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Post by Ammie on Jun 6, 2013 4:14:58 GMT -8
Amaryllis had been warned that work started at 9am, and not to be late. She'd eschewed her contacts in exchange for glasses, put on her new 'office clothes', which were selected by Shay, after half an hour of horribly inappropriate tries, and headed out early. She'd arrived at 8, and been escorted to one of the cubicle labyrinths which was the temporary home of Ægir's Arcane division, and set to making herself at home.
Her hand moved to push her hair out of her face as was habit, but her new "professional" style offered none of the usual resistance - it would serve as a subtle psychological reminder all day.
The tiny cubicle area was quickly transformed into a minor magickal nexus. She opened a leather folder and withdrew eight complex seals, drawn with marker on printer paper at home, and hung them at each compass point. Between them, 32 post-it notes with lines of enochian lettering connected each seal, completing her "Pikey's Field" and providing her with a continuous flow of direct power from the aether.
Some people hang pictures of their vacations and little funny comic strips. To each their own.
On the corner of the keyboard a tiny framed picture was erected, containing a picture of a cabin in the snowy Carpathian Fangs - a powerful reminder of the reason for it all, without the overt appearance of showing off a connection to a certain someone to every passer-by.
She turned on her computer monitor, and realized that she had no idea how to log into the sodding thing. She opened her folder to a pad of lined paper, and across the top she wrote in a large, plain script 'SECRET PLANS'.
Part 1 - Fund Arcane - Still think 'Animus Felicitas' ritual is worth pursuing. Find out why they don't. - Call in favor from number 26. - Release life-debt on number 14, in exchange for next month's stock reports.
Part 2 - Make Arcane Independently Wealthy - Use capital to establish a high-quality line of products. Ægir brand wards, inscriptions, foci, and ritual components. Sell it on quality, reputation, and independence from Orochi and subsidiaries. - Establish the Wicker Library of Magick. Punchy name guarantees attention. Encode my personal library and any other useful texts into an online catalogue of resources, viewable by Arcane at no charge, and -subscribeable- by Ægir-approved outsiders for a monthly fee which funds Arcane. Make it super-secret-squirrel, so it attracts the magick hipsters and creates an exclusivity, and raises the cost of membership. Contact Callisto to borrow ancient rare texts. Ask Beryl to contact Hayden Montag and see if she can use status as I.A. Alumnus to borrow texts from their library to encode. Gather the women to go look pretty and take turns with Milosh and a tape recorder, collecting the ancient Draculesti hunting methods that no one's supposed to know. Wine and vodka.
Step 3 - Save the Worlds - Using combination of capital and knowledge, begin to dig into the problems threatening the worlds. At next Arcane meeting, introduce the group to my theory of Dreamer-incited 'stage 2 anthropy'. Use the Sheol example. - Succeed where Orochi failed. We are in a unique position to gain power from Gaia to fight with by -asking- for it, rather than -stealing- it. 3rd Age artifacts draw from Anima sources, so integration of Anima into technology is possible. Listen to the Buzzing instead of trying to forge own path. - Foster relations with magickal creatures, using combination of training, knowledge, and Ægir's position as mediator. Bring the magickal races to the table and sue for a place for them on the Council of Venice. At very least, Ægir comes off looking like the people's champion, an we gain an army of loyal magickal creatures.
She put down her pen. It was enough of a plan to start with. It was 9:00, and orientation would start soon. Her first day as a member of Arcane. Her first steps on the way to the top.
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Post by tess on Jun 6, 2013 5:35:59 GMT -8
((Don't be alarmed by my edit, just a really minor one, it seems that whenever you write "Ægir" on your mobile app, it appears as "Ægir" so I just changed that where appropriate. Otherwise great stuff, looking forward to working with you.
Two things: 1) I will volunteer for the difficult job of getting Milosh drunk and hearing his stories.
2)"Army of Magical Creatures"? Tess finally gets her own Phelddagrif mount! \o/))
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Post by Ammie on Jun 6, 2013 7:12:42 GMT -8
((Don't be alarmed by my edit, just a really minor one, it seems that whenever you write "Ægir" on your mobile app, it appears as "Ægir" so I just changed that where appropriate. I just had to try pronouncing "Ægir" phonetically, and it sounded like I'd had a minor stroke.
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Post by sersi on Jun 6, 2013 10:06:41 GMT -8
((ack! no strokes! they are bad for buisiness. *hooks up car battery to Ammie*))
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Post by caonedh on Jun 6, 2013 10:48:33 GMT -8
((Now, Shay, Ammie promised that what goes on between you and her at home would not come into the work place. Kindly disconnect the car battery))
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Post by liquia on Jun 8, 2013 19:09:06 GMT -8
((So much hard work, you're making the rest of us look bad.))
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Post by Ammie on Jun 10, 2013 2:29:30 GMT -8
After learning from Shay about the existence of the "old Arcane wing" of the Aegir building, Amaryllis spent most of the morning locating it, and a greater part of the day rallying Arcane personnel and interns in a grand and glorious reclamation campaign.
The imposing solid oak double-doors stood as stalwart as ever, their antique brass handles wrapped unceremoniously with a gaudy steel chain and Master lock, as well as a yellow plastic "do not enter" ribbon.
Amaryllis wanted to blast off the lock with a bolt of lightning for symbolism's sake, but as Shay had given her a key and everything, she just unlocked it with emphasis and great gesture.
The doors swung open onto the scene of a once-great hall of magick. The arcane wing was built using a combination of Illuminati sacred geometry and eastern Feng Shui, and so it was organized in a square of offices surrounding a central hub. Two-thirds of the offices had been converted into some combination of laboratory, storage room, or both, some of which still reeking with the stench of half-realized experiments and long expired spell components, and their cleansing was the most active portion if the day.
The central hub was still glorious however, and had been carefully preserved when the previous Arcane Department had been dissolved. A marvel of focusing architecture and aesthetics, the Arcane Nexus looked like (and had been, on occasion,) a multi-tiered altar hewn from solid blocks of obsidian, alabaster, and marble. A inverted step-pyramid hung above it, layered with runic inscriptions as elegant and functional as any Ammie had ever seen. It was ritual on a corporate scale - an all-purpose node which could channel power for anything from complex divination to warded summoning, and Ammie ran her hand over it awestruck before joining the others in cleaning - leaving a wipe of dust-free polished stone to shine with life once more in the ambient light.
At the end of the day, the department moved into the offices they'd claimed during the day's work. Nice and spacious, and comfortable once clean, the offices each had a large bookshelf, desk, and personal wooden workbench which had been likewise carved with elegant rune work. They'd also been fitted with computers before the exodus, although they were huge and boxy, and easily eclipsed in power by the team's individual mobile phones.
By quitting time, the new Arcane department had already begun to get comfortable in their reclaimed HQ, and Ammie looked forward to coming back on Monday. New components and supplies had been requisitioned, and the IT department was scheduled to have each office fitted with new(ish) phones and computers, and hooked into the network.
There was a lot to look forward to!
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Post by Ammie on Jun 24, 2013 7:43:39 GMT -8
There was a lot of work to be done, and there still was no works back from the decision-makers about Ammie's luck ritual. Very well, since she'd obtained approvals for her ideas, she moved on to the next funding idea. The library was almost through all of its approval processes, and it would need food soon.
Calling in a favor from a demon is pretty easy work. Demons trade in favors, so the binding magicks that go into a contract with one have become very sophisticated over the centuries, and now almost always involved a powerful compulsion spell of Irish origin called a geas ((pron. "gesh"))
The demon whom Ammie referred to as 26 was a "balseraph" whose name was Go'regio'mixienfass, but he went by Greg. Since demons felt spiritual things far more acutely, a lasting geas felt almost like physical chains, and they were always quite cooperative in matters of having them removed.
Greg rippled through the planes as a dark, winged adder with six eyes, but upon manifesting within the binding circle, he looked like a handsome, clean-cut, 30-year-old man with olive skin and a proud top of gelled-back black hair combed into little rows. His amber eyes gazed at Ammie with anticipation, knowing that there was only one reason she would have summoned him.
"Good evening, miss Wicker. My, how you've changed..."
"Greg. Thanks for coming so quickly. As you've probably guessed, I'm calling you to settle up on the favor you owe me."
Greg rubbed his hands greedily. He could feel the weight of the geas lifting already. "Of course, miss Wicker. Let's be done with this business. Tell me - whatever have you found that would make us even?"
Amaryllis grimaced, remembering the favor she'd paid forward, from an earlier, heartless time when she'd had no use for friendship or loyalty. Severing ties with the memory would be one more step away from the person she'd been. "I need resources, Greg. Enough to fund a large scale magickal research operation over an extended period. Say...five years."
Greg let out a musical laugh. "Dress it up however you wish. You're asking for money." He grinned wickedly. "Without restriction, I can certainly do this thing. But I have a feeling you're not done talking."
Ammie crossed her arms. "I don't want it stolen. I don't want it created as any existing government's currency, it would cause a recession. Maybe a rich mine of rare gemstones. Rubies maybe. Or a sunken treasure chest, or an unclaimed cache of lost art or something. I don't want any sociopolitical or legal fallout, and I don't want to trigger some damn vendetta."
The demon paused. "Well, that should be easy then."
Ammie smiled a little. "Really?"
Greg snorted. "Absolutely! Let me just turn on my special demon treasure-finding powers, and point you at Atlantis!"
Ammie shifted her weight, losing the smile.
"Or...or...better yet! I could use my comprehensive demon knowledge of the layout of the earth, and find you a magical underground kingdom whose inhabitants built their buildings from platinum bricks, but it's okay because they all died out from being too rich."
Amaryllis stared at him. "Are you done?"
"Wait. Best idea yet. I'll ask Harrison Ford, Nicholas Cage, and Nathan Fillion to all undertake a grand adventure through the uncharted reaches of 'The Jungle' to discover an ancient Aztec treasure house!"
Greg stared at her. She pushed her hair out of her eyes (to no avail.) "Can you really ... Get those three to make a movie like that, cuz...that'd be brilliant, I can get the money somewhere else."
Greg had said it sarcastically, but now that he thought about it... "Hmm. Maybe. Ford needs a good one. Cage still owes us for about five of his movies, so he'd pretty much have to. Fillion's got the TV thing, but he's a giant nerd, so if the script is good he might sign on once filming stops..."
Ammie added in with quiet tones. "Could you get Joss to write and direct?"
Greg rubbed his chin, shaking his head. "Probably not. He's flavor-of-the-year, and I don't want to do anything that would mess up Avengers 2, if I can help it."
Ammie stopped herself, pushing down the idea with both hands. "No, you know, let's get back to the money thing. So you're saying you can't do it?"
Greg shrugged. "I'm saying I'm a demon, not some infernal Publisher's Clearing House. I came from hell, not a magic bloody lamp. The sure fire way to get your money is to move it from somewhere else. Now, I'm willing to make a couple of deals and owe some minor favors to get out of this thing between us, but I'm a businessman here. I'm not gonna trade one huge weight for a bunch of smaller ones."
"So what -can- you do?"
"I -can- rig a sporting event. I can maybe rig a lottery, but the bigger the jackpot, the higher profile, the harder that is. Did you know that most major lotteries employ a mage to look for things like me? You wanna win a mil or two, no problem. But funding on the level you're talking about...that's gonna take more. I can get some guys to rob a bank. That's easy money."
Ammie considered. Then she remembered that she was the one in charge, the one with the contract. She'd let herself be haggled. She laughed, and pointed her athame at the demon. "Go'regio'mixienfass! For thy freedom, thou shalt deliver unto me five million pounds in untraceable gems, according to the aforementioned restrictions. Thy methods are thy own beyond. I shalt not fuck around with thee further. Acknowledge thy master's command!"
Greg rolled his eyes as he felt the full power I the geas fall upon him. "It shall be done, my master." As he felt the contract seal itself, he shook his head and looked up at her. "Bitch. All this trouble for six souls. They didn't even last that long - humans kids have some weak freakin' souls these days." He raised his voice as Ammie's banishment sent him away. "You're really milking this deal, I hope you know! I though we were pals!"
Ammie turned to a nearby table and picked up a pad of paper with a checklist written on it, striking through a section. "One down."
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Post by Ammie on Jun 24, 2013 16:23:51 GMT -8
Geasa were strong spells, and worked fine for holding up contracts and favors. But a life-debt is something older. Stronger. Magick from before magick had a name.
Ammie currently owned two life-debts, and this fact had become a source of misery for two demons, when she had become practically immortal. One of them stood before her now. Baliphon, stalker of children, was a sight to see. His hulking form barely fit within the binding circle, and looked just as uncomfortable as he was anxious to be released. Ammie looked over a stock report that had been handed to her.
"How certain are these figures?" She asked, paging over a short list of big changes in the world's major stock markets over the next month.
"Certain. More than half of them are contracts we've already made. The ones in blue are divined by our experts. Never wrong." The demon croaked.
Ammie smiled, an began to do math.
~~~
Two hours later, satisfied with her work, she texted Franc.
Hey boss! I'm chipping in to help fund the department. In the morning, I'll be handing you a folder with everything that Arcane needs to do to collect £130,000,000 next month (about $200,000,000). Think that'll last us for a while? Because after that, I'm tapped out~
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Post by francesci on Jun 25, 2013 14:45:48 GMT -8
Franc swiveled around in his chair and balanced a single card on his finger. He stared at it as it slowly spun the opposite direction of the chair. When the chair shifted to the left, it slowly spun right, and if the chair spun right, the card spun left. The image on the card shifted as well with every turn, though each image was abstract and perhaps meant nothing to anybody other than Franc himself. His phone gave out three rapid bleeps to signal he had received a text. The card sharply turned back around and rested on an image of a triangle within a circle, a small rune place in the middle. Franc set the card down, face up, and picked his phone up having expected the text to be from Noel; however, Ammie's name showed up as the sender. He let out a slight sigh and opened the text, scanned over it, and nodded in approval though Ammie would not be able to see. For a moment, he turned to his computer to send an email to the rest of the department, but a thought had interfered him from doing it. He swiveled back to his phone and shot off a text.
Hello Ammie! Glad to hear you managed to get us this miraculous boost in finances for the department. Somebody's getting the "Department Employee of the Month" award! If there was one...
Anywho, mind me asking how you managed to get such an amount? I like to keep tabs on how we get receive our finances.
Also on the side, could you send out an e-mail for the weekly AA&S meeting? I would, but I have my hands tied with other tasks right now, and I'm too frustrated to work this stupid computer. Among other things you might have concerns over, I also want to go over the ritual and see who will be available for it. Merci! -Franc
He dropped his phone back down on his desk and picked the card back up. Leaning back in his chair, Franc stared at the rune,"What the hell are you?"
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Post by Ammie on Jun 25, 2013 14:55:27 GMT -8
Ammie glanced over at her phone, then anxiously opened the text when she saw it was from Franc, and read it. She giggled, and tapped out a quick reply.
She put her phone away and turned to her laptop, heading up a new email and pushing up her glasses.
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Post by Ammie on Jun 29, 2013 17:19:20 GMT -8
Ammie smiled down at the little piece of paper in front of her and wanted to kiss it and hang it on her wall in a frame. It read "Project approval: Wicker Library of Magick", and listed the rules and regulated guidelines for its establishment, and it even listed her as the project coordinator - right there on paper! Right there! Woo!
Ammie familiarized herself with the corporate restrictions that were detailed, and then brought out her notebook and began to copy documents into her PC, including a list of the books in her own library, the rare tomes to which Callisto had allowed her access, and anything else that was already confirmed. The standing total for tomes of eldrich and arcane lore was 440. A respectable start for a library principally containing books that started at "rare" and danced through the levels of esoteric obscurity to stop with its toe mere inches from the line of "unique." As she looked across the list, she couldn't believe the amazing amount of success she'd had across the years in tracking down certain books, and how valuable they had been to her studies and understanding. She knew that if she were an adept, versed enough to know the difference between real knowledge and jargon-filled hogwash, if she had come across this list of books online, she would have become a member instantly, whatever the monthly access fee.
So, the content was good enough, and would only get better when she started taking earmarked pieces of the budget to Solomon Lancaster. Also, once "team vodka-chat" could get enough ancient monster-hunting secrets from Milosh, the library would officially be one of the best in the country if not the world!
Now, two more steps remained before she could start really setting up the system. First, digital scanning each and every page, to render them all into the e-library. Second, start a P.R. Campaign selling membership as if it were the country club of the occult elite.
Ammie needed consultants. Noel, and Anna. She smiled at the pretty certificate again, cracked her knuckles, and started to work.
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