Game was 1/16/21.

Anita's alarm goes off at 6:30 in the morning, far too early after the night she just had, as heavy rain pounds the roof. She grumbles blearily as she gets out of bed and hops into the shower. Once clean and marginally more awake, she heads downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast and finds her Abuela already up. As Anita pours herself a cup of coffee Abuela demands, "Where did you take your sister last night?" Anita replies, "The actual question here is where did I pick her up?" Abuela looks at her with confusion so Anita explains, "Apparently she went out with friends in Cummington last night. I happened to be in the area, so they asked me to bring her home."

Abuela asks, "Where the fuck is Cummington?" Anita snorts and replies, "Northwest of Northampton, following Route 9 up into the tiny towns filled with old white men with their dog farms." Abuela snaps, "And which group of gringos dragged you out there last night?" Anita answers honestly, "The Troys." Abuela grumbles, "I like your other set of gringos better. Their nonsense is at least scheduled." Anita snarks, "Josh will be upset to hear you say that."

Abuela asks why Del was out in Cummington and Anita states, "You'd have to ask her that. She's not talking to me right now." Abuela smiles without warmth and then asks Anita to look under the kitchen table. Frowning, Anita complies, but she gasps when she sees Del's ankle bracelet lying on the floor underneath the kitchen table! Abuela says seriously, "Wherever she went, she got out of the ankle bracelet. This is serious. I don't know how she got so disobedient."

Anita retorts, "She learned by osmosis?" Abuela's eyes narrow dangerously and she growls, "Go to work." Anita replies, "Yes, ma'am!" She quickly dresses and then heads outside to get into her car. On the short drive from her home to the botanica, her poor little Honda makes it very clear that her undercarriage is not happy. Anita winces as she realizes shocks are fading, and as she pulls up to the botanica she grumbles about having to pay for a car repair on top of everything else. Luckily, opening goes smoothly, and the botanica is open for business at 9:00 AM sharp. After the handful of immediate customers, business slows for the mid-morning low.

William sleeps in until the wonderfully decadent hour of 7:30 AM. As he gets up, he hears the heavy rain coming down and frets about the tarp protecting his living room. He quickly showers, and then pokes his head into Serena's room to check on the Curran boys. He frowned slightly when he sees only Ray in the bed, sleeping soundly. He is slightly relieved to see that Ray's bunny ears are shrinking, but then he starts searching for Dean. He heads downstairs, assuming the younger boy will be in the living room watching cartoons but finds the room empty and undisturbed. He heads into the kitchen and stops dead when he sees that someone has already been here and started breakfast! The coffee is brewing, the eggs are ready for cooking, and the steaks are already in the oven! Even the kitchen table has been set with four place settings.

William looks out the back to find Dean outside, happily jumping in large puddles and laughing uproariously. Although he is immediately relieved to see that the boy is alright, he does tense when he also sees that there is another figure outside with Dean, holding an oversized umbrella in the vain attempt to keep the boy relatively dry. All William can see of this figure is that they are wearing some sort of very dark robe or cloak, until the figure turns as if sensing his gaze and he realizes this is one of the mages of the Shadow Chorus, the cabal that intervened on their behalf back in April and helped gather their alliance to stop Bruce Schofield. This mage is female and wears a midnight blue robe with an alabaster mask of a pretty woman with her mouth bandaged.

Once again surrendering to the strange, William steps outside onto the back porch and calls out, "Dean! Breakfast is ready, dry off so you can come eat!" Dean looks up and looks absolutely terrified, so William adds, "It's OK, just clean up and we will have breakfast." Dean slowly approaches the back porch, but then the mysterious mage grabs the towel from somewhere and quickly wipes Dean down before they enter the kitchen. William shrugs and gets the steak out and finishes the eggs while the mage continues to dry Dean off.

As Dean dives in for breakfast, William turns to the mage and says carefully, "Thanks for breakfast, can I help you?" The woman nods solemnly and replies, "I need to talk to you and your grandson." William asks, "Is everything alright?" He is surprised when the masked mage gives a very human-sounding exasperated sigh as she replies, "You are aware that today Management was going to send a specialist to assist with the demon-rat?" William replies in the affirmative, and the mage says tersely, "That plan just went sideways."

Upstairs, Josh wakes up to the smell of steak, eggs, and coffee. He immediately launches himself out of bed and clumps downstairs, hoping that Veltis has recovered enough to be in their kitchen cooking breakfast. He runs into the kitchen and his smile falters when he realizes that Veltis is not actually here, but he does recognize the robed mage. He chirps, "Hello, good morning. Is something exciting happening today?"

The robed mage gives another exasperated sigh as she gestures for Josh and William to join Dean of the breakfast table. Ray comes down a few moments later, and eyes the strange, robed figure in the kitchen warily, but seeing the Troys seem unconcerned, he sits next to Dean and starts eating. The mage informs William and Josh, "The specialist that Management is sending is a mage called Chaplain. The idea was to send Chaplain quietly so she can help the demon-rat and repay the favor she owes Management."

Josh asks, "Did something happen to this Chaplain? Is this plan no longer a secret? Is the plan suddenly public?" The mage growls, "It is now. Unfortunately, this information got out, don't ask why, and that touched off a political firestorm this morning. Do you know anything about the various cabals in Boston and Salem?" The Troys shake their heads so the mage explains, "Without getting into dangerous details, there are several powerful cabals operating in the Boston area, but the big two are the Ebon Noose and the White Putnams cabals."

Josh mumbles into his eggs, "That's pretentious." The mage snorts and replies, "Yep." She suddenly shakes her head and quickly adds, "I apologize, I have been rude. Please, you may call me Angerona." William and Josh wrack their brains to see if the name is familiar, and both dimly recall but that is the name a Roman goddess of compassion and secrets. Angerona continues, "Chaplain is part of the Ebon Noose and their rivals now intend to send one of their own out here as well to observe. The Shadow Chorus will be on hand to keep the peace, what we do recommend let your cell shows up in numbers for this as Leta should not be alone. You will need a neutral space, preferably warded."

While Ray keeps an eye on his brother, William and Josh nod as although they don't understand mage politics, they realize Angerona is right and Leta needs backup. Josh asks carefully, "Is there any way they can be distracted, in case things get too heated?" Angerona considers the question carefully and replies, "Have you ever heard of interstitial space?" Josh grabs his phone and starts rattling off the biological definition, while William retorts, "The answer is no." Josh continues fiddling with his phone however, so Angerona leans into William and says softly, "I kind of want to see how this plays out."

William smirks as Josh rattles off a more esoteric definition about spaces that should not exist and then cries out, "I get it! It's like that movie with John Malkovich in the non-space!" William shrugs as he doesn't know what Josh is talking about, but Angerona replies, "That's as good an explanation if any. I realize that those of you that carry a lantern probably don't encounter interstitial space very often." Excited, Josh exclaims, "We carry a candle, but this sounds like the space at Cooley Dickinson Hospital! I had to knock on somebody's head to gain entrance!"

Angerona stares blankly at Josh for a moment before muttering, "Sure, I guess. Interstitial space acts as a gateway to other timelines, realities, and spaces that should not exist. If you want more information, you can ask your friends in Task Force: VALKYRIE. However, one of the big interstitial mysteries out in Boston is that there appears to be some sort of other, hellish reality existing alongside our own. The locals who know about it call it Bone-ston, and it seems to be some hellscape where the Charles River is entirely made of blood, monsters roam freely, and much of humanity has mutated to survive. However, the point is if you ask them about that, you'll an explanation consisting of long, excruciating, esoteric detail. Much of which you probably won't understand, and I don't mean that as an insult."

Josh shrugs in acceptance but notes that down so he can use it if needs be. Angerona turns her attention towards the Curran boys and idling notes that as they eat, their bunny ears start shrinking even more. She asks curiously, "How did they get rabbit ears?" Before they can reply, Dean calls out, "We ate fruit!" Angerona shakes her head and asks carefully, "Was this changeling fruit?" William retorts, "Probably."

Angerona turns back to William and asks to speak with him privately, so Josh takes the opportunity to text a quick warning to Leta. He starts fretting about the need for place to hold this ritual and wonders aloud if they can get in touch with the Smith 's Daughters to see if they have any leads for a space on campus they can use. Angerona tells him, "Or you could just ask the werewolf that's lurking in the woods right off your property who's been watching me."

Josh brightens and exclaims, "That's a great idea!" and then runs out to the backyard without an umbrella. Angerona stares after him for a moment before turning to William and asking, "Is he always like this?" William retorts, "Let me put it to you this way, if you see a rainbow out there, you know exactly where it's coming from." Angerona grumbles, "I can't tell if you're joking or not." William shrugs and replies, "Me neither."

William leads Angerona into the living room to talk privately, and the mage leans in and says softly, "You have noticed that those boys have been emotionally neglected, yes?" William replies equally quietly, "Yes." Angerona nods and informs William, "Whatever happens, those boys consider their time here to be among the best parts of their lives." William nods soberly and then Angerona adds, "I do wish to apologize for suddenly popping in like this." William replies, "No problem. You made a good breakfast and you gave us important information." Angerona bows slightly in thanks and then walks out the front door to simply vanish into the rain. William heads back into the kitchen to finish breakfast with the boys, and once that's done he cleans up and heads to the living room to inspect the tarp.

Josh walks out into the middle of the backyard and gives an enthusiastic wave to the woods, not actually knowing who's out there. He hears the lupine equivalent of an exasperated groan as a midnight-black wolf with a pink stripe down her back struts out of the trees, comes right up to him, and barks in what sounds like annoyance. Josh looks stricken and says, "I'm so sorry, I learned the wrong language from the totem! I should have learned wolf."

After another exasperated noise Cain starts shapeshifting into a human form, but Josh cries out, "No! There's kids in there!" He does his best to get between Cain and the window, and thankfully he's pretty sure no one saw anything. Once back in her human form, Cain demands, "What have you done this time? I was scouting nearby and smelled something escorting the boy outside." Josh provides a quick explanation about mages and Bostonian politics and then adds, "We will need a place to work with Veltis tonight. Angerona recommends a neutral and warded space. Do you happen to have anything on campus that we could use?"

Cain considers the question for a few seconds before declaring, "I can definitely get you a neutral space, but I'm not sure about it being warded." Josh replies, "I understand, and thank you very much. I will check with Anita first to see if we can use the botanica, but if that's not an option I will let you know." He fell silent for a few seconds before adding, "I assume the Academitrix has informed you about my grandad's current… condition?"

Cain snorts and replies, "Oh yeah. We know. Also, the totem is very happy with whatever you were doing last night." Josh finds that he isn't surprised, and replies, "That makes sense. We were learning." Cain nods and then suddenly and abruptly shifts back into her wolf form before darting off back into the woods. Josh heads back inside, but as soon as he opens the sliding doors Dean calls out in his best imitation of William, "You need to dry off first!"

William overhears this from the living room and peeks around to the kitchen with a smile, but Josh simply shrugs and then shakes himself like a dog! Williams smile vanishes and Dean looks horribly offended! Josh grins wildly at Dean and then at William, and then he grabs some paper towels to clean everything up. William grumbles but returns to the tarp; after a while he's able to seal it back again but realizes that with heavy rains and potential snow coming in the next few weeks the tarp is not a permanent solution.

Josh calls Anita at 9:15 at the botanica and quickly gives a vague explanation since their phones are no longer secured. Anita quickly picks up what Josh is saying, and Josh asks if they can use botanica tonight as a safe and neutral space. Anita admits, "I do have wards now, but not ironclad like the old ones. I've been working with Abuela and Cuthbert these past two weeks, but I'm not sure how strong a ward you'd need."

Josh admits that he is working on securing alternate space at Smith College, and Anita tells him, "Focus on that, and keep the botanica as a backup." Josh agrees but notes the undercurrent of tension in her voice, so he asks if she is OK. Anita growls, "Sisterly drama. Apparently, she managed to get out of her ankle bracelet last night before she went to Cummington." Josh replies carefully, "She's really capable about some things, you know." Anita growls, "Yes, but in other areas, she's just like you. She gets the urge to poke the hot thing, regardless of consequences." Josh replies, "Abby is the hot thing?" Anita snorts and Josh adds carefully, "Our Bostonian friends may want a warded space, so I'll see what I can do on my end and I'll let you know."

Josh hangs up and calls Cain. He tells her that the botanica can be used only as a backup space, and that something on Smith College would work better. Cain asks, "How warded do you need?" Josh admits bluntly, "I have no idea." Cain snorts but adds, "I'll see what I can do, please understand that we are going to be there. This is the heart of our territory after all. We can join you if you want or lurk nearby." Josh jokes about having them openly lounge around Leta and the others tonight, but then realizes that may not be a bad idea. Cain agrees, and tells Josh, "Let me see what I can find, and I will call you back, probably around noon."

Leta sleeps in, not having anything to wake up for, though her phone rings at 9:30 in the morning. She grabs it and looks at it to find that the incoming call isn't popping up with the caller ID, but she answers it anyway. She hears a curt female voice that asks, "Miss Mackenzie? I'm from Management." Leta can hear the barely- suppressed anger in this woman's tone as she starts talking about a complication for tonight, but notes this isn't the gestalt of voices that spoke to them at Fitzwilly's.

Leta asks, "What did we do?" Startled, the woman says quickly, "What? Oh, I apologize, I am definitely furious, but I am not furious at you. In this, you are completely blameless. How well do you know the mages of Boston?" Leta is very startled to find out that she isn't the source of someone's anger, but replies, "Not very well. I only met one, Kirk, but he died. But from what I can tell, he seemed to be one of the better ones."

The woman replies, "He was. He was actually one of the best. Unfortunately, there are now many more players involved in this. Someone, we think in the Shadow Chorus,¹⁾ let slip that our specialist, a mage called Chaplain, was heading out to help you today. This kicked off what is essentially a cabal pissing contest in the Greater Boston area, and now everyone is comparing their magical dick sizes in an attempt to come out to western Massachusetts and find out more about you. We're trying to put out as many fires as we can, and I think at this point you're going to have Chaplain and one other mage from a rival cabal."

Leta quick realizes that this is the source of this woman's anger, and she jokes, "How rude. We all know Management's dick is the best and the biggest." There is a moment of silence over the line, but Leta can hear the woman desperately trying not to crack up. She returns to the phone and says, "Thank you for that. The Shadow Chorus will be joining you to keep the peace, and I believe one or two of them may have already reached out to the other members of your organization. With all this in mind, it would probably be best for you to find a neutral, warded space for Chaplain to work with Veltis."

Leta admits, "I honestly hadn't put any thought into the location. Why is this suddenly a big deal?" The woman replies, "The word demon means so many different things two different people. Combine that or the intense curiosity mages have about us and our travel advisory regarding the Stryx, and this quickly became a flashpoint between the two most powerful cabals in Boston. We will leave you to decide whatever space you like, and when you want Chaplain there. When you know, simply pick up the phone and dial 922. I'll answer, take down your information, and I will send Chaplain on her way at the appropriate time. Obviously, factor in about two hours for travel time from Boston to Northampton."

Lea agrees and sincerely thanks the woman from Management. She promises to call as soon as she knows, and Management ends the call. It's 9:45 now, and then Leta sees Josh's vague text, "Complications arose regarding the therapy session this evening, looking for space." Leta realizes Josh is simply being careful over the now unsecured phone lines and texts back, "Briefing from Management team. Won't look for locale if you're already on it. I'll pass on the details." She then sends a group text, "Moral support needed for tonight."

Down in Springfield, Anita is enjoying a bit of an uptick in business around 10:30 in the morning. She sees a few of her regulars like Consuela, but a few new, younger faces seem to be shopping much more smartly than the ones from this past weekend. All in all, she has seven customers shopping, which is a reasonably high number considering it's Tuesday morning. She then here's someone call out, "Crap, crap, crap, oh wait, not crap. And we are getting this!" Anita zeroes in on the voice and quickly recognizes one of the mages of the Shadow Chorus, the woman entirely in black with a black mask depicting a fanged hag. The mage roams her botanica, and Anita calls out, "Hey, no-face! Keep the comments internal!"

The other customers look at her strangely, and Anita realizes they apparently cannot see or hear the black-robed mage. She calls out, "My bad, I thought there was someone else over there." The younger clientele looks a little confused, but her regulars quickly assume that she's keeping an eye out for shrinkage. They continue their shopping, while the black-robed mage continues roaming. Anita eyes her and then makes the two-fingered 'I-see-you' gesture. The mage grumbles, "Why do you even sell this crap?" Anita replies in a soft tone she's sure the mage can still hear, "I gotta stock shit for appearances."

The black-robed mage grumbles and keeps up a running commentary for the next half hour. However, Anita notes carefully how everyone else in the botanica is utterly oblivious to her presence and seems to shift out of her way without even realizing it. At one point, she's yelling directly into Consuela's ear, but the older Latina simply does not notice. By 11:00 o'clock, the other shoppers have emptied out with their purchases leaving Anita alone with the black-robed mage. The mage toddles up to the counter and places $300 worth of grave goods for Anita to ring up.

Anita eyes the selections and realizes the mage has carefully picked out some of the genuine articles in the botanica. She jokes, "If this is what you're into, I know someone who would like to be your friend." The black-robed mage retorts, "I know who you mean, but no. Even we have our limits."²⁾ Anita giggles as she starts ringing up the items and then she asks half-jokingly, "Are you putting down a zombie?" The black-robed mage holds one finger to the lips of her mask and whispers, "This is for tomorrow, we need to talk about tonight."

Anita groans but finishes ringing up the order. She keeps everything on the screen without tallying anything as she turns to the mage and asks, "Who are you, and what did we do this time?" The mage replies, "You may call me Culsu and as for what you did, you did nothing! You get nothing! Good day, sir!" Anita mumbles, "That's even more confusing." Culsu snaps, "If you did not get that movie reference, I am going to beat you about the head and shoulders with some of the crap in this building."

Anita replies, "Oh no, I got the reference. I'm just still trying to process the fact that we didn't do anything wrong." Culsu snorts but replies, "No, you didn't. Unfortunately, this is about politics. Someone, don't ask who, leaked to the greater mage community that one of our own was coming out here tonight to fulfill an obligation to Management. Her name is Chaplain and once this got out, mages in rival cabals started insisting on accompanying her, claiming that western Massachusetts is too dangerous to go alone, and they will accompany her to observe. We're trying to keep things straightforward, but there are several mages who just want to piss in the oatmeal."

Anita grumbles, "We don't try to piss on anyone's oatmeal. But thanks for the warning. Josh already contacted me about finding space, and I think he's trying to find some location up at Smith College." Culsu nods and then points to some of the items on a nearby rack and demands, "Do people actually buy this?" Anita shrugs and says, "I have my regulars, but I get a steady stream of some people coming in just looking for something magical. Love spells and crap like that. I'd rather sell them something that doesn't actually do anything, then sell them something that has power and then it runs out of control."

Culsu grudgingly concedes the point and adds, "The Shadow Chorus will be in attendance tonight to keep things peaceful." Anita replies, "Thanks for the show of solidarity." Culsu grumbles, "Sure, we'll call it that." Anita then adds the 10% 'friends and family' discount to the order and charges Culsu $270. Culsu pays with crisp $20 bills and gestures for Anita to keep the change. Culsu then simply vanishes from sight after that, so Anita calls Josh back from the store number. Josh greets her and says, "I think you'll be off the hook for tonight." Anita replies, "I just got a visit from one of our Bostonian friends. If you can't find anything, my basement is still an option, but a last-ditch one. Focus on Smith, and I will come up tonight for this. Keep me informed."

She ends the call and during the next lull she cleans the botanica, works on some paperwork, and then spend some time noodling around on the Internet. She texts Peter, "Are you dead? Did you penis fall off?" She gets Peter's autoreply indicating that he's on duty, so she texts back, "Oh good, you're still alive." As the afternoon wears on, David pops in for a quick visit and Isabel calls before dinner, both simply checking up on Anita.

Josh receives a phone call from Cain at 12:15 in the afternoon. She says, "OK, I'm able to secure a few different spaces. How many people are coming to this?" Josh replies flatly, "I have no idea anymore. I've given upon this whole clusterfuck of Bostonian politics." Cain is a little startled at Josh's attitude but replies, "OK then. I can get you either the gymnasium or one of the music halls. Since it's Thanksgiving week, most of the students are already off campus, I can definitely guarantee you space after 8:00 o'clock tonight. Let me do a bit more legwork and I'll call and confirm around 3:00 o'clock this afternoon, OK?" Josh happily agrees and then wonders if he must provide food for everyone. Cain retorts, "Josh, you do not have to feed anybody. Bonus: reserving the space for 8:00 o'clock means everyone will have theoretically already eaten dinner." Cain ends the call but Josh decides to bring chips and dip anyway. Once that's decided, he grabs the keys for his Ford Explorer and tells his grandfather, "I'm off to UMass. Morning classes got cancelled due to Thanksgiving."

William nods and Josh departs. Josh drives down to New South Street to pick up Abby and then they head over the bridge into Hadley to get to Amherst. With Josh gone, William focuses all his attention on the Curran boys. After lunch Dean asks if he can go outside again, and he solemnly promises that he won't shake himself dry. William smiles and readily agrees. Ray heads out to the porch to keep an eye on Dean while William cleans up the kitchen. The rest of the day passes relatively quietly after that, but William gets a phone call at 3:00 o'clock in the afternoon from Firestone. Brian from Firestone informs William that his beloved Buick Skylark is ready to be picked up and that they've received his payment, so everything is all set. He asks if William needs a ride to Firestone, but William assures him, "Don't worry about it, I'll get a ride later after my grandson returns from UMass." Brian readily agrees and hangs up, and William once again decides not to ask who paid the bill.³⁾

Cain sends a group text to the entire cell at 3:30 in the afternoon stating that she has secured the Earle Recital Hall on the first floor of Sage Hall on Green Street. She includes a Google link for directions and adds that the space will be available starting at 7:30. With that in mind, Josh organizes the cell, and they will meet at the Troy house for 7:00 tonight. The next two hours pass quietly, and Anita decides to close the botanica at 5:30 tonight as it is still relatively slow.

Josh returns home around 5:00 o'clock and William asks him for a ride down to pick up his Skylark. Josh agrees and drives William down to the Firestone on King Street. They see the Skylark waiting outside, so Josh pulls in and waits as William heads inside. William meets Brian face to face and finds him to be a kind, middle-aged man. Brian runs down some of the repairs and warns William that the Skylark is going to be a little sticky at first due to all the repairs, but that should smooth out after two weeks or so. He hands William the invoice for $5,800, and William is relieved to see that the balance is indeed zero. He gets the keys, thanks Brian, and heads out to his car.

Josh waits as William starts with Skylark and drives a few rings around the parking lot to get a feel for how the repairs have impacted the car. Josh then follows William home, and William finds the Skylark is indeed a bit sticky. They get home a little after 6 o'clock and share dinner with the boys. The rest of the cell gathers at 7 o'clock, and Mick and Doctor Ranjip make it crystal-clear that after last night they will not be babysitting the Curran boys today. The boys' ears have mostly returned to normal, and Polly grudgingly agrees to stay behind after making a quick call. She says that Hope will be coming over to help Polly watch the boys in the house tonight, and William finds he has absolutely no problem with having a werewolf protecting his property.

The rest of the cell gathers in William's Skylark or Anita's Honda and they scoot down Route 66 to Smith College. They pull onto Green Street and park both cars in the metered spaces along the road. The rain is still coming down they get out of their cars and cross the street to Sage Hall, but they find the door is unlocked. They head inside and follow the signs for the Earle Recital Hall and find a spacious room that can easily seat one hundred and twenty people and has a good-sized stage. Four dire wolves are sprawled on the stage, lazily watching them as they enter, and Josh gives them a welcoming wave.

As the hunters settle in, Leta is the first to notice the existence of some old wards. Anita cottons on next, followed by William and then Josh. Before anyone can investigate further, Leta suggests using the Moral Support tactic to bolster their resistance in case things go sideways tonight. The others agree, so William, Leta, and Mick perform the preliminary psych-up which Josh then turns into an inspiring speech, and the tactic is successful.⁴⁾

Once emotionally fortified, Anita starts locating the old wards. She realizes that this building has decades of wards interconnected and over-layered, but also the wards haven't been tended to in about a decade. Now intensely curious about why the space is so heavily warded, Anita spends several crucial minutes reactivating the wards and trying to reconnect them. She is able to successfully reactivate about 90% of the wards and is reasonably confident that they will hold for at least an hour. The others feel a slight pressure change as the wards kick in, and they also realize that they're dealing with something quite old.

The Shadow Chorus simply appears in the room at exactly 7:55 PM. They take seats in the front row, and at 8:00 o'clock sharp a thirty-something female mage walks into the building; she has curly dark hair, vaguely Mediterranean features, and is wearing a pale green dress. The hunters spot a silver cross dangling from her neck as the woman pulls off her coat and hangs it up before turning to them and asking, "Miss Mackenzie?" Leta nods and the woman says, "I am Magdalena." Leta asks carefully, "Then you are from the White Putmans?" Magdalena replies, "The White Putnams, yes."

Leta says, "Then have a seat. Are you a… mental mage?" Magdalena smiles and says firmly, "No, I'm not a mental mage. I'm here to simply observe, and Chaplain will work unopposed when she gets here. However, one of my skills is fate magic. Would you like me to cast a spell to tilt fate in your favor?" Leia replies carefully, "I appreciate the offer, but I'd like to wait for your colleague first."⁵⁾ They settle in to wait. 8:05 passes and then 8:10. At 8:15, everyone in the recital hall suddenly feels the wards go off and push them away from the doors! Outside they hear tires squealing on pavement, and then they hear a woman scream! Magdalena cries out, "That's Chaplain!" and then all five mages bolt for the doors! Caught flat-footed for only a split-second, the members of the Troy cell follow, followed by the four dire wolves.