May 24.
Shortly after feeling it was time
to leave the Ordo Dracul, Ishtar felt the pull towards something less imperical, more accepting of her own views and
goals. It seemed that she didn't belong any longer, she could sense something almost calling out to her since
her creation, but only now she could make out its siren song. When she no longer felt at home with the Ordo, believed
that it was too constrained by rules and science, she heard the sirens call pulling her to older, darker paths, where
she knew some piece of truth waited for her, and that the Circle of the Crone could help her find it. Ishtar goes to the Skullery, looking for Moyra and entrance to the Circle of
the Crone, for her and her childe Marie, Moyra takes them to a ritual and then to see the Hieorophant Rowan,
to ask permission to be accepted. Three times they are asked and twice rejected, each enters to the outer
ring of the Circle, and for a year and a day they will watch and wait....
Initiation: A year and a day pass, when Ishtar, Marie her childe and Sandra,
Ishtar's adopted childe kneel naked before the Crone under the new moon, a dark wooden bowl in front of them. While
the Hieorophant says the litany and the supplicants answer in their time, a ring of naked men and women, is chanting
a low and throaty mantra slowy building around the Priestess and the three. Seven more pairs of eyes surround
the ring of naked Acolytes, this outer ring is clothed in dark ceremonial robes keeping their hoods over their faces,
watching carefully for any sign of possession or any loss of control to the beast or spirits, which can happen during rituals.
Each supplicant was told it was their choice to spill their own blood,
that which they feel is required of them, and to know that if they were unwilling, the sacrifice would be ripped
from them, either way the Crone would have her price. The blood gathered and mixed then held high to the dead moon,
for its blessing and its guidance for the new initiates along the dark, hidden paths, then each woman offered a pinch of salt
and a piece of prepared bread, each takes their share and dips the bread in the salt and eats, then drinks
of the blood, the sacrament is conducted with a greater reverance than Easter mass at Christian institutions.
The tall, twisted woman passes the bowl over the forehead of each kneeling woman, bathing them in their own offered blood,
washing over their eyes and baptising them to the Crone, marking them to the surrounding Acolytes as their own, and giving
the bowl to the surrounding initiates for each to taste the offering and as a way of accepting the new blood as part
of them, bound as family.
"Rise and be welcomed by your brothers and sisters, welcome to a new world,
open your eyes and see the night anew", their new brothers and sisters ecco their welcome, "Welcome to the circle".
The new acolytes stand and each person moves to welcome them to with a kiss. A bonfire is lit and some of the gatherers
begin to dance naked and blood stained around the fire, as a party is held to celebrate the gaining of three new initiates.
One of the outer circle comes to Ishtar and lets her hood and robes fall away,
standing naked in front of Ishtar stands her grand-sire, Bella. Ishtar is flooded with joy after seeing her thought
to be dead Avus again, welcoming her and her daughters to the Circle.
Bella disapperead during the fire to hide from any attempt at her unlife, moving
as a serpent and going to secret places in the city to go for safety. With the return of her grand-sire,
Ishtar can't think of anyone else she would rather learn from then Bella, and asks her to teach herself and her child.
One of the first lessons she wants to get started on is learning about the spirits in the city.
With her entrance to her first covenant, Ishtar thinks Marie to be released
from her direct care, and announces her childes releash into the night at a party held at her club. Ishtar starts working
with Janie, teaching her the rituals she wants her to follow to be ready to become her next childe. Ishtar approaches
the Carthian prefect Walt Barowski to show her intentions of siring another childe, Walt gives her right of childe, because
he knows that will only drive Ishtar and Solomon farther apart.
After a few weeks of Janie learning the changing rituals, Ishtar embraces
her in front of Marie, Janie is taken by the hunger and attacks Marie just after being changed. After Janie can
push the beast back to its prison, Ishtar finishes a naming ritual used with her first child Marie or "Innana", she
is named "Esherite" and placed as guardian over the Cult of Ishtar.
Ishtar starts the 'Divine Escort service' to help her cult flourish, high
class and high price service. Ishtar wants Solomon to meet her new childe and introduces Janie to him, though polite
Solomon can not hide his disappointment in seeing Ishtar violate the first tradition yet again. Walt recruits the newcomer
Carlisle as the new vampiric sheriff to help keep order in the city.
Voss and Ishtar work out a deal for her to repay Voss for the bookstore
built on the lot where Kim's antique book store was, Ishtar wanted to honor her lost love. On one of her frequent visits
to the store, Ishtar sees a man with no aura talking with friends in the store, and pulls him aside to confront him about
what he is. Ishtar waits for Kimberly, a suspected mage in the area to ask her about his this man with no aura.
His name is Jacob and he knew Kim. (a fellow mage but where Kim was an Obrimos willworker and with power
over the immaterial, Jacob is Moros, dealing with the material and the dead) Kimberly says his lack of aura,
could be that he is trying to change himself in some way and has gone through something that he wants to get over and change
with. Talks Kimberly into looking into his backround, to see if she should trust him, Kimberly is hired at five hundred
dollars a day to investigate him, two days later Kimberly can't find anything negative about Jacob and Ishtar asks him
out for dinner.
Ishtar tries to contact Mercedes to ask about Jacob, but can't get through,
so she calls Tiamat instead, who tells her that mercedes and her pack have been on hard times since Walt tried having Patrick
and his werewolf pack as law enforcement, the two packs are not friendly to one another, and Mercedes can't afford to have
a relationship with Ishtar if her ruler put Patrick in a position to hurt her pack. Since Patrick and his
pack were ambushed by another rival pack, he was withdrawn to heal and recover, disappearing from the vampire courts,
showing that he can not be controlled and more dangerous than the carthians first thought, rendering the city with no sheriffbefore
this. Werewolf violence has increased as the Uratha struggle to get
the Pure tribes out of the influence of the vampires.
June 6
