faderift | A bottle of white, a bottle of red

WHO: Open to anyone that wants wine and warmth and a little company.
WHAT: Wine and no whining.
WHEN: After the mage meeting wraps up.
WHERE: Close to the healing tents, specifically the Orlesian section.
NOTES: There will be wine, drinking, unwinding, and nibbles.

The meeting had been stressful for just about everyone involved. Tempers had flared, opinions made known, a few rounds of confetti and arguing before some manner of accord. Whether it would last or however long it might? No one could truly say. In the interest of being quite done with the stress and headaches such debate brought on the Orlesian healing tents clearing out the potions, bandages, and poultices in favor of what cushions and braziers they had on hand for light and for heat. The space was open, warm, and inviting with an odd assortment of tin mugs or clay glasses set around flat side tables propped up with stones to keep them from wobbling and tipping the whole mass onto the ground. There are some dried fruits and hard cheeses, dried meat and hard crusted bread- whatever scraps they could scavenge or spare and a few bottles of wine or brandy. Across the entrance to the tents there was a sign:

Bring a bottle or food to share for entry.

Tacked below was a list of rules:

Everyone is welcome, don't make a fuss
Don't hog the wine
Don't hog the food
Don't fight or argue
If you finish a bottle open a new one, don't recork it for someone else to find
Clean up after yourselves

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I know," she murmurs. "Some mages have been blessed with good fortune, or simply had those around them who treated them fairly."

Her eyelids drop down and she accepts the hair stroking wholeheartedly.

"I'm willing. And so many others are too. Let us hope others take note and come to realize we can handle our own affairs."

"We'll manage. We must." With all the certainty of a spirit she speaks. There isn't any other option available to them. They must.

"But for tonight? We think of other things. Like wine, music, and how this is to be our new home- as soon as there are rooms enough for everyone."

"It's not so bad a place. Run down, to be sure, but with hard work we can make it something special." Christine lets out a sigh. "Though I am a little tired of my tent. I hate insects. Ick." She isn't made for the outdoors life.

"I wished to ask you something." Now she sits up a little to look Adelaide in the eyes. "I know you have plenty of work with the apprentices, but I was wondering if you would be willing to teach me spirit healing. I feel I could be of more use to patients if I had the help of spirits instead of constantly draining my mana. What do you think?"

"We have some space- not much, but some, in the room where my students sleep at the end of the day if you would like a break from outdoors." Ten bodies at least on a good night- even with one of them sitting up with her to keep watch. But it is better than the cold, hard ground.

"Well..." She frowns slightly, setting her mug aside. "I suppose that depends on whether or not you have an affinity for spirits. The reason there are so few of us has less to do with a desire for it and more to do with an ability. If you do? It will be simple. If you do not? It isn't impossible to learn but it would be considerably more difficult as I've never taught anyone that didn't have that affinity, nor have I been mentored by one. Everything I know comes from those that have heard them or felt them their entire lives to some degree or another."

"I've read that it requires summoning a spirit and them finding you worthy of their help. There are tests to take, and I am willing to do them. I am sure I can convince a spirit to help once I plead my case." Her lips purse, because she hasn't spent her life with spirits whispering to her across the Fade.

"The first bit of magic I ever did was protecting a cat with a barrier. The spirit school has always come naturally to me. And I have always wished to protect others and heal them from their pains. I know I can be a spirit healer."

"It shouldn't surprise me that mages at the White Spire chose to make it seem like so rare and elitist a thing." Other Circles likely had different texts on the matter- something else to make a note of: a consistent standard of education and sharing of information. Too much of what the circles taught was secular. "That was what I was told and how I was taught. Whether that was the fault of the mages or that the Spire is where the center of the Templar order was and they would rather have fewer of us due to the increased risk of possession- I can't say."

One way or another, their ability to research their abilities had been limited. At this point she shouldn't be surprised. "I will teach you what I know as it was taught to me. You are skilled in the school and have a kind heart, calling one to work with you should not be so difficult a thing."

"It would not surprise me if the Templars harshly regulated this sort of thing." And it's upsetting that the chance to use the teachings for good was restricted because -- once again -- mages were thought to be weak.

"Thank you! This means so much to me." Her face lights up, and she places a hand over her chest. "I will be a dedicated student."

"You'll be joining Sam in your studies. At the moment we are working on developing focus and multitasking rather than actually contacting or comprehending Spirits. It is an imperfect system for preparing yourself for making use of their power and making a partner of one, but the best I have until we come to that step. Afterward...every spirit is different, and every Mage senses or hears them differently. How my Mentor worked with his is not how I work with Compassion, nor is how you will work with yours be the same as Sam's partnership. It'll be a relationship that defines the course of your studies when the time comes." And one she can only hope to guide them through well. But as her mentors were either in the wind or in the ground, there is little else she can do but her best.

Christine listens attentively, nodding along. Everything Adelaide says makes perfect sense, and she's excited to see where this path leads her.

"Thank you! I'm looking forward to doing this."

"Lessons are in the garden in the early morning. If you like I can send Leon or Henri for you?" It'll be a good place to start, provided they aren't all hungover.

"Yes, that would be good. Though if we're starting tomorrow, they might not be so bright-eyed that early in the morning." She chuckles to herself. "But I will stop drinking right now, so I can focus tomorrow."

"We've tea at one end of the tent or another if Bruce decides to wander in." He didn't much care for wine and not having any on hand seems a poor idea.

"I'd better go get some of that. All the better to get me off to bed, yes?" She smiles and squeezes Adelaide's hand. "Thank you again."

"You are welcome, Christine. Rest well." Adelaide returns the squeeze, settling back with her wine. "I will see you in the morning."

A bottle of white, a bottle of red

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