Xaviers!

Just on the outskirts of London, a little ways into the forest, there is a cabin. Well, to call it a cabin is perhaps to do it a disservice. The structure seems to be four small one-room cabin-like structures connected by walls. A door in one of the walls leads into the tiny rough courtyard created by the walls. Rumors say that at least one witch lives there, a very tall woman whose powers run the gamut of the tale teller's imagination and/or inebriation. Today there is a small amount of smoke rising from the courtyard, but no other direct sign of the miniature compound's inhabitant.

((Open))

Vivienne made her way to the collection of cabins. She wore her hood up and was fully galmored. Since the actions of her mother, there was no way she would have been able to travel without.

Fog rolled around the tiny compound, moving in ways that were entirely unnatural. Vivienne got the feeling she was being watched, but she couldn't see exactly where from.

She adjusted her hood and cape as she approached. For anyone magically inclined she would register. Once she was close enough to the collective buildings she stopped.

"I have come in peace. I wish to speak with the leader of this community."

The fog thickened somewhat and a voice echoed out of it, "What do you want? We haven't harmed anyone, regardless of what the inhabitants of the city may have claimed."

"Yes, those closest to your location have quite active imaginations. Most entertaining. My true business however is a little sensitive to be shared with a fog. I mean no harm to you or any under your roof."

The fog seemed to consider that for a long moment, then the door in the compound wall opened. "Come in then," said the voice. Inside, on the other side of a fire in the middle of the courtyard sat a woman who was exceptionally tall sitting. She inhaled deeply of the steam rolling off a pot on the fire and opened her eyes to look at Vivienne.

Vivienne entered, dropping her hood and her glamour. She gave her hostess a polite bow.

"I am Vivienne Chinn Oir, have come to ask for your aid and support."

"Wanda," she said, gesturing for Vivienne to sit on the other side of the fire. "I went by Tempest once upon a time, but I find little use for that name these days. And the fair folk don't see aid and support. Such a concept is foreign to them."

"It is a difficult concept for many, yes, but not an impossible one. I learned very quickly that the key to survive and thrive in this world is to have allies...friends. Also I am not fully fey."

She sat as she spoke, removing her sword and scabbard and setting it on the ground beside her.

Closer to the fire, she could smell the aromatics warming in the pot. It was a pleasant scent as "boiled vegetation" scents went. "And you hope to find allies here among the outcasts?"

"I hope to find friends, but allies will do. My mother tore down the wall and set in motion something without leaving me any direction. I know I can not do things the fey way because this world is not the Fey's, nor it is souly the human's either. To protect it, all of it, we need help from all the races."

"Who would your mother be that she's capable of tearing down *that* wall?" The question sounds somewhat rhetorical.

"The one who was made to build it in the first place. My mother was Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, Guardian of the Gateway to Avalon."

"There is now 'was' about it," she said, leaning forward to stir the pot a bit. "She's still there. Still granting power to those that no how to properly ask for it."

"She has set much in motion. Fey blades and allies. She always did have a fascination with human magic. Though a little instruction would have be nice. I feel like a child given their first knife and simply told not to stab myself."

"Seeking instruction on 'human magic' is a dicey proposition. Many are perfectly willing to instruct. Few of them should be listened to and many should be sent packing with extreme prejudice."

"Yes, there are those on the Fey side as well."

"Fey magic and human magic do not always blend well and I am already a precarious mixture of both. What I need in broad terms is a "Merlin". In specific terms, I need a human capable and skilled in human magic, one who understand this world's ley lines and its' delicate balance."

She smiled.

"'Merlin' was sealed in a cave if the stories are true. Not a fate I would see for myself. Besides, I would look terrible with a beard." There was a soft rumble and it began to rain... except in the compound. "Not that I'm opposed to helping you, but I'm only one basket and I'm not sure you want me to handle all your eggs."

"Yes, in some accounts it was a large oak, my mother's methods were less then subtle in her "younger" years. Beards are optional, as is the title and position. There are others in the world, those loyal to my mother and myself who have been instructed to build their own versions of the Camelot and seek out allies."

"I know a few others who might be interested in assisting you. A group of magic users would regulate themselves better than a single one and possibly come up with better advice, when they aren't telling each other they are wrong that is. I..." She frowned and studied Vivienne more closely, "You've been visited by the Battle Crow."

"Many times over the years, but yes, more recently. It was she that suggested a wider and wiser interpretation of the old and historically flawed script my mother's fey nature is devoted to."

"How terribly unlike her, the Battle Crow that is. Her mortal seeming must be having an effect on her usual tendencies."

"Samantha was...is a friend. I believe she persuaded the Morrigan to see the benefit in our continued existence."

Wanda waved a hand and the rain subsided, "An interesting turn of events to say the least." She considered Vivienne across the fire for a long quiet time. "So answer me this, Daughter of the Lake, what would you have of the magic-wielders you seek to recruit?"

"There once was a school for those of the human population who were exceptionally gifted. I was welcomed there and learned that those with the strength to fight and protect have a duty to do so for those of the population who cannot. Of course I would never force any to serve, but would hold those who did choose to a very tight line."

"The line at the school was never all that tight," she said with a chuckle.

"Certain lines are bendable, even breakable, others not so much. Then again if you are familiar with the Maldon school you know. It will take all of us, weak, strong, brilliant and adverage to continue to move forward."

A fresh rain scented breeze blew across the compound at another gesture and it occurred to Vivienne that there was no magic in the creation of the breeze. "I think I could work with that and I think that there are others that could work with that as well."

"Then with your permission I will leave a token with you. It will allow you to contact me at anytime and will allow you entrance to the Clock Tower."

"Permission is a dangerous thing to give, but you have it," she said with a smile.

"I have a thing about people being able to make their own choices of their own free wills." She held out a large pearl for Wanda to take.

Wanda accepted the pearl and nodded, "It will take some time to talk to the others."

"I shall leave you and yours to decided, you need not be fighters. I know the newly emerging farmers and general population of London would be more than greatful for mild and dependable weather."

"One can only do so much. Too much risk to the area in changing things too much, but I'll take it under advisement."

"Weather forecasts may not be glamorous but with technology failing more every day, even a twenty four hour foreknowledge would be most valuable. This world needs healers and fighters, farmers and merchants."

"If I was after glamorous, I wouldn't be living out here in the woods."