On the choice and inclination to be subtle.

Young apprentice, There are times when learning the subtlest of the subtle arcana makes you want to scream. You will not be as flashy as those who learn Forces, you will not have the power over healing and harming as those who learn Life. You will not have the gifts of manipulating the pure essence of magic as those who learn Prime do. You will not have the capacity to teleport or directly control an individual. (Though, leading a strike team through the ways between buildings without the use of magick is very subtle.) Spirits and ghosts will be a mystery to you. And even the gifts of Time can reveal more or make one more accurate in battle. What can you do with the mysteries of Fate? You can prepare yourself and others. You can ensure that the items needed are received and that the items that you do have work exceptionally well. You can hinder others – though be aware that the skill of others will always outmatch any ill luck – and aid your allies. But to do this well and effectively, you must be cunning and forward thinking. I fear you will have to look to another mentor for these skills. I am as subtle as a poke in the eye. Take social interactions. Ideally, one would want to guide a conversation rather than say “you’re a moron. This way will work better.” That isn’t one of my strengths. As an example, a gentleman – a public interfector none the less – from another dimension came to visit. The second earth that I had been speaking about. His shadowname was Raven. And if you ever meet him, do try to get away as soon as you can. He informed us that creatures from the Tannamos were being forced out of the dream-scape and astral plane by the movement of the Abyss. It was explained to us as if every part of the Tapestry was a body – you put pressure on one part of the body and the other parts move. This is true for blood, muscle, skin and even pregnancy. And like a pregnancy, when things get too large, and when there is too much pressure, there is an explosion and pain. Alright, the metaphor falls apart here, but it was the best I could do. He said it was a symptom of the issues his world faced, and that the best thing we could do was to be on the defensive; as well as be ready to make the ultimate sacrifices – and I’m not talking about self-sacrifice. I’m talking about being ready to kill off entire civilizations to stop what is coming. My response was simple: why should we ever believe him? Especially since he was looking to build a gate that will send things back to his home world – specifically magically active nuclear weapons. Enough to destroy all of Europe, most of Russia and a good chunk of Asia and Oceania. I may or may not have said a few other things that made Raven say “Hmm… I hadn’t thought of that, but it has potential.” And possibly caused more trouble for all involved. Simply because I wasn’t subtle enough. Then there are physical confrontations. Take the Cult of Galacki. This is a cult that is (and I hope to soon say “was”) operating out of a church on Main Street and Gibson. Go visit it some time. It may do your soul some good – and it may help keep life safe. We, a group of six mages including Root, Cardgame, Equitus, Scribe and a new Free Councillor walked right up to the church and demanded to know who they were and what they were doing in our city. Well, it turns out that Hamilton is a very good place for cults – especially for cults that are being powered by Abyssal entities. I suppose I should have just cut whatever tie was keeping the reverent alive then and there, but I was curious as to what these creatures did. Call it a hobby. It is what my cabal was based on, after all. The end result of the conversation was root and the girl nearly being dead thanks to eight of these unholy… actually they all had holes in their chests… things shooting at us with shotguns. Curses to keep them from shooting did not work well. A short time after escaping into the Shadow (and no, I am not going to say a word to Cardgame about that as there are times when the risk of a vulgar spell must be met) we flooded the area and arced the place with electricity. And then went in to try to clean up. What did we learn that day? Undead flesh can take bullets as easily as I can take a corned beef sandwich, and they can brush off electricity just as easily. Equitus eventually went back to vent his frustrations with blades and body armor. Yes, I did go with him, but again, it was time to be subtle. The church had an intimate connection to the cult, so I cursed the entire building and made Equitus exempt from that ill luck. Again, none of it was very subtle. Perhaps being unsubtle is the best thing to do. The Century 21 building has been host to Unity for several months now, and holes that open and close to their world come up often in that building, as well as radiation. Unity keeps the penthouse… or they did before the potential suicide mission. A mission where Emrius – our cabal mate and my cousin - died. Sometimes, one should not lead people between the buildings. Perhaps arranging for a something suitably unsubtle to happen at that building would not be amiss…