Dr. Lord's office 3-4

[Gabriella Velas]

Around 3 o'clock on the first day of classes, Gabriella goes to Dr. Lord's office and knocks on the door.

[griffinguy24]

"Come in!" Dr. Lord calls. You see that he's furiously typing something on his computer, though the monitor is facing away from you. He clicks the mouse, then turns to you, "Ah, Miss Velas. How can I be of assistance?"

[Gabriella Velas]

"I was hoping you could tell me a bit more about my...oracular abilities. Are they supposed to always be true? Or are they just possibilities? I mean, so far, they've been right but there has been some strong warnings in them."

She points to his machete, "Like that. I was warned that the next time you pull it in my presence all will be lost. And I saw your band during class."

[griffinguy24]

"Oracular abilities are quite difficult to control at first," Dr. Lord says, "And Fate often likes to be tricky with its wording. Let me just take a look..." He takes his machete, still sheathed, and places it on the desk. His eyes glow black as he looks from the machete to you...

"'The next time Dr. Lord unsheathes Ocelotlantli in front of you, all hopes of winning the battle will be lost.' Nice Prophecy. It's also full of holes. If I had known, I would have unsheathed it before you took that quiz of mine..." He smirks a bit, "An exam can be a battle. As could sparring between friends. Or an argument with a classmate. And notice that it didn't say that the hopes of YOU winning the battle will be lost... On that note..."

Dr. Lord then grips the jaguar-carving on the handle, and removes the machete from the sheath. Its blade is black, and you can detect a hint of acid coming off it. After a few seconds, he returns the machete to its sheath.

"There. Now, try not to worry too much about it. Prophecies come true more due to the mental state of those who hear it than from Fate itself."

[Gabriella Velas]

"Can you tell me more about your band? Fate seems to think they will be important to us."

[griffinguy24]

"Of course it does," Dr. Lord says, rolling his eyes, "Because Gods forbid I try and keep my shit away from you rookies. Well, they're all Demigod Scions, like me. And they're the closest thing to a family I have. That's literal, by the way. I was left in an orphanage and the less said about my adoptive parents, the better..."

He fishes a photograph of the Band from his pocket. Dr. Lord is not in the picture, so he must have taken it. The group is standing at the mouth of a cave.

"This is Abbot Jurian Ansobert. One of my best friends. He was also an orphan, but he was raised by Franciscan monks in Germany. Scion of Sif, very kind and gentle. Outside of Scion business, the two of us often go on speaking tours and fundraisers for environmental issues. And he brings his bear with him. Everywhere."

“Artie MacKenzie, the Dagda’s son, you might have heard of him if you’ve followed boxing. He’s good. Really good. Dude once punched Raiden right in the face. Cool guy, good with kids, but he’s always looking for a challenge. He walks all over the World looking for worthy opponents.”

“Dr. Patrice DuBois, daughter of Damballa. Unlike me, she’s an actual doctor. M.D. and everything, takes care of rural communities. She takes care of her patients, even after their deaths. Right now she’s in Haiti doing work in poor communities still reeling from that earthquake… and the occasional rogue Titanspawn while she’s at it.”

“Diane Moon, Scion of Artemis. They say all Scions of Artemis are adopted, but I’ve seen them side-to-side and I have my doubts about that. She’s actually an Olympic athlete. Took home the gold in the Heptathlon a few years back. Really good at hunting, too. Takes after her mother that way.”

“Yamato Onodera… You probably don’t recognize him out of that armor. He’s actually younger than you kids, but he got Visited by Susano-O early on and had to cope quickly. He’s… enthusiastic, let’s put it that way.”

“Luciano Tupac. Son of Viracocha, the king of the Allyu-Apu. The only Scion of the Inca Gods currently operating in the World. Oddly enough, he’s both the latest addition to my Band, and the first other Scion I ever met. See, the Incan pantheon took a different approach to the Spanish invaders than our pantheon. They gathered as many worshippers as they could and fled into the jungles. There’s a bunch of undetectable Incan cities across South America, in the Amazon and in the less accessible parts of the Andes. Anyways, we had some adventures, most notably when I helped save his city from being annihilated by elder giants. Then, well, my Band and I had a run-in with a rival Scion band. They…” Dr. Lord steeled himself, “They killed everyone. Everyone except me. I almost died. They THOUGHT I was dead. I sure as hell looked it… But, I wasn’t willing to let my friends just stay dead. I asked Luciano to join me, and he accepted, literally willing to follow me into Hell. We dove into the various Underworlds and brought my friends out of the icy claws of death. After that, Luciano was one of us.”

“Catherine Leopardi. Isis’s daughter. I… I can’t even begin to describe how much she means to me. Of course, in a few months, I’m going to have to. She’s my fiancée.” Dr. Lord’s face, at this point, has split into a goofy grin. He seems to realize this and tries to compose himself.

“Anyway, most of them have a background in the course material, so I have them coming as guest lecturers. And they all can teach you many things I can’t. So, for the most part, you’ll be seeing them as the semester goes on.”

“Speaking of them teaching you, well, I don’t have the gift of Prophecy. Catherine does, though, and so does Luciano. And from harsh experience, we’ve all learned one thing: Worrying about the outcome of a prophecy makes said outcome a thousand times worse. Your prophecies are warnings, remember them, and look out for them. But stressing out about them is the worst thing you can do. It’s a one-way trip to making them self-fulfilling.”

[Gabriella Velas]

Gabriella nods as he talks about his band, smiles when he talks about his fiancée, and tries to memorize as much as she can about them.

"I guess it's good to know love is still an option for us, though I admit it isn't something I see for myself."

"I understand what you mean about "self-fulfilling." I think that worries me more than the visions. I don't want Fate to warn me of something, and then end up putting the group in danger because I do something that makes it happen. I will be grateful if Catherine or Luciano can take some time to help me hone it so I can control it a little more."