[Ocularum] Know that if you hide, it doesn't go away.

[itsjustabaddream]

Who: Dr. Neil West (itsjustabaddream) & YOU!
What: Ocularum meeting, post-gala
When: Late September, shortly after Dahlia's birthday
Where: West Dream Analytics
Warning(s): None, unless marked in specific tags!

Find me standing all alone.

[ Before the meeting, closed to Felix Gaeta. ]

The morning before the meeting, Neil has his office hours closed for the day, his "waiting room" set up for entertaining instead. He's made a lovely brunch that includes mimosas and has all sorts of literature set out about demons and magic, including a great deal of his own notes. Nothing quite like an academic brunch with a new friend to get one's spirits up! And Neil has, admittedly, been a bit lonely.

Open-Eyed.

[ Meeting. ]

Once everyone has gathered and the appointed time chimes, Neil will lead everyone past the threshold of his catty-cornered desks and open door frame, past his treatment office and living space, down into his basement.

Red wallpaper lines the walls and dark hardwood paves the way. The walls of the room are full of arcane artifacts and scientific or magical equipment, as well as shelves and shelves of books on the occult. In the center of the room, there is a table with an array of chairs all around. Neil takes a seat at the head, expecting everyone to gather 'round. "Alright, so let's lay out what we know."

[ Any information under this prompt becomes publicly available to all Ocularum members. You can make an OTA/mingle type thing but please limit these because I get all those notifications to Neil's inbox which can quickly evolve into a clusterfuck because I start getting confused on which ones are actually for Neil. Basically Neil is just giving everyone a chance to talk, is how this works. ]

Burn the page.

[ End of meeting, closed to Jon Sims. ]

As the meeting adjourns, and people are filing out, Neil pulls Jon aside. "Oh, Jon, before you leave--- I needed to ask you something."

My little dark age.

[ Post-Meeting Wildcard ]

Neil is always available privately during office hours, phone call, or sending stone. Feel free to follow up with him.

Comments

[liesdontfindyou]

Almost more thinking aloud, "It does keep feeling like Aster has the most to gain from this whole... arrangement, or at the very least he thinks he does. The fact a cultist of his founded this place and his daughter has been in a position to instil fear up until now..."

CT shakes her head. Yes, Aster definitely seems like a poor option for breaking whatever truce keeps this place the way it is.

"Maybe we can't afford to wait on Eligos turning on Nyarlathotep, but that doesn't make it less worth it to keep the option in mind while we try to find alternate, more offence-focused ideas and methods. Of which it seems we currently don't have many to go around."

[restingslasherface]

"There's one, but it is...reckless. The realms infernal can be reached; the Princes can be attacked there. At the heart of their power, with unlimited reinforcements, no certitude that they will stay to fight, and at risk of our own permanent deaths."

But it's an option.

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis nods at CT. They can only fight the demons if they appear, and if the demons are ready to appear, then they have already enacted their plans. That fact makes it very hard to go on the offensive. Her gaze flits to Jean, recalling parts of their conversation several days before.

"Minor demonic reinforcements will be of little issue with the right allies and weapons."

For her, perhaps for some others, though mass use of the Void came with its own risks, a devouring dark force unleashed on demons was one thing, having allies in the mix made it more dangerous. But it's not like she could go alone against the princes, that would be disastrous, she'd fail. Just like she did at the gala.

"But we don't need to go that far yet, for now we need weapons that are effective and we only have a few of those."

Jean's sword, Revelations and the two daggers, but of the four only Jean's sword has been proven.

[itsjustabaddream]

"I personally am not a fan of giving the demons the home court advantage, and certainly not surrounding ourselves with them in a place where death is permanent. I see storming the infernal palace as nothing short of a suicide mission, and I'll not endorse risking it if there are alternatives," Neil insists firmly. His brow is furrowed with worry.

"If that is indeed the only way, then we will sort it out, but you must understand that the infernal realm is a world in and of itself filled with literally billions of hostile combatants of varying levels of power, in their own place of power. And again, eliminating the entirety of the infernal royal family will prove inconsequential. They will replace the current dynasty with a new one. I personally feel that making a point of killing the entire current royal family serves more to avenge ourselves than it does any true strategic value. Certainly, if the opportunity arises to take out Eligos at the end of all this, do be my guest, but it will serve no purpose towards saving the world from demons altogether or ceasing the cycle of succession. And the strategic value of it will vary wildly on which minor demon inherits the throne if we do that prior to bringing the barrier down."