Editing Alexander Belanger (section)

== Abilities and Art==
Alexander is a powerful [[Auger]] and an [[Incarnate]] practitioner, specializing in Strife.

He is very good at handling negative [[karma]] and navigating fraught social situations, tying into his understanding of Strife. His [[Sight]] and presence can bring strife with them, which may cause his allies to fight among themselves more.<ref>"Alexander was good at seeing the kinds and shapes of ''Strife'', capital S, and karmic flows.  When he incurs a karmic debt, he is good at staying ahead of it until he can discharge it or pass it on.  I would imagine that if he’s a teacher at this school of his, he would be teaching some classes on Karma."<br>[...]<br>“With Nicolette sending omens in to investigate… she was looking for trouble, and then more trouble happened.  That’s how Melissa got hurt.  Does Alexander cause strife to happen by turning his Sight on things?”<br><br>“It surrounds him, yes.  He’s good at navigating it, to the extent that it may be something of a shield of his.  His underlings may fight more among themselves as a consequence.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/07/18 Excerpt] from [[Out on a Limb 3.2]]</ref> In combat, he can manifest Strife [[omen]]s as shadows which cause even such closely-allied targets as the [[Hungry Choir]] targets to hurt each other,<ref>The black centipede ripped its way out of Eloise’s arm.  It swayed, like a snake charmer’s snake, and her arm moved with it.  Like she was tearing at something invisible.<br><br>The children stopped coordinating.  Hands grabbed at Yalda’s ankle, and she tumbled, disappearing into the jumble.<br>[...]<br>Alexander joined his subtle power to Eloise’s.  She disturbed the connection between Yalda and her servants.  Alexander ''exuded'' shadows that flowed out, passing easily through the barrier, disappearing into and merging with the stark shadows that the children themselves cast, in the light of the floodlights.<br><br>When the children failed to coordinate, now, they were tearing each other apart.  One slipped in the mud that fifty shoes had churned up and drove another one’s face into a stone beneath the soil.<br>[...]<br>“Schartzmugel’s spent,” Eloise said.  “I’m spent too.  I can’t-”<br><br>There was a sudden violence, like Alexander’s efforts were still in effect, but it was coordinated again, child hurting child in their efforts to move, but moving as a whole. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/08/15 Excerpt] from [[Out on a Limb 3.z]]</ref> or subtly cause a person to accidentally kill themselves.<ref>The boy switched to a two-handed grip.  He shifted that grip, planting his feet, and his foot slid in the mud that had been kicked up by the creation of the big hole in the ground.  The gun dropped, and went off.  He’d shot himself in the foot.<br><br>He fell, the gun fell from his grip, and went off again, with no hand on the trigger.<br><br>It took the top of the boy’s head off, cracking the mask.<br>[...]<br>Zed looked and saw Mr. Belanger and Nicolette Belanger standing off to the side.  Nicolette looked away from the results of what she or her teacher had done, uncomfortable.  Mr. Belanger didn’t flinch, simply staring.<br><br>They were scary in their own way.  Handling the boy like that. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/08/15 Excerpt] from [[Out on a Limb 3.z]]</ref>

As an Augur, he has access to many kinds of [[Second Sight]],<ref name="7.xe1" /> including seeing through objects<ref>One enemy remained unaccounted for, and he didn’t have a good photo of the man.<br><br>The world was see-through, if he wanted it to be.<br><br>The trees provided little cover.<br><br>Ted Havens ducked under a branch, rounded a copse of trees, and emerged from foliage.  He was unscathed, unlike so many others.<br><br>“Saw me coming?” Ted asked.  “That’s not usual.”<br>[...]<br>Thirty paces separated them.  Trees obscured the view some, though Alexander’s Sight helped with that. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/01/05 Excerpt] from [[Gone Ahead 7.x]]</ref> and seeing hidden emotion on people's faces.<ref>Faint emotion touched Ted’s face, as much as he tried to hide it.  Alexander could See through that too. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/01/05 Excerpt] from [[Gone Ahead 7.x]]</ref> He has Practices that help automatically keep notes for him on everything he does and interacts with.<ref name="7.xe2" /> He was capable of peeking at the future and using it to aid his plans.<ref>He’d planned this.  He’d seen enough of the future that he could figure out that it would come to this. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/07/11/stolen-away-2-z/ excerpt] from [[Stolen Away 2.z]]</ref>

He was confident that a combination of channeling the man's strife and doubt back at him, and his own enhanced perceptions, would allow him to defeat the hyper-skilled [[List of Bristow's Tenants#Ted Havens|Ted Havens]] in hand-to-hand combat.<ref name="7.xe1">“We fight.  I press the button early on in that fight.  Then you’ll try to beat me, get me to take it back or take measures.  Except it doesn’t work. [...] Because I won’t lose the fight, Ted.  I’ve been anticipating having to deal with you since before you arrived.  Hindsight may be twenty-twenty, but it’s the people who look forward who win.”<br>[...]<br> He could see the entirety of Ted Havens, inside and out.<br><br>With his free hand, he drew his wand, and he tapped his pocket, before tapping his eye.<br><br>White text began to flow into the backdrop of blood red and dark shadow, and the expanding image of Ted Havens, analyzed in full, in motion, in stillness, in emotion.<br><br>A little bit of fate, a little bit of strife.<br><br>Invisible to Ted’s eyes, they began to gather between.<br><br>Moments of hesitation, of doubt, of recollection, of dismay.  Frustration at Bristow, even.<br><br>Little landmines that would slow the man down and create openings.<br><br>This wasn’t going to be a drawn out fight.  It was one pass.  One exchange.  Lesser ‘landmines’ would pave the way for the big one.  Which would be when Alexander struck.<br><br>He had many forms of awareness, many Sights, many tools.  He fixed them on defeating a man who had seen tens or hundreds of thousands of years on this Earth.<br><br>Good.<br><br>That left one last measure, to secure this fight before it started. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/01/05 Excerpt] from [[Gone Ahead 7.x]]</ref>

As a highly advanced Auger when reading cards he was able to go up to a five by five arrangement.<ref>Alexander had done a five-by-five several times while Wye watched.  Wye suspected he’d need another five years before he could do that.- [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2022/03/29 Excerpt] from [[Gone and Done It 17.y]]</ref>

His weight with the spirits was so great that he was able to seize control of his apprentices' diagram within the [[BHI|Blue Heron Institute]] with a mere exertion of will.<ref>She felt a disruption of her diagram.  Weight.  Like she sat on a piece of land that was only six feet across, and it had just tilted fifteen degrees.<br><br>Alexander.  She could feel his presence.  He apparently had so much cachet with the spirits that even without drawing a diagram, he could exert his will through something she’d created.  Her being a subordinate of his would be a factor, but that was ''not'' a usual thing.<br><br>Sometimes she forgot how capable he was.<br><br>“Aha.  We have a mutual acquaintance,” Alexander said. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/07/11 Excerpt] from [[Stolen Away 2.z]]</ref>
===Basics===
* He [[Alexander Belanger's Demesne|has a Demesne]] in the [[Blue Heron Institute]], which helped him take the school.
*His [[Implement]] is a wand, .

===Tools===
Alexander has a wide range of [[Magic Item]]s related to his Practice, both specialized and versatile,<ref>“This was a find of mine.  A cursed object I cleansed.  It remains an interesting tool for observation.  A little cumbersome, but I have to admit, I like having an excuse to dust it off.”<br><br>She wiped off some dust.<br><br>“Most of the time, I prefer specialized tools for specialized jobs, but this is versatile, and has enough power left over from its past victims that it can power through some common defenses, like those runes you described.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/07/11 Excerpt] from [[Stolen Away 2.z]]</ref> including:

*A [[Diorama Dollhouse|magical dollhouse]] that can show a target area in diorama form,<ref>She lifted up the dense, metal dollhouse, setting it in a metal box with about 20 segments.  There were a horrendous number of figures, pieces of furniture, accessories, animals, and little colored blocks inside, sliding around, rolling down stairs, and falling out.  The box itself had zipper-like creases at the edges of each segment, knitting them together.  She centered the dollhouse and then collected the fallen bits, pushing them in through windows.<br>[...]<br>
She whispered, “Show me the three girls with animal faces,” and opened it up.<br><br>Three simple figurines with rectangular blocks for bodies were topped with the heads of a fox, cat, and deer.  They were within a cabin with an open top.  Ribbons filled the space, tying to a center mass.  A circular bit of wood, shallow, sat in the center.<br><br>There was no sign of the other figurines that had been within, or the diner, or the old house. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/07/11/stolen-away-2-z/ excerpt] from [[Stolen Away 2.z]]</ref> or manifest the user there as a giant doll. If the dollhouse is not paid in power, it will take a pound of flesh from the user instead.<ref>“Swiftly.  I didn’t pay ''too'' exorbitant an amount, and the box may bite off your arm, if it decides it needs more payment.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/07/11/stolen-away-2-z/ excerpt] from [[Stolen Away 2.z]]</ref>
*Large photographs of various targets that update whenever they're unobserved. Certain magical effects cause the picture to appear distorted, however, and he or his agents need to have taken a photo of the target.<ref name="7.x">[[Gone Ahead 7.x]]</ref> He can also call "Inscription" to have a description of the scene appear on them, giving additional info, although not too often.<ref>“Inscription,” he said.<br><br>The smoke cleared.  There was writing on the back.<br>
:''Clementine Robertjon and the Sargent Hall Aware discuss how they weren’t truly themselves.''<br>
He gave it a shake, and the inscription disappeared partway through.  The scene changed slightly too.<br>[...]<br>He couldn’t use too many calls for inscription, and he already had some information from Wye.  The residents were agitated and didn’t know why. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/01/05 Excerpt] from [[Gone Ahead 7.x]]</ref>
*An oddly heavy pen that can reach through his photographs to do things like alter diagrams,<ref> Brie had been scuffed up, and one of those scuffs interfered with her binding.  A few waifs from the Devouring Song were lingering in the area.  Zed and Brie ignored them for the time being.<br><br>He touched a pen he kept in his dash.  It was no larger than an ordinary pen, but it might have weighed fifteen pounds.  It twitched in his hand.<br><br>Defenses were down, they were still being careful, but not careful enough.<br><br>If he had it in his mind to bring the full bearing of his wrath down on their heads, then he could.  A stroke of the pen, to turn that vulnerability into a critical flaw.  Brie would break, and the devouring song would be free, Zed would be at the epicenter, close enough to be pulled into it. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/01/05 Excerpt] from [[Gone Ahead 7.x]]</ref> or attack [[Connections]] remotely at his command, although the acidic ink destroys the photos.<ref>Picking up the heavy pen again, he touched it to the photograph.<br><br>Black ink bled into the photograph, taking on three dimensions in the scene.<br><br>“Abandonment,” Alexander said.  “A connection severed.”<br><br>The ink took on a sharp smell, then began to eat through the photograph.  He tossed it aside before it could burn his fingers.<br><br>Done.<br>[...]<br>“I was thinking about him being my familiar.”<br><br>“Yeah.”<br><br>John remained standing where he was.  He wasn’t sure he was supposed to hear this, but…<br><br>“…Not so much anymore.”<br><br>The air filled momentarily with the smell of acid and ink. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/01/05 excerpt] from [[Gone Ahead 7.x]]</ref>
*With [[Rad Ray Sunshine]]'s help, he constructed a computer system in his Demesne that can (with [[power]]) use [[Nina]] to reach into lost timelines and view [[Ted Havens]]' diaries from his centuries in a time loop.<ref>[[Gone Ahead 7.a]]</ref>
*[[Tarot Cards]]<ref>“Excuse me,” Alexander said, as he leaned in to study.  He drew some cards from his pocket and laid them down.<br>
The Chariot at the left, the Fool at the right.  Strength at the back, the Empress at the front.<br>
Alexander tapped his finger on the Chariot. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/07/11/stolen-away-2-z/ excerpt] from [[Stolen Away 2.z]]</ref>
*A board game that can become a simulation of a particular place, the piece representing important people inside that place.<ref>The little town was represented by a kind of board game, but the size of each tile differed, depending on how important and dense the area was.  The valley was a big space, split into three sections.  Comparatively, the cabins where most of them were sleeping were divided into nine.  An outside area, a first floor, and a second floor, for each cabin. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2022/03/29 Excerpt] from [[Gone and Done It 17.y]]</ref>

He keeps a collection of cigarettes, one from every pack he's ever smoked, carefully categorized; by smoking them he can view occasions he was smoking them in the smoke, at the cost of using up the cigarette.<ref name="7.xe2">Even taking his time, he couldn’t keep it alive forever.  He’d burned his cigarette down to the filter.  He stubbed it out on the car mirror.<br><br>He saved one from every pack he smoked, and he liked to smoke in important meetings and negotiations.  He kept meticulous notes, using practices that recorded things for him, and the cigarettes were a backup.  He changed his brand every year, which helped with keeping track. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/01/05 Excerpt] from [[Gone Ahead 7.x]]</ref>