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Alec is on a vision quest through time. His first stop is in London of the 1920s to the studio of Austin Osman Spare, chaos magician and painter. Spare seems to possess insight not only into the Mythic World but into the Spirit Realm as well. Alec poses for three nights for Spare, receiving a painting that offers glimpses of possibilities. Of star patterns and of phoenixes. Paths to his goal and hints at his future. He also sees Spare's dream- vision painting of what, Alec assumes, is Lord Entropy. Another painting that drew Alec's attention (http://banger.com/spare/graf/SORC.JPG) gave Alec the feeling that he willl meet the man in that painting. Following the leads in the painting Alec than travels back to 17th century Mughal India where he takes poetry and sufi mysticism lessons from `Abdul Qadir Bedil -- A poet of great virtuosity and philosophic bent, he was well acquainted with Indian religions and philosophy. His anti-feudal views and his critical and skeptical attitude toward all kinds of dogma make his poetry relevant even today. His style is difficult, his metaphors and syntax quite complex (though the language itself is quite simple); and yet, as a modern critic puts it, "the intensity of his subjective assessment is so acute and factual, and his metaphysical experience so intense, that genuine poetry emerges in all its splendor." Taking a break to challenge the Mughal Emperor himself to a game of Chess. Aurangzeb, as was his habit, was disguised as one of his generals. Alec played him in an immense match that showed all of Aurangzeb strengths as the leader who expanded Mughal India to its largest extent. And all his weaknesses as the man whose policies spelled the beginning of the end for his Dynasty. Following this game Alec returned to Bedil to study the stars some more. As part of this he learned his next step, as shown in Spare's painting and elucidated by Bedil was to meet Cardano in 1570s Rome. Alec than did a Miracle of aspect (level 4) to fufill Akraisel's order that there be more poems on the stars. Alec intended his poem to have subtle but definite changes in the society an inspiration that is not all consuming, but will drive a poet to write at least one poem on the stars, but not subsume the other topics they are writing of. This poem greatly influenced not only the Persian circles of Mughal poetry but subtly altered Sufi societies, Central Asian Poetry and spread to Brahmin poetries (rare for Persian poetry of the Mughal era). The ramifications of this poem are still being felt. At the Opera (see below) several Powers complimented and made digs at Alec about the poem. One of these ramifications was that one of Alec's anchors, Sir Simon Lester, awoke in an alternate India. An India that in the 1920s was the most advanced power on the earth. A space-faring nation. It seems that this is an alternate earth that branched off from main-line history at the juncture of Alec's poem. The familia has not taken the time to investigate this further. While Alec was engaged in these activities Akraisel announced the birth of a new Imperator, a DarkLord of Advertising. Story's anchor, Stephen Basset, in Zurich seeking Crotus Power of Commerce for his master was the first to feel the ramifications of Advertising's birth upon the world. Comparing a world without advertising to the new one inundated with advertising gave many insights to the way time works in relationship to Estates. Story pinpointed the historical time it arouse using the OED as divination – Advertising starts rippling through prosaic History in the 15th century, and truly begins gathering power in the 18th. Story determines that these are the birth throes of the new Imperator reverberating back in time. A discussion amongst the Powers through the Realms Heart decides that they will need to undertake a journey to find the new born king and understand what happened in the cosmos for humanity to need such a concept. Crotus is weaving a web of deceit and misdirection around himself. Almost as if he is avoiding Merlin. Tess, Duchess of Loss, is in 1870s England seeking out the minor Victorian poet David Manidrille. She has signed contracts with the Duchess of Information (who is acting as a broker for an unknown third party) and has also been requested to do this by her Imperator. It seems everyone is interested in the book Manidrille would have written if he had maintained his Innocence. Of interest is that the book he wrote upon losing his Innocence was banned by the Locus Court and no one seems to know why (or are not talking if they do). After insinuating herself into aristocratic Victorian society as a rich American widow, she wrangles an invitation to Lady Grace's country home for a weekend. There she finds the presence of two Excrucians and a veil of Corruption. It seems Lady Grace is a Mystery Cultist to servants of Hell. Tess makes contact with the Power of Innocence Despoiled who dispatches the Exrucians (with her brother the Power of the Rule of Might) and Tess offeres Mandrille a choice: He can stay here with Lady Grace and she will show him what he wanted to know (the Fate of a dead lover's soul), but she is an agent of Hell and this knowledge will shatter your innocence and rob you of your art. Or, you can come with me and you will know beauty the like of which does not exist on Earth, but you will never return home again and you will never know what has become of your lover. Mandrille takes that option and his career ends as a minor poet who disappears into history. Akraisel has announced that there shall be a Ball and she wishes for forty of the best of Heaven's Powers upon the Earth to be assembled. She demands the guest list be finalized in two weeks time. The Semiotic Liberation League strikes again. A large burning sigil appears in the sky above the City of Lost Alleys. Constructed of burning phosphorescent gas it is a twisted mirror of the patterns in the Garden of Forking Paths. One that is opening a way to terrible bio-modified flying lizards from a might-have-been where the dinosaurs were never destroyed. Sylvia wards toe glyph in a Greater Preservation of the Realm, ensuring that none of the terrible war creatures shall pass. Tess and Alec obtain Philosopher's Stone which Alec sues to rewrite the glyph, reforming it to the proper fractals and absorb it within him. Nezha twists thirteen of the war- pterodactyls to her service. And Tess hunts down the leader of this cell of the Semiotic Liberation Army, a Rabbi Isaac Singer, and neutralizes his cell. The Rabi is shown the errors of his ways and turned to the sacred numerological purposes of the familia. Sylvia, accompanied by Alec, departs for Paris to fulfill her contractual obligations to Malcolm Duke of Confluence in Paris, on Valentine's Day. After fulfilling her obligation by using a Greater Preservation to bring forth and strengthen Paris's reputation and aspect as the City of Love Sylvia feels an attack against the very existence of Paris at the dawn of the city's life. Traveling backwards through the Garden of Forking Paths Sylvia and Alec identify a figure they believe is Desecration's-Regal Meon. Alec shrugs of a Miraculous blow from Meon and Sylvia, through a Lesser Change pulls a Mistletoe sword from the nascent City Spirit of Paris and then uses a Miracle of Creation to cause the City Spirit of Paris to grow quickly to include the islands and both banks, changing the very fabric of Paris in time. Returning to the present Sylvia and Alec learn that there is quite the assortment of Nobility assembled in Paris, all part of Malcolm's alchemical plans. Miracles of Unity, the Infinite, Confluence, Shadow, Bondage, Genius, the Bridge, with the afore-mentioned miracle of Cities. Paris is straining, something ready to burst. There is an Opera tonight, Wagner's Tristan and Isolde. And the Powers are all invited. Of interest is Malcolm's choice of singers, and the use of the leitmotifs to further strengthen his magical rite. One could almost wonder if the Opera was written 140 years ago for this express purpose and has only been biding it time. Desire, meanwhile, has been tracing down the activities of her renegade Spider-People in the sewers, subway tunnels and catacombs of the City of Lost Alleys. The Spider-People have been smuggling in weapon caches from outside of the City, primarily Moscow. After some exploring, she finds them in a derelict subway car. Confronting them she finds they intend deicide and she is the victim of a Nettle Rite. This draws Nezha's attention, as it was meant to. Nezha uses the Spider-People-Renegades to send an invitation to the Lord of the World, inviting him to the Opera. The Lord of the World responds, arriving in his impossibly long limousine. In the course of Morgan (Lord of the World) and Nezah's conversation Morgan declares that he has done much to draw Desire's attention, granting her the Spider-People and dominion over his Estate. He than declares his intent to wed. Nezha responds that he must win her heart first. The Lord of the World than proceeds to declare that Nezha must love him three times. Upon which Nezha does a Greater Creation of Desire upon herself. The two of them discus wedding plans on the way to the Opera. They agree to be wed by the Buddha. They will each first need to select appropriate Powers to hold the wedding tent. Morgan also discloses that he has arranged that there will be no agents of Lord Entropy anywhere in Paris this evening, his service to Malcolm that came at a undisclosed price. Nezha's familia is shocked when they learn of this. There is much discussion and uncertainty, and perhaps just a little glee. During an Intermission at the Opera Merlin meets with the Duchess of Information who offers him, in exchange for certain changes to the Lay of Roland that will expose an enemy's Mystery Cult, the best way to contact Crotus, Power of Commerce, and the information that someone ahs stolen lord Entropy's personal and annotated copy of Cervantes' Don Quixote. The Familia, particularly Alec, meet and chat with other Powers, especially the Angelic. Alec agrees to meet the Power of Stillness in Finland in a few days to discuss Angelic society. Sylvia is nettled in Sao Paulo, where explosions are rocking the city. Alec sends his anchor, Alan, to investigate. While the explosions seem to be of the prosaic, and non-Miraculous Alan does meet a very vicious troll who he is currently chasing. The Opera concludes in a massive miraculous outpouring, the wall between mythic and Prosaic earth is suspended for a night without causing Demntia Animus and Paris becomes the hothouse for a new style of creativity that is still to be told. There is promise of a new technology/science to arise in this city that will change the world. |
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