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Set in Early April, 2021
Dad Hoc:
Just off the Gaveston Memorial Hall is a hallway which ends at the old Deacon's Office. It's got some set-asides of historical import. Here's the desk, there's the hat, here the walking stick, there the cutlass. A little by-way museum in the functional office of a person who cannot be fucking bothered with all that knobbery. Zadok is many things, but a slave to tradition and someone patient with pointless pageantry they absolutely are not. It probably grates them tremendously to fawn over the trappings of a dead failure, but so it goes here in Philadelphia.
At the appointed time and no later, the door opens. Zadok looks up from their desk and expects to see Jeremiah. It's probably for the best if that's what the see waiting there in point of fact. They're not one for idle moments.
Jeremiah Hamilton:
Nor is Jeremiah on this particular visit, considering the weight of the information that he carried with him. Befitting the occasion the Mastigos was dressed neatly, giving Zadok a respectful nod as the door opened and he entered. "Thank you for meeting me."
Dad Hoc:
Zadok nods, accepting this politeness as necessary to getting the moment going. "Not at all, not at all. It is very much my job. Please have a seat, and then get right to it. You very much have my attention for as long as I can afford to give it to you." And then Jeremiah gets to sit across from another walker of the Illumined Path and have that person, a Thyrsus, dedicate every nerve fibre to focusing on what's about to be shared.
You don't get much time with Zadok. But you get all of that time to yourself, as a rule. Their hands fold up, and they wait patiently for the exposition.
Jeremiah Hamilton:
Jeremiah nodded and moved to take the seat as requested. "A few nights ago I and a number of others, Awakened and non, found ourselves at a coffee shop in Center City just in time to get pulled into a conversation with Walsingham. He gave Adept Parhelion a coin that she seemed to recognize and spoke of 'a man', with very specific emphasis on that phrase, letting a feral dog off a leash and not informing others of their decision to do so."
"I believe this may be in reference to the Seer that the Firebirds recently spoke of capturing and handing over to the Consilium." He looked to Zadok at that, his own features stern. "If so, then we have a problem."
Dad Hoc:
"Walsingham said this to you?" Zadok says it with the sort of Billy Porter style neutral emphasis that makes it clear the emphasis was not neutral at all. They ease back in their chair for a moment, tapping a finger on the chair arm. A thought occurs to them, and they discard it out of hand without remarking on what it was. But now they're frowning slightly.
"Are you aware that nobody seems to know where Pavlichenko's captive has gotten off to? And that our Sentinels have gone quiet?" They worry at their lip for a moment, mulling something over inwardly. "I was very much in favor of Walsingham-- the Walsingham you know --assuming the role in the place of his predecessor. It always struck me that he was a man of principles, and one that I could count on to do right by his people and do right with his people. If you follow me. That he would encourage them to be best, and do what was necessary when they were otherwise. With the same... even hand that I am known for."
Is that what they're known for? Any way.
"My point being: he's not one that sells out his confederates lightly, but he is one that will sell out his confederates for the right reason. If he's dropping hints about his own people to us it's because he wants us to be who and what we are before the Lex Magica. Nobody tells a Thearch about silver law violations unless they want it made into a Perry Mason rerun, son. And that's going on seventy years of making this desk look good talking. I'm guessing that's what you'd like to see done?" One $200 eyebrow lifts slowly upwards, a grand flourish on a face that stoic.
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"I was not, no." Jeremiah shook his head, a frown forming in short order. "From what Pavlichenko told Hearth and I this Seer was no slouch, either; a triple master at minimum, and someone who gave him a run for his money trapping them. Combine that with the fact that they attacked some of the higher ups among the Lost here, likely to point them at us and reap the chaos..."
He nodded as Zadok continued, sitting back in his seat. "Very much so. This needs to be dealt with, and quickly."
Dad Hoc:
"If we're wrong about this, we're going to look like horse asses, but I've looked worse for flimsier justifications. There was typically more alcohol involved, however." That bland, neutral face twitches in momentary acknowledgement that humor is a thing. "But if we're right-- and it is a strange set of coincidences to line up so tidily --then we'll need someone from outside of this entire situation. Something they just simply could not account for without complete infiltration of our highest orders of power; we call in a Lictor."
"I'd like for you to meet with the Factotum General, Cryptovoskos Bodhisattva. She is a Solitaire, a person apart from the politics of the Consilium-- at least on paper --and typically sees to matters when Lictors and the Magisterium come to visit. I would like for you to take over being her lead investigator. I'd like to place you directly under the Lictor when they arrive, reporting to the Cryptovoskos. If you and she and the Lictor can build a case, you can have your first prosecutorial entry into the Lex. But this will mean being willing to follow strange and unusual trails into unknown and dangerous futures. I'm not certain you're up for that." Reminding about humor again, clearly.
Jeremiah Hamilton:
Jeremiah's lips quirked up into a small smile for a moment before he nodded. "I'm more than willing. Strange and unusual trails are something of my forte."
Dad Hoc:
"Good. Under the circumstances, I don't think it will be at all difficult to get the present Sentinels removed from their posts until they turn up and account for themselves and their activities. Even if they're completely innocent, their absence and the absence of their captive could mean they've been killed or compromised in other ways. Best to change the locks. I can see to that side of things. The official channels bit. And requesting the lictor. That's perhaps my only real job, as it happens." The Deacon doesn't precisely smile at this, but their eyes twinkle a bit.
"The only protection I can give you is that of the Lex Magica, and that doesn't hold much stock with our enemies. So you do need to be careful, I'm sure that goes without saying. You may wish to reach back out to Pavlichenko's people. Especially before the Lictor gets here. They seem the sort to get mum once something like that turns up on their doorstep."
And then, after a bit of afterthought, "It's important that the Consilium continues to function at times like these. You understand that, I'm sure." Perhaps they're trying to explain this unusual approach of a legal case. "I can't make you a Sentinel. But I can make you a Lictor's investigator which has all the same rights and customs to it. More or less. And I can't... I can't order them arrested. Or a manhunt. I can't... I can't order a dozen Talons to go and bring them back in a sack. But I can give you the law, and a righteous cause, and trust you'll be as creative in using the tools as I was in scrounging them up for you."
Another small pause, "Just in case you thought this ... an unusual approach. It is. But it is the best one I have for you."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"Unusual isn't a bad thing at times; means they'll expect it less when the hammer comes down." Jeremiah offered another small nod. "I appreciate the tools that have been given to me. They won't go to waste, I assure you of that."
Dad Hoc:
"And remember. Bodhisattva. The Firebirds. Reach out to both. Now. If you'll excuse me, you've left me with letters to write." Zadok gives a solid nod and turns towards their waiting MacBook. Literally about to e-mail a lictor.
"Shut the door on your way out, please."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"Of course." With that he stood and moved to exit, closing the door quietly behind him before heading out of the chapterhouse. He had some outreach of his own to do, after all...
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