Archived-Sash

I retreated into safety, the world of illusion, in the stage, in the footlights, all eyes on me and no-one really seeing Because I do not talk backwards, because I do not say (Tgin Emoceb Seilfrettub) And the night does not become butterflies. I give nothing of myself to the audience, As I do it with mirrors And string And sleight The delusion of illusion and the hand deceives the eye... My life is strobed like lightning by a follow-spot, And looking backwards I can only see The corpses of the animals and birds who strutted with me on the darkened stage And helped me fool them all. Charms of birds And hatsful of dead rabbits. - Zatara, Book One:The Invisible Labyrinth The Books Of Magic, by Neil Gaiman

Sash
Path:	Acanthus
Order:	Guardians of the Veil --
Faction:	None
Consilium:	Canberra •••••
Legacy	NA
Cabal:	Counter-Threat
Player:	P. Saunders
Storyteller:	Canberra VST

See these eyes so green - I can stare for a thousand years; colder than the moon. It's been so long, and I've been putting out fires with gasoline.

Enchanter of the Guardians of the Veil, formerly of the Free Council
Born: 1987
Age: 29 (like many of her Path, however, she looks younger)
Sleeper Alias: Olivia Twist
Rank: "I'm versatile."
Physical description: Grunge-hot, trashglam, derby-chic; tall, leggy, and dressed like a thrift store manniquin, Sash rocks poker-straight pale blonde hair, torn leggings, and usually a few incidental scrapes and bruises. She has a dainty tattoo of a red heart on the webbing of her left thumb, matched by a black spade on the right, as well as a cadeuceus on the left side of her neck, and is never seen without a black bowler or trilby hat, out of which she is seen to conjure all manner of tricks.
Or rather, she was. That was the old Sash. In the last seven months, since her reappearance after her abduction and supposed rescue from the Banishers, Sash has been favouring more streamlined, less chaotic outfits, her hair pulled off her face, and her fingers hidden in half-palm gloves. The tattoos on her hands, concealed by the gloves, are replaced by new ones on her face, both black and in reversed positioning, on her cheeks just below her eyes. They look like they hurt, to do.
Nimbus: The hush of the crowd before the big act comes on stage, the dizzying tingle of chemistry immediately before lips meet for the first time, the frozen moment in a fight just before the first punch is thrown. Electric anticipation, breathless silence. Goosebumps and the pulsing of blood in ears. Thrill and euphoria, seething lust and surging aggression. The prickle of imminent possibility, like riding the crest of a wave. Pure rush, volatile and addictive.
Themesong: Arsonist's Lullaby by Hozier: When I was 16, my senses fooled me; thought gasoline was on my clothes. I knew that something would always rule me - I knew the scent was mine, alone... When I was a man, I thought it ended when I knew love's perfect ache, but my peace has always depended on all the ashes in my wake. All you have is your fire, and the place you need to reach; don't you ever tame your demons, but always keep them on a leash
Would Be Played In A Movie By: Ruby Rose
Defining Quote: "Before you decide to fuck with me, you should probably know who I am; I'm the glitch in the system. The spanner in the works. The bug in the code. I am Rumsfeld's unknown unknown. The unquantifiable element. Outside reality, and outside probability. I cannot be predicted, and I do not behave. I am the Laughing Liar. The Gambler. The Magician. The Fool. I am creative energy and defiance and will and incontrovertible destiny. I serve dark Gods, and am served by them. I am the Singularity. I am the Third Option. You can keep your precious alpha and omega; I am all over you from beta to psi. And I am here to fuck up everything you've been chuckling so smugly to yourself about."

Dealer's choice; Sash in Brisbane, January, 2015.

Timeline

Lir: "Do something! You have the power! I will kill you if you don't do something!" Schmendrick: "I cannot - not all the magic in the world can help her now." Molly: "Then what is magic for? What is the use of wizardry if it cannot even save a unicorn?" Schmendrick: "...that's what heroes are for." The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle

• April, 1987: born in Newcastle to boilermaker Daniel Grant and his Russian bride, Valeriya Volkova.
• September, 1993: brother, Mischa, is born.
• January, 1998: mother, Valeriya, diagnosed with breast cancer.
• August, 2000: after a long, hard struggle, Valeriya passes away.
• December, 2001: Awakens, and runs away from home, taking Mischa with her.
• 2002 - 2003: Promoted to parent and living on the street, she scrounges a living for her brother and herself, grifting and stealing and performing tricks.
• July, 2003: Discovered by Damocles, who schools her in the reality of her gift, and introduces her to Awakened society. Tongue-in-cheek, adopts the name Olivia Twist (often introduced simply as "Twist", and known affectionately to some as "Twistie").
• November, 2004: Meets the boy who would become Archived-Ricochet in Surfers Paradise during schoolies week, and the two quickly become close friends.
• 2005 - 2008: Continues her magic act, and as her skills grow, so does her following. Adopts the stage-name Sash the Spectacular, which eventually becomes more commonly-used - without the adjective - by fellow Mages than her original shadow-name. Acts as eyes on the street for the Sydney Consilium. Often travels to other Cities to help other Mages with issues that crop up requiring a magically versatile and physically dynamic agent.

With Archived-The Director.

• 2009: Is briefly pledged to the Silver Ladder, before being summarily booted when she proves to be just about the personification of everything that is antithetical to the entire Order. The Free Council take her gladly.
• 2010 - 2011: Continues performing, scamming, keeping her finger on the pulse of Sydney's Inner West, and occasionally traveling to assist other Consiliae.
• 2012: Becomes a popular finalist on the reality TV show, Australia's Got Talent, launching her briefly to national attention. Is obliged to drop out when dealing with a threat to the Sydney Consilium overwhelms her schedule, and also at the insistence of I. P. Smith.
• May, 2013: Witnesses Archived-Ricochet's Awakening, and is overjoyed to include her best friend in her shadow-life.
  • June, 2013: Greets her old Master, Archived-The Director, at the airport on his return from the States, and welcomes him back into the country.
• February, 2014: The timebomb drops in Sydney. Most of the Consilium is wiped out. Sash is interstate at the time, and so survives, but returns to a different timeline than the one she left.
• October, 2014: Chairs the Free Council meeting at the national gathering of all persons esoteric and arcane, and is a significant force in the initial uncovering of the timestream diversion that was effecting them all, and then in the discovery of the time-doors nearby, and their effects. Three weeks later, travels to Canberra and assists Archived-Beckett Shore in a delicate parley with the Seers of the Throne.
• December, 2014: Answers a summons from Archived-The Director to fly to Perth at one day's notice and assist in a ceremonial capacity with the signing of the new Charter of that Consilium. Is drawn into a matter effecting Archived-The Pinnacle, and with standard gung ho-ness, takes a running dive into it, head-first.
  • Late December, 2014: Travels to Canberra to comfort a grieving Beckett Shore, after the execution of Archived-Princess Pwnage. Gets both of them shot to pieces by Banishers. After a quick triage in Beckett's kitchen, mostly consisting of a sharpened spoon and a needle threaded with fishing-line, they both go out drinking and, somewhere along the line, forget to seek medical attention until several hours later.
• January, 2015: Accompanies Archived-Beckett Shore to Brisbane to stop the demon-possessed corpse of Archived-Princess Pwnage, and with the help of the local Consilium, they manage to put her down. Sash winds up with the grisly task of being the one to successfully dig the soul-stone out of the burning cadaver, before it is completely destroyed. She is observed to be uncharacteristically terse throughout the entire affair, and even to fumble her cards a few times.
• March, 2015: Returns to Canberra. Is drawn into an excursion to a part-Arcadian pocket realm, to examine some Atlantean ruins; while there, becomes embroiled with the Canberra Consilium in a tense standoff with what appears to all intents to be Cernunnos, The Horned God. After a desperate battle, largely driven by mortal terror, the Mages triumph and he is apparently defeated. Sash, Evelynne and Beckett immediately leave, head to the nearest pub, and begin drinking furiously to forget.

Sash and Beckett, immediately before turning to face The Horned God. Yeah, it got weird.

• April, 2015: Signs a five-show contract with Cosentino the Illusionist, to open for him on his Australian tour, and invites Archived-Beckett Shore along for the ride. Plays host to Archived-Romulus Arlington, while he's in town on business, acting as his guide in a whirlwind tour of Sydney. Two weeks later, travels back to Canberra. Meets and forms a friendly relationship with the enigmatic Mr Joker. Does some mysterious business with the Changelings, Archived-Belladonna, Archived-Specter and Alexander Cross. Following the conclusion of the deal, she disappears into private conference with Archived-Belladonna for an hour, from which they both emerge looking haunted and shaken, and she accompanies the three fae back to Brisbane.
• May, 2015: Completes the tour with the final show in Perth, and at the afterparty has a tense encounter with a few local vampires. Returning to Canberra, she then finds herself unexpectedly conscripted into some gangbusting activities, investigating the giant scorpions that have been terrorising the City and interrogating a couple of local drug dealers, but bows out with a, "Fuck, no." when the rest of her posse decide to reconnoiter a warehouse directly opposite Banisher HQ. Hours later, Archived-Evelynne collapses through the door, shot to pieces and bleeding to death; Sash quickly triages her, then bundles her up, throws her into the car and starts driving for medical assistance. They are intercepted on the road by Archived-Ackbar, who heals Evelynne's wounds and restores her to full health, after they pull over.

Then, at Archived-Dresden's request, she and Beckett return to Brisbane to lend their experience to the investigation of an Atlantean domain inside a closed dimension. There, they battle booby-traps and glass golems, but the party eventually emerges triumphant. In addition, they bring certain samples to Freak for laboratory analysis, and despite his unpopularity within his local Consilium, they get along like a house on fire. Then she visits the Changeling Freehold, with Beckett in tow, setting the cat among the pigeons amongst the Monarchs before smoothly talking her way past their reservations into a welcome, making the very friendly acquaintance of the Spring Court, and beginning negotiations of a commercial nature with Jarlath Stern.

Interview with the vampires, in Perth. Left to right; Archived-Ziggy, Archived-Maeve and Archived-Shroud. Not pictured anywhere; appropriate terror.

• June, 2015: Travels to Perth on a diplomatic mission to the Requiem Court, and engages in some delicate negotiations with the new Prince, Archived-Maeve, in the company of Archived-Ziggy and Archived-Shroud. Witnesses the true nature of vampires, despite all protestations to the contrary.
  

One week later, attends the local Consilium with Beckett, and they help the Golden Quill run through yet another Atlantean vault, cracking wise about deja vu all the while. After the return to the sanctum, she is seen entering into private conference with Archived-The Director, and leaves shortly thereafter.

• July, 2015: Attends the Brisbane Consilium with Beckett, presents Freak with some...interesting paraphenalia gathered from Perth, and assists him and Archived-Dresden in a matter of utmost personal importance.

Visits the Freehold and helps them locate a missing member of their ranks, whose safety had been a cause of great concern. An intel leak and subsequent diplomatic incident then occurs which leads to the night ending in a state of extreme tension between the Lost and their Awakened guests, and resulting in an acrimonious episode between Sash and Beckett.

• August, 2015: Returns to Canberra on a train laden down with visiting Brisbane Mages as well as her Sydneysider colleagues, just in time to witness Piper Ravenrider gunned down by Banishers. Sash teams up with Archived-Tectus to secure the body and contain the situation, but this results in Archived-Freak of Brisbane running afoul of the Canberra Lex when he acts on instructions she gives him to destroy the corpse. In addition, visible tension is observed between her and Beckett, but is largely set aside in the course of dealing with the crisis, and in the venturing into yet another set of Atlantean ruins that followed. Further to the team's eventual reemergence from the vault, that tension was seen to be well and truly in evidence yet again.
• September, 2015: Back in Canberra, Sash arrives two hours late to a gathering to find her recent Thyrsus foundling, Anna, has proceeded her, and managed to bewilder and offend most of the Consilium. She spends much of the afternoon re-explaining the basic tenets of Awakened life to the neophyte, who seems to have forgotten everything she had been taught in her last three months, crashing on Sash's couch. The Acanthus is then drawn into an altercation between Hierarch Archived-Beckett Shore and the visiting Archived-Dornelia, where the Brisbane Mage had fled the Consilium. Together with Vyra Anala, Sash sets out to recover the errant Brisbanite, shortly returning with her to the gathering, whereupon the three of them are seen to disappear into a private room with Beckett, and the door locked behind them. Some time later, Vyra emerges and stalks out of the building, inexplicably angry. She is eventually followed at the gathering's conclusion by first Beckett, and then a rather sober-looking Sash. Dornelia's exit is unobserved.
  

Sash with Mr. Joker at Hallowe'en in Canberra.

A week later, she attends a gathering in Brisbane, and meets privately with Archived-Dresden to discuss matters pertaining to wider issues within the Free Council. Later, she arrives on the scene too late to assist the Brisbanites in the pacification of a nasty and puissant ghost blocking the gates to the Underworld, but just in time to be shot in the side by a mortified Archived-Jack Hart who then renders skillful first-aid, apologising profusely. Sash is seen to be gung ho-ly blase about the slug of hot metal embedded in her liver, and, shrugging off the concerned ministrations of Archived-Dresden and the others, returns to the gathering. There, she continues about her business while quietly bleeding through the bandage, until the blood trickling down her side is noticed by Archived-I. P. Smith, who scolds her and quickly arranges for Archived-Freak to provide the extraction of the bullet, and a deeper healing.

• October, 2015: Sash rocks up to the Brisbane Consilium's all-call for help in cheerily fine form, despite looking rather thin and drawn, and is present at the Free Council order meeting, ultimately being the person to nominate Archived-Daisy-Rain for national Premier when nominations are called for, to which she is unanimously elected. Throughout the larger gathering which immediately follows, and following a mysterious altercation with Archived-Freak shortly after her arrival, she is observed to have a significantly different demeanour; pale, subdued and haunted. In particular, she is seen in a state of evident distress near the windows at one point, being comforted by Archived-Beckett Shore. Nevertheless, she assists in the defence effort when Banishers later attack the gathering, and then helps Archived-True Blood with some difficult interrogations of two captive assailants, even after Archived-Daedalus, Archived-I. P. Smith and Beckett leave the room, from which she is seen to emerge even more dead-eyed and hunched than before. She then immediately leaves with Beckett, and neither are seen to return.

Two weeks afterward, she makes an appearance at The Canberra Consilium's Hallowe'en party, dressed as Harley Quinn. To the surprise and consternation of all present, Mr. Joker gate-crashes the party, and makes a great, hammy show of being very attracted to Sash in her costume, stealing her away for a private conversation early in the evening; a conference from which Sash emerges looking dazed and pensive, and the mysterious Mr. Joker very self-satisfied, indeed. Shortly thereafter, she is seen to approach Archived-Beckett Shore and the two have a quiet discussion, which concludes with Sash simply nodding curtly and returning to the party. Not long after, Beckett is replaced as Hierarch by Vyra Anala, and resumes his post as Sentinel for the Consilium. At the conclusion of the party, Sash is observed to be swept out on Mr. Joker's encircling arm, dropping a card behind her which Beckett retrieves. He is seen to turn it over in his hands for several seconds, frowning as if confused, and then to raise his brows and quickly pocket the card.

Sash then falls uncharacteristically off the radar, and all attempts to contact or track her by methods both mundane and magical turn up a resounding silence. Two weeks later, Archived-Beckett Shore addresses the nation's Consilii to share the information that she has been discovered to have been abducted, with strong indications pointing to Banisher culpability.

• November, 2015: Much discussion and argument is had of how best to recover Sash, particularly leading to great acrimony and division between Archived-Beckett Shore and Archived-I. P. Smith, but ultimately, no decisive action is taken.
• December, 2015: Finally, on the very eve of the turn of the year, Sash is recovered amidst a series of chaotic events. Or at least, that's what those who has joined the taskforce to save her are told by Archived-Vyra Anala after a private meeting with the Seers of the Throne - but who's seen her, yet?
• February, 2016: Sash finally reappears at the Canberra Consilium, with what appears to be - under a hood - a buzzed head, just in time to be casually informed of the death of Beckett. She responds by running a ring around the security to burst into the Council meeting, demanding extremely aggressively for his whereabouts and condition. Eventually, and after these were granted, she acquiesced to leave with Archived-Regulus for a full debriefing, returning to the general gathering shortly thereafter and almost instantly joining with a very angry Archived-Tectus as his new Cabalmate, elevating her to a seat on the Council herself - just in time to see Archived-Vyra Anala lose her Council seat and Hierarch crown in one fell swoop, as her own Cabalmate, Archived-Anna dissolved their relationship. Sash spends much of the remainder of the afternoon cloistered with her fellow Councilors, voting on matters of the City - and in particular, the trial of her old friend, I. P. Smith, now going by Archived-Neothrope, for the murder of a Sleeper pawn in an assault on a Banisher target. Once this is ended, she and Archived-Tectus are seen to leave the gathering together, muttering together in half-overheard whispers about bringing Beckett back, and both wearing a face of grim determination.
• March, 2016: Exhibiting a markedly more militant outlook, Sash meets with the other Counselors to discuss whether Anna's and Neothrope's newly formed Cabal merits recognition from the Consilium, which would earn one of them a seat on the Council. She argues emphatically that they be denied, on the basis that Neothrope, as a criminal who was sentenced only the month before, ought not to then immediately be granted citizenship within Canberra if the Council wants to project any true authority and make his punishment seem remotely credible and more than a slap on the wrist, whatsoever. It is ultimately decided that the Cabal is not recognised on the basis of Neothrope's lack of personal standing within Canberra, and that citizenship be withheld from him subsequently until he has demonstrated contrition and dedication to his sentenced labour for six months. It is agreed that Archived-Anna may petition a Counsel member if she desires representation on a given issue, or attempt to find a recognised Cabal that will accept her as a member after her behaviour. The Council and the remainder of the Consilium then embark on an Astral Dive (in the Astral, several of their number note with interest that Sash is represented by an attractive young man with short blonde hair, in an elegant black suit, with a louche and rakish manner, and followed by a small red fox) into a martial City where three champions challenge the City's own, but ultimately all are defeated and the Mages expelled back into the physical world.

Over the Easter long weekend, she travels to Adelaide on tour, and makes a point to visit a meeting of the local Consilium while she is in town. There, she advises the Hierarch, Archived-Andromeda briefly on a matter of the Consilium's interaction with the local Seer contingent, introduces herself to a number of the local Mages, and quickly falls into an easy rapport with Archived-Tempest and Archived-Quill, with whom she spends most of the evening. She leaves at the night's end in the company of the young Apostate, Archived-Claire, chatting animatedly amidst mentions of getting a drink.

• April, 2016: Sash announces publicly to the Free Council that she is leaving to join The Guardians Of The Veil, citing numerous reasons, but most notably alienation stemming from the months-earlier suspicions that were laid against her of being a mole for that very Order.
• May, 2016: In her position as Councilor of Canberra, Sash is instrumental in forcing through a number of changes to Bronze Law that reassert both a more militant external policy as well as a more interventionist internal direction for The War Consilium of Canberra.

Later that month, she takes Hierarch.

• June, 2016: Sash attends her first Consilium gathering as Hierarch. She spends most of the event locked in intense discussion with her Council on a length agenda of matters, and also concludes the afternoon with the conduction of a ceremonial hearing and sentencing for Archived-Anubis, who pleads guilty to a charge of soul-reaping. The contrite Moros is forced to publicly create a soul-stone to be handed into the Hierarch's keeping, and to submit to a sequence of secondary restrictions on an ongoing basis. Why he is not simply executed is a matter of some public controversy.
• July, 2016: The Consilium conduct a sortie into the Astral Realm of Honour, to assess the reported damage done by the corruption of the spreading Abyss to the territories and balances therein. They strike an accord with local spirits to assist them in pushing back the dark, and reclaiming the purity of their domain.
• August, 2016: Sash leads her Consilium in an operation in co-operation with the Spirits Errol and Ronin to drive out the corruption, thus reasserting Honour's control within its own borders. The resistance is ultimately successful, though not without the sacrifice of the life of The corrupted White Knight, who had been paragon of that realm, and Ronin, dead upon each others' blades. The Canberran Mages return triumphant, but behind them, the Realm of Honour is scorched and scarred.
• September, 2016: [Content Coming]

History

"First rule of magic; always be the smartest guy in the room." - J. Daniel Atlas, Now You See Me

"Trust me."

An agent of chaos, a harbinger of change, and a talented sorcerer walk into a bar. The barman says, "Hello, Sash."
Fast-talking, indefatigably cheery and compellingly cocky, Sash ("Not the baddest motherfucker in the Valley, but definitely the one that's getting out alive") is a charming rogue. As an enemy, she'll get you every red light when you're in a hurry, and sour your milk overnight; as a friend, she'll turn up at your house at 4am on a weeknight drunk and expecting to crash on your couch, but you can trust her never to swear in front of your boss or your mum, and to wingman for you like the Devil himself.
If she has a macro flaw, it is that her amusing irreverence sometimes veers right up to the very brink of dangerous recklessness, which can be outright obnoxious for her companions, but this also makes her uniquely well-adjusted for the life on the edge of the impossible that being Awakened entails.

To say that Sash does not know when to sit down, shut up and stop drawing attention to herself is to suggest that she is not in total and conscious control of her actions, which would be to do her a disservice. She has simply been Awake too long, faced down too many eldritch powers, endured too much weirdness and survived too much danger to really be outwardly intimidated by anything, anymore.
She's quick-witted, exciting and easily distracted. She's brilliant, ambitious and utterly anarchic. She's trouble in tight pants. All her friends have bailed her out of lockup at least once, and she's forever getting worked over by the mob for running her game on the wrong corner, or fleecing the wrong guy.
She's a thrill and a worry, and one of these days, she's going to get in over her head...
If only you didn't like her so damned much.

Scruffy, athletic, charming, alluringly "troubled", swaggering, and better-looking in leather than a young Marlon Brando, Sash, once arrived, is likely to steal your girlfriend for sport unless given something more interesting to do.
She has recently been diagnosed by an astute friend as having, "stealth Knight Errant Tendencies".
...Well, that was the old Sash. Recently, and since her long-delayed public reemergence following her rescue from the Banishers, and in the wake of Beckett's death, her charisma's been more barbed, her manner more warlike, and her look more malnourished and underslept. In unguarded moments, she's been overheard to mutter to herself about probability physics, and her casting has grown vastly in power, such that others can feel it like standing too close to a bonfire. Her ever-moving, ever-busy hands are now conspicuously empty, conspicuously still. Her friends are worried.
She seems to have quit smoking, though, so that's good.

Currently

Which Sash do you want? Sash, the brilliant social engineer? Sash, the talented and charismatic illusionist? Sash, the scarred and haunted dark-eyed survivor? Or Sash, the grimly determined, dangerously compelling leader?

In recent months, she's done a lot less casual traveling, and since her move down to Canberra, her fame and fortune (Fame:2) have gone somewhat neglected in her focus on more...local matters. She spends a great deal of time locked up in her Sanctum, and while it's anyone's guess what it is she's doing in there, it's quite evident to anyone with the most rudimentary command of the Life Arcanum that she is neither eating nor sleeping. With the jewel in her crown her completion of a national tour supporting Cosentino the Grand Illusionist, just a few months ago she used to say she was going to be the next Criss Angel. Now?
Well, now she really doesn't say very much at all.

Quotes

"There’s daggers in men’s smiles. The near in blood, the nearer bloody." - Donalbain, Act Three Macbeth, by William Shakespeare

Quotes by

"It's impossible, but 'impossible' should have learned its fucking place by now."

- to Archived-The Director, via personal messaging in March, 2016, on the subject of her latest obsession.

"Probability and I agreed to see other people."

- the only explanation she ever offers, about anything.

"People will always conflate charisma with virtue. That's my bread and butter, right there."

- on the subject of her singular effectiveness as a diplomatic agent, oft-repeated.

"Not so much 'off the wagon', as 'crushed under the wheels'..."

- an intoxicated epigram.

"You should see the other guy...

...henh, not a scratch on 'im."

- in response to concerned enquiries, while battered and bruised, in Canberra, August, 2015.

"Here lies Piper Ravenrider. Apparently her shadowname was Butterfly, but it must have been very fucking shadowy, indeed, since I didn't even know that Piper Ravenrider was her real name; I mean, come on, that's not anyone's name - it's a name for fucking author-insert Mary Sue bullshit characters with colour-changing eyes in Harry Potter fanfics. Anyway, her name apparently really was Piper Ravenrider, Gods save us all. Here is said, and all that. She was very stupid, and frequently endangered all around her, and that's why her brains are currently leaking out all over the floor. There's a lesson here, for those who care to catch it; don't throw fireballs in the street or the Banishers will eventually show up and drill you in the back of the skull. Now, I know I can sometimes be a little fucking obscure in my turn of phrase, so if that's too profound or cryptic or zen or whathaveyou for anyone, feel free to contact your Sentinel for further (percussive) clarification.

"I'm...I'm not very good at eulogies. I'm going to go wash the Awakened brain-goo off my hands, now."

- making a piss-poor showing of paying formal respects to the late Piper, in Canberra, August, 2015.

"Anyone I judge to be a danger to my family - dies. That is the policy. This is not hyperbole, this is not bravado; this is precedent, and practice. Assess the threat, escalate once and destroy. I'm not about to make an exemption for a bunch of fucking fairies."

- cold and terrible, to Archived-Freak and Archived-Dresden, in Brisbane, July, 2015.

"Well, you know what they say...Acanthus rush in where Obrimos fear to tread."

- to Archived-Artemis Arlington in Perth, June, 2015.

"Generally? Pen-testing reality."

- in response to being asked by a vampire, "What are you doing here?", in Perth, June, 2015.

"Fee-fi-fo fuck no."

- on the subject of Ogres, via email, April, 2015.

"I am Sash the Spectacular, Mercury Rising, Hermes of the Fallen World, Laughing Liar to Angels and Demons, Red Daughter of The Wolf, and I. Will not. Be hunted."

- bluffing The Horned God that she wasn't terrified, Canberra, March, 2015.

"How am I again the voice of reason? Have you people met me? I'm a mess, fuck!"

- in Brisbane, January, 2015.

"Look, at this point, all we have to fear is Fear Itself - and, if you ask me, Fear Itself needs better duds, to really make the impact that he's looking for."

- in reference to the overtly sinister costume of the Lichtor, Archived-Threat, to Archived-Beckett Shore. November, 2014.

"Convictions are for Obrimos; Mastigos have motives - Acanthus make choices."

- oft-repated, clarifying a matter of moral semantics.

"Oh, I hate angels..."

- a rote complaint, groaned aloud whenever the subject of dealing with agents of the Aether arises.

"Spidermage, Spidermage, does whatever a Spidermage does..."

- often overheard during her parkour runs.

Quotes about

"Ugh. She needs an ankle monitor."

- Archived-I. P. Smith

"There are times when we don't tell others what is happening in our own backyards because it is too sensitive, or because we don't have time to spread intel while it's ongoing. Or we assume no-one would be foolish enough to just waltz into an entire building full of cryptids with 'What Do You Mean I Shouldn't Appear Live On National Television?' Sash!"

- Archived-I. P. Smith, to Archived-Beckett Shore

"She's a jumpy girl, got up me for cleaning my gun. I mean, it wasn't like I was going to shoot anyone, or anything like that! She's friendly enough, I suppose; just far too talkative for my liking."

- Archived-Striker

*laughs heartily* "Sash? Pure gold, that girl. I regret having to leave that one behind - if ever I needed a 2IC, it would this one every time. If I had five mages like her, we'd bring an end to the Quiet by the end of the month."

- Archived-The Director

"I'm sorry, man, but Sash only has three emotions; mischievous, drunk and smoke-bomb. And hungry! Never forget hungry. But not, like, love. That'd just be weird."

- Archived-Ricochet

"Sash's show was amazing! I hope she comes back soon!"

- Archived-Shroud

"Oh, my God, those are not pants! You are not dressed! Go put some clothes on!"

- Archived-Evelynne, about Sash's shiny, black, lamé-clad arse.

"How do apparently all the wrong decisions, mixing with bad crowds, and with that attitude, come together into one of the most dynamic and effective individuals I've seen?"

- Archived-Dresden after another whirlwind visit by Archived-Sash to Brisbane

"You're talking about a Mage who is basically an ambassador for the entire Pentacle! No, we're not letting her die!"

- Archived-Beckett Shore, in response to advice from a visiting Guardian superior, while discussing Sash's ongoing captivity in Banisher hands.

"Who is Sash? Is she a Councillor? Is she a Hierarch? Is she...the key to some ancient power? Is this worth us jumping in there, a bunch of us dying, with the potential to grab her and maybe get back out?"

"Sash wouldn't want us to. That's why we're trying to come up with a plan that doesn't get us all killed."

"Just some of us? To save one?"

- Archived-Mephi, freaking out in the middle of battlefield strategising, to Archived-I. P. Smith

"What happened between you two?"

"I had her on a pedestal, and the pedestal broke. I know better now."

- Archived-Neothrope to Archived-Daedalus, two months' after Sash's return from Banisher captivity.

Conversations

"Sash the Spectacular, would-be celebrity. I always sort of half-assumed you’d bleed glitter. How disappointing."

"Nnnnnnh. Always nice to meet a fan."

- sassing a Banisher captor mid-beating, October, 2015.

"Sash, what's wrong? It sounds as if Beckett has done something horrible-"

"-Beckett hasn't...I have."

- stupefying Archived-Freak, September, 2015.

"No, Sash, I do not in fact want to know what you did on your weekend - I would happily continue in blissful ignorance, enjoying my bagel, and this shitty coffee. Unfortunately for me, I can't do that, because I need to know if I should expect a pack of candy-raver werewolves to come asking about their missing truck in the next few days...or if your weekend has actually been noteworthy."

"...fuckin' candy-ravers? What sort of a loose cannon do you take me for?!"

- with Archived-I. P. Smith, July, 2015.

"You're my hero, Evie. You really are. But, you know, a girl, like."

"So, heroine, then."

"No. Never that."

- with Archived-Evelynne, May 2015.

"He says, 'only trusted members of the Consilium'. I'm a trusted member of the Consilium, right?"

"Well, Piper, you're definitely a member of the Consilium."

- with Archived-Piper Ravenrider, April, 2015.

"Look, people get themselves all invested in the wrong concepts, and they lose perspective. Take truth, for example; it's not actually important whether something technically happened or not, the only thing that matters is whether reality is served by the story."

"Sash...that sounds an awful lot like a blatant and flimsy excuse for lying."

"Well, not just lying; it excuses a lot of history, too."

- with Archived-I. P. Smith, February, 2015.

"I may have accidentally wiped twenty-four hours of my own memory trying to do exactly the same thing to them, due to their shielding..."

"Hell, I've had weekends like that, too."

- to Archived-Beckett Shore, December, 2014.

"Calm yourself. It will not happen, child."

"Firstly, I'm not a child. I'm a sixteen-year veteran spell-slinger, which means I have seen shit, including more than one would-be apocalypse, and I am calm - startin' to get pissed off, now, but calm - and just because I'm Robin to his Batman does not mean I'm your monkey, no matter who the Hell or Heaven you are, so I'd be very appreciative if you'd reciprocate the courtesy and respect I have shown you up to this point, or, unless he says otherwise, I'll put you on top of a fucking Christmas tree."

- to a certain angel she'd just met, December, 2014.

"Look, man, I don't care what you think you saw, clearly you were tripping balls - and we should probably get you a blood test - because fairies do not, can not, have not and never will exi-...actually. Hunh."

"What?"

"I...guess it doesn't really leave a lot of room for skepticism when you routinely light your smokes with magic, does it?"

- with Archived-Ricochet, November, 2014.

"Why? How? Why? Would you...ever...join The Silver Ladder?"

"...I just wanted to be somebody."

"You're somebody to me."

- with Archived-Ricochet, September, 2013.

"Sash, you've got two choices; gracefully bow out now, due to 'family issues', or you can have the entire panel of judges rip your act to shreds in front of a national audience."

"Jesus Christ, Javert; alright, already. Just one question, though; is your beef with the idea of 'fun' in general, or just me having it in particular?"

- with Archived-I. P. Smith, on her brief reality TV career, August, 2012.

"Whoah, there, Captain Bigotry! Let's just pump the breaks on the Prejudice Train, shall we? We have no evidence that vampires are universally awful."

*later that night*

"...okay, so vampires are pretty much universally awful."

"Cool. Do I get a prize?"

"There are no prizes for racism, Tommy."

- with a former Cabal mate, alt. timeline, January, 2009.

Rumors

"If you're going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it or else you're going to be locked up." - Hunter S. Thompson

• Has no real magic, only tricks.
  • Has no tricks, only real magic.
    • Even the Guardians aren't sure, which is why she's such a source of vexation to them.
• Attended a Free Council meeting while deathly hungover, during which she pulled a rabbit out of her hat. Then turned it into a sandwich. Then ate it. To say nothing of the detox smoothie she conjured from thin air...
  • And still managed to have Archived-Dresden asking her counsel. Now that's magic.
• It's all an act. She's a plant for the Guardians.
• Will be heading up "Running Away Classes" for the Free Council
• Is very, very pissed-off about the death of Archived-Princess Pwnage
• Literally sold Fae magic to the Changelings.
  • What, like ice to the eskimos?
    • Yes.
      • ...so, what did they pay her?
        • Sash isn't talking...only smirking, wordlessly.
          • Applications for GotV stress leave are at an all time high.
• Those three strokes of glitter on her cheek are not actually makeup, but scars from where she got mauled by a really fabulous werewolf.
  • Shut up, Archived-Ricochet.
• You can call it cirrhosis and lung cancer. Sash calls it breakfast.
• Sash and Beckett are unwitting keystones for Atlantean ruins
  • No, they're intentionally causing Atlantean ruins to appear
    • Sash and Beckett know how to directly open gates to Atlantis
      • Maybe they're from the Atlantean royal line?
• Is obsessed with Beckett's horns
  • Did you see her at Hallowe'en? She couldn't leave them alone!
• Is the greatest cause of Mage-on-Mage squabbling since the Fall of Atlantis
• Sash and Archived-Beckett Shore are having Schrödinger's Love Affair - unobserved, and unconfirmed, it exists in a purely hypothetical state; both occurring and not occurring, simultaneously.
  • Or, you know, they were. Before she got taken.
• Where is Sash? How come no-one's seen her yet? Why won't they let anyone see her?
  • She's back, now. And she's...different.

Inspirations and Soundtrack

"I don't believe in no-win scenarios." - James T. Kirk, Star Trek

• Dave Franco as Jack Wilder, Now You See Me
• Ruta Getmintas as Dutch Velders, The Strain
• James Ransone as Cpl. Josh Ray Person, Generation Kill
• Paul Bettany as Geoffrey Chaucer, A Knight's Tale
• Puss In Boots, the fairytale.
• Zatanna, from DC Comics.
• Russel Brand.
• "I've had to work most Sundays, and at times my talk was tough; and sometimes I've been violent, because the streets were awfully rough... And I never passed a cry for help, although, at times, I shook with fear - and sometimes, God forgive, I've wept unmanly tears." - Anonymous, The Last Inspection
• Beware Of Feeding Sharks
• "If I had a dime for every time I’ve heard 'We’re all going to die,' or 'I’ll kill you,' I could afford a better apartment. You can only listen to so many threats of destruction, doom, or death before you start tuning them all out. So I followed the wolf out of the building, then went home." - J.C. Nelson, Free Agent
• Top Of The World by Dixie Chicks - The Director: I wish it had been easier, instead of any longer. I wish I could have stood where you would have been proud, but that won't happen, now - that won't happen, now. There's a whole lot of singing that's never going to be heard; disappearing, everyday, without so much as a word, somehow. I think I broke the wings off that little song bird; she's never gonna fly to the top of the world, right now
  • Joey by Concrete Blonde - him for her: I know you've heard it all before, so I don't say it anymore; I just stand by, and let you fight your secret war. And though I used to wonder why - I used to cry 'til I was dry - still, sometimes, I get this strange pain, inside; oh, Joey, if you're hurting, so am I
• Let It Die by Three Days Grace - Neothrope: We had fire in our eyes, in the beginning. I'd never felt so alive, in the beginning. And you, you blame me, but it's not fair when you say that I didn't try; I just don't want to hear it, anymore. I swear, I never meant to let it die - I just don't care about you, anymore
• Beautiful Enemy by Dar Williams - Vyra Anala: The future's bright; there are new things we will love. It feels so right - let's not make up, or rise above. Yes, we are more corrupted; "happy and productive", we'll both live in a world of civilized people - though I've heard that my brand new church has a slightly higher steeple. Oh, my enemy, beautiful enemy, hail to your vast hegemony! You're not innocent, I'm not innocent, no-one's innocent
• Fallen by Sarah McLachlan - Daedalus: We all began with good intent when love was raw and young, we believed that we could change ourselves, that the past could be undone, but we carry on our backs the burden that time always reveals - in the lonely light of morning, in the wound that would not heal is the bitter taste of losing everything that I've held so dear. I've fallen; I have sunk so low. I've messed up - better, I should know
• Leave Out All The Rest by Linkin Park - Mischa: I dreamed I was missing; you were so scared - but no-one would listen, because no-one else cared. After my dreaming, I woke with this fear - what am I leaving, when I'm done here? So if you're asking me, I want you to know; when my time comes, forget the wrong that I've done - help me leave behind some reasons to be missed. Don't resent me, and when you're feeling empty, keep me in your memory - leave out all the rest
  • If You Ever Come Back by The Script - Mischa for her: Everything's the way that you left it; I still haven't slept, yet - and if you're covering your face, now, but you just can't hide the pain, I'm still setting two plates on the counter, but eating without you. If the truth is you're a liar, then just say that you're okay. I'm sleeping on your side of the bed, going out of my head, now
• What Am I Feeling by Mallory Jansen - Beckett Shore: If I am feeling some stupid feeling, why can't it just go away? Why did all these feelings have to start tearing at my armour-plated heart? What if, God forbid, they're here to stay? How can I unfeel the way I feel, today?
  • House Of Memories by Panic! At The Disco - him for her: Baby, we built this house on memories. Take my picture now; shake it till you see it - and when your fantasies become your legacy, promise me a place in your house of memories
• In The Dark by Tiesto - Archived-Tectus: If it's coming for you, then it's coming for me, because I will be there, so we've got each other in the dark. Because if it terrifies you, then it terrifies me, but I will be there, so we'll be together in the dark
• Sooner Or Later by Michael Tolcher - The Entire Adelaide Consilium: We only want what's best for you; that's why we tell you what to do - and nevermind, if nothing makes sense! Because it all works out; in the end, you're just like us - without a friend... Sooner or later, you'll be looking back on everything, and you'll laugh about it like you knew what all was happening. And, someday, you might listen to what people have to say; for now, you learn the hard way
• Villain by Hedley - Mr. Joker: I'm stronger than I've ever been; I'm stronger than before - but you kiss me like you know it all, you know it all, you know it all, you know it all. You know it all, you know it all, you know it all, you know it all, you know it all, you know it all, you know it, know it, know it, know it, KNOW IT ALL!
  • Can You Keep A Secret? by The Cab - Mr. Joker for her: It's true that I'm a silver shadow, and you are always on my mind. You need to get over here; we'll disappear
• One Thing by Finger11 - Archived-Aletta: If I traded it all, if I gave it all away for one thing, just for one thing; if I sorted it out, if I knew all about this one thing, wouldn't that be something? Even though I know, I don't want to know - yeah, I guess I know; I just hate how it sounds
• Better Than Me by Hinder - Archived-Romulus Arlington: I told myself I won't miss you, but I remember what it feels like beside you. I really miss your hair in my face, and the way your innocence tastes, and I think you should know this; you deserve much better than me
• Come As You Are by Civil Twilight - the late Archived-Princess Pwnage: Come; doused in mud, soaked in bleach, as I want you to be - as a trend, as a friend, as an old memory. And I swear that I don't have a gun, no, I don't have a gun, no, I don't have a gun
• Monster by The Almost - Kalfu: If I were a monster, would you wince when you looked at me? If I were a freak, would you stare? If I were a leper, would you say 'unclean'? If I was lost, would you help me get free?
• Whispers In The Dark by Mumford and Sons - Archived-Dresden: You hold your truth so purely; well, swerve not through the minds of men. This lie is dead. And this cup of yours tastes holy, but a brush with the Devil can clear your mind, and strengthen your spine. But fingers tap into what you were once, and I'm worried that I blew my only chance... Spare my sins for the ark; I was too slow to depart. I'm a cad, but I'm not a fraud; I'd set out to serve the Lord. But my heart was colder when you'd gone
• Love Song Requiem by Trading Yesterday - Archived-Dornelia: Emily will find a better place to fall asleep; she belongs to fairytales that I could never be. The future haunts with memories that I can never have, and hope is just a stranger, wondering how it got so bad
  • Save You by Pearl Jam - Dornelia, for her: i'm gonna save you fucker, not gonna lose you / i'm feeling cocky and strong, can't let you go / too important to me, and too important to us / we'd be lost without you / i'm there, let yourself fall, i'm right below you now / and fuck me if i say something you don't want to hear, from me / and fuck me if you only hear what you wanna hear, from me, if i care / but i'm not leaving here / you helped me when i was down, i'll help when you're down
• Thnks Fr The Mmrs by Fall Out Boy - Archived-Molotov :Been looking forward to the future, but my eyesight is going bad, and this crystal ball is always cloudy except for when you look into the past. One night stand (one night stand off)! One night, and one more time - thanks for the memories, even though they weren't so great; "He tastes like you, only sweeter."
• Sick by Seven Wiser - Archived-Daisy-Rain: You've taken everything from me; taken everything that I need, and now that everything's gone, there's nothing left for me. Can't you see the wars in me? This isn't over!... How the fuck could you just go and take someones life from under them? Now, I hope you die, I hope you rot in Hell - and if not, I'll show you pain!
• A Slight Attack by The Tea Party - Archived-Authell: Demonic little love-God, do you want to see me bleed? Anarchistic little beggar man, now you want a piece of me; you're just a lot of talk, without a lot of sense... You're just another chronic liar, a sentinel of farce; integrity's a fairytale - it makes me wonder who you are
• Meds by Placebo - The Spring Court: I was alone, falling free, trying my best not to forget what happened to us, what happened to me, what happened as I let it slip... I was alone, staring over the ledge, trying my best not to forget all manner of joy, all manner of glee, and our one heroic pledge - how it mattered to us, how it mattered to me, and the consequences
• Want You Bad by the Offspring - Archived-Shroud: Don't get me wrong; I know you're only being good, but that's what's wrong - I guess I just misunderstood
• Island by Heather Nova - The Banishers: There are parts of me he'll never know - my wild horses and my riverbeds - and in my throat, voices he'll never hear. He pulls at me like a cherry tree, and I can still move, but I don't speak about it. Pretend I'm crazy, pretend I'm dead; he's too scared to hit me now - he'll bring flowers, instead. I need an island, somewhere to sink a stone. I need an island, somewhere to bury you, somewhere to go
• Finding Myself by Smile Empty Soul - Awakened society: I don't care, anymore, if I let you down; I believe that I need to be free - I'm so used to my life with you around, I don't know, anymore, the real me... All these tears that I've cried - you must be tired of taking care of me, but it is what you do best, and I'm a liar, because it really is what I need. And I thought that I found myself today, and I thought that I had control. All the chains in my life just fell away; for a moment, I didn't need you
• Levitate by Hadouken - Magic: Heart in my mouth, but my head in the clouds; I can feel it rising - bound to the Earth, but we could ascend, I’m realizing
• Trespassing by Adam Lambert - Other Supernaturals: I was walking for some time, when I came across this sign - it said, "Who Are You And Where Are You From? We Don't Like When Visitors Come. No Trespassing." That's what it said, or at least, that's what I could read. "No Trespassing"; yeah, my arse - wait'll they get a load a' me!
• Tokyo (Vampires And Wolves) by The Wombats - The Mysterium: Astrophysics; you'll never be my closest friend. I find no comfort in what my mind can't comprehend
• Secret Agent Man by The Superjesus - Archived-Guardians of the Veil: I told you before so tell me again, if it's worthy of defense, but I know it anyway; from now on I'll be watching as your friends will take the liberties in you, I'll be watching as you lay awake thinking it over... And it's something in the way the changes haunt you - I was not alone; you could stay this way forever, you could say you've just begun. Now I'm never gonna be the instigator, taking on your plan
• Hero Of The Story by Regina Spektor - The Silver Ladder: Power to the people - we don't want it, we want pleasure. And the TVs try to rape us, and I guess that they're succeeding. And we're going to these meetings, but we're not doing any meaning. And we're trying to be faithful but we're cheating, cheating, cheating. I'm the hero of the story; don't need to be saved. It's alright. No-one's got it all
• Sway by Julie London - The Adamantine Arrow: Like a flower bending in the breeze; bend with me, sway with ease. When we dance, you have a way with me - stay with me, sway with me
• Crucify by Tori Amos - The Free Council: Every finger in the room is pointing at me; I wanna spit in their faces, but then I get afraid of what that could bring. I've got a bowling ball in my stomach, I've got a desert in my mouth - it figures that my courage would choose to sell out, now. I've been looking for a savior in these dirty streets, looking for a savior beneath these dirty sheets; I've been raising up my hands - drive another nail in. Just what God needs; one more victim. Why do we crucify ourselves? Every day, I crucify myself, and nothing I do is good enough for you
• Roll The Dice by Mickey Avalon - Her Past: Roll the dice; every soul's got a price, for a fene - while you're teen, do things you won't believe. And kids in poverty pull tricks and robberies, so do what you've got to do to get off the street
• Save You by Simple Plan - The World: Take a breath; I pull myself together, just another step until I reach the door. You'll never know the way it tears me up inside to see you - I wish that I could tell you something to take it all away. Sometimes I wish I could save you, and there's so many things that I want you to know; I won't give up till it's over - if it takes me forever, I want you to know

OOC Info

Archangel Gabriel: "Why is it, when people like you see something see something pure and good and beautiful, that you have to kick it down and drag it through the mud?"

John: "If you have to ask, you'll never understand."

- Hellblazer: Fear And Loathing Part III - Down To Earth

Member Information
Player:	P. Saunders
Number:	2003100615
Domain:	Sydney