obeys such laws, but the ward is a general tool, not perfect for anyone in particular; it won’t keep everyone out, or in. Even for those affected by it, if they are independently willed, they might overcome it through their own efforts if they are strong enough; however most of the time it’s simply not worth the cost, you see.
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| − | “And here we come back to what I said earlier. True sorcery is about specifics. Effects and limitations are much more potent when tailored precisely to the specific individual being summoned: the better you know its true Name, the safer you are and the more you can command or control. Thus the numerous names, materials, rites, timings and preparations that are used to call up and put down. Each is a part of the symbolic calculus; each pins down some aspect or correspondence to the target being.
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| − | “If you wanted to create a ward that would constrain the Pharaoh, it could be done. We might even take a guess at it here; but that ward would be less effective against other things – even against other aspects of the Pharaoh’s parent entity. Do you see?”
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| − | '''REDLAND JACK'''
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| − | "What exactly are 'spirits and demons'? I'd just assumed that (pretty much) anything a person summons would be an Outsider. I'm guessing spirits are just ... traces... of living or dead people (or other earthly things?). Demons, though?"
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| − | '''CARL'''
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| − | “Good questions. Not always easy to answer either, since people mean different things when they use the words. So much of this is informed from old texts that are mostly self-discovery or hand-me-down traditions; your average medieval warlock would not have known the difference between an Insider and an Outsider to begin with, and would have interpreted whatever he found within the context of his own faith, or the faith of his peers.
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| − | “When a summoner performs his ceremony, he wishes to contact or call forth something into his presence, usually to do his bidding. The process of the calling, or the contact, may be superficially similar regardless of who or what is being called: establishing protections, defining the name of the thing to be invoked, exercising the summoning through ritual and will, and offering payment. Right? But some summoned beings come from Outside, while others are wholly earthly, and a few are in between.
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| − | “When I speak of spirits and demons, I generally refer to things that are *not* Outsiders – but someone else may not make that distinction. There is a huge continuum of ‘occult’ phenomena, from ghosts through spirits and demons to hotspots, angels and avatars, that are entirely Earthly – and more of these as the world’s ambient rises and it continues to awaken.
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| − | “Ghosts, or memory-ghosts, are just what you said: traces of the living. Rather, they are traces of events left by the living: like movies, they play themselves out endlessly in repetition and have no real intellect or awareness. Ghosts are impressed upon the world by the living, and often involve death, but not all ghosts are of the dead: I’ve seen one or two ghosts that play out scenes containing people who are happily alive, living somewhere else.
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| − | “Spirits are more. They are unbodied things, usually traces of the living, other times spun out of the world or some other source. They tend to be faint, little more than wisps of thought and memory and will, and very fragile – but they are aware and can communicate after a fashion. One can interact with the world too, but they have little energy, and little means of getting more, unless we gift them.
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| − | “Demons are also, usually, bodiless – but they are predators. Some are smart, some complex and powerful, others no more than raw appetite – but a demon, to me, is an occult entity that feeds off of the living, either by directly stealing its life energy or by fastening on to a living body and taking possession. The more sophisticated of these will perform services in return for payment. By this definition, I suppose you could say that the Brotherhood’s Baron Hauptmann, the body-jumper, is a sort of demon, even though he was born a man long ago.
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| − | “Haunts and Hotspots are entities that are bound to places, usually because there is a source of energy for them to live on. They can be very powerful, very sophisticated, and can take almost any form, but tend to grow into some form that they keep so long as they survive.
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| − | “Beyond that,” he shrugs, “you’re dealing with immense creatures. Angels, gods, avatars, the Land, the Unity … beings that take shape out of their environment, formed by the expectations, ideologies and passions of the people within them, or out of the natural structures of the world. All of these can be entirely earthly, yet be indistinguishable from an Outsider save for its form – and for the Allergy, the essential alien taste of things not born of the world.
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| − | “Your lack of the Allergy may be a blessing for your work – but it also gives you a blind spot, Jack. That’s why I recommend you carry the alien detector at all times, and make use of it when you can.”
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| − | '''REDLAND JACK'''
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| − | "Now, you mentioned that," checks his notes again, "'True sorcery is about specifics. Effects and limitations are much more potent when tailored precisely to the specific individual being summoned.' I wanted to push on that a bit, to see if I understand precisely what you mean.
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| − | "I was thinking about how, when you were training Mary and Stewart in the use of channeling energy, the effect seemed more 'powerful' when they failed to focus it properly. Is it the case that all of the rites and whatnot lead to more powerful effects, or is it that the effects are more useful?"
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| − | He considers for a moment.
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| − | "I may not be saying anything particularly interesting here. I'm not sure if I'm thinking it's along the lines of how a shout is more powerful than a whisper (which would be true, even though the whisper might be more useful) or if it's more like comparing a random explosion of energy versus energy that is funneled down a wire from a phone to a switchboard..."
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| − | He trails off.
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| − | "Er, I'm also unsure if I've communicated very well at all. Do you get what I'm driving at?"
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| − | '''CARL'''
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| − | "Hmm," he says. "I think I see your point, but you're comparing different things. I also think we have another vocabulary problem.
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| − | "When Dale says he is a sorceror, he means he is a spellcaster. That's also a common usage in the texts in Wisphers. When I used the term just now, however, I was thinking 'summoner,' and more particularly, 'goetic ritual summoner'. There is overlap between these two groups, of course, but they are not the same.
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| − | "Spells are like machines. They have a distinct form, are fairly inflexible in that they don't work if changed, and produce a distinct result. Dale is a good spellcaster; he has a lot of energy, is disciplined, and knows a lot of spells. He also knows a lot of theory, but he dos not apply it *as theory*; it is merely useful ancillary knowledge.
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| − | "Many summoners are much the same, only their universe of discourse is different. They know several specific rites, apply specific symbols to them, and hope for specific results. The mechanism may differ, but these are, in effect, spells. However the spells themselves serve only to summon entities; it is the entities that are summoned that do all the real work in the world.
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| − | "The underlying art of sorcery, however, was an art of discovery as much as practice; like alchemy, it is a search for symbols and meanings, and for transformations of energy and knowledge leading to power and control. I suppose you might say the difference is one between a mechanic and a designing engineer. One is an expert tool user, the other designs the tools.
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| − | "Dale is a good spellcaster. Some of his spells are summonings, but he is not a sorcerous artist; he deals in the symbols only as components in his spells.
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| − | "Let's see," Carl sighs, "were was I going with all this? Hmm. Ah yes.
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| − | "None of this really has anything to do with the exercises I had Stewart and Miss Ripley doing with the rings. They were not seeking an effect at all, other than to move the energy, so it isn't really fair to compare the visible effects of their successes to that failure. The failure was, in essence, the energy choosing its own effect, and had nothing to do with the caster. Do you see?
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| − | "When I said that specifics make things more potent, I referred specifically to the effectiveness of the ritual in summoning and controlling your specific desired entity.... Not to spellcasting in general. However, you bring up a good point.
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| − | "A caster has a limit to the amount of power he can control. The ambient Unity, in effect, does not. Random effects are almost always insignificant, but they do not *have* to be. They can be very large indeed, since they are limited only by the amount of energy attracted by the 'random instructions'. That", he adds, amused, "is one reason I prefer to study the underlying laws and learn how to build machines to build larger machines, as it were." Carl smiles.
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| − | '''REDLAND JACK'''
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| − | "I'm a little hazy on what is meant by 'spells'. Now, I have at my disposal two things that I would call spells: a healing ritual and telepathy. Would those rightly be considered spells (maybe called 'healing spell' and 'telepathy spell'? Similarly, I have a ritual that I can use to summon up an Outsider. Would we call that a 'summoning' spell, or is that something we'd put into a different category (spells are one thing and summonings are a different thing)?
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| − | "When I've talked to Dale, he's mentioned 'throwing' spells at things. This I would take to be creating bright flashes of light or 'bolts' of energy or whatnot. Is this what we'd normally consider to be spells? Similarly, it's my understanding that Rebecca used some sort of empathic ability when the Outsider was summoned. Also, Kings and Soldiers can apparently do all sorts of things...
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| − | "Does everything sort of fall into one umbrella, spells? Or do we break them into separate buckets: spells, summonings, talents, abilities, mechanics, etc.?"
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| − | Pauses. "I think you're right that I have a vocabulary problem!"
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| − | '''CARL'''
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| − | “Good, yes. You can call everything a spell if you want … but I do not. Let’s set some standards then, hmm? Here are some terms we use: spell, skill, ability and talent.
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| − | “As I said before, to me, a ‘spell’ is a mechanical process that can, in conjunction with the release of magical energies, be counted upon to cause a specific effect. Spells usually have specific components, be they materials, gestures, words or symbols spoken or drawn – and if they are done incorrectly, the thing doesn’t work. Boom. By that definition, your healing spell is indeed a ‘spell’. There are spells to do all sorts of things, including throwing lightning bolts or what have you. Most sorcerers use summoning spells – rituals that have been codified into mechanical processes, to get specific results, in this case contacting or calling forth a particular sort of being.
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| − | “Skills are direct exercises of Power and will, without paraphernalia. They don’t always work, but can be acquired; they require training; they can be focused or directed by the user, and are more flexible than spells. There are only a very few Power skills that can be learned by most people. These include the basic movement of ponic energy, the raising and lowering of your natural barriers, and the means to make mental contact. Soldiers can do much much more, by virtue of their having connected their physical and ponic senses. Just about any effect a Soldier can imagine, he or she can theoretically train into a Power skill given time and practice.
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| − | “Abilities, ponic or psychic, are effects that some people can produce because of particular peculiarities of their makeup. One generally has, or does not have, an ability; it cannot be trained if you don’t have it, though training and discipline can strengthen its use if you have it in the first place. Examples might be the carnival psychic, or the ability of the Fae to produce a glamour. It’s in their bones, so to speak. A King’s abilities are somewhat in the same vein, but Kings are chosen, not born. In this case, the abilities come with the role.
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| − | “Talents … talents are special. A longtime veteran Soldier eventually discovers that he or she has a unique gift for a certain kind of magic. While others may be able to train skills in that area, a Soldier can develop and refine his or her Talent with an ease and mastery far beyond their peers.
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| − | “So – back to your question. Spells are often rituals; rituals do not have to be spells. Rebecca’s projective empathy is a facet of her Talent. My King powers are abilities. Your ability to move Power is a skill that you have trained, but there’s no mechanical process involved. Mental contact is also a ‘Power skill’, rather than a spell; it’s all internal.
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| − | “Better?”
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| − | '''REDLAND JACK'''
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| − | "That mostly makes sense to me. Let's see, it sounds like, for myself, I only need to really worry about spells. I already possess pretty much all of the skills that are possible for me, and I don't have any abilities or talents. This would mean that if I really wanted to train myself into being a spell-user, I'd be best served by talking to someone like Dale, who is, presumably, in the same boat as I am. You, Rebecca, and Boris all possess talents, abilities, and/or skills that are outside of my potential.
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| − | "Now, you mention that skills are more flexible than spells. Is this 'on-the-fly' flexibility or overall? That is, if I had an infinite time to research spells, as well as an infinite power source, could I achieve any effect I wanted?"
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| − | '''CARL'''
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| − | “I don’t know. The number of spells we know of are pretty limited; some sorcerers spend their lives trying to discover new ones. The assumption in most of the old books is that most spells were taught to men by some entity or other – angel, demon, what have you – and that we don’t have what it takes to make up our own. I disagree, I think knowledge of the laws of energy, combined with an appropriate understanding of Names and symbols, will allow new spells to be researched – but it’s a lot of work and the cost for trying new things is rather high. Which is why, I suppose, most sorcerers content themselves with summoning, and let the summoned entities do the work.”
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| − | '''REDLAND JACK'''
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| − | "I think we may have talked about this briefly before in a different context, but do the summoned entities produce effects in the same fashion that we would? That is, if I summon up an angel and have it heal me, would it use ponics and vitalics in the same fashion that I would if I were healing myself? Similarly, if I summoned up an Outsider (though I understand that they don't have the same energies that we do, so it's less likely they would use the same processes).
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| − | "If yes, could we simply have the summoned creatures teach us spells? If no, could we learn to use the techniques of these others?"
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| − | '''CARL'''
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| − | “You did ask something like this before. I cannot provide you any firm guarantees, I fear; most of my knowledge is experimental, so it’s limited by what I myself have done.
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| − | “I believe, without proof but so far without contradiction either, that Outsiders use the same fundamental energies that we do – they may be ‘flavored’ differently but are of the same basic stuff. In which case, your answer to all of these questions ought to be ‘yes’. Your angel might not heal you in the same way you would yourself, but the energies involved ought to be familiar.
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| − | “As for the teaching of spells, there are other variables. Does the thing you summon know spells, or does it do what it does naturally, without thought? What are the costs of the spells? Can we afford to cast them, will it be harmful? If we’re speaking to a being of immense power, it may think nothing of using a casually wasteful spell that requires ten times your available Power, or perhaps requires that you fly, or turn yourself inside out, or what have you.
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| − | “I do think, though, that many of the spells that are in use today came from the Outside originally.” He nods.
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| − | '''REDLAND JACK'''
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| − | "Right. So it may be that these summoned creatues don't use spells, but instead talents, skills, abilities, or something else that wouldn't translate to us. That makes sense.
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| − | "I guess the language barrier might be a problem as well. It's often difficult to understand what they're talking about, though I don't know if that's the case with Insiders.
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| − | "With Outsiders, it's also probably difficult to have them hanging around for too long to teach you something.
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| − | "On the power issue, that's less of a barrier, I would think. You've developed ways of storing up power, right? Isn't that one of the advantages of the machines you create (in addition to magnifying and focusing)? So, if we contacted Thor, and he showed us a really powerful, but inefficient spell to chuck a lightning bolt, couldn't we duplicate that using machinery?"
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| − | He stops and then continues abruptly. "Do you know if bothers the various types of entities to be summoned? I assume ghosts don't really have any mind to speak of, but the others would seem to be 'persons', at least in the important sense. Is summoning always a request or is it also a compulsion? Are dealings with these entities always voluntary for both parties?"
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| − | '''CARL'''
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| − | “I do know that some spells, at least, are compulsions. Which makes it all the more important, in my opinion, that you have the right bribe on hand to sweeten things.
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| − | “It’s a range, Jack,” Carl sighs. “Some creatures are compelled; others are invited; and a few, the really powerful ones, are merely … contacted from afar. Depends upon the method, the ethic and beliefs of the caller, and of course what he means to do. Given what you have seen, would it surprise you to find that the Ones who are summoned expect to profit from the journey? They do seem to find even the intangibles of our world to be .. valuable.
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| − | “As for making machines to cast spells – I believe it can be done, within limits. But Will is so often a crucial part of a spell –and my machines have no Will. They are deliberately simple, to keep the energy in its most basic state.” He looks intently at Jack. “Such machines can be made to amplify other effects, of course, but there is always some distortion. A twist in the process, which may render results … unreliable. “
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| − | '''REDLAND JACK'''
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| − | "I thought that the 'will' and the 'power' were, to some extent, separate elements, with the power providing, er, power, and the will providing focus. Is it not possible to store up power in some kind of giant, magical battery?
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| − | "As to summoning, I just want to be careful to insure that I'm not compelling anyone to do anything. We don't know much about how these various entities think/feel, but it certainly appeared that the Outsider in the Alchemist's basement did not enjoy being imprisoned. From this, I would gather that constraints, including compulsion, are repulsive to them ... as they are to us.
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| − | "This particular issue is of more than academic interest to me. You saw how little I gained from the Alchemist's Outsider. Dealing with him in that fashion was ... repellent to me (and, of course, I was concerned with Chigiko's suffering). What little I did gain was due to the fact that he wasn't my 'prisoner' to release at will. Otherwise, I'd've just let him go free without asking anything at all of him.
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| − | "It's very important to me that whoever I'm summoning is able to act voluntarily."
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| − | '''CARL'''
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| − | Carl nods slowly.
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| − | “That’s good,” he says. “Laudable. We have no real clear notion of how the Alchemists caught that one, do we? I know for certain that the chains in which it was bound, once it was caught, are very unpleasant indeed. But that one, now, seems happy enough to come to you when you call it, yes? I believe it continues to profit from your talks – even if we do not know how.
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| − | He ponders a moment.
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| − | “It brings us back to where we started, really. In order to have a proper mutual exchange, we need to know what we have that is of value, and why.”
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| − | '''REDLAND JACK'''
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| − | "Hmm. Good point. I should add that to my list of questions I'm going to ask him tonight."
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| − | Redland grabs out a different notebook and jots down a note.
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| − | "As to my beliefs on compulsion, well, obviously I think they are correct, but I bring them up (again you might say) because they are also, potentially, a weakness. Someone with different views might have been able to extract a great deal more from him than I."
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| − | Redland collects his thoughts for a moment.
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| − | "The problem I have, I think, is that my beliefs have generally been established in 'normal' times. It is assuredly correct that compulsion is an evil. However, in 'emergencies', the usual types of morality may not be appropriate. This is something that has greatly concerned me for some time. Do I have it in me to do the 'wrong' thing? Will I even be able to accurately determine what is right and what is wrong, in context of the great struggle that is occurring / will occur in our future? I can't be sure..."
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| − | Before Carl has a chance to respond, Jack hurries on, "You know, I really have this summoning scheme tonight on my brain."
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| − | He flips through his notebook.
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| − | "I've narrowed down the topics I want to ask about, I think, and I was hoping to get your input on whether they are good things to ask about and if there is some particular way that I should ask them. Here's what I have:
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| − | "1) What is your name? 2) Where is Donal? (Where can I find him, how can I contact him, etc.) Other Donal-related questions. 3) What (if anything) can I use the dead spot for, other than summoning stuff? 4) Where is the current leader(s) of the Brotherhood of the Beast located (aside from Baron Hauptmann)? 5) What can you tell me about the upcoming incursion in New York? 6) Do you have the Name of any other Outsiders that you'd recommend I talk to?"
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| − | He flips shut the notebook.
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| − | "That's (roughly) what I have in mind. I figure I probably need to polish these up a bit..."
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| − | '''CARL'''
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| − | Carl raises his eyebrows. "Oh yes," he says, flipping to a blank page in his notebook, then setting it aside.
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| − | "For one thing, you must remember always -- as I mentioned before, to name someone or something is to have control over it. If you will ask for names, be aware that they probably command a price; they're worth something, do you see? And that notwithstanding the face that any names you receive in return might not be spoken -- or speakable -- at all, but something more akin to a ponic signature. So rather than 'what is your name?' you might ask 'how may I refer to you?' which will give you a nickname perhaps; and rather than asking for the Names of other Outsiders, you might ask 'How might I reach others that you think I ought to speak to?' That's probably a much less expensive transaction than asking for a Name. If your Outsider offers you a Name, then there's probably some agenda or advantage involved for it and it would be good to know just what that might be.
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| − | "Regarding Donal, again, be sure you know which of the three of them you are asking about. And give some thought on how you might identify Donal to a creature ho has no real concept of appearance or location.
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| − | "As for the Dead Spot -- yes indeed, that is of interest. In fact, while you were talking, I had a rather remarkable notion! I believe I may be able to use the Spot to move things myself -- though I'm just a bit reluctant to try it on people right off the bat! It's part of the pattern I was rambling on about a moment ago." He beams excitedly.
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| − | "For the rest, names again. You have to get used to the notion of speaking about places and people in terms the Outsider might know. Hauptmann -- yes, just maybe, it might have heard the name. Brotherhood of the Beast? Not too likely. Unless you can think of something about the Brotherhood that will be familiar to your friend. The Pharaoh will know the, I am sure. Perhaps you should ask It.
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| − | "Same thing with New York. The name will mean nothing -- however the incursion may mean something. 'A great city of glass towers by the water -- where a great being seeks to enter our world, very soon --' something like that. See what I mean?"
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| − | He picks up the slate and the silver pen and starts to carefully draw some crosshatched lines.
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| − | '''REDLAND JACK'''
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| − | Jack jots down Carl's words. "That makes sense. I'd thought that maybe I'd need a 'Name' to locate other Outsiders. You're saying that he could give me some other locator that'd be (roughly) as good for purposes of contact, but wouldn't be as valuable?
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| − | "With Donal, could I let him rifle through my memories (or, perhaps safer, offer him up some of my memories)? I've seen that it can be pretty tricky getting answers that are meaningful to me from Outsiders, so I was wondering if maybe a 'mental' communication might be more fruitful. Or is that a dumb idea?
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| − | "In terms of your idea with the dead spot, do you want me to ask him about it? You could phrase your question exactly as you like, and I could pass it on to him, if you like.
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| − |
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| − | "With the Brotherhood, it is my understanding that they ... worship ... (er, is that to strong of a word) one of the aspects of the Power that has the Dark Pharaoh as another of its aspects. I'm thinking that maybe that entity might be so powerful as to be known (to some extent) by lots of Outsiders (kind of like how all British people know about the King of England, even though we don't actually 'know' him). Could I leverage that in some way?
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| − |
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| − | "If I can get him to recognize New York, is there anything in particular you'd want to know? I probably can't get any specifics about time (that doesn't appear to be his strong suit), but I might be able to get the Name(s) or type(s) of creature(s) that are going to enter."
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| − |
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| − | '''CARL'''
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| − |
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| − | Carl nods, serious and distracted at once. "Without a doubt," he says, "the more we know about the big incursion, the better off we are. That's probably the biggest winner in the lot; it is also most likely the expensive one.
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| − |
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| − | "As far as the Beast is concerned -- yes of course. I'm sure it is well known. The question is whether the Brotherhood is recognized, or of interest at all, to random Outsiders. There could be a dozen or a hundred groups who worship the Beast, and I doubt if anyone Outside besides the Beast Itself would be likely to distinguish them."
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| − |
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| − | He stops, looking up at you.
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| − |
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| − | "What do you want to learn about Donal? And which Donal would you ask about?" Sudden interest. "Do you want to talk to him? It occurs to me that that might be possible."
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| − |
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| − | '''REDLAND JACK'''
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| − |
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| − | "Although I maintain some curiosity about all of the Donals, I think there's a fairly good chance that Dale has adequately explained the origin of most of the Donals (though I guess it would be nice to know what the 'murdered' Donal had discovered that caused him to end up with his blood on the walls).
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| − |
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| − | "The Donal I'm primarily interested in locating, is 'Laura's' Donal. I'd particularly like to know where he is, how he's associated with Pentheus, why he abandoned Laura, what information was he trying to get from the creation of the Donals, and who actually created the Donals.
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| − |
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| − | "Talking to him would assuredly be of interest to me. That would, likely, allow me to resolve all of the issues relating to Donal... and as a bonus, you guys wouldn't have to listen to me constantly rattle on about him anymore..."
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| − |
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| − | '''CARL'''
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| − |
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| − | “Well … my point was, if he’s actually a person of importance to the Outsiders – as Laura herself is, or any of her court – it might be easier for them to find him and connect you, than to explain to you where he is or any of the earthly details. Do you see?
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| − |
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| − | “If he is just an ordinary guy, the only way they would likely know him is if he is somehow involved in contacts with the Outside himself.
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| − | “Am I making sense?”
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| − |
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| − | '''REDLAND JACK'''
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| − |
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| − | "Ah. Sorry. I thought you meant you had a way to contact him. I was wondering why you'd been holding out on me all this time!! Sure. That makes sense to me. I've long suspected that Donal would be a member of Laura's court (at first I thought he'd be the Agent, though now I'd guess Paladin). It also seems likely that he is an alchemist, and I believe he is associated with Pentheus. It wouldn't shock me if he was known to the Outside."
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| − |
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| − | He stops abruptly.
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| − |
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| − | "Er, could I put him in danger by asking about him? Maybe I'm better served to stick with the 'earthly' methods I've been using to date..."
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| − |
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| − | '''CARL'''
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| − |
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| − | “Of course there’s a risk. There’s always a risk, when touching the Outside. You know I feel that way, even though I don’t like to rant or repeat myself. There is a safer method, you know; if he really is one of the Court, you should go to Tibet and research the Court; the librarians there can tell you with a high degree of certainty where he is and what he is doing, so long as he is important to the world’s schemes.”
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| − |
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| − | Carl finishes his lines; an odd, asymmetrical web of silver threads on the black metal plate.
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| − |
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| − | '''REDLAND JACK'''
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| − |
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| − | Redland starts to say something and then stops. He thinks for a moment, starts to speak, and then stops again. He then pauses for a couple of moments before saying, "Hmmm. So the librarians will know the location and the identity of all of the (potential) members of all the various courts? I probably don't even need to go to Tibet. I could just ask them to send me the list. That would make finding all of Consecrations people much easier (as well as Aspiration, if I still wanted to do that)."
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| − |
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| − | '''CARL'''
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| − |
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| − | “Yes and no. I wish it were so simple. The library works with what the librarians call the ‘negotiated present.’ It can only give clear information for things that are already certain, or at least very likely. Last time I tried to look for the court of Aspiration, it could tell me very little because nothing had been decided; the earlier candidate had rejected the role and no new one had come forward.
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| − |
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| − | “Now, of course, it might be different. You might get a list and descriptions of them all – or you might get information only about those you have already met, because they are known. And as for asking for a list, well, no. The librarians are guides; one of us would have to go to ask the questions in person, if we wanted answers.”
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| − |
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| − | '''REDLAND JACK'''
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| − |
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| − | "Could we hire somebody and stash them away in Tibet? It'd be nice if we had somebody we could instantly send questions to and have them relay answers to us..."
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| − |
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| − | He trails off. "Er, so, what's the deal with that?" he asks, pointing at the metal plate.
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| − |
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| − | '''CARL'''
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| − |
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| − | Carl tilts his head, staring at the plate as though not quite certain of what he's seeing.
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| − |
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| − | "Something of an experiment," he murmurs; then, collecting himself,
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| − |
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| − | "We tried that," he explains, a bit obliquely. "Putting someone in Tibet. A Scotsman; Dunbar was his name. Was very keen on things at first, but he ran off after a couple of months, we never heard from him again.
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| − |
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| − | "But even when you have someone there, things are not instant. More like putting in your request and getting something back in a day or two. There are .. layers," he adds.
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| − |
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| − | With a small frown, Carl pulls a penknife out of his pocket. He pricks his finger just enough to bleed, then strokes it close above the plate, following some of the lines, a look of concentration on his face.
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| − |
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| − | "Let's see...," he murmurs, then looks up at you. "Seem familiar? Look here and here." He points.
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| − |
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| − | Buried in the nest of the other lines are two spots where the silver crossings make the exact shape Carl showed you earlier: the shape of the leys surrounding the Dead Spot.
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| − |
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| − | Carl looks at you, then back at the metal slate.
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| − |
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| − | “You see them,” he says, pointing to the figures. It is not a question. “Can you see the energy flow? Probably not. The flow is as important as the shape, you see. You could have the same arrangement of lines, but if the flow were reversed, here or here,” he points, “they’re not the same any more. Understand? So I’ve created a .. a closed loop. To make sure that the energy flows properly, so that the two spots are similar. It won’t last long, just a minute or two, but it should be long enough.
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| − |
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| − | “Now, this is just a test. An idea; we try these things. So many different parts to it. Choices. It’s hard to work on one thing at a time, when they’re all connected. These spots, these dead spots, they can be so many things. Doorways. Embassies. Cages. All three at once.
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| − |
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| − | “But here, we have a situation in miniature. The two spots, they are already similar – and, through the lines, they are connected. We ought to be able to use that connection, and that similarity, to make them, hmm, able to touch.
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| − |
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| − | “Sit back a bit,” he adds, scooting his seat a small ways off. Carl then spins slowly in place, drawing a thin line of not-quite-light in the air with his finger, surrounding himself with what you can recognize as one of his wards. (53)
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| − |
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| − | “Now we name them. They already have a name, and it should be the same name – let’s see.” (76, 37, 66, 62) He places his hand, palm-down, over first one sign, then the other. Nothing obvious changes, but Carl seems satisfied. He then draws a small symbol – the same symbol - in the air over each one. The symbols fade.
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| − |
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| − | “Similarity – and contagion. All we need is Will.” Carl plucks a stalk of grass, places a tiny bit of the stem in each of the spots. Again he signs a symbol in the air over one of them, touches it with his pricked finger (32, 35) … and a shimmery twist appears in the air, jerking back and forth as if it were alive. “My little explorer,” Carl smiles, leaning closer. Closing his eyes, he whispers, “pick up the stem beneath you – take it to the other stem – but do not cross or go around any lines!” (42, 15)
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