[?] You get the idea (Jeremiah)

[shibrogane]

azuredreams

We need to talk
To: "Jeremiah Mercer"
From: e.fitz.0191@riderwaite.edu

[The body of this email has been left empty]

 

[azuredreams]

shibrogane

afternoon tea @ the family home
To: e.fitz.0191@riderwaite.edu
From: "Jeremiah Mercer"
[The body of this email has been left empty]

Which meant, of course, that Jeremiah - bruised, but looking less worn - was at Ezra's domain. Making tea after a short conversation with the sisters.  

[shibrogane]

Ezra shut the door behind him. It didn't click. Nothing in Ezra's house clicked, whined, or settled. It was all silent. Even Ezra's footsteps were silent. Hardwood floor? Silent steps. He summoned the second Charter to hand and set it down on the kitchen table. He never ate in the kitchen; it was a room for preparing food. Today, it seemed, there was an exception.

"I require you to revoke your permission for the Charter to use your magic to sustain itself," he said.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah did not have to linger by the teapot to know when it was boiling, the time it took still settled into his mind without thought. He turned as Ezra spoke, eyes going to the second Charter with its nearly complete set of prints. That this is what he was doing was not surprising. The gloves on Leila, the hand that Preacher favored, Rabbit ...

"You know this could've waited the few minutes to bring the tea to the sitting room," Jeremiah replied, knowing that Ezra preferred to not dine in the kitchen. Yet today was clearly meant to be an exceptions day. "I'll revoke my permission but after tea."

Sorry, Ezra, Jeremiah clearly had words for you.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"It really couldn't have done," said Ezra. "There are still more fingerprints to gather."

Ezra had always been a statue. Patient the way only someone trapped in an eternal life of pain and suffering could be. Today he fidgeted, his attention on the Charter page.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"You've gathered," Jeremiah leaned, looked at the charter, and counted, "at least ten fingerprints." A fidgeting Ezra was not something he was used to.

The teapot did not whistle but Jeremiah turned to it and plucked it up by the handle (here, in this place, the heat of it did not harm him) and set it upon the serving tray. A cup of tea was poured for himself, another for Ezra (fixed perfectly). "There's three of which you'll never likely gather, two that are unknown and a smudged one." He glanced to Ezra, wondering. "You're nearly done at this rate and saved us a lot of time."

shibroswol

 

[shibrogane]

Ezra raised his eyebrows. "Twenty-four fingerprints total," he said. "I have quite a lot left to obtain, and a limited amount of time in which to do it."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Twenty-one, I would think. Three of the original are dead unless I am incorrect that the original Principals no longer need to revoke." They were dead, there was nothing left to revoke.

"Certainly you will get them," though he wondered how him getting Minerva's would go, "before time runs out." Especially given he needed most not all. Jeremiah still did not know this fidgety Ezra.

"You nearly killed my admin getting hers," his tone was light, "but she did want to, ah, mow your a**. Luring her out with the promise of a fight was probably the only way she'd meet with you." Not that he approved, not that he didn't want to do something about it but he wasn't going to. Not now anyway.

He took a sip of his tea.

"The bone ring," he said afterward, clearly moving on, "where did it come from?" It was on his pinky again, cool against his skin.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"Your admin attacked me repeatedly," said Ezra. "When you punch a man who is on fire, and kick him, and attempt to tear out his hair, then you deserve what's come to you. i only tried to stop her, and when she stopped I let her go." Pretty classic self defense, Ezra's expression said.

He frowned. "What bone ring?"  

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah gave him a look. The kind of look that said you lured her out with a fight, what did you expect to happen but that was moot. Instead his thoughts were on the ring and Ezra. What if it was true, what if-

His fingers stretched before he held up his hand. The ring was there. "This one. The one left with me last year when you left me after giving me the knowedge I requested about the Enemy."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Ezra seemed oblivious to the look. "That one," he said. "I don't know its original provenance. It was a gift to me from the Spinel Lady. It had useful traits which I thought could help you. Why does it matter?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"A sentient manifestation of the magic referred to it as 'bad bone'. I want to know why, it's history might be able to answer that." Not that he was not already having thoughts that this was something from the Spinel Lady gifted to the Burning Man and really- a family heirloom to be passed down?

"Does it have a name?" Since he had not recognized it as the bone ring. "The only traits of it I know are the whispers it speaks in a familiar voice." His thumb twisted the ring, wondering this time what it would say.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"I don't know," said Ezra irritably. "As I told you. It was a gift. I gave it to you as I thought it would be helpful."

He hadn't touched his tea. His fingers tapped against the table, hard little raps of anger. It was a dangerous mood for Ezra to be in. "Your thumbprint, please," he said. "Now."

Do not test him, the ring whispered, He teeters on the edge. One wrong move will push him over.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Then the person to speak to was the person who was no longer going to be. Jeremiah did not startle at the words, though he did look down at the gathered thumbprints.

His cup was empty and set down, the appropriate hand held out and his thumb pressed to the paper. Another to join the others. "There is," said Jeremiah, through whatever would happen as he touched it, "one more thing I wished to ask."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

It burned. Then it didn't. Ezra vanished the second Charter.

"I promise nothing with regards to answers," he said, rising from his seat.

azuredreams

EZRA'S RESOLVE
Jeremiah cannot reveal just what passed between him and Ezra in this thread, or that Ezra intends to approach others. Should he try, his left hand will begin to burn again; the pain will be such that he will be unable to speak for the duration. He can share anything that happened after he put his fingerprint on the paper, but nothing at all before that. However, in return for this, Jeremiah has gained a boon. Choose one of these three below:
1. Psychosocial - Once per thread, Jeremiah can get a read on the general mood of a crowd he's in. This power won't work one-on-one, but if he's faced with a group of more than three people Jeremiah can get an idea as to what the general mood is. Other mental powers cannot block this very general read on emotional state; Feedback won't cause migraines, and powers blocking others from sensing psychic information simply doesn't function. This power can only be used with player permission. Quote shibrogane to use this power on an NPC.
2. Replicator - Jeremiah can replicate magical traits from another's physiology through touch. So, for instance, he could replicate Zac's galaxy eyes or Lily's horns. He could also replicate a were's current form. Abilities such as Aleksy's sight or Leila's bug eyes that are not caused by a physical difference in the structure of the body cannot be copied.
3. Emotipath - Jeremiah can not only read the emotions of others, he can cause others to feel them too. Within a 25ft radius of himself, he can select the emotions of one particular person and spread them to everyone in that area. The feelings are stronger nearest to Jeremiah and his target, and weaker near the edges of his circle. This power can be maintained as long as Jeremiah focuses on it. He cannot use his own emotions as the base of this power; it must be someone else's.