[EP] Research - Pro Aris Et Focis (OTA)

[st_artingpoint]

Some of Jane's memories were returning, thanks to Molly, and she had some intense conversations with Alex about her possible military background. All of this had her looking at her tattoos differently. There was one that was barely visible on her arm underneath a black patch of ink. Molly had done a glamour spell that was able to remove the ink cover but it was still faint. It was clear enough so that Jane could research it and she'd learned it belonged to the Navy Seals.

That got her even more motivated as she sat at a table with a scattering of books around her that had military images, a notebook and a mirror. Jane was in the process of trying to look at a smaller tattoo on her back and try to sketch it. Neither was successful and she was getting frustrated. She needed a way to catalog all of her tattoos so that she could start to see if anything related to any of the memories that were emerging.

[GP] training day

[st_oryinsilence]

There was a trope that in prison there wasn't much to do except work out or read. As colorful as Madonna Inn might be, it was still a prison. And look, somebody had put together a library.

Put fifty some people, many of them military, adventurers, vigilantes, or superheroes of one stripe or another, in a prison with none of the urgent missions or near-death experiences they were used to, the fitness center was going to be a popular place. Maybe almost as popular as the bar.

... Probably not quite that popular.

There were free weights and weight machines, treadmills and ellipticals, yoga mats and exercise balls. A room set aside for classes, if someone decided to lead. A large square had been taped over an area of the floor off to one side as a make-shift sparring space. Sports equipment had been brought back from Bonesville for those who preferred more organized games. And those who had been stuck here longest remembered there hadn't always been a salmon ladder.

In other words, something for just about everybody. And you could usually find someone in there if you were looking for a spotter, workout buddy, sparring partner, friendly competition too.

[EP] Learning about Humanity - OTA

[st_paladin]

Adrian had found a lot of the 'guests' at the Inn were quite pleasant and he wondered if that was how his father had found them in the beginning. When they had no idea he was a vampire, just a wanderer among them. It fueled his curiosity and he wanted to learn more about humanity. The only examples he ever had was his mother and the other villagers, besides what he had encountered here.

The best way to learn, was to observe. He didn't want to draw attention to himself, so he settled onto a small table in the restaurant area with his ever present notebook beside him. It was what he used to take notes, trying to decipher turns of phrases and words that were foreign to him. Up until this point he'd used a pencil, but on the way down he'd realized that he didn't have it with him. Instead, someone had offered him a writing utensil, they called it a pen but it looked nothing like a goose feather and he couldn't understand how it wrote without an inkwell.

As he pressed the end to the piece of paper there was nothing. Adrian's thumb accidentally moved across the end of the pen and he heard a click sound. Suddenly a point appeared at the bottom where there had been nothing. "Odd." Curiously, he moved the end over the paper and gasped when a mark appeared. Was the ink hidden?

[For Piotr] Avels for All Time

[st_alksthroughwalls]

Anyone who knew her from home would either have been shocked or utterly unsurprised to see Kitty had taken to studying the Old Testament and the Union Prayer Book, at the Inn. The dividing line wouldn't be as clear as old friend versus new, but instead those who understood her faith had always been a part of her and those who'd never been with her when she'd needed to close her fingers around the Star of David she always wore.

Piotr wouldn't be surprised; from her world or his, he would understand completely if she waffled about whether the Mourner's Kaddish was appropriate on the occasion of Wyatt's departure, or the anniversary of Lara's, or today when she came to tell him what she'd learned. He would understand entirely, if she decided to consider them avel, or mourners, not just for the seven days of a proper shiva for the dead, but for all times.

They were always mourning. Always in the midst of one shiva (seven) or another but never staying long enough to sit. Here, now, finally, she thought, sitting was all they did. Sit and marinate in their grief until they were vulnerable and fragile and afraid. The vulnerability and the distraction, these were why the shiva in the first place. An avel couldn't be assumed to have things together and make good decisions. All they were supposed to do was focus on their dead and mourn.

And if their lost weren't dead, Kitty thought it perfectly just to consider them still avel. Which was why she really hated to interrupt Petey while he was happily gathering up bottles and vases from an art lesson, obviously about curves. He hadn't noticed her, and she was reluctant to intrude.

EP - Need to do something - OTA

[st_rikeback]

Talking to Liz about Las Vegas had pulled up too many memories of the good times with Gin. Alex had been treating the time at the Inn like a prison, and it was, but it also was very much a resource. It was time to treat it like one. He felt a little foolish asking for books on magic, but embarrassment had never stopped him before. Besides, he'd be damned if a little embarrassment would stop him from finding out what happened to his wife.

He brought a few tomes on magical spells over to a table and began taking notes on anything he could find about finding something that was lost. There might also be notations on spells that force people to tell the truth because he was almost positive that Mr. Johnson and Cassandra knew more about what happened than they were telling.

Every now and then, he got up to take a walk around the library looking at the artifacts. It was mostly to stretch his legs and back, but if information might be had, Alex wasn't going to leave any stone unturned.