undergrounds | The situation is grave [Open]

A: Faust's clinic, Lambeth:

Patients that had other options did not visit Dr. Faust. His bedside manner was impeccable during the day, of course, and his medical knowledge was near-encyclopedic. But often he looked as though he had not slept in days and there was a strange, distant component to his manner that had been present ever since the loss of his wife some years ago. And his touch, even to ordinary patients not overly sensitive to the supernatural, made the flesh crawl in inexplicable fashion.

But of course there were many patients that did not have other options. Faust opened the door to the waiting room, peeking his head through with a mildly encouraging smile. "Next?"

B: Night visits

Faust was out at the graveyard, peering down into a freshly-dug grave in the Earth. Empty, as of yet, but he preferred bodies that had had time to... settle. He looked over his shoulder at the skeleton trailing behind him. It was carrying a shovel and spade.

"Over on the east side, if you please."

Time to do a little grave robbing.

Wildcard:
Feel free to make up your own! Faust's been in London for a few years and hands out business cards for his clinic on occasion, so your character may have heard of him by reputation :).

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Well, it may be a bit difficult to do so without specifics. But I'll keep an eye out, hmm? Perhaps we can help each other."

And throw a wrench or two in his enemies' plans.

"Of course. As long as you're not moving in on us, obviously," he said, "You won't, will you?"

"I'm only interested in one thing," said Faust, "And that is furthering my magic. I fail to see how getting myself entangled in a conflict with the fae would help in that regard."

He hadn't survived in London this long by sticking his neck out for no reason, after all.

"Aligning yourself with the fae could actually help you with that," he said, "Although that would come with a price, too."

"I think it's a little too late for that warning," said Faust, with more cheer than perhaps was technically warranted by the situation.

"But thank you for the advice. I suppose if I wanted, I could always gather up a few disenchanted young witches to teach my craft to, but that's always seemed like a bit too much trouble."

"It may help shake some of the stigma around necromancy, though, if there were more practicing," he said, although he didn't have much patience for teaching others either unless they really loved the cosmos.

"Well, we've certainly got enough of that, now don't we?" Faust, stop digging up graves. Faust, stop reviving the shambling remains of the dead. It was like it never ended.

"Though I doubt it will ever be a truly popular art. Not as pretty and photo op ready as flashes of light and nice little love charms."

"I'm afraid even I can't make it prettier," he said, because really, it involved corpses, "But power is more important than beauty, for some."

For him they were about equal.

"There is beauty in it," said Faust vaguely. He was probably thinking of something horrible at this very moment.

"Even in death and decay. The curve of a shelf of bone, the last exhalation of breath. Everything marching toward its own eventual end."

Even the universe......

"Most humans fear death, I thought," he said, a bit puzzled, "It's good that you can see beauty in it, I suppose. Mortality must be a strange thing to wrestle with."

Faust smiled. "Many do. But I suppose my work has given me an usual perspective on the subject." The only thing Faust really feared was not being able to see his wife again. It probably helped that he had literally nothing going in his life.

Well... no, that wasn't entirely true. The occasional torture session provided a pleasant break from the crushing despair.

"Redbright certainly seems to fear it. The Night Council, too. If they want to ban your sort of magic, that's a sure sign that they're afraid," he said, because stroking someone's ego every now and then was worthwhile to make allies.

To be honest, it was probably a good idea to fear Faust's magic, if only because of the horrible amounts of cleanup involved should whatever he did not fall on Halloween. He probably wasn't going to use it to make sequels to Thriller, either.

"They do. Because they are ignorant." He smiled a little. "But do you think that all of their precious councilmen and women have spotless records? No, I think not. No one rises that far without a little blood on their hands. I hear Vrinak has more than most."

"I'm sure their hypocrisy will be exposed eventually," he said, "Their attempt at taking the moral high ground has already shown clear bias. They clearly dislike the wolves, for example, and while I'm no fan of theirs either I don't claim to act in the interest of the entire community. The more people they alienate, the less power they'll have."

Faust waved a hand. He had some minor interest in the doings of the Council and Circle Daybreak, but the werewolves were more of an afterthought for him. Violent creatures, now led by an inexperienced alpha.

"Maybe so. Still, they've gotten this far. And open conflict isn't particularly good for business..."

"Having your business outlawed isn't particularly good for business, either," he said, dismissively.

The situation is grave [Open]

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