Learning Curve (Cleaning House)Emend learned that it's going to be a very dangerous task to bring down Blume and Blumenthal. He expected this to begin with, of course, but if just a thrall of theirs caused this much trouble, then taking out their other thralls along with the demons themselves will be something that requires much more training. He also learned the value of preparing for battles ahead of time, as an unprepared Kark would have been rather easy for just two of them to defeat, but with her tools and preparation, she was rather formidable (until they burned her alive).
After the chaos that ensued in their last mission, Emend has decided that he needs to be in charge of the group. Without a real leader, they risk breaking into small, disorganized groups without any real plans or communication, like what happened here. Emend is pleased with the results of the last mission, especially since he was the one to kill the witch, her beastly creature, and he found the deed, with little going wrong in the process. The others manged to kill Jack, but they blundered greatly in doing so. Saint in particular needs to be watched now, as something is not quite right with him.
Regardless, this experience has made Emend more sure that this is his calling. This world definitely needs his help to destroy the demons attempting to corrupt it.
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Learning Curve (Loose Ends)Emend learned that while it's okay to rely on the others to support him during their endeavors, he still needs to be able to pull his own weight. He finished off the demonic mutt, but he hadn't been helpful during the demonic tree, and he had avoided clearing the attic all together. He's decided he needs to improve on his abilities if he wants to maintain the right to call himself the leader of the group.
In addition, now that they have a base of operations, Emend will probably have to rethink his current living situation (which will be made especially hard once he finds out he's a father).
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Learning Curve (Dark Web)Emend has learned not only does he need to show restraint when dealing with demons, he also needs to rein in the other disciples. Not only did his desire for justice put Faith into more harm's way, as he left the other disciples alone in the internet without any means of traversing it themselves, but the information he gathered as a result of this held no value. Furthermore, he allowed Saint to destroy an artifact, something which could have been of use to the disciples.
He also learned that the angels that help monitor the Earth are not infallible. The situation in the Philippines could just be due to their inability to monitor their own area, but it could also just be that demons are simply that sneaky. Naturally, this leads Emend to believe their could be a similar ring of terror occurring somewhere nearby as well; a rather upsetting thought.
To top it all off, the kidnapping of Faith made Emend realize that his own child is now at risk due to his profession. While it would only be dangerous to have them live in the castle, Emend should at the very least attempt to bolster the mundane security at their apartment, along with some additional magical defences.
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Learning Curve (Enemies At The Gates)Emend learned that diplomacy is a valid option, even when dealing with vampires. Had he attacked Nicolette like he considered, it would have just resulted in more enemies being made. Belials’ Brood showed just how strong vampires can be, and while they managed to shatter and route its members, it will always be a looming threat. However if there is a next time, Emend will be ready, and they will regret showing their faces again.
He also wonders if the Heart of Flies was truly a gift, or if the Camarilla gave it to them in order to further some plan of theirs. Or perhaps it was simply a burden they thought they saw a chance to get rid of. Regardless, the disciples will have to deal with all of the demons that will want its power. Emend hopes they can find someone to help them discover the true purpose of the Heart, so that they may deal with it properly, rather than just watching over it.
And during all this new conflict, the disciples themselves seem to be having issues. Robor and Beats both injured themselves when they were attacked without Emend nearby to help them. Robor then went on to sign a deal with a demon, strengthening their enemies. Clearly Emend needs to monitor them more closely.
But the disciple he needs to watch out for the most is the one he thought he would have the least issues with: Saint. While there were some suspicious things occurring when they first began working together, Saint seems to have changed in recent times. Emend could maybe chalk up his past strangeness to the stress of becoming a disciple, but now he doesn't see any of the good in Saint that was there before. Perhaps the path of a disciple just isn't for him. Emend would like to have a conversation with him, to see what's going on, but this doesn't seem to be the time to prompt some potential in-fighting amongst themselves. For now he'll have to settle for watching Saint more closely.
