@Device(PostScript) @Make(Report) @Style(Spacing 1.5, Leftmargin 0.75 inch, Rightmargin 0.75 inch, SingleSided, Font = TimesRoman, Size 10) @comment(Set these values appropriately for each character profile) @string(name="Havilah Jacob ") @string(realname="Havilah Segwina-dar Jacob ") @string(playername="Player Name") @string(id="973009") @include (/mit/abstract/Characters/Sheets/cover.mss) @MajorHeading(@value(realname)) "There there, pretty thing. You'll be all right." You're speaking, of course, to a hatchwing; your wife's, in fact.... A pleasant, golden beast with mirrored flecks on its scales, which always reflected the red of Segwina's robes. The poor beast has been stricken since it flew after you, panicked beyond all reason, hoping for comfort. Segwina would know what to do. The lady, your wife; the hatchwing which was her familiar is catatonic. All things considered, the creature is probably the better off of the two of you.... @i("Jacob, how can you be so sure?" Segwina asked. "How can you know for certain that there will be any trouble?" "Segwina, my love, if our marrige did become public knowledge, how would it look? You're to be Hierophant soon... you don't need the publicity, you don't need the public strain...I'm just a local shopkeeper..." "Dearest, you are much more than that; you are Head of your guild, and will be Guildmaster one day. You are very special to me; how could you hurt me?" "I... Segwina, please believe me, I don't want to hurt you, but..." "Yes?" "There's something I haven't been telling you. Yes, I'm Head of my Guild; in theory, I answer only to the Guildmaster. Except that's simply not true. The Theive's Guild really runs this city; to cease paying their protection would mean instant death or worse. I don't want you associated with me, because I resent paying, and am trying to discourage everyone I know from doing so. The Guild has already made some not-so-subtle strikes against me; I'd very much prefer to keep you out of the line of fire." "What sort of attacks?" You look at her sheepishly. "The warehouse fire last week, the break-in in the second store; little things..." "Little things? @b(Little things?) One-hundred thousand square feet of merchandise burned to the ground is a @b(LITTLE THING ?) Ha'vilah Jacob, you twit, I'm a sorceress. You're a druid! Stars and little fishes, we can stop things like that! Why didn't you @b(tell) me what was going on? You curb the temptation to say "because I knew you'd react like this...", instead shrugging. "I don't want you hurt, Segwina. I'd die if you were hurt, especially if it was my fault. The Theive's Guild will fall apart any day now, I'm sure of it; it's starting to crumble, and fewer and fewer people are paying up to them. If you'd care to wait for the ceremony...?" "Not on your life, buster," she smiled at you with a wicked gleam in her dark brown eyes. "You agreed to a wedding, therefore, there will be a wedding... and the sooner the better. I'm not letting you get out of @b(this), no matter what.") You'd wed, soon after, in a secret ceremony conducted by the head of the Goddess's order, Haggai Nahum, the head of the secretive Oakthorn Collective. He had rescued both of you, and Shelaphi llo-Dreamer Vellad, from a nightmare known as "the Claw" in your younger days. You'd all been gathered together and taught the rudimentary steps of witchcraft; alas, not control. The Claw was discovered by Nahum, an ordinary beat Guard at the time; he destroyed the women utterly, and gave you real training; even Vellad, who was a decidedly nasty cuss at the time, now that you think about it... He's definitely improved with age. More mellow, a bit more crafty, but an asset to the Collective. Nahum didn't know what he was getting into when he adopted the three of you; he was rewarded with three dedicated followers of the Goddess that tried in almost every way to fulfill the potential She had granted them. And Segwina shone most brightly of the three... @i("No, she's not." Your voice was colder than ice, brittle. You stared at the young Guardsman standing nervously before you. He figeted; doubtless he didn't like the business he was about. "I'm sorry, sir, but I regret to affirm my previous statement. The Justiciar himself asked that you be informed of the... unfortunate circumstances." "Circumstances." You stared at the young man, and he began to twitch. You had that effect sometimes... "Circumstances," you repeated. "Yes, most unfortunate. Thank you for your time; you may go." The young man left your shop, grateful for the escape. You barked a command to close the shop to your assisstant, and strode through the curtain to the back rooms, storming into your office. "Mistress Segwina of the Conclave is dead, beaten by person or persons unknown," the young Guard had said. Cause of death: massive internal hemmorhaging, shock, blood loss; any of these alone would have killed her. Dead. The love of your life; your reason for living, is no more. The word rings hollowly in your ears as your world crumbles about you...) Tears flow at the memory; the loss of your beloved is still a palpable thing. You had been forced to view the body at her funeral; just one of a number of those paying respects. Why hadn't you publically acknowledged your bond? Nahum alone was able to share your greif with you, but to no one else could you betray yourself. Not since your brother's trial had you felt even slightly alone, because of the Lady Segwina... @i("Yossi did @b(what)?" you bellowed. You couldn't believe it; your little brother had always had a penchant for getting into trouble, but you'd just discovered that he was going on trial for theft. As the most notorious theif in the last decade, the Sword of Justice, no less! Your shops had been hit by him, as well... just wait until you get your hands on him...! He was sprung by Ben Zacharaiah, for the most part; he got off easy, with only a few decades of hard labor as penance for his crimes. Segwina had talked you out of strangling him yourself...) Segwina. The light of your life has been snuffed out, and those responsible are going to pay dearly. The House of Guilds has been too lenient on the Theiving scum that abound in the Capitol; you've got to toughen up on the Guild Heads, and keep them from paying any more protection money. The Alchemist's Guild has stopped. Your establishments have recently been plagued by a rash of break-ins. In fact, one of your shops, run by Zephaniah Terhanna, was attacked, and her father killed. A few days later, the girl herself was attacked. This has got to stop. Was the Thieve's Guild responsible? Somehow, the Thieves must have discovered your link with Segwina, and used her as a warning. This reasoning sounds right, but it @i(feels) wrong; the Thieves need to be stopped, halted, massacred if need be, but... somehow, Goddess forgive you, you don't think they're responsible for...for...Segwina. After all, there is your nephew Jemail, who was recently killed by the Circle of Bloodletters (what a horrible death!); while there isn't necessarily a connection there, they might be associated. And there's the problem with the new "Sword of Justice," whoever this guy is, he's as good as Yossi was. What is it with your family these days, anyway? In any case, you can't allow your personal problems to interfere with your job, particularly not these next two weeks. Yitzhok has called a special meeting of the Guild on the Castle; you aren't certain what he's up to but you know you don't like it. And the Peers are likely to be voting on some pretty important bills this fortnight, such as the drug prohibition (which would pretty much destroy the Alchemist's Guild, and likely lose you your position, if it passed), the magic licensing act (which, granted, would be fairly nice for the Guild if it passed, but would make some pretty serious enemies of the Wizard's Conclave -- and there's no reason to antagonize them), the free trade agreement (which would likely destroy the House of Guilds if it passed)... yes, it's important for you to keep abreast of the political waters. Luckilly, your Master Jeweler, Malachai Jonah, is also a Peer of the Realm, so you've been delegating the voting and political responsibilities to him. It's no use, though. You may try to drown yourself in your work, or your magic, but it isn't going to work. To maintain your sanity, you're going to have to find out what happened to -- who was responsible for -- why -- @b(@i("SEGWINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!")) Someone is going to pay for this. In blood. @i(Very soon.) @i(You are Ha'vilah Jacob me-Morshani, and you are annoyed. You are the Head of the Alchemists' Guild, as well as Guildmaster of all. You have been hearing odd mutterings about dissatisfaction with your term, but you have not had time or inclination to heed them. Your wife has been slain; you wish to see her murderer punished. You can draw information from the Guild, the Wizard's Conclave, the Collective, and anyone else you can count as a friend. Your personal resources are considerable as well: You are a Witch, although you never formed the bond with your familiar that Segwina did with hers. Your familiar has become lost in all the madness; he is a sky-blue, silver speckled beast, and you need to find him.) @section(Spells) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/airwall.minor.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/alter_animal.major.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/animal_tongues.minor.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/detect_life.minor.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/dream.minor.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/healing.minor.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Guides/lore.creation.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Guides/lore.gaea.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Guides/lore.magic.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Guides/guide.realm.mss) @section(Organizations) @include(/mit/abstract/Organizations/house.guilds.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Organizations/oak.coll.mss)