World Tree MUSH

    Aurelia steps through the gate into the sanctum space that houses the Sunset Road, bringing Jun along. "Well, this is it. The sanctum city of El Camino Al Atardecer."
    The 'Sunset Road' is a broad winding avenue made of the same reddish gold as Aurelia's armor; orichalcum. It winds its way west, towards the sunset, rising as it does, resembling a river at sunset. The city build around it, El Camino Al Atardecer proper, is an accumulation of centuries of architectural styles, all building upwards in a sort of urban canyon. The inhabitants are similarly varied; not just humans are found here, but all manner of magical creatures and victims of magical misadventure move about in the perpetual sunset light of the sanctum.
    "Home to the Beacon Socity of northern California..."
    At the foot of the entry gate, there's an inscription that reads 'Sanctuary To All Who Walk The Road.' A magical ban on violence within the sanctum.

    Jun's not sure if it's etiquette to come into a magical space in a magical form, but he's in his maho form here. Mainly for safety's sake, and because he hasn't really revealed his identity to Aurelia just yet.
    He follows with obvious hesitance, though not out of fear. He looks around as he enters the gate as well... and just stares. "Whooooaaaa..." he breathes. Not only is this the oddest architectural style he's ever seen, but in the space between blinks, Jun's seen more magical creatures than he's ever seen in his life!
    Looking to Aurelia, he inquires, "This has been here the whole time?" He realizes then that... that was kind of a dumb thing to ask. "I mean... well... yeah, that's what I meant. Sorry, that must have been a stupid question..."

    Aurelia doesn't usually walk around in her transformed state because of the heavy armor that entails. She gestures with a bit of a grin. "Eh, it's pretty surprising if you don't know it's here! You can see that it's okay to be transformed here." She watches Jun for a moment. "Hey, you hungry?"

    Jun tilts his head, first one way and then the other. "Yeah... speaking as someone who's never been in this kind of thing before, it's pretty surprising," he agrees. As for if he's hungry? "Well..." he begins. And his stomach finishes the sentence, with a loud rumble! He goes a bit red-faced, putting a hand over his stomach. "Uh... y-yeah. I'm kind of trying to survive on my own, and..." He trails off.

    With an answer like that, Aurelia brings Jun over to a ramen stand that's manned by some kind of cat-rabbit person with eyes of mismatched colors. There's other patrons, including a large hairy werewolf thing with a magical prosthetic replacing one arm. All seem to be enjoying their ramen, or at the very least, contemplating the food while it cools.
    "Hey Ishida, I'll have a beef ramen with the usual fixings." She gestures to Jun. "I'm covering him." And with that, Jun is given some time to contemplate the menu."

    Jun's going to look pretty weird staring at the not-cabbit person. But, well. He's never seen anyone like this before. And it's not a thing where he's staring with disgust, no. He's genuinely amazed!
    When Aurelia speaks though, he's startled out of his surprise and offers a sheepish wave. "H-hi," he offers sheepishly. After Aurelia offers, he nods. "Beef ramen sounds good to me too," he decides. He'll ask for different fixings, most likely. And to Aurelia, he notes, "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

    The ramen here is proper Japanese ramen, with broth, noodles, and meat. Fixings like green onions, bean sprouts, tofu, and boiled egg slices compliment the meal. It takes a bit for it to cool off though, so Aurelia sits at a stool next to Jun, stirring the bowl with chop sticks. "Oh right. I don't think I introduced myself. I'm Aurelia Argent. In 'costume', I'm Metallia Gold."

    Jun smiles, feeling pleased about that -- proper ramen! Yeah, there will need to be time for the ramen to cool, so his stomach will have to wait a bit! He too sits down, and when the name is offered, he nods. "I'm... uh, Jun." Pause... and then he offers, "Jun Hisakawa." Aurelia might not be a Japanese native, so she might not know the name.

    Aurelia apparently doesn't know the name, but does smile and offers to shake Jun's hand. "Nice to meet you. I'll take you to meet my... mentor? Master? I mean, if I'm an apprenctice then she has to be the master? It's weird and feels complicated. We should eat first though." She finally takes a test bite of her ramen and finds it cool enough to eat. Aurelia wolfs it down like she hasn't eaten most of the day.

    Jun has shaken hands before, so he doesn't seem weirded out when she offers the handshake, he just returns it. "Nice to meet you too," he returns politely. He nods at the mention of the strange situation. He doesn't know the situation, of course, so there isn't much he can really say about it. Well, except for, "Thank you. I can probably use all the help I can get."
    When he starts to eat, he makes an effort not to scarf his food down, despite being hungry. He doesn't want to be rude. Also he doesn't want to make himself sick!

    After food is done with, Aurelia pays Ishida with a few copper looking coins. Then she hires a rickshaw with a few more copper coins, about the size of a silver dollar, to cart Jun and herself a good long way up the Sunset Road, to a building that looks like one of the oldest things in the city, resembling an ancient Greek temple (albeit with a bunch of other houses and such stacked on top of it).
    Aurelia hops out of the rickshaw. "Welp! This is where my mentor lives. She's a 4,000 year old ghost named Orania. She's ah... a bit of a space case..."

    Jun seems to enjoy this rickshaw ride! He makes it a point to look around as they head up to the building that looks like an ancient Greek temple. There's a lot to take in. He'll exit the rickshaw after Aurelia, and looks up at the building. He blinks as Aurelia describes the person they're going to meet. "Wow... really? How do you mean 'space case'?" he inquires.

    "She has a habit of drifting off? She doesn't always pay attention? That sort of thing?" Aurelia shrugs before leading Jun inside.
    The interior is lit by braziers with some kind of heatless flame, and it resembles a workshop. Implements that look more like they belong in a curio and relic shop than a workshop. The ghostly woman is tall and lanky, with nearly ebon skin visible behind the faint moon-like glow that envelops the ghost. Her manner of dress and personal grooming seems to be from a truly ancient African culture (Kush, if Jun is familiar with Bronze Age civilizations). "Ah Aurelia... you've brought a boyfriend?"
    Aurelia turns red. "It's not like that!" A deep breath to compose herself. "This is Jun and he doesn't know about magical society. I was hoping you could teach him?"
    "Oh... I see." Orania flits over to greet Jun with a polite bow. "How can I help, child?"

    "Oh, I get it," Jun replies. "There's probably a lot on her mind. Especially if she's been around that long." He's nice enough not to say 'especially if she's that old'. Even ghosts want to feel young and attractive, right? He'll follow Aurelia inside, though, making certain to stay behind her. Mainly out of respect, but also making sure this isn't some kind of sacred space that he shouldn't be going into unless he's sworn fealty to someone or other.
    Jun doesn't seem to have any recognition of Orania's clothing or style choices. He bows politely to her as he nears. He too goes a little red-faced at the question from the ghost. "Ah... I'm not..." he starts.
    Aurelia explains, and he nods. "It's that, yes. I'm very new to this magical stuff, I only recently became... well, whatever you'd call people like us." Referring to himself and Aurelia, who do the transformation thing with magic.
    "Well, there's a lot I don't know," he admits. "So I'm not sure how any of this works."

    Orania smiles in the way a mother does when explaining to an eager child. "Mchawi... magnum, mages... or maho in Nihon. Or is it Japan these days?" The woman seems to be unstuck and unsure of what the present is. The ghost gestures to some chair-pillow things. "Please, young ones, have a seat. And you may ask all the question you like, though I may not have all the answers you seek."
    Aurelia flops down on a chair-pillow pile and listens. She mouthes 'Be patient.' at Jun as a warning.

    Jun nods. "I'm from Japan, yes," he confirms. "So... I guess it'd be 'maho' for me." He knows the meaning of the word, he just didn't realize it also applied to the practitioners as well as the craft. As Orania indicates the pillow-chair things, Jun nods respectfully, and notes, "Thank you."
    He sits... and catches Aurelia's warning. Ah, yeah, Aurelia did say something about Orania being a little... drifty. He nods to the warning, though he doesn't say anything, because he doesn't want to seem too rude.
    And then Jun takes a breath. "I'm... not sure where to start," he admits. "I feel like I've been suddenly thrown into the deep end of a pool." Pause. "I guess... everybody's situation is different, so I can't really ask 'what happened'. The one that... gave me these abilities is dead, so I can't ask him, either..." Another pause. "So... I guess I should start with this -- what am I? Is it just 'you're a wizard now'?"

    "... It is different for most. Many in the Atlantean Beacon Society were chosen to... 'become'. The Order of Hermes Trimegustus often make contracts of employment in exchange for granting magical power... and then the Obsidian Cabal often forcibly transforms people into new members, though some willingly accept their black oboli... In the time of Atlantis, we studied and awakened our own magical power. But that way led to catastrophe and we do not teach the ways of high gnosis anymore..." Orania explains.

    It's not a specific answer, no... but Jun can sift through it for bits that he can piece together into something like an answer. And it also gives him more information than he would have otherwise known to ask for! "I guess I was 'chosen'... though it was more than I was in the right place at the right time. Or wrong place at the wrong time, whichever," he notes.
    A tilt of his head here... and then he speaks again. "Obsidian Cabal... I wonder if they were the people that were there..." he muses aloud. More properly to Orania, he notes, "There were people there who... well, I think they killed a dragon. With this talk of transforming people forcibly... do you think it was them?"

    Aurelia shrugs, having rolled upside-down on the pillow chair. "Probably. They like causing problems. Killing a dragon sounds like it'd cause some big problems."
    Orania snaps back to now. "The Cabal... they believe the world should belong to mages. That they should bring about the 'Age of the Witch', where the life of mundane people can be spent as they deem fit. Only... they disagree about the details..."

    Jun nods to Aurelia. "Yeah. I think they were after his pearl," he notes. "Since... well, he gave it to me and I had to swallow it to keep it out of their hands. That's how I ended up like this." He feels reasonably safe admitting that here...
    Orania's further explanation gets a frown. Though it's more just a wrinkled-nose frown. "Yeah that doesn't sound like it needs to happen. They disagree about details, you say? I hope that causes enough infighting that it makes them fight amongst themselves. Might be something that could be used to get the upper hand."

    Orania looks at Jun directly, that motherly look still on her face. "Did you want to join the Atlantean Beacon Society and protect others?"
    Aurelia facepalms at Orania's swerve of topic and bluntness.

    Jun, too, seems surprised at the sudden question. "Oh, uh... Well..." He seems at a loss. "What would I have to do?" he asks. "Because, I mean... if I go this completely solo, I'm just going to get myself, or someone else, in trouble. Probably in needing to bail my buns out of the fire at an inopportune time."

    Aurelia lip-synchs with Orania, knowing what comes next. "Our motto is 'Hope, Unity, Sacrifice'."
    And Aurelia explains. "Basically we're the heroes. We help each other, keep magical beings and mundane people safe. Do things to inspire others. And if it comes down to it... we do what's best for the greater number of people even if it costs us."
    Orania listens to her protege's explaination, pauses for a moment after. "Just so."

    Jun looks between Orania and Aurelia as the two of them speak, explain. "I know the Obsidian Cabal is bad, but what about the other people you were talking about? What's their basic... outlook, I suppose I'd ask." He does expect a bit of bias at least, since... well. This place isn't the other people.

    Aurelia uhhs. "They're not /bad/, but they like to think mages are superior too. Thing is, they police their own."
    Orania says, dreamily. "The Order of Hermes Trimegustus believe those who wield magic should rule mundanes, but there are always rules and laws to protect mages and mundanes. Unlike the Cabal, the Hermetics are content to be unseen by mundanes."

    Jun nods, thinking about this. "So we've got 'We Own Your Everything, Bow Down' and 'Move Along Citizen, This Does Not Concern You'," he reasons. Looking between the two again, he notes, "Is... that about the long and short of it?"

    Aurelia nods.
    Orania says "There is more nuance, but that is the heart of things."

    Once more, Jun nods. "I thought so. Well... I'm going to think about that a little, if that's okay?" he inquires. "Is there a way to get back here when I've made the decision? Or if I need to ask something else?"

    Orania gestures at Aurelia. "You will have to be accompanied by Aurelia. The gate only responds to existing Society members if you do not have a token to pass."

    "Ah, that makes sense," Jun replies. "But, thank you for the invitation. The way things look, I probably will take it. But I do still need to think about it. I don't want to just jump on something that important, you know?" A pause. "Do you think I could ask a little about the historical stuff? How it came to be and all?"