Hot Tub Thoughts (Rebecca's AAR)

[Akirapryde]

The spirits would find Rebecca out on her balcony resting in her bubble filled hot tub. Steam rose up from the water as hear fiery red hair floated around her shoulders. Suds washed over her naked body as she enjoyed the view of the mountains and forest in the distance. There were times that she was self-conscious about being so exposed like this. However, she knew that the house protected her from being spied upon. She also created a spill on the hot tub that counter Scrying. To make sure that no one is Scrying on her, she linked the spell to a Sense the Threads spell. She wanted to make sure that even if someone managed to spy on her, she would know about it.

These steps allowed her to fully let her guard down and for rare occasion, she could truly relax. Her legs floated below the surface of the water as steam rose up around her. It was times like this that Rebecca valued deeply. It gave her time to work out all the thoughts that rage through her mind. She thought about her new role in the Cabal. Pretty much she is the muscle of the group. She wondered why Richard gave her this role and wondered if he really knew what he was doing. Did he realize that one of her most important duties was to keep the peace within the Cabal?

Normally this would place her at odds with anyone that defied his orders. A move that would surely place her at odds with Simon. Something she really wasn’t looking forward to doing. Then again, it also ensured that she would was follow Richard’s orders. She closed her eyes as she smiled, ‘maybe Richard knew what he was doing all along’ she thought of the skillful way she was manipulated in to following his commands without question. He wants her to be responsible for the protection of the Cabal so she will take this role seriously. And if that means keeping Simon in check, “so be it” she uttered.

Rebecca felt as if she was drained from the spell casting of the past few days. Despite this being a norm for her, pressing herself beyond her limits made her more feel line Richard than a crusader for justice that she saw herself as. Still, it was something that had to be done. Her role of protecting the Cabal was now her responsibility and she would take it seriously.

She hoped that her offer to make magical items for the Cabal would help show everyone that preparation was needed for all future conflicts. And that she was accepting this new role as Cabal protector. Beyond this overt act, she wanted to make sure that no one noticed that she was stockpiling her own magical items. Any time there was free mana not being used by the party, she would make a new charge for her own stash. It wasn’t like she was doing this to betray the Cabal, but she also didn’t want to deal with unreasonable questions and arguments about what was just. The Cabal needed protection and she would handle this need personally.

It was something that troubled Rebecca, because if Kira and Richard could do than other mages could also. With this in mind, Rebecca wanted to make sure that the Cabal wasn’t being spied upon by Mages. She knew that it wouldn’t be long before the Consilium would take steps against her Cabal. Being a member of the Lone Star Silver Ladder, Rebecca had a deep rooted mistrust for any Consilium. That much authority would bound to corrupt any Mage, regardless of their age. But even their age becomes a factor, because in Rebecca’s mind you can’t sit on the Consilium that long without owe favors to other powers. It brought her to think about the mages that willingly worked with the Vampires. Did the Consilium condone this kind of behavior?

Back in Texas, mages that willing worked with other supernatural creatures like Vampires were often found hanging from a tall tree. The idea of such kind of justice grained against Rebecca’s own moral compass, but she also knew that something had to be done. It was only a matter of time before her Cabal would have to deal with a corrupt Consilium. To this end, she would start to mass a secret stash of magical items. These items would be focused on defense first. To protect the Cabal from being spied upon by the Consilium.

At the very top of her list was protecting the Cabal’s actions from spying. One thing that got Rebecca’s attention was Kira’s and Richard’s ability to look back in time through the Scrying pool. This was a very real threat to what the Cabal was doing. Mages from across the world could easily spy upon what they were doing without the Cabal knowing about it. It was a very real threat to the Cabal and one that had to be address. She would create a large number of charges on the parties Silk Suits that protected against Scrying, but she would set it up so that Richard could Scry upon the Cabal. If asked, she would speak the truth. But her goal was not to give anyone a reason to ask in the first place.

She also realized that Richard’s own greed and lust for power could be his own undoing. To address this threat to the Cabal, she would mirror her efforts with the protection against enemy mages Scrying with protections against ANYONE Scrying upon the wearer of this magical item. She would make sure that the successes of these items were as much as her abilities would allow. She knew that Richard was a formable mage and one not to be under estimated.

She hated the idea of going behind the Cabal’s back, but at the same time Richard and Simon brought Meatball back to life without even so much as a conversation regarding it before they did it. They went behind her back and without any regard for her own safety, to bring back this monster. She moved her legs slightly in the hot bubble filled water as she continued to think about her future actions. At least her actions were meant to protect the Cabal from a corrupt and dangerous Consilium that would condone and tolerate monsters like Vampires. In that Simon was right, Vampires are vermin who’s only purpose in the world was to be used as target practice.

She remembered the words of the Skin Walker, ‘Vampires are not alive.’ IF they are not alive, then they are not children of God and not deserving of his protection or grace. The idea of Vampires filled her with rage as her mind caused the water to slowly increase in temperature. They were feeding upon God’s children and abominations of what the Lord created. As such simple by existing they were bringing His wrath upon them. The water’s temperature continued to raise as she felt her anger raise. She pictured the innocent falling prey to those monsters. Something that no one knew was that her hot tub had no heating within it. In fact, Rebecca’s own body created the heat that rose the water’s temperature to a point near boiling. Rebecca drew in a deep breath and calmed her mind. She enjoyed the warmth of the water around her.

She rolled her head to the side and watched Infir dancing in the fire place. There was a since of purity to the flame spirit that beckoned Rebecca’s soul. She looked over at her new pistols hanging on a nearby chair she loved the way they looked. Right after they got back to the house, she called the gun deal and asked him to add an addition .50 caliber pistol to the order. She also asked that the second weapon be inscribed with the word ‘Brimstone’ along the barrel. Rebecca smiled as she whispered, “I am Fire and Brimstone.” For the coming weeks, Rebecca will practice with her new pistols to master using both of her new pistols in combat. Simon had suggested that she worked on creating a jab. These two weapons seemed like a really good starting point.

All she needed was to have Simon make the weapons lighter so she didn’t need to be stronger to use them. She would also need Simon to harden her clothing so that it could soak much more damage. She also would enchant the rounds so that they would become magical. She wanted her rounds for Fire and Brimstone to be able to hit with better accuracy. However, that would have to wait till after she took care of the Cabal.

She liked the idea of building a closer relationship with Simon. He had some good ideas, then again he had some really dumb ideas. But then again, so she did. She smiled, and looked forward to working more closely with Simon on future magical items. Sadly, a lot of that would have to wait till he learned how to work magical within her own Arcana. But once that happened, the two of them can start to clean up the evil of the area. And at the top of that list was Mr. Black and his vampires.

Slowly she started to form a plan in her mind. All too often she denied what she really was. How often did she turn a blind eye to the injustice in the world? Maybe Simon was on to something about forming a group of henchmen to take care of their light work. But that just didn’t sit well with her. She couldn’t deny that it was a good idea. But she just liked getting her hands dirty. There was something about looking that villain in the face and snuffing his evil. She wanted to let those who she smited to know that it was the Will of God that brought about their undoing.

Rebecca wanted to be able to bring God’s wrath down upon the evil doers of the world. The Lord’s words echoed in her mind, ‘when I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who have wronged.’ It was a passage from Deuteronomy. The passage was one of the favorites of the Lone Star Silver Ladder. One that she was taught for a very young age. She rolled her head back and looked up to the mountains around her. “I shall become the Will of our Father, the Lord on High. I shall bring evil doers to His justice for I am His Fire and Brimstone” she uttered almost as a prayer to the Lord himself.

On that note, Rebecca rose up out of the hot tub and reached over and grabbed her rob. She slid out of the hot tub and walked in to her room. She took a short hot shower and got dressed. She wanted to take a long refreshing swim in the lake. After her shower, she picked up her things and walked out of her home within the house. She quietly moved through the dark house and outside. She wondered about the future of the Cabal and the direction that Richard would take them on. It was one other thing that Simon also got right. The Cabal needed strong leadership. It was the reason why she demanded Richard make a decision and walked away. She walked up to the lake and started to meditate before taking her dip.