Interlude Three: Mission of Mercy

• Malachite & Rasayana travel into the astral to talk to Sirin and Eos, hoping that one of them has some information we can use to save the LA Tourblanc family.
• Sirin can only tell us what she knew about Arisa, her apprentice who was an Awakened Tourblanc. Arisa brought her sister Abby with her when she came to study with Sirin. Two of Arisa's cabalmates were a Thearch named Tulius (sp?) and Chiron (sp?), an unpleasant gunslinger. Sirin also tells us that Arisa was Auctorita's mother.
• Eos is happy to see us. She has a nice little afterlife going in a reflection of the gardens at the Hotel Regina.
• Eos tells us what she remembers of Auctorita's feelings about her family and her motivations when it comes to them. Most of the LA Tourblancs are descended from Arisa's sister Abby, and Abby is really the one who raised Auctorita. Because of that, Auctorita harbors a deep affection for her family, Abby's descendants.
• According to Eos, Auctorita believes she's seen the true masters of the world and that's why she switched sides. She feels she's protecting her family in doing so. If she could have, she would have brought her family under the aegis of the Seers, but as that wasn't an option, she's shielded them from the Seers instead.
• Many of the Tourblancs had objections when Auctorita switched sides. She kept them under control by threatening them with what the Pentacle Orders might do to them. She didn't want them to leave her.
• When Malachite points out that Auctorita has abandoned the Tourblancs now, at the Seers' behest, Eos says that Auctorita probably doesn't see it that way. After all, she recruited us to help them. She remembers her time with us and knows what kind of people we are. She was sure we would help.
• Eos also tells us that Issa is Auctorita's biggest regret. Auctorita can't help but feel that Issa is justified in his rage toward his family. If Auctorita hadn't spent so much time away from her son, Issa's father, then maybe she could have prevented what happened to Issa's mother. Issa's father is a great disappointment to Auctorita.
• After our astral trip, Rasayana manages to call a Free Council emergency meeting. They want him to bring Malachite along.
• While we're waiting for the last few stragglers to get to the meeting, Malachite is accosted by an Acanthus named Laila. She pulls a gun on him and threatens to put a bullet in his brain. She was close friends with one of his victims, a mage named Abria.
• Laila demands that Malachite give her one reason not to kill him. He tells her he only has one to offer: if she kills him, he can never bring down the Seers who made him into the man who killed her friend. She slowly puts away her gun, saying that his words plucked at the strings of Fate. He's not done with the Seers yet.
• Laila is going to send Malachite Abria's journals. She says he should learn everything he can about the woman he killed. And not just Abria, but all of his victims.
• After that bit of excitement is over, Rasayana explains to the audience why he called this meeting. It takes two hours of debate, but when he's done with them, they're ready to mount up and ride to the Tourblancs' rescue. But that's not really feasible, so instead they come up with other ways to help out.
• One Free Councilor offers to find out which Guardians were assigned to put down the Tourblancs; another loans Rasayana a piece of stone from the Chicago Tribune building, which is the perfect hub for creating portals to places all over the world. Corvian knows a muckraking Free Council reporter in LA who would love to know what the Guardians and the Silver Ladder have been up to there. Best of all, Shakti knows an Awakened Tourblanc named Aquinas who lives in Paris and would be willing to take in the refugees.