March Meeting of The Society of the Nameless Crow

[Ashley]

Ashley listens to Gregor's response. Considers it, tries to piece together what he is trying to say. "She probably can do it. My opinion of her...is really fucking low. Prone to doing stupid shit and then shucking responsibility. She's a complete follower and she's weak Willed and a coward, which makes me not really trust her to do -anything- important without close supervision." A sigh, a glance toward Gregor, and then a frown. "But if she can do it, let her do it. I wouldn't suggest any of us work with her without backup, though."

[Wharil Choc]

"I'm inclined to agree. With both of you. I think she's too erratic, and possibly psychotic. She..she jumps off the handle at the slightest provocation, is prone to wild mood swings, and lets not forget her very public promise. "But...if she can actually do this. And if she's offering...It would be irresponsible of us not to at least follow it up. Warding and spiking the shallows are only a temporary solution, we all know that. "I honestly don't know what to do here. But if need be I'd supervise her. We can choose one that poses the least risk. Somewhere public, perhaps, where she's less likely to try and twist the situation to her own ends. As a test maybe?"

[Gregor]

"No." Gregor turns to Ashley and Wharil and that something flashes through brightly. Anger. There is a solidifying in the Dreamspeaker's features, gaze stretching from one of narrowed confusion to even handed strength. "Power is not a measure of competence." His gaze leaves Wharil and pins on Ashley, as if to remind her of that fact, the image of a young Etherite practically playing across his eyes. "We have yet to explore all the possible options ourselves and if we can avoid putting the responsibility, effort and necessity-" Stress on that word, in his tone "-on shoulders that could, for all we know, buckle for any of the reasons you've listed, then we're left playing clean up again. Possibly worse." A pause. Sucking in a breath. "Let me try the Still touch. They can close the shallows in the city, easily enough and if the one out in the woods is still an issue then we can find Kaya and have her take care of it. At least it will only be one and we can keep an eye on what she does and how she does it." Trial. Test. Comfort. In reverse.

[Gregor]

"...If I can't? If it doesn't work? Then we haven't lost the opportunity with her offer. Nothing sacrificed."

[Ashley]

"Except time," Ashley says quietly, looking over at Gregor. She didn't miss the look he gave her. It seems to sober her, though, where it would have once evoked anger. "The more time we lose running through options that may not work, the more risk we run of something coming through, and we might not get lucky enough to have the summoner fuck up his ritual next time. If those Shallowings stay open for long we might as well roll out a welcome mat for Nephandi." She rests her jaw against her knees, head inclined slightly forward while she thinks. "I don't like her. But there's no sense in allowing a resource to remain untapped."

[Wharil Choc]

He's quiet as the two of them speak, as Gregor asserts himself and Ashley counters. He touches the corner of the notebook to his lips as he glances between them one more time, and finally says: "Should we bring it to a vote?"

[Gregor]

"Still touch claims the city. Glass eyes in buildings, fingertips in concrete. Multiple openings, simultaneously covered." He's already dusting crumbs from his lap, looking as if he's willing to try with them in the room, though obviously something more practical would be needed. The Dreamspeaker is not desperate, he's addressing his role in all this or at least... What he believes it to be. Whether it's truthful or not... "Vote." A nod, firm.

[Ashley]

"Yeah, let's vote," Ashley agrees, with only a slight sigh to her voice. One might imagine that she's not quite used to such an approach. "I'm in favor."

[Gregor]

"Opposed."

[Wharil Choc]

He takes a breath, looking between the two of them. The deciding vote was down to him. Ironically, the dancing curiousity in his eyes and his noticeable hesitation suggests that the one who suggested the vote in the first place wasn't quite sure where he stood. "I'm for it." Until now.

[Gregor]

...And Gregor's features fall. He can't help it, the crush of that furrowed brow settling into place. Quick enough though, resignation finds it's home and niche and the furrows smooth enough to breathe a low exhale out and nod with straighter shoulders. "...I'll begin negotiations with the Others to see which ones I can get closed in the meantime. At least ensure they can't get any bigger and anything looking to come through will have a hard time of it until she gets there to close them." A pause, gaze flicking between the pair of them, mouth slightly agape. "I don't like this." As if it was a required statement. "...But I'm not sure about it either. So Let's hope it works."

[Ashley]

Ashley nods. "That leaves the question of where we're going to have her try this. She'll have to be supervised. Preferably by all three of us if we can arrange it. If not, Wharil, you should have at least one of us with you." Gregor's features fall, and Ashley gives him a sidelong look, a twist of the mouth and a shrug. A quiet passes while she absorbs the idea of what they're going to try to do; she still knows very little of the spirit world. "There was something I wanted to bring up too, when we're finished. What do you guys think of the idea of setting up a telepathic connection between the three of us so we can reach each other in a hurry? What you communicate through it is entirely voluntary," she adds, quickly, pre-empting what she thinks would probably be the first objection to such a thing.

[Wharil Choc]

Wharil nods to Gregor. There. That was settled. To Ashley, his eyebrows rise slowly. "That sounds a little complicated. Especially considering I tend to keep my mind guarded as a habit. How exactly would you be able to do that kind of thing for all of us?"

[Gregor]

Gregor's own measure creeps out just behind Wharil's: "...Could anyone with your level of power get to us through it?" Paranoia. Discomfort. Gregor was hesitant. "More over, were you compromised, could you affect us through it?" There is no shame or bashful in those questions, nor consideration for Ashley's feelings. They were not hurtful, simply blunt and without premise of guile or coaching of words. The direct threats of such a thing, not viewed from Ashley the Cabalmate (Trust) but the potential for it to go wrong outside of her influence.

[Ashley]

Ashley doesn't sound offended by Gregor's question, but she locks eyes with him in response. Stares. "I won't be compromised. And I should be able to keep a connection like that guarded and closed to everyone else." A look to Wharil. "Basically it would involve the use of the Ars...er, of Mind and Correspondence. Sympathetic links from the two of you - hair, possessions, whatever - would assist in establishing it, but I don't need them. Once in place, you could project a thought to anyone that's connected, but you'd have to voluntarily choose to do it...so I don't think keeping the rest of your thoughts guarded would be a problem. It'd let us keep each other updated quickly, call for help if we needed it, communicate in big meetings like that without being obvious...there are a lot of advantages to doing it." One would suspect that she, too, tends to keep her own thoughts and feelings heavily warded, by the glance she gives him. It's reassuring, almost. "It is complicated, and it would take a while to set up, but it's well within my abilities to do."

[Wharil Choc]

"Hm." Is all he says for a while, still touching the book corner to his lips. "Could we maybe...try it out first? Ease our way into it and decide if its comfortable or not."

[Gregor]

Gregor remains in vague discomfort, turning to cast a glance at Wharil as he offers a suggestion, then back to Ashley for confirmation. This was not his forte, despite a crude understanding of the Mind's abilities beyond human standard. He waited...

[Ashley]

Ashley gives Wharil a nod. "Of course. It's mostly just supposed to be a tool. I mean, I like my privacy as much as you guys do, so I'm going to avoid setting up anything that could get invasive," she says, finally unwinding herself from her corner of the couch.

[Wharil Choc]

"Lets do that then. Try it out." And finally he looks into the notebook again, flipping through it and smiling softly. "Well, I think that's all for us. Unless one of you had something else to offer?"

[Ashley]

Ashley frowns, looks as though she might say something for a few moments, and then shakes her head. "No, not for right now. Other than that I wanted to suggest that you guys keep an eye out. A couple of...odd things have happened recently. I mean, nothing that I'm overly -concerned- about, but just sort of...felt odd. So."