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Subject: The Third Horseman
Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 05:52:43 +0800
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OK, the gloom-and-doom has been coming pretty heavy for years, I 
know, but, nobody's saying this isn't big.  I mean, everyone's 
noticed, everyone's trying to protect themselves and whatever 
else they care about from it.  Someone, a Master of Life & 
Entropy at least, is casting some massive effect that's going to
engulf the whole world pretty soon, and the Masters - Trad &
Tech aren't here to do anything about it.  Sure, it's a 'diffuse'
working, though huge in extent, it's not so powerful that a 
solid, diligent disciple's Ward couldn't stop it, so everyone's
doing that, hunkering behind wards.  The restrictions are 
tighter than ever here on the Digital Web, chantries are warded
churches blessed, sanctuaries cleansed, constructs on heightend
alert. Every Awakened soul has seen it coming and taken every
possible precaution because whoever's behind it is just too bad
to go after.  But, that might be a mistake.  I think it really 
might be 'THE END' this time, if someone doesn't do something
to stop it.
Why?

Because 'The End' has already happened.  Twice.

I know we mages often fail to pay a lot of attention to the other
'supernaturals,' but they're out there, and they have thier own
prophecies about the 'end times' and, well, they've come true - 
not 'are coming' true, not 'signs' it's a done deal.  The garou
'lycanthropes' and vampires are toast. And, well, it /fits/.

Listen: who's the First Horseman of the Apocalypse?  War.
Well, the Garou and the other bete (shape-shifters), fought a big
one just after the Y2K thing blew over.  Tribes v 'Black Spirals'
(you wouldn't've heard've them if you didn't know any Garou - 
when there /were/ Garou).  And, well, everybody lost.  They're 
all dead, both sides.  War, the First Horseman, did for the Garou.

The Second Horseman?  Famine.
Noticed there aren't so many vampires around anymore?  A lot of 
you already know this, the Hermetics and Verbena and Choristers 
paid some attention to the bloodsuckers.  Some of you kinkier CoX
types might even have had a fanged buddy or two.  Some of you 
have probably heard of 'Methusala's Thirst' - older vampires 
can't feed on the blood of mortals anymore, they have to suck 
down other vamps.  Well, 'Time of Thin Blood' aside, that's been
quitely getting more common over the decades.  Maybe it's that 
Sleepers have been concentrating less quintessence in themselves
the more heavily the Greyfaces have sedated them.  Maybe it's
something about the vamps themselves.  But, this century, the 
whole process kicked into overdrive.  Only the 'youngest' of them
can still feed on mortals - and they often can't make proginy - 
the rest are canibalizing eachother.  
They won't last much longer - thanks to Famine, the Second 
Horseman.

Now, the Third Horseman, of course, is Pestilence.
Think about this 'terrible working' we've all seen 'rippling the
tapestry' as the merlins like to say.  Life, Prime, Entropy, 
Correspondence.  What else would that be but a plague?  I know,
we all think we'll be safe behind our various paradigmatic takes
on 'wards,' but, what if the second horseman is gunning for us,
specifically?  I don't know /how/, exactly, it might work.  Maybe
if the plague is wide-spread enough enclaves of people 'immune'
to it might draw Paradox, maybe even 'dox deadlier than the 
plague itself?  Or, maybe, if the sleeper population is depleted
enough there won't be enough collective belief to sustain reality
and it'll be open to attack from TMWNMtK.  I don't know, and, for
my own reasons (well, one reason), I can't try to stop
it - but, maybe some of you /can/.

If you feel like a Hero, I have a clue for you.  Everyone says
this thing is too vague, too complex to pinpoint.  Well, I'm 
not a very powerful mage, but I do know a little about all the
spheres, and more than a little about Correspondence, and I've
seen through /some/ of that complexity.  It's right here in my
'back yard' or, more rightly, I'm in it's back yard - since
no one outside the bay area's heard of San Jose, and everyone
knows San Francisco.  That's where it's being done, folks: the
Peninsula.  And guess what kind of start-ups like to operate 
there: biotech.

I'd suggest doing your g/t somewhere less conspicuous, though.
There's a town called San Ramon, East Bay, no one pays it much
attention, and next month, there'll be a gathering of whack-job
lusers known as 'gamers' - perfect cover for folks cleaving to 
more outre paradigms.  

Good Luck.

---                                        |
Blake 1001, Virtual Adept, Disciple    ---|-.
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/1317      '-|---
                                            |

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