Issue 1 Downtime

In the day's mail, Nailah got a letter! In a plain brown envelope! With no return address! Isn't that fun.

"This can't be good..." she mumbles to herself, putting the rest of her mail under her arm and slicing the envelope open with one finger.

Cut-out letters from magazines glued into words? How awesome!

"How very mature." she shakes her head, for a moment tempted to simply set the letter ablaze. But then she changes her mind and puts it back in the envelope as she heads to her apartment.

A couple minutes later she comes back down and heads out to the lighthouse.

Stepping into her shrine she shrugs out of her jacket, hanging it and her purse on a hook by the door before pulling out the letter. She sets it down on the slightly raised dais and goes to fetch a variety of ingredients from the shelves, adding them to the fire bowl on the dais one by one, occasionally stopping to turn towards one of the cardinal directions and uttering a short prayer. Finally she sits down in front of the bowl and with a single word lights the ingredients inside it on fire. Smoke slowly fills the room and she takes the letter, rips off a small part of it and drops it into the flames. Chanting she looks into the flames and waits for the author of the letter to be revealed to her.

A mental image of fire comes to her, with a hazy face visible through the smoke.

She leans a little closer to try and see.

It WAS definitely one of the teenage girls from the coven -- she hadn't stuck around long enough to really remember any of their names.

"I knew that much. I need a name or something..." she mumbles, trying to reach out to try and find the girl. She couldn't be too far away.

The name she got back? Athena Whitehorn.

"Fine then." she begrudgingly accepts that. Still, that doesn't really help her much so she tries to see if she can catch a glimpse of where she lives.

No home address -- or a school, sadly.

Two things were viewable, though -- the clearing, and Cobweb.

She sighs. "Let's try something else..." she says to herself and pushes herself up to grab one of the books on the shelves. "Let's see here... divine messengers..."

She puts down the book in front of the dais and goes to add more things to the fire. After a little while she carefully fishes a coal out from the bowl, lets it cool off a bit and begins drawing symbols around the firebowl. When she's done she adds another piece from the letter to the flames and begins chanting again, this time to invoke a favor form Thoth to send a message to Athena. The bird that manifests out of the smoke looks a little ethereal but real enough. Nailah stands up to open the window and the creature made of smoke and heka takes flight to seek out Athena. A cellphone would be more convenient if she had a number, but this had the additional effect of showing off should the bird find it's way to the girl.

The bird soared over Maldon, flying to the back room of Cobweb, where Athena herself stood.

"Begone," she said, looking at the bird, raising her hand -- and a stream of flame shot out of it, engulfing the messenger bird.

The bird's shape distorts but slowly gathers itself again when the flames subside.

"It rose from flames. Fire won't dismiss it so easily." Nailah speaks through the construct. "We ought to talk. Unless you prefer to do all your communications as anonymous threats."

"It was not a threat. It was a warning, and a promise."

"Don't talk semantics with me. Raven did not care for my apology but I'm willing to offer the same to you because you didn't know what you were forcing me to relive. If you care to talk like adults without having to force someone into your sacred space I'm more than willing to oblige. If you wish to resort to petty threats over this slight then I will answer in turn. The choice is yours."


"What is this foolishness? She threatened you and your response is to be swift and just. Quit pandering to their whims." a voice like hissing sand wafts through the air around Nailah.

"Do not consider our threats petty, and your pleas for mercy reflect poorly upon you and those who you serve."

"Very well, you wish to make this a purely divine matter? I shall oblige."


She leans back and takes the letter, cutting off small pieces and dropping them into the flames with each line.

"You have disturbed the air without cause.
Arit kheperu temt-na heka pen.

You have demanded undue praise for your name.
Arit kheperu betenu er thesem.

You have driven man to act against another.
Arit kheperu qemam-tu neteru em sekeru.

You have attacked those who are of the gods.
Arit kheperu erta-na heka apen kher.

You have caused misery to those around you.
Arit kheperu kher enti-f betenu.

In the Eye of Ra you are judged.
Wedjat ertu khak er sut."

"If you're trying to scare me, remember, we're not all Bloodwynd. This conversation is over," she said, dismissing the messenger.

"Oh nothing to be scared about yet, that was just the judgement. The punishment will be forthcoming though." Nailah mumbles to herself and gets up. This was going to take some preparations.