Demiurge says "What time do you want to start, and where are you?"
Shannen says "What time? Umm, the next morning, after some nice, good ol' fashioned essence comes in. At home, in bed."
Demiurge nods to Shannen. Post-dawn, next morning. The early light comes in through your window, and you can smell coffee from your shop below.
Shannen stretches, showers, etc. blah, gets ready for work, puts on a happy t-shirt with a giant daisy with a smiley face on it. She goes downstairs to make idle chit chat (and drink coffee!!) with any regulars.
Demiurge says "There are several regulars there, who are happy to chat."
Shannen chats, tries to keep spirits up, gives advice, takes advice, gives and takes recipes. "So THAT'S chocolate double-peanut butter brownies? I -will- try these. I will."
Shannen then makes sure the shop's books are in good shape, coffee supply is okay, and other such things, before leaving everything in the able hands of Wendy (the morning person-in-charge-type-person) and going out for some counseling from a higher-upper.
Demiurge nods.
Demiurge says "Where are you going?"
Shannen says "That's a good question. Probably a tether to Novalis, unless I know any other Novalites."
Demiurge says "The National Arboretum is a Tether to Novalis. There's a Malakite Seneschal there, and you can Ascend more quietly."
Shannen will make her way over to the Arboretum via the most scenic route possible.
Demiurge is sure you can find a nice scenic route.
Demiurge says "You get there. It's a lovely autumn morning. The trees are beautiful, the breeze is fresh, people are happily walking and talking there."
Shannen . o O ( Ah, the signs of peace. )
Shannen hmms "Just what is a national arboretum like?"
Demiurge says "415 acres of soil, Shannen, where the Department of Agriculture studies trees. It's big and there are a lot of trees. There are many foot-trails. There's also a cabin near the centre which you know the Seneschal uses as a base."
Shannen . o O ( Big. )
Demiurge says "It's definitely a Tether to Novalis."
Demiurge says "You don't have to go all the way to the centre to Ascend."
Shannen nodnods and was reading some stuff on things of that nature..
Demiurge says "Okay. So what do you want to do?"
Shannen will stay on the outskirts of the arbor-whatever for a bit, walking in a wide spiral towards the center, looking for a nice quiet place to be alone, which is probably pretty easy.
Demiurge nods. You can find a pleasant grove, quiet and out of the way.
Shannen spends some time quietly contemplating trees and flowers, making leaf-angels in any fallen autumn leaves (provided they're not in piles) before standing and preparing to visit the boss lady.
Demiurge says "You'll need to spend 2 Essence to go Celestial, but then you can ascend automatically, as it's a Tether."
Shannen spreads her arms wide, clsoing her eyes and taking a deep breath of the morning air, before shifting to her celestial form and moving up up up (she hopes)
Demiurge says "Shannen, you feel your pale wings spreading, as you Ascend from this corporeal plane, rising to Heaven."
Shannen goes home!
Shannen . o O ( Game-wise )
Demiurge says "You find yourself standing before your Heart, in its cradle among the green ferns, near the Glade. In the distance, you can hear the cheerful sounds and music of the eternal party."
Shannen cheers joyfully and runs for the party, feeling so much better already, looking for any friends (and Novalis' appointment maker)
Two Mercurians who are friends of you catch sight and wave, and one brandishes a plate of fresh cream cakes which she is busy handing round. Not far off, you can see a Cherub, Xanthe, who you know handles Novalis' appointments.
Shannen pauses, waving back "Hello." and taking a cream cake, giving a teensy hug before running off to speak with Xanthe.
They hug back, but let you head off to Xanthe. Xanthe herself is currently in her form of a large grizzly bear, wings folded against her back. She grumbles, in a friendly way, "Been a while, Shannen. You need to speak with the Mistress?"
Shannen smiles brightly, nodding "Yes. I've some things to report and some things to ask." A pause "How are you doing?"
Xanthe rubs her back against the tree for a moment. "Doing nicely, thank you. Hm. The Mistress is busy with Christopher for the moment, but she should be free after that. I can try and fit you in then, if you don't want to have to wait too long?"
Shannen nods "Yes, thank you very much. Has anything interesting gone around?"
Xanthe muses, slumping in a very ursine way. "Well, something's up, but I'm not sure what, and I may be wrong at that. The new ecology projects on the Earth are going well: the Mistress was glad to get David's help there."
Shannen nods "Oh yes, that is wonderful. I just hope, well, the rain forest and all. It will always worry me."
Shannen smiles "Would you like me to get you anything, by the way? I'm going to grab a quick drink."
Xanthe shakes her head. "Thank you, but no. I'll wave to you when she's free, if I can get her attention."
Novalis herself comes into view, in blonde and zaftig human form, walking across the sward as she talks with a handsome young man who is recognisable as Christopher, Cherub Word-bound of Children. They both seem in mildly worried mood.
Shannen gives a quick, teensy hug "Thank you so much." and proceeds back to get something to drink and social mingling and other happy stuff, watching Novalis and Christopher with a slightly tilted head for a second, chewing on her lip, before making happy time.
After about half an hour, Christopher makes his excuses, and leaves, giving Novalis a last hug. Xanthe moves across to Novalis, pointing in Shannen's direction, though they are too far away to hear their words.
Shannen eeks silently to herself, swallowing the last of whatever blue liquor she was drinking and chewing her lip for a second, watching.
Novalis glances across, and waves to Shannen, a familiar smile coming to her face. "Shannen, dear! Come across and have some of these strawberries, and tell me about things!"
Shannen makes her way over quickly, feeling much better and smiling brightly "Thank you so much, Novalis." and giving a small curtsey before sampling one of the fruits "Some .. umm.. odd things happened recently. Some of which confuse me."
Novalis smiles, eating a strawberry herself, then another. "Tell me about it, dear," she says, through a mouthful of strawberry.
Daimon . o O ( Is Mama Novalis totally cool in all universes, I wonder. )
Shannen . o O ( Of course. )
Daimon . o O ( She rocks. :) )
Shannen takes in a deep breath, thinking hard, and then begins to spill her guts "I made lots of more friends in DC, including, umm a servitor of" she lowers her voice "Kobal." and then it returns to normal, continuing on "He's really nice though, and he does care about us all. Someone else was trying to do a huge prank that might have caused-" sadness in voice "Death" normal "-but we all stopped it, with.. well, I hope not too many problems. We also found a .. Remnant of .. Destiny I think. I'm so worried about him. And Daimon. And Pat. .. .. Some of the others, that I met, are .. a bit too .. violent. I'm trying to show them that peaceful ways work too." She lowers her head slightly "I think that's all."
Hitherby . o O ( Clawing out a Balseraph's throat isn't *really* violence! )
Shannen . o O ( Clawing out his throat when he was down. How .. rude. )
Novalis reaches out to pull Shannen into a hug. "There, there, child. I know, it's hard, trying to handle this sort of thing. That's why you're there for them, and that's why we're here for each other."
Novalis' blonde hair spills across her eyes, and she is forced to free a hand to shove it back. "This sort of thing isn't done in a day. It's going to take time, dear. Time and example and affection."
Novalis continues, "Whether it's Redeeming that scamp of a Kobalite, or trying to help the Remnant adjust, or any of the rest of it. I can't promise you're going to find it easy or get it done overnight."
Shannen hugs back, trying not to look nearly as small as she feels "I know. It gets me down, sometimes, though. That's one of the reasons I came." She nods quickly "Yes, Novalis." and recites, smiling brightly "I teach by example. And I would really like to help both Daimon and the Remnant. Sarah is helping him as well, since she is of Destiny." She looks down for a second "I was wondering, umm, if I could have some advice, concerning how to work with the Remnant. I .. have no idea what to do."
Novalis frowns slightly. "Whose Servitor was he, dear?"
Shannen thinks quickly and nods "A servitor of Destiny, Novalis. That is what.. umm.. Lady Dominique said."
Novalis nods. "Well then, dear, I think you'd better let the Servitor of Destiny have first crack at him, so to speak. But remember to be there and to offer your help. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."
Novalis says, more cheerfully, "In the meantime, there is one other thing I need to speak to you about. I'm glad that you came up here."
Shannen nods "Yes, Novalis, thank you so much for seeing me. Umm.. what do you need to speak with me about?"
Novalis makes a slight voice-lowering gesture, although there is nobody particularly near. "I'm setting up something of a new private hotline for assistance. This needs to stay top secret, dear, and I mean that nobody, but nobody, else is involved."
Shannen nods slowly, voice lowering "I would never tell a secret, Novalis."
Novalis nods, and has to brush back her hair from her eyes again. "Good. Now, you may get some phone calls or personal calls from people who'll quote a particular line to you. If they do, try and give them help, short of violence."
Shannen umms softly, nodding "What.. lines should I be waiting for?"
Novalis' eyes are quite serious. "The phrase they'll use is, "the invisible worm." Now they probably aren't going to be very nice people, dear, I'm warning you about this in advance."
Shannen uh ohs softly and nods. She pauses before speaking "If I may ask, umm .. what kind of people will they be?"
Novalis shrugs. "I can't be sure, dear, but I think it's a fair guess they may try to use you, manipulate you, and get you into bed. Just remember to say "no" a lot, and do whatever _you_ think is appropriate."
Shannen . o O ( I wonder if these people are from 'down under' )
Sephar . o O (just dies laughing)
Daimon . o O ( HEY. HEY! I resemble that remark! )
Daimon . o O ( *grumblegrumble* No more fun with angels, I see. )
Shannen bites her lip for a second and nods "Yes, Novalis. I'll do the best I can."
Novalis gives Shannen another hug. "I know you will, dear. I trust you. I've even got something to help you."
Shannen . o O ( I really really love my boss. )
Novalis leans forward, and kisses Shannen on the forehead. There's a moment of lightness, and then a spreading sense of peace, of stability, the feeling that around you is an absolute aura of stillness and gentleness.
You paged Shannen with 'You have just received the Seraph of Novalis attunement.'.
Shannen looks surprised and embarassed at the mention of a gift and closes her eyes at the kiss, smiling and feeling quite happy. She whispers "Thank .. you .."
You paged Shannen with 'You don't entirely realise quite yet what it is, but you can feel a difference.'.
Shannen pages: WOAH. This will definitely make things.. interesting.
From afar, Shannen notes you are twisted :)
Novalis releases Shannen, with a final hug. "Now I'm sorry, dear, but I have to go and sort some stuff out. Minor problems, feuding Malakim, you know how it is. Do take care, won't you?" There's genuine concern in her voice.
Hitherby . o O ( AAGH. )
Hitherby . o O ( Demiurge, you are cruel :) )
Shannen nods, still smiling brightly "Yes, Novalis. Thank you so much and do take care as well. I'll do my best."
Novalis smiles, brightly, and then drifts into the crowd, a blonde butterfly among the wings of angels.
Shannen watches Novalis go off, waving and smiling and then goes back to mingling and chatting and being happy with friends. (Shannen plans on staying around to talk and chat and pick up gossip and the like, but only for a few hours or so)
Demiurge says "Shannen, there are many friends who are glad to hang around and gossip with you. And share food. And dance. And have sex in corners, if you want. And sing. And it is good."
Shannen will gossip and dance and sing and maybe some sex if she can fit it in (need to get back before closing at the shop) "I don't have any other plans, really. Only other plan is to leave some messages on various answering machines."
Demiurge nods to Shannen. Right.
Demiurge says "But you can't do that till you get back earthside."
Shannen nods.
Shannen will be leaving a message for Sarah saying that she'll help in any way possible with her ward :)
Shannen needs to find out Daimon's phone number. Hmm. Wonder if Liz is in the books..
Shannen smiles "Hey, Pat has a cellphone. I could trace him anywhere with that :)"
---