2022.06.26:A Spiritual Awakening

A Spiritual Awakening.
Journey gives Jackie an education on her gnostic spirit.
IC Date	June 26, 2022.
IC Time	Midday.
Players	Jackie, Journey
Location	Timberland
Spheres	Garou

6/26/2022 18:07:20 Timberland. Actually a large house set into the side of a hill. Something Journey said before about the trip to his place striping the bottom off Jackie's car, yes, the end of the dirt road that leads to the house is the kind that you want some wheel clearance for. Still, the house set into the hill, vaugely looks like the kind of place teenagers go to to have sex and get killed in an 80s movie. Still, the instructions are simple 'Knock.'

6/26/2022 18:09:25 Jackie glances around the area outside, pretty sure this is the right place but still finding it just a touch unsettling. Then, after a deep breath, she raises her knuckles and knocks firmly on the front door.

6/26/2022 18:11:29 A few seconds go by.
6/26/2022 18:11:29 The door opens revealing an attractive young woman... who Jackie has seen usually beside Stephen or in the group of Strider Kin that materialize sometimes when Journeys around. She smiles, "Jackie, right?" She says with recognition and moves aside, holding the door open, "Please, come in."

6/26/2022 18:14:57 Jackie nods with a smile, and moves to follow her lead by stepping over the threshold. She blinks as her eyes adjust to the lower light levels inside, taking a moment to look around the entry area. "Yup, that's me! This is a good time for me to come, right?"

6/26/2022 18:20:08 She closes the door, locking out the world, and nods, "Of course, I'm Lisa, I'm Stephens Au Pair." She nods, moving along the hallway toward the center of the house. A gecko skitters from under one door to under another as Lisa leads through a large central living room with French doors leading towards the back, large screen TV, electronics, but leads to a side hallway, where she comes to some double doors and knocks. "Come." Journeys voice as Lisa opens the door, and leads in

6/26/2022 18:20:08 A pair of rooms, the wall knocked out between them reveal this large area, one side of it is filled with a dirt floor, while a wall is filled with workstations of all kinds, Journey sitting at a chair at a workstation, turning "Hi."

6/26/2022 18:22:59 Jackie raises a hand and waves at Journey after her eyes take in the sight of all the workstations. "Hi. Uh, what's an au pair?"

6/26/2022 18:26:36 Most of the workstations are of the sort for tools and leather working or jewelry crafting or the like. Lisa grins and looks to Lisa, "A live in nanny. I like the title better than bodyguard."

6/26/2022 18:26:36 Journey smiles to Lisa, then, "Lisa's a member of the family, come in, have a seat, are you hungry or thirsty? I've finished a batch of sushi for Leif, you can take back with you. Build like a wall, eats like a horse." He grins. "How've you been since yesterday?"

6/26/2022 18:31:48 Jackie moves to a chair and sits down, keeping her knees bent and her back straighter than how she usually lounges in chairs. "I actually just ate before coming over, so I'm good. And I even slept better than I expected, as weird as yesterday was. So yeah, I'm doing pretty well. So, what counts a sushi for Leif then? Is it just a whole fillet of salmon or something?"

6/26/2022 18:37:54 Journey smiles, tilting his head, "A couple of trays of sushi yeah, it kinda amounts to a fillet of salmon with a lot of rice and various stuff." He nods, "Okay, thats not too surprising, sleep tends to mess with us, when we expect to not be able to sleep, we do. Still that's good. So, have you spoken with anyone else about your Gnostic spirit, or just kind of chilled out after yesterdays surprises?"

6/26/2022 18:41:01 Jackie shakes her head, her hands still in her lap. "No, I haven't run into anyone since last night, I think maybe they were all checking things down near the city? This is the first I've left Stonecreek since last night. Hell, I'm not even sure what I'd say to anyone about it at this point."

6/26/2022 18:46:19 Journey shrugs, "You don't have to say anything to them. This is your business. Who you chose to tell is a matter of your choice. Those who should know, Leif, those who found out when you did, I suppose me because I'm teaching you, but otherwise it's up to you. For the moment.." He opens a drawer and takes out a hand mirror, and hands it to her, "Okay the principle in it is simple enough. look in the reflection, in the shine of the light reflected in your eyes. there's a gleam in that. A glow that when you look into you will be able to see the Penumbra. Relax yourself and let your gaze drift, you'll start to percieve something like a smoky pane of glass that you're looking through, try to resolve the image."

6/26/2022 18:50:38 Jackie takes the mirror in both hands and bends over it slightly, looking down into it at her reflection. For a bit it seems like she's trying too hard to focus, before finally shifting her weight in the chair and her eyes start to drift slowly across the mirrored image as they relax. "Is there any reason to tell or not tell people? Would it, like, freak people out, or put a target on my back, or something?"

6/26/2022 18:54:37 Journey shakes his head, "Some people it might, these are usually those who haven't been here in Prospect for long, Really there--" Journey fades out and some sort of barrier exists, something your can feel, that looking through-

6/26/2022 18:54:37 Honk! There's a Duck there, looking at you. Right there."

6/26/2022 18:57:59 Jackie jumps at the sudden honk, but manages to keep her grip on the mirror. "Whew, just what I needed, a heart attack brought on by duck surprise."

6/26/2022 19:00:50 Duck flaps her wings, and Journey appears, leaning down, "Okay, now, focus on your body, focus on your meat like last time. Concentrate, and flip the same switch as yesterday."

6/26/2022 19:05:22 Jackie tightens her grip on the mirror, focusing her gaze on her fingers. After a moment she brings them up to her face and puts the knuckle of her left thumb between her teeth and applies pressure until she can feel it clearly, reaching inwardly to get a handle on that switch towards the reality she's used to.

6/26/2022 19:06:52 It's actually very easy to dismiss the vision, and senses clarify in the room she was in before looking to the Umbra. Journey appears and sits back down, "Okay that worked nicely, any reflective surface will help you look through." He says. "Questions?"

6/26/2022 19:11:10 Jackie blinks a few times after looking up and away from the mirror. "Yeah, is doing this more like looking through a window? I'm not actually travelling there, right?"

6/26/2022 19:15:02 Journey nods, "Yes, but the 'Window' you were looking through, that's something you can feel, and push against, if you push hard enough for long enough you'll go through it, might take you a long time, but you'll pass through. There will be a collapsing pile of your clothes here in that chair and the mirror will drop and you'll be in the Reflection of the lab, Buck Bare. This IS a controlled environment, and it IS safe, but, you know. Only living things, things that have been dedicated, or Fetishes can exist in the Umbra. Some things are alive, their spirits awakened, it's something that happens sometimes, or it can be done with Rites. Either way, I'd likely summon my stormcloak and come after you and bring you back wearing a leather duster."

6/26/2022 19:19:23 Jackie swallows hard, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Ok, so something to be really careful with. Getting stuck naked on the other side does not sound like much of a vacation. Is there any real reason that I would want or need to cross over?"

6/26/2022 19:22:40 Journey shakes his head, thinking, "Absolute hail Mary move against something you are pretty sure aren't Dancers, No fucking way you could escape a Dancer stepping, but it's far more dangerous in the Penumbra in general. You may be instructed to do so by a Garou." He shrugs, "Possible in a step towards learning Gifts from spirits. Outside of Ritual use? Nah not really."

6/26/2022 19:26:11 Jackie nods, filing that away in her head. "What sorts of things can I learn from spirits? And how hard would that be, as just a kinfolk?"

6/26/2022 19:28:16 Journey shakes his head, "I would be brokering the Spirit deals. Mother's Touch would be appropriate for you, one of the best healing abilities out there. Other Gifts.. well there are many, though.." He sighs, then smirks, "OKay are you ready for the most incredible thing ever? I want you to bind to a Fetish. To prove you can, you're not going to keep it, but you'll understand the kind of power a Fetish can wield."

6/26/2022 19:31:44 Jackie sets the mirror down on a nearby table and cracks her knuckles, looking up with new curiosity. "So something a bit different from the Auto Clubs then? How does a binding work?"

6/26/2022 19:33:32 Journey can't keep a straight face as he hands over a.. handle, a Hilt, like a sword hilt, with a crosspiece. "Warm it with your hands, get to know it, try.. try to look through it into the Umbra, you won't, you'll feel something alive, a spirit inside of it, talk to it." He stands up, "Let it take time, I'll be right back."

6/26/2022 19:38:24 Jackie takes the bladeless hilt, arching an eyebrow at it. She wraps her fingers around it, noticeably not with a correct sword grip to anyone who knows better. She hefts it a few times, then runs her fingertips over the metal surfaces of the guard and pommel as she gets a sense of the texture and odd balance of it. Then she gets another double handed grip and holds it up before her, looking into the surface at the center of the cross guard and trying to find a reflection there to peer through.

6/26/2022 19:40:51 Journey comes back after a while, setting up some food and water, lovely sushi.

6/26/2022 19:40:51 It's alive, it's electricity, it's chained in here, reaching out, sparks, encouraging. Heartrate picks up the small of Ozone, this is a WEAPON, Living Electricity. SOLID Electricity. The electric jolt tightens her hand on the hilt and the power reaches her brain, the sudden knowledge of an empathic bond, things you remember now that you have shared your spirit with the Fetish..

6/26/2022 19:46:01 Jackie stares at it, her eyes unfocused for a moment. Then they sharpen and the blade hums into existence, snapping up into the space in front of her. Her face lights up both from the sudden illumination and from the grin that stretches from ear to ear. "Holy shit, it's a fucking lightsaber! That is awesome!"

6/26/2022 19:48:37 Journey looks over and grins, nodding, "Alright, come on, we'll be back for the Sushi but let's go to the gym, I got some targets you can slice up into firewood." He smirks, "By the way, that was an hour you got lost in the Fetish. That's normal, not the kind of thing you can do on the fly, Binding to a Fetish. Now if you stepped, you'd have that on you. Still naked, but now ready to zap anyone who saw."

6/26/2022 19:51:19 Jackie is careful to retract the blade before standing up, more than a little concerned about lopping off one of her extremities. She follows him to the gym, still smiling. "What? An hour, really? It didn't feel like it..."

6/26/2022 19:54:29 Journey nods, "Never does." He says, moving to the hallway, walking down it to the living room, "How do you feel? You can feel the Blade, there in your mind, part of you, just there." He leads down another hall to a different large double room.

6/26/2022 19:54:29 The Gym is an Armory, bladed, polearms, swords, flails, maces, throwing knives and everything in between on stands and tables, the other side open with padded floor and walls, but four wooden dummies are set up, rope wrapped around them ar head and chest height. Journey looks to Jackie, and gestures to the dummies, "Go ahead."

6/26/2022 19:56:21 Jackie holds the hilt a little awkwardly, looking at the wooden dummies. "Are you sure? Won't this destroy them?"

6/26/2022 19:57:38 Journey nods, "Yes, absolutely it will."

6/26/2022 19:57:48 Journey points.

6/26/2022 20:04:01 Jackie shrugs, turning back towards the targets and letting the blade snap back to life. "Ok, if you say so..."

6/26/2022 20:04:01 Jackie steps forward and thrusts the point into the center of a dummy, laughing with a bit of surprise as it sinks in far more easily that she expected. She pulls it back out and makes some angle chopping attacks at the corners of the torso, lopping off small chunks of wood at the edges. It's clear that she's never been trained with a sword, even though her movements aren't naturally clumsy with it.

6/26/2022 20:07:41 Journey nods, as the blade sparks and bites deep, pieces coming off the dummy "I've killed vampires with that, passed it around young Garou, who often grow out of it, Leif bore it for a while, but it always seems to come back to me." He smirks, "Another of my designs, usually for Garou but your spirit allows you to bond like this. Considering Irsa, but we'll see." He nods. "You've got the idea, there are many Fetishes with many many uses."

6/26/2022 20:11:15 Jackie pulls the blade back down and inside, then turns and holds it out to Journey with a smile. "Yeah, this is pretty cool, but not really the kind of thing that belongs in my hands. Thanks for letting try it though, that was probably the funnest way to learn this sort of thing."

6/26/2022 20:12:59 Journey takes the Fetish and smiles, nodding, "Yeah, it really is. Now you can use the Talens of a Garou as well as the Kin Talens, that's a lot of ...stuff, let's go back to the lab and continue." He says, turning and heading back through the forest of weapons to the door.

6/26/2022 20:17:04 Jackie follows along, still grinning a bit as she moves back down the hallway to the workshop. "Other stuff, huh? Hmmm, I wonder if this changes what Branton can do with the truck he's working on?"

6/26/2022 20:19:18 Journey nods, "Could be a Familiar, like Duck and I share, depends I suppose on what kind of thing Branton's working on specifically." He nods, "Him likely you might wanna tell about this, he's pretty.. Well look at him in the Umbra some time."

6/26/2022 20:24:16 Jackie cocks her head to the side, trying to parse that out. "You mean, do the thing while looking at his reflection? Or would I have to be looking at him while he was actually inside the umbra for that? Oh, and we're working on getting a big truck set up to help get people in and out of potentially hazardous situations. Think like a Hummer turned into a magical war wagon for Garou."

6/26/2022 20:26:56 Journey chuckles, "Well, talk to him about it Branton has an extensive Spiritual history. Sounds like Deathproof." He shrugs, coming back into the lab, and picks up a pitcher of ice choked water and pours two glasses. "Have some sushi and water." He offers, taking a drink.

6/26/2022 20:29:56 Jackie almost look like she's going to decline, but then at the sight and smell of the food her body reminds her that it's been longer than she thought since she had last eaten. She sits down at the table, pulling the other glass over to her. "Yeah, good idea. Both, I mean, the sushi and talking to Branton. I'll let him know next time we go out to do some testing with the monster."

6/26/2022 20:35:03 Journey nods, "I'm sure he can give you all kinds of help in dealing with this from a Kinfolks perspective." He pours the soy sauce and takes a piece, eating it. "Enjoy." He says as he chews, "Time to chill out a little after electric swords and violence." He smiles, setting the hilt on the tabletop.

6/26/2022 20:40:20 Jackie shifts a few pieces to a plate, then a few more as her stomach makes a small grumble. She tucks in, each piece disappear into her mouth whole. "Of course, there's more to life than cutting things into smaller pieces. That's not exactly my specialty, really. You mentioned gifts of healing, earlier? I have some first aid training, that sounds like a good thing to help."

6/26/2022 20:45:51 Journey nods to her, swallowing, "You'll need to start preparing yourself to meet a Unicorn. It's something that you kinda want to make yourself ready for. I'll need to summon a Unicorn spirit to teach you Mothers Touch. but for the moment.." He gets a bag, pulling out small shriveled gourds, with runes carved into them. "Gaia's Breath talens, touch the spirit in the gourd, crush it in your hand, and apply the dust to a wound, heals it." He looks at them and hands the bag over, "Four in there."

6/26/2022 20:51:04 Jackie finishes chewing a bite, wiping her hands on her jeans before reaching out to take the bag. "Wow, that sure sounds like it's better than a band-aid, huh? Wait, how do you prepare for meeting a unicorn? I'm guessing you don't just mean getting a box of sugar cubes or something?"

6/26/2022 20:52:56 Journey thinks, "Well, mostly emotionally preparing yourself, I'll awaken a set of robes for you, and we'll be able to do the summoning later, after I've done all the preperations for the Rite of Summoning.

6/26/2022 20:56:03 Jackie hesitates with a piece of sushi a few inches from her mouth. "What do you mean by emotionally, though? Are they scarier than I'd expect, or something? And what about robes?"

6/26/2022 20:59:01 Journey nods, "Robes, we can do it in the Umbra, or in the Physical world, you should have some Awakened robes. But I mean, Unicorn is a mythic creature a being of unearthly beauty, immortality and innocence."

6/26/2022 21:03:14 Jackie chews and swallows her latest bite slowly, considering that. She shifts in her seat, a tiny look of concern crossing her face. "Innocence? Uhhhh, it's not like the stories about only talking to, uh, maidens, is it?"

6/26/2022 21:09:30 Journey shakes his head, "Not talking to, Touch, only virgins can touch Unicorn. That's not required, don't worry." He says reassuringly, swallowing. "So for now, we've got that plan set up. Also we'll see about getting you Dona Nobis Pacem, it's a Kinfolk Gift designed to lower the rage of a situation, a good preventitave measure, but one thing at a time."

6/26/2022 21:12:45 Jackie looks a bit relieved, and chows down her last piece of sushi. "Ok, sounds like a good plan then? What should I do to prepare, besides get ready in my head to see a unicorn?"

6/26/2022 21:15:05 Journey shrugs, "Mostly get into the right mindset. meditation in the right place will recharge your spirit energy, like the Spirit brew does. so take up meditation as a part of your daily routine."

6/26/2022 21:18:58 Jackie tilts her head in consideration of that. "Meditation, huh? Not really used to that, but ok, I can probably figure that out."

6/26/2022 21:20:44 Journey nods, "We'll go over meditation to refill your spirit energy later, but for now, I think we're good for one day, questions?"

6/26/2022 21:22:15 Jackie shakes her head. "No, I don't think so. That was a lot to absorb, but a good start, I guess? At least, I don't think I've screwed up anything embarrassingly badly so far. I'll try to keep that streak going."

6/26/2022 21:23:47 Journey grins, "You're doing fine, so yes, keep it up, way up." He gives her a double thumbs up. "But seriously, tell who you trust." He pushes to his feet, "let's go get you the sushi, you drove?"

6/26/2022 21:25:50 Jackie stands up, nodding. "Yes, although I parked down back before where the driveway gets super rough. I didn't want to take any chances with my undercarriage. But it's not too long of a walk."

6/26/2022 21:26:38 Journey tilts his head, "Yeah, but you're going back with a picnic basket of sushi." He smirks, "C'mon."