Bounty Head Bebop Comlink
Role Playing Games => BZ's Games => Disciples => Topic started by: BerkaZerka on October 29, 2016, 02:26:56 pm
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Prolog
It had been a full week since the quorum had lost Sarapheen, while liberating High Oaks Castle from the demonic thrall Jack Eaton Jr. and his mad witch Mama Kark.
Everyone had hoped that the angel would simply return soon (she having told them that she was immortal after all), but as the days went by, with no sign of her, the urgency of getting Robor and Beats back into their own bodies grew - as well as the need to liberate the Saint from the curse of that terrible cleaver.
Even now, the Priest could feel the need building, to slice clean, innocent, flesh with the blade. It wasn't an irresistible compulsion (yet), but it was a constant, steady, yearning - occupying his mind and ever inserting itself into the fore of all thought.
For now, it wasn't hard to repetitively dismiss, but the ceaseless urging was beginning to become quite wearisome.
For this, the Saint was grateful to have the strange child/spirit Usdiyona around. The bear-girl had to be taken in by someone, and made a great 'big sister' to Faith, sharing a room with her, and helping ready her each day for when Mother Rosemary came to pick her up for preschool.
Not that he felt he could ever harm Faith - but it was good to have Usdiyona there - just to make sure he was never alone with the small child, while still feeling the weight of the black cleaver.
'Besides,' he found himself thinking offhandedly, 'Usdiyona's blood will satisfy the blade's need just as well as any other child. No need to harm Faith if it ever came down to it...'
For Robor and Beats, things were not quite as bad - just awkward and needlessly complicated.
Beats for instance, couldn't go out on the street to meet contacts and tend to 'his boys' while stuck in Robor's body. They simply wouldn't trust a strange yuppy-looking white dude (and who would blame them). Sure, Beats could take Robor with him and have him do all the talking, but these things required a certain level of 'finesse' that Robor just couldn't articulate with only a few days' practice.
And Beats found it downright creepy, hearing his own voice come out of some doppelganger - but with a totally foreign inflection, accent, and speech pattern.
Robor on the other hand, seemed to be taking it all in stride. Perhaps he actually liked taking Beat's body for a joyride - and almost getting it killed on at least two separate occasions...
'We got to get this done soon!' Beats thought to himself, shaking his head.
For Emend, the week had dragged on - a nagging thought burning in his mind. He recalled what Sarapheen had said about Shade and Soul Stones:
"How exactly do we destroy this?" Emend had asked, feeling the crystal with his hand.
"And is the false soul still trapped within?"
Answering Emend, Sarapheen replied, "just crush it with something hard, like a hammer."
"It still has a false imprint in it," she continued; "a dark and flawed copy of whoever Hans really was, when he was alive."
"The real soul of Hans is not in the crystal. You'll only be hurting Infernal interests by destroying it."
"Now a Soul Stone on the other hand, you would not want to destroy."
"The greater good is served by returning it to its rightful owner, or using high level Spirit to sever the binding the stone has on the trapped soul - essentially setting it free."
Was Doll a flawed copy then? Or the trapped soul of a real child? Mama Kark had been in the process of trying to steal Usdiyona's soul too. Emend having, more or less, inadvertently rescued her from that fate.
And what of the other children's bodies? They had found the remains three girls in the underground lab with Hans, but had only met Doll. What of the spirits of the other two?
Perhaps it was the Avenging Angel in him talking now, but it felt to Emend like a terrible injustice was being ignored (or missed) concerning Mama Kark's victims and high Oaks Castle. One that needed to be righted as soon as possible.
If only Emend could council with his mentor, the Avenging Angel Jarom, to seek greater wisdom in the matter - but without Sarapheen acting as intermediary, he had no way to contact him.
Discussing this (and the rest of the quorum's current needs) with the others, Emend learned that Robor's mentor, the Spirit Warden Morrow Wind, actually spent more time on earth than most angels - and that there was a hidden hallow on the Blackfoot Indian Reservation in Saskatchewan Canada, where he had trained Robor during his initiation.
If the quorum could get there, then they would surly draw the attention of Morrow Wind, who in turn, could put them in contact with the rest of their mentors. That, and he would probably know what had become of Sarapheen as well.
"I can portal now," Beats declared helpfully, "just give me as much detailed info as you can about the place and we're good!"
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Washington National Cathedral; Monday October 24th 2016
Following Robor's briefing, and the group making arrangements for the trip, they met together once again in the depths of the Washington National Cathedral.
It felt good to be proactive once more, instead of everyone sitting around waiting for things to happen.
Beats worked his magic and successfully opened a portal to the place Robor had described (and which he had looked up for himself online). If a picture was worth a thousand words, then Google Earth was worth a three thousand mile 'blind' hop into the Canadian wilderness.
On the other side of the portal was a wide rolling prairie, covered with small thickets of trees along the banks of a wandering river. In the distance, a large sandstone escarpment rose up majestically, among a particularly thick cropping of trees.
Robor had mentioned that the river they were seeing, actually flowed out from a cave in the mount, and that the area around the head of the river was the hallow itself.
"That hallow is sacred ground to the natives," Usdiyona said, walking up to the portal and looking through. "You'll need me as a spirit rep, should the tribal elders catch us out here."
Where had she come from? She was supposed to be staying back at the Saint's place with Mother Rosemary.
As if to answer the hanging question, the Saint's cell phone abruptly rang. It was Mother Rosemary.
"Usdiyona is missing!," she said frantically through the speaker, "There was a dirty orange traffic cone in the living room. I have no idea where it came from! When I put it out on the curb and came back in, Usdiyona was gone! What should I do?"
Meanwhile, Usdiyona stood with her hands behind her back, pretending to ignore the phone call, while turning her foot on the floor and humming innocently to herself.
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"Young lady you..!"
Saint sighs.
She shouldn't be here. But she is more than just a child, we've seen this. And it seems like she might know her way around...
"She followed me out Mother Rosemary, i'll take care of her for now, nothing to worry about. Tell Faith I love her."
After putting away his phone, Saint activates Pulse of the Living World and Analyze, taking in his surroundings with his new sight. He'd never been out to the wilderness like this before, he was excited to take in the new sights despite himself.
"We're not expecting trouble, right Robor?"
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"Shouldn't be. Never encountered any here." Robor says with a grin.
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"Saw on TV dere are like huge bears here right?" Beats asks, a faint sense of fear lingering about them but now mostly diminished with the knowledge he could probably beat one in a fight with his new powers.
He is about to bring up a spacial map but stops himself and instead reaches up to touch the tattoo on his bicep, casting sense life.
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"Huge bears?!? Where?!?" Usdiyona asked, suddenly turning into a full grown 400 lbs black bear.
Rearing up on her hind legs, she stood at seven feet and roared!
Then she got back on all fours, lumbered through the gate and started snorfing around on the ground as if looking for a scent.
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Emend casts Scales of Thought, before taking a moment to observe their surroundings.
"I don't think we need to worry about bears given what we are," Emend responds.
"... And why would you steal a traffic cone?" He asks, turning to Usdiyona.
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Usdiyona snorts and swings her huge head side to side at Emend's question. She hadn't stolen any traffic cone.
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Blackfoot Confederacy Indian Reservation, Saskatchewan Canada; Monday October 24th 2016
On the other side of the portal, nature was thriving.
Beats' Sense life initially overwhelmed his mind - flooding it with trillions of tiny stabbing needles - until the spell overloaded completely and mercifully collapsed in upon itself.
For the briefest of moments, Beats had been aware of every microbe crawling on his skin. Of the earth, grass, and trees - an overabundant world of insects, bugs, and weird minute things everywhere.
So much white-noise in fact, that the spell had not even gotten to the higher lifeforms present, before burning itself out.
Trying again, this time limiting the parameters to creatures larger than a mouse, Beats received more manageable feedback - though he was still astounded at how profuse the area teamed with life.
He sensed a pair of bald eagles nesting nearby, flocks of birds of all kinds, in flight or resting on branches, woodpeckers searching for grubs. On the ground were guinee hens, turkeys, a hunting fox, porcupines, and numberless chipmunks - scurrying everywhere. In hidden burrows were snakes and a solitary wolverine. In the river, there were catfish, pike, and trout, while the mud held sleeping turtles and frogs. On the waters, were a large flock of Canadian geese.
Usdiyona meanwhile, could see a large moose, standing majestically on the edge of the prairie near the trees surrounding the hallow. It was not there in the real world of course, but was some sort of spirit watching from twilight. It appeared to see her and the company of awakened ones however, and motioned with its great antlers for Usdiyona to follow - turning to slowly make its way back into the trees.
Usdiyona could also see the spirit energy radiating outward from the area that the moose spirit was heading into. That would be the hallow, the sacred ground, a place where her essence could be refreshed.
All these things the Saint could also sense with Pulse of the Living - the abundance of natural life nearby, the steady flow of living power springing forth from the hallow, and the presence of the supernatural entity moving away in that direction (though this particular mage-sight did not actually allow him to see what form it took).
Trying to glean more information about the mysterious thing, Saint cast Analyze Life, getting back a sentient reading to indicate it was much closer to being human than animal or spirit, and at the same time, a higher lifeform than even any of those by themselves. The information was such, that caused a curious though to enter the Saint's mind - what would he get back, if he used this spell on himself or his companions (or even Sarapheen), as they were all ascended to some degree above regular humanity by virtue of their awakening and Discipleship.
As Emend stepped through the portal, his Scales of Thought reveled a multitude of instinctual behaviors - the animals - and only one human-like intellect in the area (other than that of himself and his companions). Whatever it was, seemed far off, in the direction Robor had indicated was the hallow.
As for Robor, who yet had to activate any spells, he simple stepped out of the portal, breathed in the clean refreshing air, and took a moment to enjoy the sunshine on his face.
Morrow Wind was a capable Spirit Warden after all, having been a Blood Indian Chief in mortality more than a century ago - meaning there was almost zero chance of rogue spirits accosting them here. In fact, during his training, Robor recalled having to travel some distance from the Reservation to find any spirits actually worthy of testing his newfound mettle on.
The quorum was safe here in these sacred grounds; and Morrow Wind would know of their arrival when they entered the hallow.
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"Wow, loads more dan rats and cats out here." Beats says quietly "Which way are we headed?"
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Now curious, Saint applies Analyze to each of those present - including himself. If this last act is not possible he'll ask Beats to Analyze him.
"I think there's another disciple here, or maybe Morrowind - something supernatural anyway, moving away. Seems almost human. Maybe we should follow it?" He asks, directing the question to Robor as he shifts his sight unto his companions.
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Seeing no imediate threat of huge bears or anything ;) Usdiyona changed back to her human self and asked "did you all see that moose over there? It went into the trees. It wants us to follow it."
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Analyzing everyone, Saint could see that he and his quorum companions all classified as something more than human. Their awakening had indeed elevated their beings beyond their banal kin.
Compaired to the mysterious entity however, the Saint and company were still a step lower on the evolutionary scale.
Sarapheen had said that the Disciples could one day ascend to become Angels and everything Saint's spell was showing seemed to indicate this to be true. That should mean that the Saint was sensing the presence of the angel Morrow Wind.
As for Usdiyona, she read as an unusual animal/supernatural hybrid. The comparison to a werewolf did come to mind; only in this case, the components seemed reversed.
Where a werewolf would likely read as human/animal, Usdiyona read as animal/human.
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The mention of a moose rang a bell for Robor. He knew that Morrow Wind's anima was a huge stamping moose and that among the Blackfoot Indians, the moose was a spirit escort for the dead.
This moose the bear-girl had seen, would either be Morrow Wind himself or one of his spirit guardians.
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"Yep, definitely Morrowind", Saint says, after finishing his analysis.
"Or, at the very least, something greater than us all. I guess that could mean either a demon or an angel. But I doubt anyone other than Morrowind would be here."
Having said that, Saint begins following the moose - the sights were beautiful and all but there were more pressing matters to get to - most notably that accursed cleaver.
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"I don't think there's much doubt on that. Morrowind's domain is safe. We can stop being paranoid here." Robor says, as he begins to walk to the Hollow.
"Just take it easy here guys."
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Beats just shrugs, enjoying 'seeing' all the different animals and follows along
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At ease that they will likely not have another psycho witch to deal with, Emend quietly follows Robor.
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Making their way through the trees, the team came to a clearing at the base of the sandstone escarpment with a thirty foot tall totem pole standing centrally. It was painted black, with white, red, and yellow highlights outlining the carvings; and looked like a number of birds perched one-atop-another - the utmost being an eagle with wings spread wide.
Usdiyona could see that the large carved eagle held some sort of powerful dormant spirit inside, while Emend and Saint could sense something supernatural about it. It was not living, so Beats' spell failed to pick up anything unusual about it; and Robor already knew this trick (Morrow Wind had once shone him the flying fiery phoenix that he could summon from the carving).
At the head of the clearing itself, the river literally sprung out of the ground, having carved a round gaping hollow in the mount from natural erosion. It was literally a hallow within a hollow - and level three, judging by the resonance.
Under the overhang of the hollow itself was a flat expanse, where someone had set up a primitive camp - including a small medicine lodge covered in hand painted buckskins.
Again, this was no ordinary structure, and the bear-girl could see that it was actually a rank 4 spirit all by itself (being more powerful than any of the icky things Mama Kark had kept under her thrall). Emend and the Saint meanwhile, could feel a strange alien sentience about it, while Beats could sense its weird 'living' vibe. Robor knew the medicine lodge was some kind of spirit thing, but he had no idea how powerful it was and had never seen it do anything unusual (and it wasn't something Morrow Wind had ever bothered to explain, come to think of it).
A white smoke rose up through a small opening in the top of the medicine lodge and the flap of buckskin that normally covered the entry was pulled back - an invitation to enter.
Additionally, there were no signs of any moose...
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"What on earth is that thing?" Saint asks, looking directly at the medicine lodge.
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"Kinda seems alive." Beats adds helpfully while walking closer
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"Any reason this guy couldn't just live in a normal tent... Or better yet somewhere among society?" Emend asks to no one in particular.
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"What on earth is that thing?" Saint asks, looking directly at the medicine lodge.
"Some kind of spirit. Can't remember what, if anything, Morrowing said about it. Everything's in order." Robo says with a shrug."Any reason this guy couldn't just live in a normal tent... Or better yet somewhere among society?" Emend asks to no one in particular.
"That wouldn't be especially enigmatic enough for an angel, Emend. Have to maintain an image."
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"Yeah, it exists here and in twilight," Usdiyona said to Robor's pointing the lodge out as a spirit.
"But what the heck is that thing snoozing in the totem?"
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Entering the medicine lodge, everyone saw an elderly-looking Indian man with white hair in a long braid, dressed in a colorful beaded vest with a modern dress-shirt and bolo tie.
He wore snakeskin cowboy boots and a large silver and tuquois belt buckle, depicting an eagle, with matching cufflinks.
Some burlap cushions (old russet sacks perhaps?) were set around the inner wall of the lodge, while a small fire burned in the center.
White smoke wafted from a branch of sage, set to smolder in a large abalone shell.
Some pegs on a post behind the Indian man held a large ceremonial headress and feathered robe.
Of course, Robor recognized his mentor - the Spirit Warden Morrow Wind.
As the group entered, he held his right palm up and, in a deep rich voice, very seriously said "HOW."
Then, a moment later the stern facade cracked and the man chuckled with a smile, explaining, "Naw, we don't really say 'how' haha!"
"Now, I'm not surprised to see you and your friends here Robor... hm?"
Morrow Wind had been talking to Beats in Robot's body, but raised an eyebrow and after looking at the others, continued speaking, now to Robor in Beats' body.
"This, I will admit, is a bit surprising haha! Not to mention the cute Ursamorph."
"Hello young lady," he said to Usdiyona, "I am the Spirit Warden Morrow Wind, I havn't had the pleasure of seeing your kind in many decades."
"You stick with these good people and do your best to keep out of mischief and I won't have to come send you back to your own side of the curtain, OK?"
Then speaking again to the group he said, "I have an idea why you are all here, but it is best if you tell me in your own words - and then I will fill in the parts you miss."
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"I'm Beats." Beats/Robor begins "You've guessed that we got da switch. Happened when a portal went weird, den Sera exploded on the other side of da curtain and we haven't seen her since."
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Saint kneels and bows his head to the angel.
"We believe Sarapheen was overwhelmed by paradoxical forces and a portal meant to transport us back to safety after our mission at High Oaks Castle instead sent her, Robor and Beats into the Shadow. Sarapheen was destroyed. Beats suffered a similar incident and he and Robor were, well... I suppose you can see what happened to them for yourself."
"It has been a week but Sarapheen has yet to reform. While it might take longer we are in dire need of her support right now. I have been cursed by an item belonging to the - now dead - evil spirit master Mama Kark. It is a terrible curse and though I fight it I find it gnawing away at me with a strength that grows by the day. Robor and Beats are suffering from their own curse and as a result we are unable to consolidate our victory in High Oaks without Sarapheen's aid. As Emend did not know how to contact his sire, we had no other choice but to disturb you, divine messenger Morrowind. On behalf of any who might be too prideful to do so as well as myself, I humbly beg you for your aid."
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Given he wasn't present for most of what went wrong, and that Saint's explanation seemed detailed enough, Emend simply waits to see how Morrow Wind replies.
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"Hmm, yes, paradox is a fickle bitch " Morrow Wind replied to Saint, motioning for him to get up off the ground.
"Sarapheen will be all right. Her being will fully reincorporate in a week (or another three at the most). I think you will manage fine without her until then."
"You may find her a bit more cautious about overdoing the vulgar affects in the future. This is the first time she has been disrupted - and I hear from others, that is a most unpleasant experience."
"I'll take their word for it and try to keep my imortallity streak going, untarnished, haha!"
"Now, please show me this cursed item."
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Saint takes the cleaver from a bag where he'd carefully wrapped it up in cloth and offers it to Morrowing.
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Morrow Wind took the cleaver and unwrapped it, frowning as he looked deep into the blade.
"This weapon has an ugly history," he said, reaching down to pick up the abalone shell with the smoldering sage in it.
Passing the cleaver through the smoke a few times to purify it, he then cast Supernal Dispellation.
There was a loud cracking sound and the blade abruptly turned chalky white - then a shreik, as the anguish of all the children ever tormented by the blade flew out!
Dark images swirled about the lodge a moment, in the form of a black sooty dust devil, mixing with the white smoke and turning gray - quieting as the colors combined - and finally going silent and leaving only the smoldering sage once again.
As the dust devil dissipated, Saint could feel the weight of the thirsty cleaver lift off of him. At last he was free of the curse and Faith would be safe around him once again.
Morrow Wind then tossed what was left of the cleaver into the fire - where it began to flake apart and burn away, metal and all.
Turning the the others, he asked, "So, what is next?"
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"If you could fix these two it would make things less confusing," Emend replies, motioning to Robor and Beats.
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Saint drops to his knees again and presses his head against the ground at Morrowind's feet.
"Thank you".
He gets back up shortly thereafter, beyond relieved to be free of that accursed weapon.
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Beats agrees with Emend "Yeh, dis bodys too white."
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"Yeah, do we eat soon?" Usdiyona asked hopefully.
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Morrow Wind stroked his chin, considering Robor and Beats' plight.
"Unfortunately," he began, "there is no one (on Earth) with enough mastery of Lingua Intelligentia to undo this permanently."
"The paradox has fundamentally changed who each of you are - and any spell that alters that will eventually end (also being subject to dispelling magic)."
"You could for example, change your appearance back with the Life arcanum, but it would only be temporary."
"I suppose I could petition intervention on your behalf from the Archangel Benjamin - but... I don't think he will see you (yet)."
"He is the type not to be taken for granted, and as such, demands a certain level of heartfelt gratitude from those who would seek his aid."
"I feel that your quorum needs to finish its business with High Oaks Castle, and recover a certain heaven-blessed weapon from the Shadow, before I would even bring the petition forward."
"It would go a long way, proving your worthyness in the matter - not to mention appeasing the ire of The Armorer - who one really doesn't want to get their bad side."
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"Why is the Armorer angry?"
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"Yeah, do we eat soon?" Usdiyona asked hopefully.
Morrow Wind reached into his vest pocket to pull out a Pay Day nut-bar, which he handed to the bear-girl.
"Soon," he said, "soon."
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"Why is the Armorer angry?"
"You left one of his 'children' in the possession of the infernal." Morrow Wind explained.
"I'm sure it was unavoidable at the time, but until the weapon is recovered, you can expect no further endowments from him."
"Best the weapon is recovered, to show your dilligence, and not be a blemish upon your quest to earn the Archangel Benjamin's favor."
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Beats sighs, loosing the weapon had been unavoidable at the time but getting it back might be tricky "Had no choice bout the weapon. Made sure to be clear to the mutt dat next time we met I'd end it though so it won't be a problem."
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Saint considers the situation, "I think we should secure High Oaks before we go on doing anything else. Beats, Robor... I may be able to help you with one of those temporary fixes Divine Messenger Morrowind mentionned. It would only be for a while - perhaps a week or even a month if the casting goes especially well - but if it would make the two of you more comfortable I could attempt to change your features into that of each other's bodies, more or less.
I'd be much more comfortable engaging in such a ritual with Sarapheen's guidance but I don't think much could stand to go wrong."
"Of course keeping the two spells active could prove rather draining, but if you ask it of me I will do it."
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"That's a kind offer, Saint, but I don't think altering their appearance is worth the handicap. We have many enemies now after all," Emend replies.
"Besides, the men are angels. Surely they should just accept this as a trial and not further embarrass themselves by groveling for the aid of others," he thinks to himself.
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Beats appears to consider it a bit before replying "No worries, let's deal with da castle and take out the demon with da sword. I can still use my space abilities at least."
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Usdiyona gladly takes the payday and wonders how she could be of help.
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"How do we find the beast that took the weapon?"
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"I would suggest finding the weapon instead," Morrow Wind replied.
Motioning to Beats' cesti, he continued; "Gaze into the creation of the Armorer - study its resonance."
"To know it, is to know its brother. Then return to where you lost it and simply follow the trail."
Then looking Beats up and down, he added, "Or just have 'mini-you' use his space mojo to track it down, haha!"
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"Once we get da castle sorted I can try that then!" Beats says, he clearly isn't too happy still being in the wrong body by having a plan helps
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Robor nods, frowing slightly.
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Thinking that now might actually be as good a time as any Beats sits down trying to copy how Morrow Wind is sitting and attempts to Study or Read the resonance of his Cestus.
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Opening his eyes to the supernatural, Beats could see the subtle currents of mystical powers at work within the cesti. There was a strong resonance of righteous fury, mixed with angelic radiance, and superior craftsmanship. He could also see the magical weave of the weapon's particular powers and function - which he was already familiar with.
Comparing what he was seeing in the cesti to the rest of the heavenly gifts granted to the quorum, Beats saw that the resonance was identical. The underlying signature was like a fingerprint. He knew that unless the Armorer was intentionally hiding the resonance, Beats would be able to accurately identify any weapon the angel had ever created.
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As this went on, Morrow Wind invited everyone out of the medicine hut to the campsite, for a simple lunch. There was dried fish, venison stew, bread, fruit, and wild grape wine.
Not exactly the 'human food' Usdiyona was anticipating, but better than what she could normally scrounge in the shadow...
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"So, what is your name?" Morrow Wind asked the bear-girl.
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Saint bites vigorously into an apple, while addressing a question to Robor then (since Morrowind appeared to be occupied).
"Robor, what do you plan on doing to the spirits inhabiting Kark's castle?"
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Robor takes a sip of the wine, and looks to Saint.
"Not sure." He replies slowly. "I suspect many of them will be corrupted so they some must be properly disposed of. It would be interesting to see if I could correct Mama Kark's corruption, and purify them instead. I suspect that might be beyond my strength, however."
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"My name is Usdiyona," Udiyona replied, "but you can call me 'Usi' if you want."
Then looking at the food, she asks, "don't you Indians believe in spaghetti and meatballs or lasagna and pepsi? I can appreciate ya'll living off the land and such, but like, I'm starving!"
"Don't any of you do chef magic or something?"
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"Oh?" Morrow Wind laughed at Usdiyona's reply; "No, no 'chef magic' here, haha!"
"Your name means 'bear' in Cherokee. Among my people, your name would be 'Kiááyo'."
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"Well, they're not all bad - in fact, i'm not even sure we'll have to destroy or bind them all. I was stuck with that bouncer guarding the attic for quite a while there. Seemed an agreeable enough sort, for a spirit.
If we tell them we're freeing them from Kark's bonds i'm sure that many of the less aggressive ones would happily agree to return to the Shadow or wherever else they came from without conflict."
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Beats starts eating as he informs the others "I can deff sense the smith in dese weapons. Pretty sure I can track day sword down."
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As everyone finished their repast, Morrow Wind spoke again to the group.
"I see that you have depleted yourselves of your awakened energies. Please, chose one among you to offer an oblation at this hallow, before you go. I also have some tass that I can provide - and a little essence for Usdiyona."
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Saint looks hesitantly at the rest of the group, "I expended near all of my energies healing, I have almost nothing left to me. If I could be so selfish as to ask..."
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"Of course Saint. We're relying on you the most," Emend replies. "And naturally I will graciously accept the Tass, as I'm the only one able to properly handle it."
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Beats simply nods along
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"Essence? Sure, I'll take some! Do I get ice-cream afterwards?"
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As the Saint went alone to pray and offer an hour long oblation at the hallow, Morrow Wind invited the rest back into the medicine hut.
There he used the white sage smoke, controlling thin spiraling tendrils of it with his hands, before sending it into Usdiyona's nostrils. As she inhaled the smoke, somewhat involuntarily, she felt empowered with the essence Morrow Wind had infused in it with his own mana. A short fit of choking and coughing followed - to which Morrow Wind chuckled.
Then sitting, Morrow Wind produced a ceremonial pipe and filled the horn with dried mushrooms that he crushed and ground up in another half of abalone shell.
"This will get a little trippy," he warned, "and you shouldn't operate heavy vehicles for at least an hour afterwards, haha!"
Handing the pipe to Robor, he instructed everyone to inhale deeply and pass the pipe to the next guy. Robor meanwhile, wasn't familiar with this ritual, but he knew that tass formed in both agates and weird mushrooms that grew among the damp rocky edges of the hallow.
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"You know I don't smoke, right?" Robor says, chuckling slightly, before bringing up the pipe and inhaling.
"...So watch yourself Beats." Robor then adds, passing the pipe along.
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"I'm too young to smoke," Usdiyona says. Then she ages ten years before everyone's eyes and says, "How's this?"
The 22 year old Usi then waits for her turn at the pipe. ;D
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Beats shrugs "Dis body should experience something interesting at least." He accepts the pipe to smoke it, passing game it to the older Usdiyona
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Usdiyona takes a puff from the pipe, makes a face, and says "BLAAGH!!!" before handing it to Emend. She then has another coughing fit, wipes tears from her eyes, weakly smiles, and adds "that's what I'm talking about!"
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Emend follows the group and inhales the pipe deeply.
-
The smoke in the medicine hut seemed to get thicker and thicker, until everyone was floating in it - literally - or at least it seemed that way... Feet were off the ground and heads were in the clouds. Like leaves on the surface of a windswept pool, everyone drifted off into their own... thing?
An hour later, Robor, Beats, and Emend abruptly snapped awake, finding themselves seated on the russet-sack cushions. Morrow Wind had an amused grin on his face and nodded over to a nearby pile of cushions, where Usdiyona was now snoring loudly in bear-cub form - her paws twitching and moving, as if she were running after something in her sleep.
After a few moments, the bear-girl awoke, sat up on her haunches, and went to say something, but it came out a squeaking growl-ish bark. She started with surprise, realizing that she was in bear form, and quickly changed back to her twelve year old human self.
"When did I change?" she asked Morrow Wind in confusion, "I was chasing the flying picnic baskets, but they..." She stopped, as she heard what she was saying.
Tilting her head to the side, she then proclaimed with a perplexed look - "I just had the strangest dream!"
At the mention of dreams, Robor, Beats, and Emend could suddenly recall details of dreams, or visions, that they had while under the influence of the genuinely magic magic-mushrooms.
---
For Robor, it was of a vast vaulted stone ceiling somewhere. The type one would see in a cathedral, grand central station, or other building using classical architecture to open up wide spaces - only this ceiling was encrusted in a thick layer of dirt and had little tendrils of vegetation growing down through cracks in it, where water had seeped in and stained the stones with a dark rusty color.
The entire vision was focused on the ceiling, as if all Robor could do was look at it, but below - out of sight - a conversation went on, to which he appeared to be an unseen eavesdropper.
"I had nowhere else to go!" a girl's familiar voice pleaded.
The last time Robor had heard the voice, he had been another person, and the voice had mocked his dangerous plight - "Time to run now, old man. Go! ... Go!"
An unfamiliar voice answered the girl, his words leaving his lips like the smooth flicking tongue of some devilish serpent. "Of course you didn't girl. No one who falls in with Belial's Brood has any future among the Clans."
"Le Blaze was a deviant troublemaker!" Another voice, this one powerful and brusk, interjected; "He didn't have the sense to follow rules, established for his own protection. The fool was destroyed trying to drink the blood of an angel! Who does that?!?"
"Quite," the more sophisticated voice agreed, "It wasn't enough that he was Daeva. He was Daeva and stupid. Not a very complimentary combination at all I'm afraid."
"But I'm not one of them," the girl cried, fear and desperation mounting in her voice. "He never turned me! I can change! I can be anything you want me to be!"
"What I want you to be..." the regal man's voice said with a hint of malevolent intent, "...is quite."
"No! Please! Nooo!" the girl screamed, as a loud wet squelching thump was heard - followed by her voice being cut off and forever silenced.
"Nice of the little imp to come find us, rather than having to root the trash out ourselves," the heavier voice remarked, apparently picking up the now deceased girl's body and throwing it over his shoulder.
"The Brood is a thorn in the side of any Clan unfortunate enough to have to deal with them," the first voice sighed. "They have no regard for law, are admitted infernalists, and attract such egregious attention with their blatant acts of wanton depravity."
"They however, are not what concerns me about this whole sorted affair..."
"It's the angel, right?" the heavier voice asked.
"Yes," came the reply; "This city hasn't had an angelic presence for nearly a decade and I have to admit, I have become somewhat accustomed to the lack of supernal oversight."
"Do you want us to find this guy and take him out?"
"Ah ha ha... If only it was that easy. No, they operate in groups - and like the magi, can conjure pure sunlight at high enough mastery. We need to find them, yes. But, they cannot be engaged without proper intel and the right sort of preparation first. And even then, it is best to separate and pick the weaker ones off first, one-by-one..."
---
Beats could recall seeing a dingy tarp through shrouded darkness, covering some large object in the middle of a rough concrete floor. His view slowly circled the object, until he became aware of another presence in the place with him.
Whoever it was remained unseen, yet Beats could observe - through a bizarre time-lapse-like unfolding - the interactions that person was making on the scene.
First a high definition camera was set up on a tri-pod, facing the tarp.
Then a cable was run from the camera, across the dark concrete, to the back of a computer server on the floor.
A door opened and closed from somewhere out of Beats' field of view and footsteps echoed in the empty space. One was the click-clack of a woman in high heels; the other the quick-paced skitter of a small child, trying to keep up.
The woman spoke, but something about her voice was off. An unusual accent - almost Spanish, but with a notable 'b' for 'v' and 'p' for 'f' substitution, rather than the classic 'h' for 'j' - and a more full sound than one might expect from a woman. Beats suspected he was hearing a 'non-binary', as the younger generation was now calling it.
"Here we are. You get to be youtube pamous!"
"I get to be on TV?" an excited little voice replied. Beats couldn't tell if it belonged to a boy or girl - it was too young, but the accent was English.
"You bet! This is the TB camera, right here."
"Ooh! Hey, what's that under there?"
"That is a surprise!"
---
Emend's vision had intruded upon Blume and Blumenthal's upper office - the one that didn't really exist in the physical world - and it was just like he had remembered it.
The room was richly appointed; lavished with ornate paneling, dark-stained wood accents, columns of heavy-laden bookshelves, a stamped-tin tile ceiling, and a huge black desk facing the door. The ornate brass candle stands that Emend remembered, with their huge squat candles and fat ropy wicks, sat in each corner - mercifully unlit.
The two 'Blumes' were there, discussing paperwork piled on Mr. Blumenthal's desk.
"Just settle it," Mr. Blumenthal said, dragging a long puff off a fine cigar. "There's no point in fighting for the place with a forgery, no matter how good the document looks. It's not worth the accusation itself getting out and upsetting other clients."
"You are aware that Mr. Hardman is one of them now," Mr. Blume replied, "does this give you pause, seeing that he remembers our little 'offer'?"
"Mr. Hardman is worth keeping tabs on;" Mr. Blumenthal pointed out, motioning with the cigar, "And what better way, than to let them have the place. The hallow itself is too good for them to pass up, not to mention its longstanding history among the Chosen. They will be very easy to watch, when we know where they call home."
"It is a shame we lost him," Mr. Blume lamented; "His father was truly amazing and we had such high hopes for the son."
"The line is not yet lost," Mr. Blumenthal replied, "We are still playing the long-game. What is another twenty years to us? A drop of water in an endless ocean. Mr. Hartman will be long gone, by the time his son stands before us to make his own choice."
---
As everyone pondered the meaning of what they could recall from their strangely prophetic dreams, the Saint returned to the group, having completed his lone oblation at the hallow.
Morrow Wind meanwhile, took a small sack and handed it to Emend.
"These three agates each hold double the usual amount of tass. Take them and use your knowledge of Prime to pull the tass free when you need it."
-
beats stands and looks agitated, he stands in what would be a fairly aggressive pose had his forearms been muscled and visible in a tank top as in his normal body. "Gonna need a few to think Dis over" He mutters and pulls up his headphones, flicking to a random song, getting somthing get too upbeat he flicks again getting 'The Sound of Silence - Disturbed - Cole Rolland (feat. Steve Glassford)' and heads outside to process what he had perceived about the killed he was tracking.
-
"Thank you," Emend replied, bowing his head slightly towards Morrow Wind.
"Blume and Blumenthal keeping an eye on us is expected. It may be prudent of us to try to obtain a secondary location however..." Emend thinks to himself, reflecting on the dream.
-
"The mood is dark here, I see," Saint says, taking in his partners' expressions -Beats in particular.
"Perhaps that is for the best, we are in for some dark work this week."
-
"Poor girl." Robor says, shaking his head sadly.
"We need to destroy those vampires."
-
Thanking Morrow Wind for his guidance, the quorum (and Usdiyona) headed back through Beats’ portal.
Preparations would be made to clean up the ‘loose ends’ at High Oaks Castle on the morrow, before addressing the issue of Robor’s lost sword.
The plan seemed to be pretty straightforward – ‘spell up’ in the morning and then drive Robor’s surveillance van up the power-line access road that ran along the wooded back side of the property along the Potomac River. From there, the team would walk through the woods to the back of High Oaks Castle and get in unseen from the main road.
“It’s a good plan,” Usdiyona remarked, as everyone was getting ready to separate for the evening – “But there’s just one thing… Morrow Wind never gave me any ice-cream.”
-
High Oaks Castle, Great Falls Virginia; Tuesday October 25th 2016
The early morning preparations went well enough – Robor casting both mental and ephemeral shield, as Beats activated body control, spatial awareness, and untouchable. Emend brought up supernal vision, spatial awareness, and magic shield, while the Saint invoked supreme honing, organic resilience, and omnivision.
Beats then used scying to check in on High Oaks Castle and could see that it was now closed up for the long term. The gates were shut and locked and there were no caretakers or security team in sight. In fact, the security team appeared to have taken all their cameras with them, when they vacated the premises. Beats noted that Mama Kark's wards still prevented him from remotely looking into the attic or basement spaces however.
Robor’s van was loaded with the gear that had been left over from their first assault on the Castle and the team headed out. Usdiyona seemed fascinated, studying the map that Sarapheen had provided, as Robor made good time driving though afternoon traffic.
Fifty minutes later, the quorum was pulling off the main road in Great Falls Virginia, onto the dirt track that followed under the powerlines near the Potomac River.
Unfortunately, Robor had grossly overestimated the van’s off-road capabilities – or, simply hadn’t realized that an ‘access road’, didn’t necessarily mean a ‘passable road’.
The van drove all right along the gravel path, while the ground was level, but the moment it approached the first super-steep hill, it was immediately clear that there was no way it was going to go up it - especially given the huge stone-filled ruts washed into it from water erosion.
Parking, everyone got out and considered what to do. They were just over a mile from the backside of High Oaks Castle – maybe an hour hike, given the rough hilly terrain.
As this went on, the Saint took advantage of the primal surroundings to try out uplift the species. Writing out some Enoch runes and employing words of power, he focused his spiritual energies on a nearby dogwood tree, shaping its being into something greater. The spell proved a little more difficult to pull off than he had anticipated, and he ended up with a heavy nosebleed, as he struggled to fight off the encroaching paradox.
When it was done however, the tree had evolved into the form of a black bear – though it hardly stirred – instead simply raising its face skyward and staring into the sun directly overhead.
Deciding to beef his creation up a bit more, the Saint employed hone another's form on the tree-bear, to increase its strength.
“It’s all yours,” the Saint then said to Robor, suggesting that he use his beast control on the creature to facilitate some control over it.
Robor gave it a try, but the tree-bear abruptly took a swipe at him, as he tried to place an Enoch rune on it for the spell. Robor dodged out of the way – the Enoch rune falling onto the ground under the beast. A moment later, the tree-bear shifted back to staring at the sun, actually stepping and standing on the rune.
‘Good enough,’ Robor thought to himself, trying the spell again. This time, he managed to establish control – though it seemed unusually tenuous for some unknown reason.
-
"Hello?!?" Usdiyona said, tapping her feet. "Is there a reason why you feel like you need another bear?"
"I may be a sucker for ice-cream, but at least I don't have moss for brains!"
-
"Hey you," Usdiyona said to the bear, "why don't ya make like tree and leave!" ;)
-
"Somehow I don't think the tree-bear will understand you," Emend stated to Usdiyona , as he continued towards the castle.
-
Beats watched the spells with some interest as he was furthering his study of life as well then once over he shrugs and starts walking too "Best get walking if we wanna make good time." He calls back
-
"This one is expendable. You are not." Saint says in a rather heartfelt tone. He moves to ruffle the girl's hair and addresses the others, "Robor - have the bear push the car uphill? Usdi and I could help as well. Or do we just leave our equipment here? I suppose we won't have much use for it."
-
Robor shakes his head.
"Let us enjoy the hike." Robor says. "We can carry whatever gear we need."
-
Saint shrugs, "Very well then. I suppose we won't have need of much of the stuff anyway".
He follows Emend.
-
Walking turned out to be the right choice - as a series of steep inclines and washed-out gullies revealed themselves the moment the team crested the first hill. The track followed under high-tension lines as it went, overlooking the Potomac River in many spots, while an audible buzz greeted the ears each time the team walked under a tower. Here and there, along the way, were massive ruts that could swallow a Volkswagen - the remnants of dozers and heavy logging equipment that probably came through only once or twice a year to the clear brush.
The hike itself turned out to be quite the trek, taking nearly fifty minutes and working up a good sweat, in spite of the cool October air.
At length, the team arrived at the gate that delineated the backside of the High Oaks Castle property. It was a simple affair, shut and locked, but easy to walk around. The only thing it would really keep out was a vehicle, though a determined atv rider could bypass it as well. Back this far from the estate proper, there was no fence, just a steep ridge that ran alongside the access road - the gate sitting in a leveled-out slope and being the only way to bypass the ridge without actually climbing up the fifteen foot high embankment.
There was a glaring lack of path or trail beyond the gate however. Had there ever been one, it must have long since overgrown. And, as the team had already experienced with their first visit to the property, the area's ever ubiquitous tangles of briars, stinging nettle patches, and flourishing poison ivy promised to make the rest of the way to the castle a real chore.
-
"I don't suppose your tree-bear can clear a path for us?" Emend suggests, turning to Robor.
-
"I don't think Robor's control is strong enough to hold if it's driven mad by a thousand stinging nettles - let us clear a path ourselves. I can purge whatever toxins we are stricken by or heal the minor cuts we will likely sustain on the way. Or you could set the whole thing on fire, but that might take too long."
-
"Um, as an expert in the bear field," Usdiyona says, "I can tell you that a bear's fur protects it from pokey plants and such."
"And if you need any help explaining what you want it to do, well, we both speak the same language."
-
Saint scratches his head a second, "It's intelligent enough for conversation? That's a surprise.
In that case, let us hurry through. We're running out of time on our spells. That bear won't be a bear very much longer at this pace."
-
"We've gone through it before. Sucks, but it's traversable."
-
"Have da bear tree break us a path then!" Beats adds. Using his spacial awareness he tries to locate the easiest trail to follow and points it out
-
The tree-bear rumbled something akin to a lazy complaint, and then trudged slowly ahead of the quorum, slashing through underbrush anywhere it got in its way.
Moving forward from the gate, Emend immediately noted something 'off'. While he could see nothing unusual with his supernal vision, he noted that the 'smell' of the woods had suddenly changed - a lingering odor seeped into his mind, like the wet underside of a leaf pile left to rot.
Before he could mention it to the others, something flashed in the corner of his vision like a burst of dull colored paints being dropped into water. The cloudy display was how his supernal vision was interpreting the nearby activation of a power.
That same instant, a small rock on the ground leapt up through the air and bounced off Robor's ephemeral shield with a sharp crack. Had he not been so protected, the rock could have easily bloodied Robor's head...
-
Now on alert, Saint quickly cancels his Omnivision spell and replaces it with the more temporary Spatial Map, muttering the words of power quickly under his breath as he casts.
"Robor, you okay?"
-
"We activated some sort of magic, although I'm unable to determine what kind," Emend explains. "Needless to say, it does not appear to be in our favour."
-
The Saint's new spell failed to come together on the first try, so he was forced to try again. Fortunately, no further attacks came, as he went through the motions the second time. When it was finished, the Saint becoming acutely aware of everything around him.
Aside from his team (and the usual assortment of forest critters), no one else was on his radar. He did however spot a path winding through the area not too far up ahead.
-
Beats quickly raises his fists in preparation to attack but does not cast any magic, relying on his mundane vision and spacial awareness for now.
"See anyone nearby?" He asks in general
-
"Weird." Robor says.
"Yeah I'm fine. Trap?"
-
"No. But last I checked rocks do not fly on their own. Whoever threw it either moved away or is able to hide through the spell. We should be careful. I'll keep looking but I can't promise anything"
Saint will keep casting his spatial map spell as he walks now, following the group. As he walks he uncaps a pen from his pocket and pulls out his phone to see his reflection, drawing a rune of Enoch onto his temple, to the left of his left eye.
-
Usdiyona uses her ability to peer across the veil.
-
Peering across the veil, Usdiyona sees the lost human spirit of a little blond-haired girl in the woods up ahead, standing next to a guardian spirit in the form of a large German Shepard. The girl appears to be angry at the Disciples for some reason, while the guardian spirit grins in amusement at her efforts to use her powers on more of the small stones littering the area.
Something about the girl reminds Usdiyona of the Doll that Mama Kark was going to rip Usdiyona's soul out for - and the thought gives the bear-girl a sudden terrible chill.
Just beyond the two spirits, Usdiyona can make out the edge of a clearing - wherein appear to be a grove of unusual trees. It's hard to tell from here, but the short stout trees seem to be writhing about in disturbing ways and smell absolutely revolting! Even from here, the stench of unwashed sweaty bodies is enough to make Usdiyona's eyes water.
-
"Why is this girl throwing rocks at you Robor?" Usdiyona asks - "And why is she so creepy? Kind of reminds me of that evil Doll."
"Oh, and did I mention she has a big scary-looking dog?"
-
Saint raises his eyes inquisitively.
"A girl? Human? A ghost then?"
-
Beats pauses and looks around "Deres a ghost girl here?"
-
"Yeah," Usdiyona answers, "the only time human spirits ever come into the shadow, is because they have lost their way, and don't know how to get back to the other side."
"I don't know if that makes her a ghost, but she's definitely lost."
-
Letting the spatial map spell run out, Saint then casts Speak with the Dead, in an attempt to see/communicate with this girl.
As he does so - "Let's see if the Death spell lets me talk to her... if it doesn't then maybe we can reunite the soul with the body."
-
Using the Enoch rune he had just drawn, and words of power, the Saint activated his Clamor of the Dead rote.
Immediately he could see the young ghost-girl up ahead - a seven year old with long blond hair. She wore a play shirt with a cat meme on it and black sweat pants. Notably, she had no socks or shoes on and a ring of terrible bruising around her neck - marks indicative of having been strangled to death.
At the moment, she had her hands outstretched and was concentration on at the ground, where the Saint could see a stone in the physical world.
"This tekerkinisis is hard Charlie," she said to a tall tower of darkness standing next to her. Indistinct and formless, the evil thing seemed to reply back to the girl - though the Saint could hear no words coming from it.
Beyond this harrowed specter, the Saint could make out even more bizarre and indistinguishable forms not too far distant, but they all seemed lost behind some inscrutable haze. Like creeping monsters lost in the fog that were probable best left hidden.
-
Saint grits his teeth in anger.
"Robor, can you open your eyes to the veil? I see a demon next to the girl, manipulating her. I should very much like to destroy it, if it is a spirit that we can deal with."
-
"Force it out on dis side." Beats adds, frustrated by being unable to currently see it.
-
At this point, another rock sailed off the ground, whizzing past Robor.
With their spatial awareness going, Emend and Beats could both tell that the effect itself was crossing the barrier between worlds. The Saint and Usdiyona could also deduce such, as they could literally see the ghost-girl in Twilight, casting the spell on the rocks and stones in the physical world.
"Ooh! I missed!" The girl remarked at her errant shot. She didn't seem to be aware that the Saint and bear-girl could see her yet.
As for the demon by her side or the ones beyond, it was unclear what they might (or might not) know about the Disciples.
-
Saint grits his teeth in anger.
"Robor, can you open your eyes to the veil? I see a demon next to the girl, manipulating her. I should very much like to destroy it, if it is a spirit that we can deal with."
Robor blinks.
"Yeah sure." Robor says, opening his eyes to the spirit world.
-
Casting his Fleshless Speech rote, Robor's eyes were opened to the precarious scene unfolding up ahead.
There, Robor saw the huge mastiff hound that had attacked Robor and Beats on the castle tower - and which had extorted Robor's sword from him in the Spirit World!
The wicked thing was standing next to the same small, hazy outline of a spirit(?), that spirit Robor had seen upon the team's first arrival in the woods out here - the very one Robor had sent the Sklorch after.
The mastiff hound grinned evilly, as it caught Robor's eye, and leaned over to whisper something to the smaller entity.
Saint and Usdiyona meanwhile, could see the little girl nod at the exchange, and then the two of them abruptly turned to flee away, towards the strange clearing beyond the haze.
The clearing, as Robor could see, was filled with unusual trees - spirits of some kind - but obviously corrupted by an infernal resonance. They flailed and writhed around spasmodically, even leaning in, as if to welcome the impending arrival of the mastiff hound and its strange little companion.
-
"Ohhh no you dont." Robor says, as he slides off his iron ring, and raises it.
"RETURN HOUND." Robor commands, casting Greater Summoning.
-
Usdiyoni uses dance of vines to make the briars and underbrush form into a wall, blocking the entrance into the glade.
-
"Farm it, I can't do a thing. Less we portal deer but I really don't wanna do dat."
Clearly frustrated he flexes muscles again in preparation
-
Not wanting to dirty his own hands, and being unable to see the spirits in question, Emend chooses to watch the other Disciples deal with the issue.
-
Saint takes out his sword and waits - more than a little frustrated at not being able to do anything to help the girl.
For a moment he considers taking a page out of Robor's book and summoning the little girl back to them - but he doesn't want her to see what they're going to do to the dog, assuming she feels some affection for the thing
-
At Robor's command, the huge mastiff wheeled around and growled angrily, hesitating for a moment, before charging back towards the quorum.
Moving with remarkable speed, its form changed as it went - growing to the size of a bull, sprouting a second head, and skin becoming plates of brimstone, floating on a surface of molten brass. Its seven inch talons, ripped the earth asunder with each heavy pawstroke - powering it forward with a terrible determination - while heat rolled from slavering jaws in air-scorching huffs, as the hound's long black teeth champed hungrily in anticipation of tearing Robor and his friends limb from limb.
Usdiyona saw this as well, and recognized it as a demon, revealing its greater hell-form. It had to be one of the scariest things she had ever seen, and it was coming right for her!
The little ghost-girl Kelsey meanwhile, also witnessed this sudden transformation in her 'friend' and staggered backwards in abject horror - becoming entangled in Usdiyona's briar wall.
The Saint, seeing this, was struck with a curious thought - 'How can she be trapped by a physical wall, when she is a ghost without a physical body?'
A moment later, Emend and Beats' spatial awareness gave them only a fraction of a second's warning, before the guardian fiend abruptly burst across the barrier separating worlds. In an instant, the terrifying hell-spawn was visible to all - bearing down on them like a freight train running off the rails!
-
"AAAHH!!!" Usdiyona yelped, "I heard they could do that - but ZHEEESH!!!"
She then changes into her adult black bear form and tries to grapple the demon to the ground to protect her friends.
-
"Shit. Forgot it was actually threatening." Robor mutters. Raising his iron ring, Robor focuses.
"You will be Still, Spirit. I want my sword back."
He then remembers the Tree Bear.
"And bear! Attack the Hound!"
-
Though concern might drive him to go help the girl, Saint finds his attention more immediately grabbed by the monstrosity in front of him.
It's good, really, to have somewhere to let the anger flow.
Cautious of the monster's horrific claws and ichor-oozing teeth, Saint hangs back - happy to let the expendable bear take the brunt of any assault, ready to heal his comrades if it is them who are struck instead, before attacking himself. He aims to move and attack the Demon on its flank rather than face it head-on.
Even blessed as I am by your strength I am ever so mortal Lord. Forgive my cowardice and guide my blade.
-
with a target finally visible Beats decides that a little bit of vulgar magic can go a long way.
he first gestures at it, burning a mana for evil eye from his cestus then swings a haymaker, casting his lethal ranged blows prviously used on the giant worm.
-
Emend decides to hold moving until the newly spawned demon attacks. If it uses magic he'll attempt to use counter-spell. Otherwise hell pull out his pistol and attempt to shoot the creature in the eye, suspecting the bullets may not be able to penetrate its armour.
-
Usdiyona (in bear form) and the tree-bear moved to interpose themselves between the charging demon and the Disciples.
Usdiyona, being much faster than the lumbering thing the Saint had created, met the imposing demon head-on, well before the tree-bear had crossed half the distance between them. The quorum watched, as a huge talloned paw slashed Usdiyona to the ground – and the two-headed fiend trampled right over her – on an unimpeded course towards Robor.
Usdiyona meanwhile, attempted to grab onto a leg, while under the beast, but only managed to leave a long slash in it with her claws, as it passed over. She then had to shake molten brass off her paws, before it began to burn through – damn, that thing was blistering hot!
Focusing mana, Beats activated the evil eye power of his cestus, but found that it had no effect! He was then forced to choose between activating knife fist or far strike – not yet being able to do both at the same time.
Settling on the latter, Beats swung a haymaker in the air before him – with the great satisfaction of seeing it land heavily on the distant side of the guardian fiend’s right head – the blow shuddering through the creature, sending a spray of hot sparks flying from the impact, and momentarily causing it to stumble in its charge!
Robor’s command to “be still” meanwhile, went ignored, as the guardian fiend shook off the hit from Beats and began regenerating some of its wounds – the bizarre furrows, left in its molten skin by Usdiyona, beginning to slowly fill themselves in.
“Foolish, whelp!” the demon hissed, each head sharing the words; “I have existed for millennia! You are but a newly born lamb! You will not take from me what is rightfully MINE!”
As this went on, the Saint maneuvered around behind the demon and laid a hand on Usdiyona – who he saw had taken some serious wounds. Using his balm of flesh rote and a focus of mana, he sealed up the deep lacerations the bear-girl had taken when run over.
Tree-bear meanwhile, slashed at the side of the distracted fiend, but its claws scraped off the hard brimstone plates, as the demon still managed to twist away to avoid the blow.
Emend, employing more modern methods, fired a shot at the demon with his glock. He missed entirely – perhaps trying a bit too hard by aiming at something as small as its eye.
-
Having aided Usdi-Yona, Saint sees the demon about to savage Robor and summons the strength of his will, leaping forward and hacking at the horrendous thing's flank (spending 1 willpower point for three additional dice).
The only thing that might stop Saint's charge would be if Robor sustained near fatal wounds that needed desperately to be healed.
-
Seeing his other abilities hitting but trading risk of paradox to cause great effect, Beats decides to rely on his natural strength (and unnaturally boosted physique) He dashes in close to it's flank and throws a combination of punches, Using Knife fist for lethal damage.
-
"You will fall, demon." Robor says, thrusting his iron ring towards the Hound, attacking its Corpus Directly.
-
Undeterred, Emend summons his will forth and focuses, trying again to shoot the demon spawn in the eye.
-
Usdiyona uses dance of vines again to pull roots up out of the ground under the demon. Hopefully, she can get it around the neck and hold it still.
-
In furious rage, the guardian fiend struck Robor to the ground with a swipe of its talloned paw. Robor’s ephemeral shield took the brunt of the attack, but blood still flowed from the claw-marks now running diagonally down his chest – from left shoulder to right hip.
Not finished with its assault, one of the furnace-like mouths then crunched down on Robor’s arm, as he instinctively raised it to protect himself. Bone shattered under the demons flesh-scalding bite and it then reared back – its paw still holding Robor down – attempting to rip Robor’s arm clean from his body. Muscle separated, tendons snapped, arteries tore asunder, and the limb was stretched askew – shredding in the creature’s teeth, but abruptly slipped free before being completely amputated.
Thrice now, Robor had been mauled by some horrific entity intruding upon the physical world. First by the vampire that brought a close to his old life; then by the foul worm summoned up by Mama Kark; and now, this farking dog! All Robor could do however, was scream out, before the shock brought unconsciousness.
Not hesitating at the brutal scene of carnage, Beats leapt into into the infernal monster’s flank, activating his knife fist. The blade of kinetic force manifested with a snapping crackle of paradox – sending a numbing jolt of power through Beats’ wrist, but then stabilizing quickly enough for him to employ it against the demon.
Beats threw a combination of blows, eventually finding a nice gap between the beast’s brimstone plates and sinking the force blade into the molten brass beneath – before drawing the blade sideways. As Beats pulled his cesti-clad fist free, glowing yellow globules of hot metal flew after the arc of his arm, threatening to burn him if he lingered too long at the wound.
The Saint meanwhile, was forced to abandon any thought of offense, to save his companion Robor. Focusing his will, he reached into the fray to pull Robor out from under the demon and heal him. With a holy mandate, he commanded Robor’s wounds to heal – and they did! In an awe inspiring display of The Lord’s power, the Saint witnessed Robor’s arm reassemble itself back to full health. This was not all, as the slash marks up Robor’s chest also sealed back up – leaving no scars to indicate he had ever been injured at all.
Robor snapped back to consciousness, aware that he had been dying but a moment ago, but with a new determination to see this mutt pay for what it had done.
As this went on, Usdiyona channeled her essence into the ground, where the guardian fiend now stood – causing thick roots from nearby trees to burst forth, wrapping themselves around the demon’s form. Immediately the roots took fire on contact with its surface of molten brass, but were thick enough to actually hold it for the moment.
The tree-bear took advantage of this fact and mounted the demon’s back to bite into its spine. Swinging its head back and forth, tree-bear actually managed to tear one of the guardian fiend’s brimstone plates free in the process – flinging it to the side!
“Errrgh!” the guardian fiend growled, struggling to extricate itself and seeing that this was not likely to end in its favor – “Let me go and I’ll return your sword and give you a tribute from my own treasures!”
Emend’s finger was already pulling the trigger at this point.
His glock went off and the bullet struck true – putting out the demon’s eye in a nasty explosion of blood and jelly! It must have gone into the creature’s brain too, because the head abruptly went slack, handing down and exhaling a final breath of super-heated air.
The other head meanwhile, roared in pain, as the body thrashed in the burning roots that still held it fast.
A moment later, the fiend’s terrifying hellform was lost and it reverted back to an overly-large mastiff hound once more. For a second, it appeared as if the hound would simply vanish away – but then its still functioning eye flicked open and the hound whined – “Let’s just call it a draw, shall we? I can be very useful to you all. I guard stuff, that’s what I do. This whole fight was just a little posing on my part, I will admit. It didn’t really mean anything, but you see what I can do. Let me work for you. What say you?”
-
Sighing, Saint looks over Robor to make sure he's fine, then looks over the others.
Beats is a little bruised, but other than that... thank you Lord. We're all okay.
Saint gets up and walks away from the demon, though he calls over his shoulder - "I think Robor should receive the honour of destroying it. Or him and Beats together, at least."
He heads towards the ghost girl.
-
Beats pretends not have suffered and paradox effect and stretches his bicep in a threatening manner in front of the 'dog' "Where's da sword?" He simply says
-
"Of course, the sword," the hound smiled (a little too eagerly). One couldn't help but suspect it was up to something, even now.
"I left it in the shadows, but I can take you to it."
The demon actually had the gall to give the quorum 'puppy-dog eyes' with that last part - but it came off a little too 'disturbed maniacle killer'.
He really needed to work on that.
-
Emend raised his pistol and aimed it at the hounds other eye.
"We can find it without you. Anything else you want to add?"
-
Sensing that Emend was going to shoot it anyway, and finding the thought of Robor being robbed of his revenge for the mauling absolutely delightful (given the circumstance), the Mastiff Hound decided to taunt just a little - poking the bear so to speak.
"I doubt you could find it on your own," the hound grinned, using Sense of Sin to delve through Emend's vice; "After all, your pride has blinded you before."
"Too good you were to take your father's path, though it had served him - and by extension, you - quite well all of your pathetic banal life."
-
Beats immediatly kicks it over onto it's side and stands above it "Next words are telling us where da sword is or we just kill ya."
-
Being that the mastiff was so tall and still secured in flaming roots, 'kicking it over' proved a pointless exercise in futility. Even so, the underlying threat was received.
"Hahahaha!" The demon scoffed, "You can't kill me. You can only give me a 'time out'. And what does that matter to a being of eternity?"
Once again it employed Sense of Sin, to now examine Beats' own failings to pride.
"Tsk Tsk Tsk," it clucked, "Taking money that wasn't yours and then having the nerve to give it to charity - as if that made it all OK. Hahahahahaha! You sorry fools!"
-
While Saint is stuck within the eternal limbo of travelling towards the ghost girl while the greed demon speaks, he takes a moment (as no one is looking) to reach into his pattern and claw at his own life force, wresting mana from himself. (Taking 1 unhealable Lethal damage and 1 strength damage for 6 mana total).
When he's done, he calls over his shoulder - "Beats, you can find the sword yourself - just as Morrowind taught you. Just destroy the damned thing already. It might claim that the time dead is nothing to it but it's still begging you for its life isn't it? Destruction for it should be terribly painful, if what Morrowind told us about angelic destruction was true."
-
Robor shakes his head.
"I... I'm not going to remove the dog." Robor says, following after Saint. Wrath isn't his thing.
-
Beats wrestles with his pride but holds for now "Yeh, I sinned, den repented. What we do. You? Your just recurring trash so dis is me keeping my word from last time, nothin more."
He uses his knife fist on its head until sure it is dead or he runs out first.
-
The mastiff demon clenched its teeth in silent fury, as Beats pummeled its trapped head with powerful blow after powerful blow. The fiend did not bother trying to snap back at Beats however, and after its face had been reduced to a strange mix of blood, fur, and charcoal-black bone, the entire thing discorporated abruptly into billowing clouds of sulfuric yellow gas.
As Beats staggered back to avoid contact with the hazardous fumes, Usdiyona withdrew the burning roots back into the ground to smother out the flames - before they could spread and catch the woods themselves on fire.
Emend holstered his glock and the Saint finished his soul scouring, as Robor moved to join them.
The ghost-girl meanwhile, looked absolutely shocked at the way things had gone down and suddenly began struggling again to get out of the briar wall – especially when she realized that 'Charlie' was gone and the 'bad men' were now coming for her.
She cried in panic, as thorns snagged at her clothing and skin.
The ‘smell’ Emend had noticed at the gate, grew stronger as the quorum moved forward, becoming more and more like a disgusting mix of rotting vegetation and extreme body odor. It was the same smell Usdiyona was experiencing, though she could tell it was emanating from the bizarre clearing up ahead.
A moment later, Emend and Beats felt themselves transition through the curtain separating worlds. In that instant, the ghost-girl trapped in Usdiyona’s wall of briars became visible to everyone – as did the strange thrashing things in the clearing beyond. While still a bit distant from here, they appeared to be short stout trees of some kind, but twisted and gnarled into oddly spasmodic human-esque shapes.
And the smell… it now favored no one, assaulting the nostrils of all, with every breath.
A vague feeling of unease began to take hold on the quorum and the colors started to look wrong somehow, artificial, like an oversaturated photograph. Robor and Beats immediately recognized it from the last time they were here – they had somehow stepped unbidden into the Shadow once again!
Robor’s fleshless speech confirmed this, as it revealed everything here (except the ghost-girl and the quorum) were spirits.
The quorum also noted a number of small disturbing flowers dotting the ground all around; each having human mouths for blooms. Red wet quivering lips surround white teeth and flickering tongues. The mouths looked like they were quietly whispering something back and forth amongst themselves.
-
Saint ignores the change in their surroundings, the realization that they were in the shadow. He forces any concern he might have away so as to kneel in front of the girl.
"It's okay. We're not here to hurt you. My name is Saint. The ugly one with the tattoos back there is Robor. The stuck up looking guy in the suit is Beats. That fellow with the prideful expression glued onto his face like a mask is Emend. The bear - no, not that one, the one that turns into a girl, that's Usdi-Yona."
Saint smiles at each name, to let her know he's just joking with the little jabs at his companions.
"Can you tell me your name?"
-
"Not ere again" Beats mutters to himself as he begins reaching out with his Spacial senses to find a trail to the sword
-
"I suppose this is a Verge," Emend announces after they pass through.
"We should keep an eye on it. There's no telling who may stumble through."
-
UsdiYona ages back from adult bear form to bear cub and playfully trots over to the girl. She then paws at the briar wall to release the girl and licks her hand with friendly eyes and a smile.
-
Between the Saint's kind demeanor and UsdiYona's teddy bear-like antics in freeing her, the ghost-girl calmed down quite a bit.
Still very guarded however, she rubbed the thorn pricks on her arms and pointed at Robor accusingly - "He sent monsters to eat me!"
-
Saint looks back at Robor sternly,
"Is that true Robor?"
-
Robor raises an eyebrow.
"I, uh.... did I ever even have a monster to send?" He asks. "Is she talking about the plant thing?"
-
"Yes!" the ghost-girl stated emphatically - "And he was fat, ugly, and slow!"
The way the girl spat out the last part, made it hard to tell if she meant that the Sklorch was 'fat', 'ugly, and 'slow'... or Robor was...
-
"Well Robor I think you owe the young girl an apology."
Saint looks up at his fellow disciple expectantly.
-
"Hey, watch yourself. Robor Robor is in now way fat and or ugly." Robor retorts.
"But I don't remember sending it against a little girl, just the witch and a.... a small thing...." Robor mumbles.
"OHHHHHHH." Robor says, finally figuring it out. "I'm so sorry little girl. I didn't know it was you, I thought it was a demon."
-
"Hmph!" the little girl sulked for a moment with her arms crossed. She then brightened suddenly, looking like a kid who had just caught Santa Claus under the Christmas tree.
"A demon? They're real?" She asked excitedly, "You mean like Inuyasha? Is that why Charlie could change bigger? He is like Kilala isn't he! Only Kilala is a cat, not a dog, and she has two tails. Have you ever met Inuyasha? ..."
Before anyone could answer, the girl's face abruptly fell once again, and she began to cry, genuinely distressed at her own sudden realization that the 'Charlie' she knew and trusted had just been killed, right before her very eyes. She had no idea what a real demon was - only a romanticized fantasy to help process things she didn't understand.
In her mind, the cartoon character Kilala was a good guy, so by extension, 'Charlie' must have been a good guy as well.
"Chaaaarllieee!" she wept inconsolably.
-
Saint kneels down again and hesitantly puts a hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Do you think we're bad people?"
-
"I don't know!" the ghost-girl sniffed, wiping her eyes with a sleeve. "Charlie said you were bad men. He said you could take me home, but that you wouldn't!"
"I want to go home!"
At the Saint's touch, the girl leaned in to hug him close - tears still flowing. She had no one else now, and the Saint could tell that he had gotten through to her. She was ready to trust him.
-
UsdiYona leans in and gives the girl a sympathetic nuzzle with her nose.
-
Saint hugs the girl close.
"I promise I'll do whatever I can to take you home, wherever that might be. Can you tell me your name now?"
-
Robor raises his ring, and whispers softly in the Enochian tongue, trying to sunmon a dog spirit.
-
"Uh huh," the girl replied, "my name is Kelsey."
At the name, Emend's memory of the AMBER Alert he had seen, almost a month back, came flooding into his mind. She was 'Kelsey Moores', the girl who had been abducted from the Fairfax area. Mama Kark must have used her somehow, in the making of Doll, which would explain the uncanny resemblance they had with each other.
Emend grimly recalled the boxes of children's bones in Mama Kark's vault that the quorum had found. There were three sets of them (not including the ones belonging to large monstrosity Hans) - did that mean there were more ghost-children around, haunting High Oaks Castle?
Robor meanwhile, successfully cast his summons - meaning that something, fitting his intent, had heard and replied to the call - though they would have to wait a while for it to make its way to them, apparently.
-
Beats, seeing the priest handling things well keeps his distance and just keeps sending out his senses. No point acting all nice when looking the way he does, who would trust a well dressed white guy?
-
Not wanting to publicly announce that the girl is a ghost so she can hear it, Emend walks over to Robor and whispers to him what he's remembered after hearing the girl's name.
-
Not wanting to publicly announce that the girl is a ghost so she can hear it, Emend walks over to Robor and whispers to him what he's remembered after hearing the girl's name.
"Ooooh." Robor mutters. "Does that mean we need to send her off? Like to heaven?" He whispers back
-
"We will do whatever we need to to send her where she belongs", Saint says firmly.
We should have burned those remains. I am our speaker for the dead. I should have known to do this. Forgive me Lord.
For now, we should get out of here. I do not feel comfortable in the Shadow. Robor, can you open a path back? We shall protect you, as is our duty."
-
Beats, seeing the priest handling things well keeps his distance and just keeps sending out his senses. No point acting all nice when looking the way he does, who would trust a well dressed white guy?
Beats reaches out with his spatial senses and feels the resonance of Robor's missing sword nearby. The hell hound must have had a lair somewhere in (or just beyond) the strange grove - where it has hidden the angelic weapon.
-
"I dont think I need to. Its an opening, we should be able to walk right on out." Robor says.
"Should we countinue tonthe castle?
-
Saint looks to Beats, "Lets see if Beats has found anything first. If we can make this the only trip we have to make into the Shadow I should like to do so."
-
Beats pauses a few moments more to be certain before answering "Seems like da lair is just beyond dis grove, should be able to reach it easily. Maybe."
-
The ghost-girl meanwhile, was distracted by (and seemed content to play with) the bear cub UsdiYona, while the grown-ups talked among themselves.
"I never got to play with a real bear before!" she said happily, offering UsdiYona the end of a small stick to tug-of-war with.
-
"Then let us hurry, we have no time to waste."
Saint waits for Beats to lead the way forward.
-
Beats attempts to trace his senses back o the lair or wherever it is that the sword is hidden, leading the others.
-
Following Beats, the quorum moved around Usdiyona's briar wall and into the open grove of strange trees beyond. The moment the ghost-girl Kelsey crossed the threshold between the two places, she abruptly froze in place - like a paused video - and then faded away.
With his Clamor of the Departed rote still going, the Saint could tell that Kelsey was no longer in the Shadow - or anywhere near them in Twilight either. It had to mean that something had just pulled her back into the physical world - or that she had left the boundaries of her anchor and been drawn back to it.
Perhaps it was for the best, as the sight of the grove itself was quite disturbing - freakish beyond anything the Disciples had ever before seen.
The short stout thrashing trees - each about twelve to fifteen feet in height - were indeed a collection of headless, legless human torsos, male and female - firmly rooted into the ground and clad in remolded human flesh! They writhed, twitched, and quivered seemingly at random, but did not appear to be able to move from their spots.
Limbs on the trees sprouted from hairy joints and bent like human arms, before branching further into long thin draping finger-like leaves. Knots in the trees looked like leering eyeballs, deformed genitalia, knees, elbows, or skin blemishes. Some of the trees had even grown together and thrusted against each other in unquestionably obscene ways.
Thirteen of these gruesome trees formed a loose ring (roughly thirty meters across), around a massive fleshy stump in the center. Unlike the rest of the trees, this one had no limbs. In fact, the twenty foot high, thirteen foot wide stump looked as if it could have once been the tree of a giant - that someone (or something) had long ago cut down. Strange bloody sap oozed in thick coagulating rivulets from the flat top wound of the trunk and down its face, which incidentally had no features - other than a huge eleven foot wide gnarled mouth - from which the trunk breathed in and out in long torturous gasps.
A plethora of the gibbering mouth-flowers the quorum had already seen, grew around the base of the giant trunk, eagerly lapping up the blood-puss as it flowed down to their beds.
The smell of the grove was almost overpowering - a sweltering mix of body odor, ammonia, infection, and putrescent compost.
The resonance of Robor's sword was coming from the giant flesh-trunk in the center of the grove.
'Of course it would be coming from there,' Beats couldn't help but think to himself, 'where else would it lead, but right to the nastiest looking thing the shadow could possibly barf up.'
-
In disgust, Saint says "Could we just burn the whole thing down?"
-
"Ugh... I should have skipped breakfast." John mutters.
"We need to purify this place anyhow. Burning won't do any good, and could damage the sword."
-
"Think of where we are Robor. There is no purity to be found in the Shadow."
Saint pulls his shirt up over his mouth so as to not breathe the same foul air as the rest of this area - even if there was no stench he would do it, for the sight filled him with disgust.
"Well, we brought a sacrificial lamb with us for a reason. The bear, send it forward."
-
"Swords in da stump thing." beats simply states, pointing at the grotesk thing
-
"We're gonna need to reach in into that gaping maw." Robor groans. "I don't think attacking it with the bear is the right answer."
"I want the sword stolen from me." Robor says, enthusing his voice with the language of the spirits. Perhaps something here will answer.
-
Saint looks at Robor then - "That stump is obviously a trap. It'll attack us or chomp down the second we reach into it."
-
UsdiYona changes from cub back to full grown bear and heads over with the tree bear to see what their claws can do against the flesh trunk thing.
-
At Robor's demand, the mouth of the massive flesh stump mumbled a few low and unintelligible words back, sounding like it might have tried to say something; but whatever came out, seemed more like confused mutterings than anything coherent.
The halitosis coming out of the stump's open orifice meanwhile, was positively gag-inducing. Looking in (while the stump attempted to speak), revealed no teeth - just festering holes, marking a rotting gum-line of sorts.
As this went on, Tree-Bear and UsdiYona went up and raked their claws into the side of the stump.
Little could anyone have known the horror this act would set off.
First, the two bears found the flaccid flesh easy to cleave into - each tearing great swaths from the stump with each swipe! Brown syrupy blood spattered from the torn chunks of meat as they were ripped free - speckling UsdiYona and Tree-Bear in the foul stuff. Beneath the flesh itself, was a strange fibrous muscle tissue, layered over dark ivory-like ribs!
The massive stump howled in pain at the onslaught, shuddering, and gnashing its mouth - but otherwise seemingly incapable of putting a stop to it.
The rest of the quorum however, noted something else happening as this went on - they felt a wave of soul-withering corruption washing out from the giant stump - triggering an adrenalin dump in their guts, as it coursed outward through them and then beyond even the ring of obscene trees themselves.
At this, the mouth-flowers went absolutely berserk! They shrieked loudly in high shrill voices and began shaking about - almost as if attempting to uproot themselves in the process.
The ring of trees curiously, went completely still - their spastic movements inexplicably halting and a looming sense of baited anticipation filling the air. In shock, the Saint (with his Clamor of the Departed rote) suddenly noticed the telltale spark of human spirits imprisoned deep within each one - inexplicably intertwined in some unwholesome union with the tree's own darker spirit.
A moment later, Robor, Saint, Emend, and Beats all felt the most exquisite pain shoot through their feet and up their legs! Then the sound of snapping bone and blinding agony accompanied a sudden metamorphosis of their toes - which all burst out through their footwear and began rooting themselves into the ground!
It was some sort of spell - attempting to transform them into those trees!
Emend immediately surged mana into his magic shield to resist the effects - which helped slow the growth of his toe-roots to the point that he was able to rip them free from the ground - but now he had long tendrilous sprouts shooting out from his feet - making any movement like walking in swim-flippers!
Beats faired about the same - finding that his Body Control allowed him a modicum of resistance to the effects as well. His feet had not morphed nearly to the degree Emend's had, though they still impeded his ability to walk or run somewhat.
Robor also managed to pull his feet-roots free from the ground, but they continued to grow, trying to sink their way into the earth, if he stood still long enough for them to do so!
The Saint meanwhile, found his Organic Resilience up to the task of actually reversing the effects! A moment of concentration and focusing his mana - pulled his toes and feet back into their God-given shape - though he could still feel the weight of the spell actively fighting against him.
Everyone, except Usdiyona and the Tree-Bear, for whatever reason, were still very much in danger of becoming one of the thrashing tree-horrors, if they remained in the grove much longer!
-
Shaken, Saint steps back and closes his eyes.
Lord - why Lord?
Steeling himself and muttering a few choice words of power Saint extends his hands over the rest of the group and gathers his mana in an attempt to protect them from the effects of the spell with Organic Resilience, dropping Clamor of the Departed in the process.
"Don't resist! I'm going to try and slow the spell's effect!"
-
"I can hold it off, I think. concentrate on da others!" Beats calls as he heads closer to the tree carefully (So as not to trip) "Tear it down fast!" (Preparing to use knife fist on it)
-
Robor looks at his legs in horror, feeling himself transform into a tree.
"Not how I plan on going on..." Robor groans, raising his ring, and, spending mana to make it an area of effect spell, attacks the spirits' corpuses directly.
-
Deciding it has served its purpose, Emend ends his supernal vision. He then prepares to counter the spell using counter-spell the next time it tries to strengthen its hold on them.
"What a disgusting lair. I agree we should dispose of it and the pitiful abominations that reside here once we finish our task," Emend says, as he tries his best to avoid thinking about his newly deformed feet
-
If it can bleed it can die! UsdiYona keeps slashing away at it!
-
Emend’s spell fought against the titanic power of the grove – feeling like Emend was trying to turn aside a dump truck with a broom. He realized in trying, that the metamorphosis spell was a continuous effect, meaning that as long as the quorum remained in the grove, they would be subject to its powers.
Emend’s magic shield, coupled with his counter spell, was enough to prevent further change in Emend for the moment, but it was draining his mana at an alarming rate.
Robor also resisted the change, sending out a blast of corpus-shredding power. Initially intent on expanding the wave to encompass a number of the weird tree spirits, Robor was quickly frustrated by the fact that they were all spread out too far, UsdiYona was in the radius, and the sheer size of the ancient stump required almost all of his focus.
Even singling out the stump itself for the brunt of the attack was disappointing, as the vile and primordial thing slapped down Robor’s spell as easily as a man would swat away a fly.
The Saint Meanwhile, invoked his organic resilience on everyone, finding that with a little effort, he could choose whom to effect regardless of area. Emend, Robor, Beats, and UsdiYona suddenly felt a surge of invigorating power.
As if in response to his efforts however, the Saint felt a wave of nausea overcome him, as his feet suddenly erupted through the sides of his shoes and began digging themselves into the ground. Fighting back stabbing pain, the Saint ripped his now deformed appendages free from the earth – wondering if his faith was strong enough to sustain him through this horrifying nightmare.
As this went on, UsdiYona and Tree-Bear continued to tear into the massive stump. While the flesh proved easy to rip apart, the dark ivory-like ribs seemed as hard as stone – and resisted the two bears’ raking claws quite well!
Seeing this, Beats activated knife fists and strode forward to the gaping wound UsdiYona and Tree-Bear had inflicted upon the demonic remnant.
With a series of tremendous blows, Beats shattered two of the great ribs, allowing access to the now unprotected fibrous musculature beneath!
The ancient stump groaned in a dazed stupor, as its insides were being torn out - and two of the freakish flesh-trees seemed to tremble in response.
A moment later, the most god-awful sound shook through the grove – it was a sickening fracture, followed by the wet ripping of flesh – as the gruesome pair literally tore themselves free of their stumps!
A thick column of dull gray vertebrae trailed from each of the gaping wounds – wrapped in writhing mounds of torn, sap splorking entrails! Dark blood sprayed everywhere – as the two tree-tops then toppled over and began rolling across the grove at the Disciples – like a couple of horrendous flailing tumbleweeds!
Beats meanwhile, realized in dismay, that something was now hampering his lower movement. Looking down, he was shocked to see his upper thighs fusing together at the crotch! His legs were beginning to transform into a trunk!
Seeing this, a sudden realization crossed the Saint’s mind. The reason Angels couldn’t enter the Shadow. The Shadow was Hell!
The sudden revelation blasted through the Saint’s mind, being more than he could take – he was gone even before his collapsing knees hit the ground.
Another woke in his place.
So this was Hell. Big deal.
The real hell was having to live inside the mind of another, trapped and incapable of action – watching the most banal person ever born, waste the marvelous powers that the angel had given him.
But it was the Killer’s turn again now – and this time, it would be different.
-
Killer looks down at his mutilated limbs and feels the aching pain in his soul. He sees the power he's wasted on the other weaklings with him.
We could do so much better ourselves. Why waste your time with them? Without us they would have been killed three times over now. Robor and Emend both owe us their lives, and without this shield you've created I doubt they would survive even so much as this fight.
Killer glances down at the Saint's sword, and briefly runs his hand along its edge, even as he begins mumbling words of power in preparation of his spell.
Even when you share your power with them they can do so very little.
With a sigh, Killer lowers the blade.
I am not immortal.
Spending a willpower point and harnessing his mana, Killer grits his teeth and calls a healing light down onto the area (unafraid of accidentally healing the spirits, as they cannot be affected with Life), including himself.
Yet.
(Balm of Flesh, +3 dice willpower, area modified to affect everyone)
-
Beats struggles for a moment then concentrates on the stump again, even if he cant walk he can punch. He uses combination blows with his knife fist to hit more times quickly. Surely they should be getting close to the sword by now at least.
-
UsdiYona sees no reason to stop tearing this thing to shreds yet.
-
Realizing that defending won't get him anywhere, Emend pulls out his lighter.
"Even a demonic tree should burn," he thinks to himself, as he uses control fire to set the demonic tree ablaze.
-
Robor decides that the trunk is far too strong to stop, and moves to another target.
"STOP" He commands the tree spirits.
-
The metamorphic power of the grove continued its cancerous corruption of the Disciples' limbs, though the organic resilience bestowed upon them by the Saint seemed to blunt the intrusive change quite dramatically.
Even without trying to counter spell (or activating his magic shield), Emend was able to shrug off the influence of the grove and focus on a little offense of his own. Concentrating on the fire from his zippo and uttering words of power, he willed the tiny flame to heat itself up like a bunsen burner's jet and then shoved it up against the fleshy bark of the colossal stump.
The skin bubbled and popped like sizzling bacon under the intense flame, leaving deep scorched furrows in its wake. The ancient stump groaned in response to the torture it was being subjected to, but could do nothing about it otherwise. Emend noted that the seared flesh wept a slick pus-like sap that appeared to keep the bark from fully igniting like dryer wood might.
As this went on, Robor commanded the two approaching flesh-trees to stop.
Instantly, the trembling things halted their advance - awaiting further directives from Robor - as they continued to hemorrhage profusely from the ragged flesh-wounds that were once their torsos. Clearly, the horrific monstrosities had sacrificed themselves in a bid to save their unholy sire and would bleed themselves out rather quickly.
The Saint (Killer) meanwhile, invoked power from On High - surprising himself with how easily he could draw down the supposed 'holy' power - shouldn't they realize he was a fraud? In spite of any apprehension on his part, the healing energies obeyed his every whim and worked marvelously at immediately reversing the afflictions of himself and his companions. The pain was driven from them and their feet and toes were restored to their original size and shape. Even Beat's fused thighs were made whole - becoming two separate legs again, rather than some single grotesque stump!
Unhampered, Beats, UsdiYona, and the Tree-Bear continued to carve their way into the side of the stump - ripping apart the fibrous muscle tissue with relative ease. A moment later, the three of them breached a hollow beyond the broken ribs - it being some sort of gullet in the back of the ancient stump's throat.
A large stash of unusual items occupied the area, consisting of -
- a dried-out set of old saddle bags emblazoned with the fading red letters of the Wells Fargo logo
- a weathered stainless-steel combination briefcase with a rust-pocked chain and locking cuff attached (dark splotches on the outside of the case look like the remnants of old blood spatter)
- a huge blue on white Ming vase with a lid (the vase depicting an imperial dragon coiling around itself)
- a large paneled-object of some sort, wrapped in old brittle canvas
- a beat-up black typewriter case from the 20's, labeled 'Remington Rand Portable'
- a 1970s cash register from Seven-Eleven
- and lastly, Robor's sword that the Guardian Fiend had extorted out of him the last time he and Beats had been in the Shadow.
-
"Da sword is here! Come help!" Beats immediatly begins taking out the objects and putting them on the ground behind him so that the others can take them away
-
Play oh play the worker bee, play it well no one will see
Killer jogs over loosely to the items on the ground. The tree couldn't hurt him. Maybe once upon a time, when it was something more than a crippled stump.
He picks up whatever he can carry, "we should get going".
-
UsdiYona looks in disappointment at the treasures.
'There's a 7-11 register, but no snacks? Is it too much to hope for a slurpie and slim Jim? I could even go for a withered up 3 day old hot dog right about now!'
UsdiYona then scoops the saddlebags up to help carry the loot without having to change from bear form.
-
"I guess a demonic tree doesn't burn after all," Emend thinks to himself. He then brings his attention to all of the items, confused by their presence among the enchanted sword. Wanting to make sure they don't get into any trouble, he attempts to quickly analyze the items to determine if they're enchanted or not.
-
Emend could tell that there was something unusual about the typewriter case, but realized that he'd need ten minutes (or more) to magically scrutinize each item in the collection. Probably best if that was done somewhere else - as the powers of the grove, while muted, were still very much a danger from moment to moment...
-
Figuring the typewriter would have to be used for any sort of enchantment to effect them, Emend nods to himself and supervises the others as they do all the packing. No need for him to get his hands dirty.
-
Robor nods, and directs the plantsnto reroot themselves, before grabbing his sword.
-
Removing the items from the hollow revealed a few to be quite heavy.
The huge blue on white Ming vase was nearly a hundred ponds all by itself. A quick peek under the lid revealed a large stash of gold and platinum jewelry, each piece embellished with a variety of diamonds, emeralds, opals, sapphires, and rubies.
The 1970s cash register from Seven-Eleven also proved quite heavy - and awkward to carry. As it was moved, something rattled around inside under its till drawer.
The beat-up black typewriter case from the 20's weighed a good thirty pounds, while the large paneled-object, wrapped in old brittle canvas, was not heavy, but stood six feet tall and was a foot and a half wide.
The saddlebags, briefcase, and Robor's sword were all easy enough to carry however.
-
As this went on, the uprooted flesh-trees hesitated to follow Robor's command - unable to comply, given that they had physically separated themselves from their roots.
The power of the grove continued to assail the Disciples meanwhile, though the Saint's organic resilience was currently holding it at bay.
-
"Beats, I don't see us carrying everything out of here. Why don't you open a portal so we can move it out that way," Emend suggests.
-
"Could we put the stuff in the saddlebags?"
-
nodding to Emend in thanks for the idea Beats moves 3 steps back then sits crosslegged holding his space related tag, burning will to open a portal away from the grove to where they could escape. trying to portal just across the verge
-
While Beats could open a portal back to the power line access road, he realizes that doing so will take a minimum of three hours - time that the Disciples do not have, given the grove's transmogrifying powers.
-
Robor looks at the objects, and grimaces.
"Trees. Carry these. Out of the grove."
-
Killer grimaces. Despite the fact that the Saint had crippled himself he was still the strongest one here. On top of that he was practically immune to the effects of the grove, and was able to dispel its effects at will if it somehow managed to affect him.
He picks up the heaviest item present (cash register). Then, after the slightest bit of consideration, Killer attempts to mount the tree-bear.
-
The Tree-Bear does not seem to care about the Saint (Killer) getting on its back, though it aimlessly awaits further direction from Robor - now that it is no longer attacking the ancient tree stump.
With the attacks against the sire-tree halted, the chorus of shrieking mouth-flowers quiet down and go back to incoherent jabbering amongst themselves - as the stump itself, murmurs in confusion and oozes thick rivulets of blood-pus from the gaping hollow carved into the side of its head.
The profusely bleeding flesh-trees meanwhile, are both noticeably pale now, and their limbs have begun to droop flaccidly. It doesn't look like they will last much longer.
-
Realizing just how long the portal will take Beats takes the Ming vase (Used to being the strongest in a group) and heads for the verge, leaving the lighter items for the others
-
Robor grabs the typewriter, and directs the tree bear to leave the grove
-
Realizing that his initial plan wouldn't work, Emend reluctantly grabs whatever is left.
"If nothing else, this will teach that stupid mutt to know his place."
-
Grabbing the loot and hurrying out of the grove, the Disciples were stunned to find themselves simply walking back into it, a moment after stepping across what should have been the threshold leaving the area.
With their spatial awareness going, Emend and Beats could tell what was happening - the grove itself was warping space around them to prevent them from leaving.
It was not a perfect spell however, and the two Disciples could sense the directional changes a moment before they would occur - which meant they could counter the effects by altering their own course at the appropriate time. Basically, they had to outrun the grove's ability to change the direction they were headed.
But how to explain this to their companions?
As Emend and Beats considered this, two loud crashes were heard from the center of the grove - where the pair of dying flesh-trees finally gave out and fell over. Then, in the most horrifying fashion, their skin quick-rotted away - sloughing off their limbs in great putrescent gobs and allowing pale gray bones to flense their way out - before everything collapsed in upon itself into nasty skeletal piles.
A moment later, movement from the piles drew everyone's attention - as a pair of naked human males climbed out from under the bones. One, a Caucasian, had a long gray beard and bald head - looking very old and haggard. The other was a younger Spaniard-looking man in his twenties. Both seemed disoriented and confused, as they got to their feet and took in their surroundings.
-
(If Emend or Beats explain they need Space).
Well, here's my chance...
Killer dismounts the bear.
"You all go ahead! I'll escort them out, the grove cannot touch me."
With that said, Killer turns his back to his companions and heads towards the naked men.
-
"Shouldn't we just all stick together? We're lost." Robor says, before looking at the men.
"Are you guys okay?"
-
The scraggly older fellow turned to respond to Robor, exclaiming, "I'm far out man! This is some trippy shit!"
As he spoke, clothing formed over his body, taking on the appearance of a fringe leather vest with bellbottom jeans. Then man didn't seem to notice that he was no longer naked, if indeed, he had even realized that he had ever been.
The Spaniard didn't say anything meanwhile, but turned to stumble away in the opposite direction. As he went, he took on a Conquistador's helmet, breastplate, and garb.
-
Robor squints.
"Is that a conquistador helmet?" He mutters, before turning to the group.
"That's.... I don't think... That's either a really good costume or he's actually a conquistador."
-
Beats shrugged, not knowing fully what that was but not willing to admit it till he looked them up on google later.
"The space is trapping us ere, follow me to get out!" He then leads the others out as best he can
-
Emend gives a weird look at Saint, before replying, "Saint the grove is attempting to prevent us from leaving. Even if it cannot touch you, you'll be trapped unless you leave with us."
-
"Lead the way man! We need to split this freaky scene!" The old hippie replied, hurrying over to the Disciples to follow wherever they would go.
The Conquistador meanwhile, had made it to the far edge of the flesh-grove and was about to leave the area - presuming he would be able to at all...
-
"Have you forgotten? I too follow Sarapheen's path, Space is my domain. I am safe here, but protecting you all is posing a greater and greater strain..."
With that said, Killer looks back at the conquistador.
"Don't worry about me!"
He takes off after the conquistador then.
-
Emend is reluctant to leave Saint behind, but he doesn't have much choice if he is no longer protected against the grove by him.
"...What a fool..." He thinks to himself as he exits with Beats.
-
UsdiYona, enthralled by the hippie dude follows the others out.
-
"Whoa! What's up man? Groovy pets!" The hippie remarked of the two bears among the group - flashing double 'peace' signs with his fingers.
-
"But it's a conquistador! I... fine I'll leave you to him Saint." Robor says, following the group out
-
With the Saint having made the decision to go after the conquistador, the rest of the team attempted to leave the flesh-grove.
Beats and Emend lead the others, making a zigzag course against the warping terrain of the grove - as it attempted to route them back into itself. Everyone seemed to be on the right track, until Beat's noticed Robor about to get shifted out of place.
Reaching out with a hand, Beats yanked Robor back into the right lane - saving Robor - but finding himself walking back into the grove at the last moment. He would have to try again, if he was to escape.
Emend, UsdiYona, Tree-Bear, and the old hippie crossed the threshold, entered Twilight between the two worlds.
"Whoa! Far out man!" the hippie gawked - looking at something unseen by the others. "It's like a tunnel of light or something!"
With spatial awareness going, Emend (and Beats, still in the grove) could sense an invisible portal opened before the hippie - leading to a place of light and warmth. It was strongly reminiscent of the aura that encompassed Sarapheen when the Disciples had first met her.
"Like am I supposed to go in there?" the hippie asked Emend, unsure what it meant, "What should I do man?"
On the other side of the flesh grove meanwhile, the Saint (Killer) hurried after the conquistador, who walked out the far edge of the grove without any problems.
The Saint (Killer) however, had to exert a little more effort to leave - finding the terrain changing quickly, as it moved to shunt him back into the grove. Even without using his space arcanum, he was able to anticipate which way to move in order to counter the grove's changes against him. With a quick sprint and some abrupt jukes and jives, the Saint (Killer) crossed the far threshold - leaving the flesh-grove behind and entering the dark and foreboding woods of The Shadow.
Alone in this dangerous place, The Saint (Killer) could see the conquistador just up ahead, moving away, deeper into the darkness.
-
Aware (or at least thinking) that Beats and the others had already left the grove, Killer cancels the protection spell he'd placed over all of them.
Following after the Consquistador he casts (in this order), Spatial Map and Analyze Life. The map to assure his own safety, the Life to see if the man was even someone he could kill.
I'm starting to doubt he is, though I think i'll follow him regardless - this is getting interesting...
-
The flesh-grove's power continued to assail Beats, but the Saint's organic resilience rebuffed it. Then that protection was suddenly gone. Gone from all of the Disciples in fact, as the Saint (Killer) ended it to free up his ability to employ other more pressing magics.
In The Shadow, the Saint (Killer)'s spatial map showed only he and the conquistador in the immediate area.
As he then activated analyze life, the man ahead turned to face him - a halberd in his hands. He certainly hadn't been carrying a halberd a moment ago, but neither had he been originally clothed either.
The Saint (Killer) had seen something like this before however, as confirmed with his revealing spell - the man was a ghost, much like the little girl Kelsey the Disciples had met earlier.
"¿Por qué me siguen?" the man demanded, holding his weapon in a defensive stance.
-
Oh, what a waste
Killer scratches his head briefly, then - "No habla espagnol" (in what is probably a horrible accent). "Tu habla Inglese?"
Wondering for a second, Killer activates his Clamor of the Departed rote, to see if it would allow him to understand the phantom regardless of language. He isn't actually sure if it would work, but he might as well try.
As he does this, he also takes his sword and places it back into its sheathe by his side, to show that he has no hostile intentions (anymore).
-
Dropping spatial map and activating his clamor of the departed rote (AKA Speak with the Dead), the Saint (Killer) found that the spell did indeed allowed perfect communication with the departed, using words infused with the Lingua Intelligentia.
"¡Santa María, tú hablas en lenguas! <Holy Mary, you speak in tongues!>" the Spaniard relied in astonishment, throwing the halberd over his shoulder and adopting a more relaxed pose.
"¡Líbrame de esta pesadilla, píos, hombre! ¿Puedes llevarme a tu barco? <Deliver me from this nightmare, pious man! Can you take me to your ship?>"
-
Killer is quiet for a second.
Well, seems he doesn't know he's dead. Maybe we can salvage this. Call it a learning experience.
"I'm afraid that won't be possible, signor. You might not believe it but you are dead, your spirit sucked into the grove of the nightmare that killed you. I can lead you out of here but there is nothing I can do to return you to life. Where you are bound after depends on who you were in your life."
Then he is quiet again.
"I am a priest. Would you confess?"
-
Beats immediatly attempts to leave the grove again, relying on his physical buffs to last him until he can get get out of the cursed grove
-
"Where's Beats?"
-
"Where's Beats?"
"He was trapped helping you out. I'm sure he can get out on his own," Emend replies. He then turns to the hippie, attempting to place his hand on his shoulder.
"I think that tunnel of light is all yours."
-
"Outta sight man!" the hippie replied to Emend with a grin, "I'm like Alice, going down the rabbit hole haha!"
He then turned back to where he had been looking, shielded his eyes and squinted from the unseen light - slowly walking forward.
A moment later he vanished away.
Beats meanwhile, (without the others to slow him down) easily maneuvered his way back out of the grove and joined Emend, Robor, UsdiYona and the Tree-Bear. He noted that the hippie was no longer anywhere to be seen.
Looking back into the flesh grove, showed that the Saint had made it out as well, but that he would be somewhere on the other side, having gone after the conquistador. If he was to find his way back out of the Shadow through the verge, he would have to come through the grove again to leave the same way everyone else just had.
-
Beats looks around before commenting "Well lets see what loot we got!" He carefully sets the vase somwhere balance and begins looking it over and chdcking the goodies inside
-
Checking the contents of the vase, Beats sees that it holds about fifty pounds of the fine jewelry he had discovered earlier - most of it looking quite old/antique.
-
Back in The Shadow meanwhile,
“<Confess?>” the Spaniard reflected, quiet for a moment.
<“I think it too late for that,>” he then said at length – “<if I am dead and this is hell, no?>”
“<But if you can lead me out,>” he continued, “< I will follow.>”
He then propped his halberd up and gave the Saint (Killer) a regal bow, introducing himself – “<Miguel de Díaz; Commissioned of Our Holy Roman Emperor, Charles the Fifth, to explore and settle the Bay of Saint Mary.>”
<“You have seen the new Mission coming up the river, Tierra de Ayllón, no?”>
-
"You died in hell, sucked in through a hole between the worlds into that ancient monster's domain. We do not know yet if you were meant for it."
"I might have seen the mission had I been alive 600 years ago. You have been dead for a very long time, Miguel."
Killer holds out his hand, "Here, follow me back in and out the other end of the grove. There is confusing magic at work, we might get separated if we are not careful."
If necessary Killer will cast spatial awareness (temporarily disabling Clamor of the Departed) so as to find his way through. He will lead the phantom through the flesh grove, pick up the register he'd put down, then go through the other end after his companions.
-
The conquistador waved off the Saint (Killer)'s hand, but followed closely behind, as the two of them made their way back to the flesh-grove and on through to the other side.
As they went, the Saint (Killer) felt a number of his spells abruptly come to their end - the Tree-Bear with the others suddenly reverting back into a tree. With his supreme honing spell also gone now, the grove had the just enough more power over him to begin the metamorphosis of his limbs again - and the Saint (Killer) was forced to use his balm of flesh rote to reverse it.
Out on the verge-side of the grove, the team noted the loss of Tree-Bear, as well as Beats' body control and Robor's beast control spells.
Looking into the grove, the Disciples could see the Saint and the conquistador (who now carried a halberd along with him) coming across towards them. The Saint stopped to retrieve the 7-11 cash register where he had left it earlier.
Activating spatial awareness, the Saint (Killer) easily countered the grove's warping of space around him, and exited the grove with the conquistador to join the rest of the team.
As had happened with the hippie, upon entering twilight, the conquistador shielded his eyes as if looking into a bright light.
With their spatial awareness going, Emend, Beats, and the Saint (Killer) could sense a portal opened before the Spaniard - leading (obviously) to the Afterlife.
"¡Santa Madre de Dios! Gracias sacerdote, me has salvado! <Holy Mother of God! Thank you priest, you have saved me!>" the conquistador exclaimed, walking forward...
-
"Wait!" Killer shouts out.
"Miguel, I sense that you are a good man, and I don't want you to...", he hesitates for a moment.
"History does not look kindly back on the conquistadors. The church was corrupt and had looked away from the teachings of the Lord. Your holy mission slaughtered countless innocent people. Many were enslaved, raped, massacred. Miguel, if you would confess to me, I would forgive you. But the Lord does not forgive as easily as that.
Please, listen to me. I told you that I was a holy man but that was only part of the truth. I - and my companions around me - we are disciples of the Divine Messengers. Angels sent down from the Lord to combat the evils of man and Hell alike. We came down here on a mission to retrieve a divine weapon stolen from us and hidden in the trunk of the flesh tree in that grove. Come with us and atone for your sins. If ever necessary I can open back a path to the underworld for you. You've suffered enough. Everyone in this grove has. I would free you all and send you to your rightful places in the clouds."
Killer gets to his knees then, "I beg of you, do not damn your soul to this hellscape. No one deserves to go back to somewhere like that grove."
And does the sinful fish bite?
-
The Saints (Killers)’s words seemed to weigh heavily on the conquistador and he hesitated.
Turning to face everyone, he explained in Spanish - only the Saint (Killer) and UsdiYona currently able to understand him - “<What I did, I did in the name of his Eminence, Charles the Fifth.>”
“<The Indians are 'natural slaves' as Aristotle has said - 'inhumane barbarians who think the greatest gift they can offer God is literally a human heart, torn from the chest'. We tried to give them Christianity and the love of God, but they could not receive it. It was only right to remove them in order to make way for God’s Own Chosen.>”
“<Still… God allowed me to be trapped in that place. And perhaps I deserved it…>”
“<You say six hundred years. I remember little of it. It was like being in a fitful sleep. Unable to awake from a nightmare - time having lost its meaning.>”
“<It was late October, fifteen hundred and twenty six. My band was hunting up the river, trying to procure enough meat to see the Mission through the winter. The Indians attacked and slew everyone but me (potentially dooming the Mission to starvation). I only managed to escape, because I fled up a rise, between Pagan totems the Indians had placed there. Their superstition prevented them from following.>”
“<I guess that is when I entered the grove and… Ugh, I would forget what little I remember. But then I awoke in great pain – as if I was being drawn in-two – and found myself covered in strange bones. You know the rest.>”
“<If I have the chance to avoid a fate like that again, tell me what I must do.>”
-
UsdiYona changes back to her (Cherokee) girl form and says, "Hey! I'm not a barbarian and I'm nobody's slave! Besides, I just helped to free you in there by laying a hurt on that giant stump thing!"
-
The Spaniard is surprised and grimaces at seeing the bear change into a young Indian girl, but says nothing, looking to the Saint (Killer) for guidance.
-
Now reel it in
"As I said, we are servants of the Lord. Disciples, granted powers from heaven itself. One day, should the Lord choose to grant such greatness to such lowly souls, we shall ascend and become Angels, to better serve Him. Our work is of the utmost importance. You are a good man, and if you prove it to the Lord I believe he can show mercy. Help me - help us - and when your redemption is at hand I will open the gates to the afterlife for you with my own two hands, I swear it."
-
UsdiYona changes back to her (Cherokee) girl form and says, "Hey! I'm not a barbarian and I'm nobody's slave! Besides, I just helped to free you in there by laying a hurt on that giant stump thing!"
"That's right, she's nobody's slave!" Emend adds, walking up besides UsdiYona.
"She's our pet, or possibly our mascot, but not a slave."
He then brings his attention back to the Spaniard, and Saint's attempt to recruit him. Emend finds what Saint says strange, as the Hippie had reacted the same way to whatever he saw, meaning they are probably leading to the same place. By all accounts they should just let the Spaniard pass on to the afterlife.
However, Emend decides he trusts Saint enough not to question his judgement, for now.
-
Beats doesnt have any idea what is being said apart from a few words here and there (half hispanic) "So whats happening? And is he one of dem guys that killed da Myans?" he says this as an honest question having seen the armour.
-
"<Then so be it,>" the conquistador replied, turning his back on the portal, "<I will throw my lot in with you, great disciple!>"
With their spatial awareness still going, Emend, Beats, and the Saint (Killer) could sense the unseen heavenly portal close - and an unusual spatial connection affix itself between the Saint and the conquistador. For the Saint (Killer), it felt like a great weight had suddenly been placed on his shoulders, but the feeling slowly abated thereafter.
"<What now?>" Miguel asked, expectantly.
-
Killer smiles when he answers Beat's question.
"This is Miguel de Diaz, and yes, he is a former conquistador. He has elected to help us on our holy quests in order to redeem his soul in the face of the Lord. Let us welcome his aid.
As for what's next..."
Killer stretches out his crippled arm Oh Saint you fool
"I think we should go back and recover. Even just a day's rest, preferably more... I have expended many energies today and am left weakened, with many spells expired - I assume it is the same for some of you. We also need to identify what we've retrieved from the Fiend's horde, yes?"
And I need to kill. Hmm, how to explain that to Miguel?
"We could continue of course, but I've already had to dig into my life force for Mana. I'm not sure how much more I could take, and if any more of you get injured then I can only cast the healing powers twice before I'm tapped out."
-
Beats simply nods to Saint "I'll make a shortcut outa here." He walks out of the verge then promptly sits down as before with his Space tag to make a portal out to the cathedral.
-
"Right right..." Robor says, looking atbthe conquistador intently.
"So.... the conquestador is a real one right? Like, OG spaniard?"
"That is so cool."
-
"Yeah, we should go back for a rest," UsdiYona replied. "I'm starving!"
-
With the team having decided to wait out Beats' portal back to the Washington National Cathedral (in lieu of hiking back to the van and driving), Emend found himself with plenty of time to sort through the collection of unusual items with prime to determine their mystical properties.
Aside from Robor's sword, the only other magical item, recovered from the guardian fiend's hoard, was the old typewriter in the beat-up black case. It turned out to be a 1920s Remington Rand portable with glass keys. There was a profane resonance of hate, wrath, and mistrust about the thing - and just looking at it, brought unsolicited thoughts to Emend's mind, of all the people who had ever wronged him in some way or another over the years. It felt as though the typewriter was inviting Emend to sit down and express these various injustices through its keys.
Clearly the typewriter was cursed, and Emend suspected that anyone foolish enough to heed its urgings would find their minds inevitably lost to the machine's evil resonance. As if sensing Emend's concerns, a key of the typewriter abruptly snapped, showing the impression of the letter 'H' in its dried out old ribbon.
It was not clear if the key had just shifted while being carried - or the typewriter could actually will its keys to move of their own accord. Either way, no more keys struck - and it didn't do anything more to explain what could be meant by the letter 'H'. Still, Emend got the impression that the typewriter held some sort of historic significance.
As Emend considered the typewriter, UsdiYona emptied the contents of the dried-out saddle bags emblazoned with the fading red letters of the Wells Fargo logo. A pile of ninety two 1824 George the IV gold sovereigns (with Saint George and the Dragon on their reverse) fell out onto the ground.
"<Look at all that gold!>" Miguel remarked in Portuguese - his eyes widening at the sight.
Robor meanwhile, was emptying the jewelry out of the huge blue on white Ming vase. He counted eighty-one works of fine jewelry - representing nearly fifty pounds of gold, platinum, diamonds, emeralds, opals, sapphires, and rubies.
"<Ai yai yai!!!>" the conquistador gasped, having never before seen such riches - "<It is a king's ransom!>"
Following this, Robor checked the weathered stainless-steel combination briefcase with the rust-pocked chain and locking cuff attached. Both of the locks on the case were shut, but Robor was able to use his craftman’s eye spell to suss-out the combinations - using his knowledge of matter to analyze the locking mechanism itself as he fiddled with it.
After a small amount of trial and error, Robor popped open the locks - revealing one thousand 1950-1954 $100 Canadian bills and a typed note that read: “Here is your ransom. Now give me back my daughter!”
By this time, Usdiyona had put the gold sovereigns back in the Wells Fargo bag and handed it to Emend. She then went and removed the canvas covering the large paneled object, to find an old painting of ten noble-looking men on horseback in front of a rock outcropping with rolling orchards and alabaster castles in the background. The piece did not appear to be signed by an artist, but looked hundreds of years old.
Seeing it, Miguel started, then turned to the Saint (Killer) to exclaim, "<This painting, I have seen it before! In a book I think... Yes, it is called 'The Judges' if I am not mistaken.>"
The Saint (Killer) meanwhile, had flipped the 1970s cash register from 7/11 on end to shake out whatever was rattling around inside. Without power, the electric till release couldn't be activated so the register remained shut.
After a moment of vigorous shaking, an old driver’s license slipped out from under the cash drawer. Picking it up, the Saint (Killer) saw that it belonged to 'John Warner' of Lansing Michigan, Issued in 2001. The picture was that of a slightly younger Jack Eaton Jr.
-
"A king's ransom indeed", Killer murmurs.
"The Demon whose hoard we took this from's vice was Greed. I suppose it makes sense that he would have so many objects of value. This should be useful in the future, we can move it all to Mama Kark's vault beneath the Castle."
Killer looks over the driver's license.
"Say, what do you all make of this?"
-
"Maybe the mutt had a connection to Jack. Would explain why his hideout is so close," Emend responds.
"It also seems like this typewriter is not something that should be used. I'll be destroying it once we get settled into the castle."
-
Beats hears none of this as he is concentrating
-
"Maybe the mutt had a connection to Jack. Would explain why his hideout is so close," Emend responds.
"It also seems like this typewriter is not something that should be used. I'll be destroying it once we get settled into the castle."
"It looks kinda freaky, yeah." Robor says
"By the by, guys, that tree thing was crazy strong. Like, way beyond Mama Kark and the Hound Demon."
-
"Durable maybe, I don't know about strong. Looked like it had been damaged pretty badly though. Maybe we weren't fighting the real thing.
Interesting note on the demon. Perhaps it served Jack and not Mama Kark. Would explain why it was with him when you attacked him.
Funny, I wonder if dealing with that hound is how Jack got into this in the first place. Maybe the beast is related to your family demons Emend. We should see about properly capturing it once Sarapheen has reformed."
-
All of a sudden Killer smacks himself across the face - "Kelsey! We forgot about Kelsey, she's still waiting out in the woods. I'll go get her."
-
Beats concentrates on his portal still, briefly thinking he seriously needs to advance space more...
-
Leaving the others, the Saint (Killer) went to find Kelsey wandering around, alone in the woods. As she was now in twilight, he could only see her, due to his clamor of the departed spell still being active.
Miguel followed the Saint, disappearing from sight as soon as he left the verge - he also being consigned to twilight.
Seeing the Saint and Miguel approaching, Kelsey ran over to join them. Initially, it looked as if she was going to try to hug the priest, but may have been intimidated by the conquistador and stopped short.
"I got lost! But you found me! Are you going to take me home now?"
-
Scratching his head, Killer asks Miguel - "You wouldn't be able to wait here with her until we return would you? She's anchored to this place and cannot leave the grounds."
-
<"She is like me, no?,">, Miguel answered, considering what it meant to be a ghost. <"I feel connected to you somehow... Perhaps like this child's 'anchor' you say. I do not think I can stray very far from your side.">
-
With a sigh, "I didn't think so."
He turns back to Kelsey, "I'm afraid I can't Kelsey. But we're going to be back soon, in two days. Will you be okay until then? When we return it'll be for good. This castle will be our new home, and you will be able to stay with us until I've grown strong enough to help you."
Pursing his lips, he continues, "In the castle, near the attic, there is a shadow guarding a door to the upper floors. He looks scary and he and he can be scary but he's a reasonable enough sort. Find him and tell him that the priest will have good work for him when the spell wears off, and he would appreciate it very greatly if the shadow were to watch you until two days from now."
There you go Saint, doing your work for you. Hell, you can even make sure the brute behaves around kids.
-
"No, don't leave me!" Kelsey pleaded, in the way only a child could, tearing at the heartstrings. Clearly, she did not want to be left alone for any further amount of time.
Back with the others meanwhile, something bounded toward the group through the verge.
Looking, Emend, Robor, and UsdiYona saw a large black dog, but its paws and head were largely out of proportion. The creature hurried over to Robor, wagging its tail and licking him his a huge wet tongue. If they made black labs the size of a bear, then this would certainly grow up to be one.
It was the spirit of a puppy that Robor had summoned earlier - it having taken quite a while for the creature to make its way from where it had been to where Robor was now.
-
Saint would probably volunteer to sleep on the forest floor to keep the girl company. Or worse - he would continue the mission crippled and exhausted of his spells.
"It's the last thing I want too, but sometimes we don't have a choice, if I stay I put my friends in danger. All I can leave you with is a promise."
Then again, if we ignore Doll Girl up in the attic and go to Kark's vault to burn the remains we could probably avoid anything too dangerous... though i'll have to waste what little power I have left healing the others when we inevitably get attacked by some minor guardian.
-
"No, don't leave me!" Kelsey pleaded, in the way only a child could, tearing at the heartstrings. Clearly, she did not want to be left alone for any further amount of time.
Back with the others meanwhile, something bounded toward the group through the verge.
Looking, Emend, Robor, and UsdiYona saw a large black dog, but its paws and head were largely out of proportion. The creature hurried over to Robor, wagging its tail and licking him his a huge wet tongue. If they made black labs the size of a bear, then this would certainly grow up to be one.
It was the spirit of a puppy that Robor had summoned earlier - it having taken quite a while for the creature to make its way from where it had been to where Robor was now.
"Nice." Robor says.
"Kinda forgot about you just like I forgot about.... uh, anyways. Should we go to Saint now? I got Kelsey a sorry gift for the splortch spirit."
-
"It's the last thing I want too, but sometimes we don't have a choice, if I stay I put my friends in danger. All I can leave you with is a promise."
"What kind of promise?" Kelsey asked, not convinced in the slightest.
-
Killer smiles and ruffles the ghost girl's hair if he can.
"That I'll be back for you, silly."
-
"Nice." Robor says.
"Kinda forgot about you just like I forgot about.... uh, anyways. Should we go to Saint now? I got Kelsey a sorry gift for the splortch spirit."
"Cute puppy!" UsdiYona says. "Let's go!" She follows Robor with the puppy to where Kelsey is.
-
Killer smiles and ruffles the ghost girl's hair if he can.
"That I'll be back for you, silly."
The Saint (Killer) found that the girl was completely incorporeal and quickly withdrew his hand for fear of alarming her with his 'ghost' hand.
The fortunate distraction of Robor and UsdiYona arriving with the spirit puppy, relieved him from the awkward moment.
UsdiYona could see Kelsey where she was, as well as the conquistador Miguel, though both appeared to Robor as blurred ghostly shapes, due to him seeing them in twilight through his fleshless speech rote.
The puppy spirit could see Kelsey too, and hurried over to try jumping up on her with his two great paws - but being in the physical world and her in twilight, it simply fell through her ghostly form.
This startled Kelsey, who gave a brief look of shock - but as soon as the puppy spirit started sniffing comically around her in confusion, she laughed.
"What is this weird dog?" she asked.
-
"It's for you!" Robor says. "Think of it like a gift."
"It's a magic puppy!"
-
"But I can't pet it," Kelsey replied, a little disappointment showing on her face.
It was simple enough to fix however - Robor just had to get Kelsey and the puppy spirit to both meet at the midway point of the verge, so they would both be in twilight. That way, they would be able to interact together on the ephemeral level.
-
"That's what makes it so magical!" Robor says.
"But there's a secret place that can give you the magic touch, so you can pet it." Robor says. "There's a special place right here where if you stand there and focus, you'll get the magic power."
"Let's go there!"
-
Watching the rest of the group head back into the forest, Emend gives Beats a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"Don't worry buddy, I'll stick around."
-
The group then went back to where Beats was finishing up his portal spell.
Robor took Kelsey and the spirit puppy into the verge to meet, where the two of them could walk out of it sideways to remain together in twilight. Robor walked out at the head, re-entering the physical world.
It had taken a bit more convincing, on the part of the Saint (Killer), to get Kelsey to agree to wait for them in the woods, but the spirit puppy is what really sealed the deal. It readily submitting to Robor's command to stay with and guard the ghost girl till his return.
With the portal now opened, the Disciples, UsdiYona and Miguel stepped through, arriving once again in their meeting room beneath the Washington National Cathedral.
-
High Oaks Castle, Great Falls Virginia; Thursday October 27th 2016
The Disciples spent the next day recovering from their first sortie to the castle grounds, gathering strength for the next trip. The Saint (Killer), Emend, and Beats scoured their patterns for mana, while Robor felt it unnecessary, and UsdiYona cleaned out pretty much everything in the Saint's refrigerator.
Miguel, the ghost of the Spanish conquistador, marveled at the size of the Washington National Cathedral and of the city laid out before it - spending some time atop the towers to look around. It was discovered in this, that he could get about fifty yards from the Saint, before being drawn back to the priest's side. It didn't leave much room for autonomy, but it was something.
There was also, the unfortunate side effect of having a ghost literally haunting you - in that the little girl Faith could sense Miguel's presence from time to time - and it terrified her. Though UsdiYona was able to allay some of the child's fear, by offering to sleep in her bed with her at night.
This new arrangement also gave the Saint (Killer) pause, as he wrestled with how to best explain any killings he might be compelled to commit to his ever present 'witness'. Given the conquistador's own background of killing for a 'higher purpose' however, the Saint (Killer) didn't think that it would be too hard to convince him that his actions were 'heaven sanctioned' and 'justified'.
Taking a late night trip into some back alleys to stalk prey, The Saint (Killer) and Miguel lost the opportunity to off a drunk homeless guy, when a gang of hooligans showed up at the most inopportune moment to harass him. The thought of taking out the entire lot did cross the Saint (Killer)'s mind - but so many bodies would be hard to dispose of; and what if one or two got away?
The Saint (Killers)' kill would have to wait (for now)...
The following morning (Thursday), the Disciples prepared their various spells and met back up at the meeting room under the Washington National Cathedral. There Beats had been summoning up another gate and opened it on the edge of the castle grounds, right at the back fence, behind the castle's rear garden, statuary, and pond.
Looking through, showed nobody around - the castle grounds appearing empty...
-
High Oaks Castle - Ground Floor
(http://www.bountyheadbebop.com/Disc/Sanctum1.jpg)
-
High Oaks Castle - Upstairs
(http://www.bountyheadbebop.com/Disc/Sanctum2.jpg)
-
High Oaks Castle - Attic Space
(http://www.bountyheadbebop.com/Disc/Sanctum3.jpg)
-
High Oaks Castle - Basement
(http://www.bountyheadbebop.com/Disc/SanctumB.jpg)
-
"Ready to play ghostbusters guys?" Robor says with a smirk, walking through the portal.
"Hey, did we ever get a key for this place?"
-
"Who needs keys when you have portals?" Killer says as he steps through, gladly humming with the energy he'd acquired from his own scoured soul.
"You think I should take the time to create another Bear? I'm certain we've got the time this time around. Or Beats, would you rather I enhance your physical capabilities?"
-
"Bein back in my own body would be a good enough buff" he says flexing the whiteguy muscles he is currently stuck with "But Im good for now, enhanced maself" he looks again then begins heading for the nearest entrance
-
"Alright, suit yourself. Miguel, could you scout whatever parts of the castle you can reach? We never managed to look through the whole thing, there's no telling how many demons Kark bound here that we didn't get the chance to deal with."
-
"This place gives me the creeps," UsdiYona said. "Last time I was here I nearly got the stuffings squeezed out of me by that doll kid."
"Think that ragamuffin is still up there?"
-
"Speaking of muffins," UsdiYona added to the Saint, "we are fresh out. Think we can get some more when we're done here?"
"Just asking." :)
-
Killer grimaces, "You're eating me out of house and home. I can't wait for the burden of feeding to you to shared among the others, when this haunted stone deathtrap is cleared out and repurposed."
-
"This place gives me the creeps," UsdiYona said. "Last time I was here I nearly got the stuffings squeezed out of me by that doll kid."
"Think that ragamuffin is still up there?"
"I would imagine so," Emend replies. "And I don't think she'll be too pleased to see us again."
-
Beats headed towards the back porch and checked the door leading into the kitchen. It was locked, but was one of those key-pad types, where a code would be punched in to open the door. Looking through the windows, there did not appear to be power on inside.
Miguel answered the Saint meanwhile, <"I will see what I can see.">
With that, he went on ahead, as far as his tether to the Saint would allow - disappearing into the building.
By the time everyone had caught up to Beats on the back porch, Miguel had returned.
Again, only the Saint (Killer) and UsdiYona could see or hear him clearly, while Robor saw him as a blurred ghostly shape, and Emend and Beats just sensed a supernatural presence.
<"There are two ungodly monsters in the pool room below the castle,"> Miguel reported to the Saint (Killer); <"One is like a giant fly-catching sticky plant, and it appears to be feasting from something in the pool - while I can only describe the other as a pair of grotesque legs with a wide mouth. That one spews gibberish... I have no idea why.">
<"There rest of the castle seems empty, but I am unable to go into the attic. Some barrier is there that prevents me.>"
-
"Robor, seems that Sklorch of yours is still alive. We should clear the pool before we get to the attic, the extra mana could be useful in any case."
Killer draws his sword and gives the heavenly weapon a cursory examination - then, remembering that no one else could actually understand Miguel, he goes on - "Miguel says that that there are two demons in the pool room. The sklorch is one, a giant pair of legs with a mouth is the other. Rest of the castle is empty save the attic, which he could not enter."
-
"Pool it is." Beats nods to Saint. He moves to the nearest glass and eyes it up, stretching his shoulder in readyness for punching the corner of it with his cestus.
-
"We should swing by the gun range first. Might be something useful there," Emend suggests, as he pulls out his gun.
-
"It should be on the way. We should get moving."
-
Robor nods.
"Spirits can get really weird." He mutters, and follows the group.
-
With Beats breaking out a window and climbing in, he was able to unlock the door from the inside for the others.
The place wasn't empty, there were still pots and pans hanging from the racks in the kitchen, but it did look as though things had been removed in the week following Jack Eaton Jr.'s 'disappearance'.
UsdiYona was able to confirm this, checking the refrigerator and finding it empty - though the fact that the place had no power should have been a clue.
Moving into the hall from the kitchen, the team found the elevator stopped on this floor - door opened - again, no power meant that it was going nowhere, so the group moved on through the foyer into the living room.
Major furnishings were still there - sofas, coffee tables, and stands - but the entertainment systems were gone, as well as all the personal effects and works of art that Jack Eaton had decorated with.
This turned out to be the state of the entire castle - Bloom and Blumenthal having come in at some point during the week to remove anything of intrinsic value.
Passing through the now empty trophy room and armory, the disciples headed down the steps into the wine cellar. There, the majority of vintages had been cleaned out - only a few bottles of the more common stuff having been left.
Heading through the octagon room - the training equipment still present - the team traversed the tunnel leading to the gun range to find it empty.
Bloom and Blumenthal had appropriated the vast firearms collection.
That left the disciples 'empty handed' with regard to arming themselves further, though guns would hardly be of use against spirits in twilight.
-
"Well, there goes that plan. Either way, we should be close. Should go for the legs first, last I remember the Sklorch wasn't much of a threat, unless drinking the Mana from the pool has powered it up somehow nothing should have changed."
Killer sends his senses out towards the pool, and he slows his pace down as he approaches the pool, crouching down and holding his sword out at his side trying to verify the location of both spirits - as well as whether or not they were aware of their presence.
-
Beats, rather uncharicteristically, hangs back behind saint "Ill curse it but you spirit guys should deal with dis one, not sure I wanna be punchin it."
-
Robor nods.
"I'll try and subjugate the Sklortch. Without Mama Kark it would have no defense against my control."
-
Emend follows the rest of the group into the pool room, his pistol at the ready.
-
Leaving the gun range, the Disciples moved up the corridor, past the elevator, to peer into the pool room.
Robor, UsdiYona, and Miguel could see two spirits in the room.
One was the Sklorch - a huge mass of sticky sundew pseudopods reminiscent of a giant green and yellow starfish (if starfish were made of plants). It sat half-submerged on the steps in the pool - its many tendrilous flanges scouring the area at the base of the steps like a suckerfish searching for algae.
The other spirit paced back-and-forth around the edge of the pool, yammering non-stop at the Sklorch - which appeared to be ignoring it completely. The bizarre thing seemed to be nothing more than a pair of grotesque legs, elephantine and pendulous, joined together at the top - where the only other feature was a wide flatulent mouth. It swayed unsteadily on its thick stocky appendages, constantly moving, and spewing forth a litany of random nonsense.
Hearing it made Robor and UsdiYona feel a sudden wash of anxiety - there was madness in those words! It was like noxious liquid leaking out of a flawed container, threatening to spread to anything it touched!
The Saint (Killer) meanwhile, could not hear the spirits, and only saw them as large splotches of sooty black shadow - indicating that they were never human to begin with.
"There," Miguel pointed out, indicating the spirits (apparently unfazed by the one's gibbering logorrhea).
As for Emend and Beats, they simply saw an empty pool room, though they could sense a disturbing presence in the area.
As the two spirits were in twilight, the means to deal with them directly was limited - unless Robor wanted to use his gather the unseen host rote to pull them both into the material world...
-
"Alrighty. So the "mouth legs" monster can harm us with it's noise. Can anyone cancel out it's sound? Otherwise it won't be safe to bring it into our world."
-
"Maybe just pull the Sklorch in? We can destroy that while you, Miguel and Usdi destroy the legs?
-
"Da what? just feels creepy in there." Beats said
-
"Other side of the veil. I can barely see anything, they look like little more than stains to me - a corrupting force on the fabric of reality. I imagine Robor, Miguel and our friendly local spiritshifter can see them well enough.
On the plus side, their souls are not human, no need to feel bad about destroying them."
Unfortunately
-
Emend nods along to the conversation, waiting for an enemy to actually show up.
-
"Does this thing ever shut up?" UsdiYona asked, covering her ears.
She then changes back into a bear and uses her ability to enter twilight so she can go tear the crap out of that yammering idiot!
-
Miguel abruptly had a halberd in his hands again, and circled the edge of the pool towards the grotesque set of babbling legs - as the bear-girl UsdiYona stepped sideways, entering twilight.
Interestingly, both the Saint (Killer) and Robor could see UsdiYona in twilight equally well, though she had a ghostly translucence to her now. To Emend and Beats, the bear-girl just vanished into thin air.
Robor meanwhile, used his gather the unseen host to force the Sklorch out of twilight and into the physical world. It appeared suddenly in the pool for all to see - making an irritated squelching snort - and then began bristling defensively.
Back in twilight, the gibbering legs did not appear to be aware of the threat posed by both Miguel and UsdiYona now closing in on it from both sides...
-
Beats immedialy activates knife fist and goes into his boxing stance, still not wanting to close in on the... whatever it is now visible in the pool
-
"Where did UsdiYona disappear to?" Emend asks with a mix of concern and confusion. Unsure if the strange plant has any magical abilities, Emend will prepare to use Counter-Spell.
If the Sklorch doesn't use magic, he'll take a shot at it with his pistol.
-
Remembering the Sklorch's legendary slowness, Killer takes his sweet time and casts a body control spell on himself while he idly waits for its approach, sword in hand.
-
Robor focuses, trying to force his will upon the Legs, aiming to damage its corpus directly
-
Beats popped off his rote with no trouble, sensing he'd get about three hits before the spell wore off. He'd have to make them count.
Miguel and UsdiYona meanwhile, pounced on the talking legs, taking it completely by surprise!
First, Miguel's ghostly halberd came down on its mouth - shattering teeth, widening the slit, and causing it to stumble back into UsdiYona's paw swipe. For her part, the bear-girl tore one of the thing's legs clean off - the disgusting appendage spraying out earthworms rather than blood, as it flew across the pool.
The Dementia hopped around on one foot, jabbering dozens of random words a second, its voice high pitched and unhinged.
The words seemed to burrow into the minds of UsdiYona and the Saint (Killer) - they being the only ones (besides Miguel), who could actually hear them. A barrage of random thoughts welled up unbidden, flowing from the mind to the tongue.
If UsdiYona could speak, she would have - but her current form seemed unfit for the task and the effect quickly left. For the Saint (Killer) however, he couldn't help but say aloud the first thing that came to mind, and then the second, and then the third, and so on. He found that he had to keep talking, and talking. His innermost thoughts on display for the world to hear. He'd have to watch his thoughts - for so long as he thought, he spoke. And the thoughts never stopped coming...
The Saint explained his way through the casting of his body control spell, which instantly invigorated him - he having never felt it effect him so much. In fact, it allowed him a measure of control against the vocalization he had just been inflicted with - as he could slow down the response time of his tongue, reducing his new compulsion to a low mummer that sounded like a record player slowed all the way down.
With sword in hand, he then waited to see what the Sklorch would do, confidant that he could react instantly to counter - but the Sklorch just sat in the pool growling (if the weird noises it was making could be counted as such).
Emend meanwhile, took a shot at the aberrant plant spirit with his 9mm pistol. The bullet sunk into the creature, causing it to shudder momentarily, but it was hard to gauge what sort of damage it might have done.
Regarding the Sklorch, Emend was struck with how hungry he was at the moment, and wondered if those globs of sticky resin might taste like honey. Of course he had the sense to dismiss the idea of getting close enough to actually get a lick of it - but the idea would not leave him. Maybe after they killed it again, he could go see?
As this went on Robor focused his energies and attacked the hopping leg-mouth in twilight - fraying its corpus directly. With the damage Miguel and UsdiYona had done to it already, Robor's spell proved too much - and the thing erupted in a flood of worms, as it unmade itself and was destroyed.
That just left the Sklorch, which still made no move to leave its position on the steps of the pool.
-
Killer starts walking towards the Sklorch, briefly considering whether or not he should attempt casting life spells on it - and deciding against it.
"The thing will probably try to get me to throw myself into its body but I am not so pathetic as that", he says aloud, irritated.
He raises his sword and brings it down violently onto the Sklorch once he has moved within range. He would chop the oversized flytrap down to size and they would move on.
-
Robor frowns ay how easy it was to destroy the talking legs. He hasnt had success with any other spirit ao far.
"Hey, Saint, wait a minute. Maybe I could bind this thing. It isnt a demon."
-
Beats stays ready to move and strike if needed but judging by the conversation going on now he currently isnt
-
Killer glances at Robor out the corner of his eye- "And what would the point of that be? This thing is useless. Does little more than clutter up the place. There are greater spirits and demons worthy of our time and power than this trash."
Killer abruptly slows down his tongue again - far too much vitriol in his tone. What a troublesome curse.
-
"Can't hurt to keep a collection. This thing is worthless if you know about it. As a trap it would definitely help. Was a pain when Mama Kark controlled it."
-
Emend cringes upon reflection of his desire to taste the strange liquid coming out of the plant. Surely this was some sort of demonic influence.
"Well, go ahead and try then," Emend says to Robor. "It doesn't seem to be much of a threat at the moment."
-
UsdiYona steps sideways, out of twilight and changes back into a girl.
"Ripping a leg off that thing makes me hungry for a turkey drumstick," she says.
-
With a grunt, Killer stops his advance on the Sklorch and waves Robor off. Though it is likely slowed to the points of incomprehensibility, he mutters "if the idiot wants to waste his time on this then let him. Now, where is that source?"
Ignoring the Sklorch Killer looks for the well that was supposed to be in the pool. Perhaps he could recover some of its strength while the others dealt with the Sklorch.
-
Robor nods, raising his ring and commanding the Sclortch
"OBEY me!"
-
Robor's initial command went unheeded, but trying again and using words of power, he managed to establish a basic level of control over the Sklorch. The problem seemed to be the plant spirit's plant-like intellect, which limited its capacity to follow any real instructions beyond perhaps 'guard', 'attack', 'leave', or 'stay'. Of course a greater mastery over his spirit arcana wouldn't hurt any future attempts either.
The Saint (Killer) meanwhile, looked into the swimming pool - and while he couldn't see anything unusual without mage-sight active, he could indeed feel a powerful flow of spiritual energy radiating from it.
In order to benefit from it however, he would need to make an hour long oblation, as he had done at Morrow Wind's hallow, during their visit to Robor's mentor.
-
Emend looks at the Sklorch, then to Robor. "Do you have control over it yet?"
-
As if in response to Emend's question, the Sklorch snorts out a bubble of sticky goo, reminiscent of a toddler's snotty sneeze.
The bubble pops.
The Sklorch remains unmoved.
-
"Well, wats happenin?" Beats asks
-
"We should get moving. Our spells will only last so long."
-
"That would be a yes." Robor says.
"Alright, try to keep up Sklortch." Robor says.
"Next stop is the attic?"
-
"So long as da next thing is more visible." Beats announces and begins carefully heading to the nearest stairs up (OOC: relying on Space to see enemies before running into them)
-
"Yes, next stop is the attic. We've got the shadow bouncer up there and Doll Girl to deal with, if Emend is remembering everything correctly. Shouldn't be too difficult. We should also retrieve those remains from the vault so that we might destroy the anchors keeping those children in the castle," Killer says, following Beats.
-
"Well, that creepy kid is not getting the cuddly bear cub to crush to death this time! Sheesh!" UsdiYona says, following the rest of the group.
-
High Oaks Castle - Upstairs
(http://www.bountyheadbebop.com/Disc/Sanctum2.jpg)
-
The team (and their Sklorch) then went back to the stairs in the wine cellar, up through the armory, and into the pub. From there, they walked through the drawing room, into the gallery, and on to the library, just beyond the sitting room.
The couches were still in the room and many of the books had been left on the shelves - though some gaps in the rows indicated a few had also been selectively removed as well.
The secret door in the southwest corner was still closed - and did not look as if those who had come to remove items from the castle had ever found it. One could not be absolutely certain of that of course, until someone opened it...
-
Meanwhile, the acrid smell of melting plastic was suddenly noticeable in the air.
Looking for the source, revealed that the carpet, under the Sklorch, was being dissolved by the sticky goo trail it had left behind as it oozed along.
-
Beats drops his awareness and casts spacial map to be able to see dangers before they appear from the secret door (Having seen enough horror movies he knows somthing is gonna leap out at them).
"So whoose opening the door?" he asks
-
"Probably best if myself and Mr.Snuggl- I mean UsdiYona stay down here. We didn't leave the girl up there in the best of terms," Emend replies, reminiscing on the last time he was here. "I'd watch what you're thinking around her as well, as she can read minds."
-
"I spent far too much time in this room, i'll get it."
As Killer opens up the door and he looks to Robor.
"Shadow bouncer should be here. I talked to him a while, he's a reasonable sort. Don't think we should destroy him if we can help it. Should be a lot more useful than that Sklorch too."
-
"Yes," UsdiYona replies to Emend's suggestion, "that kid is dangerous. She might get angry if she sees the guy who stole her birthday present. I can wait down here with Emend."
To Emend she then asks, "do you think they left any snacks in here somewhere?"
-
High Oaks Castle - Attic Space
(http://www.bountyheadbebop.com/Disc/Sanctum3.jpg)
-
Opening the secret door, the Saint (Killer) and company once again saw the red velvet rope stretched across the stairs beyond, blocking the way up. Something moved from the shadows - becoming the black silhouette of a large doorman. For those who had not seen it before, it looked a lot like an animated shadow in two dimensions.
It stood in the way, behind the rope, with arms folded and spoke with an eerie nebulous voice - "Ain't none of you all on the list."
Then seeing the Saint, it seemed to crack a smile - a cutout crescent appearing in its face - "Oh it's you again. I wondered if you'd ever be back. I'm still in the job market after this gig, if you're interested."
Then considering the company, the doorman concluded with a wink and a nod - "We can talk later."
On a step in front of the velvet rope was the blood horn that Emend had left there when they had used it to portal out of the castle during their last visit.
-
Beats tilts his head to the side "Whats that thing?" he raises his fists ready to strike
-
"Bouncer. He guards the attic. Robor, can you break Kark's compulsion on him? He won't fight us if you do," then addressing the bouncer, "will you?"
-
"Yes," UsdiYona replies to Emend's suggestion, "that kid is dangerous. She might get angry if she sees the guy who stole her birthday present. I can wait down here with Emend."
To Emend she then asks, "do you think they left any snacks in here somewhere?"
"Since the place was more abandoned than anything I'd imagine so," Emend replies. "Let's check out the kitchen then, shall we?"
Then, suddenly remembering, he turns to the rest of the disciples. "By the way, in order to enter the doll room you have to be naked."
He'll also dispel magic shield, as it's currently redundant and making him over his spell tolerance.
-
"Mama Kark promised me cake," UsdiYona replies to Emend, "I bet that creepy doll ate it all herself!"
"She should have shared. That greedy thing!"
-
"Bouncer. He guards the attic. Robor, can you break Kark's compulsion on him? He won't fight us if you do," then addressing the bouncer, "will you?"
"Pshaw!" The doorman scoffed, "Mama Kark isn't around anymore to have compulsion on anyone."
"Like I said before, I'm here until the place changes hands. And because I am a professional, I do my job until the job is done."
Miguel meanwhile, noted to the Saint (Killer) - "This is where I cannot go past. And I had not seen this specter, until you opened the door."
"Look who's calling who a specter, ghost boy;" the doorman retorted, apparently able to see and hear Miguel in twilight.
-
"This place is ours now, we got da deed and papers to prove it legaly and the asswipes that used to be here are dead or gave up on it. That means you can leave now or we can make ya." Beats says why trying to eye up the shadow thing blocking their passage.
-
"Yes, that shouldn't be an issue then. We own the castle. Blume and Blumenthal, Kark's masters, have ceded ownership of the area to us. You would have noticed their movers coming to claim their property."
-
"Mama Kark promised me cake," UsdiYona replies to Emend, "I bet that creepy doll ate it all herself!"
"She should have shared. That greedy thing!"
Emend grabs the blood horn before exiting the room.
"Is...is that how the witch caught you? She lured you to the castle with cake?" He asks UsdiYona, trying unsuccessfully to hide a small smirk.
-
UsdiYona'a face turns 3 shades of red. "Yeeeesss..." she admits sheepishly, "but there was more than just cake."
As she follows Emend out of the library, she says back to the others, "now y'all know what kind of damage and destruction I can cause, if you need me. But while you're up there, if you happen to find a cake... DIBS!"
-
"You may have the deed," the doorman replied to the group, "but the place has not changed hands yet. The previous owners may have moved their stuff out, but according to the powers that be, they still have dominion here. You might want to take that up with a lawyer or something. Until then, I'm afraid I must still enforce the current list."
-
"Could we see this list?"
-
"Mama Kark had the list," the doorman replied to Robor, "but I know who's on it."
"Pro tip: You ain't."
-
"The witch deosnt have it either since we killed her." Beats replies as he moves into an offensive stance. He uses his streetwise abilities to see if he can read anything about the strength of the door man as he prepares to cast evil eye on it and go in with knife fist punches. (OOC: not punching or casting yet, going to do that next but just putting it here as his intent would be clear)
-
Killer sighs and draws his sword.
"That's a shame then. You understand right? Nothing personal."
-
"Of course not," the doorman replied; "Business is business."
He then turned sideways, disappearing from view - though Robor, UsdiYona, and Miguel could still see him.
To the Saint (Killer)'s clamor of the departed, he could be made out as a greyish ripple in the air - like waves of heat rising from a hot surface.
Both Emend and Beats could feel the shade's movement out of the physical world and into twilight.
"He's in my realm now," Miguel said, halberd appearing in hand. "Shall I remove him from our path?"
"bring it, wetback," the doorman taunted the conquistador.
-
Robor smiles.
"You won't last very long, demon." He says softly. The spirit is in Robor's domain. This shouldn't be difficult.
"You will not have the chance to harm anyone." He adds, before raises the iron ring to damage the spirit's corpus.
-
Emend continues to exit the room with UsdiYona, leaving the doorman for the othets to deal with.
"I think we need to have a conversation about how to not follow strangers who offer you food, even if it's cake," Emend remarks.
-
Killer thinks for a second.
"Do what you can, but I believe he is stronger than you. Fall back if you get badly injured."
-
Beats swears a few times in frustration "Can anyone let me see dat thing?" as he takes a step back being unable to see it now
-
Channeling essence and invoking its influence, Not on The List stood its ground - causing the spiritual manifestation of the velvet rope to abruptly lash outward across the veil at the disciples. The brass-bound ends flailed like hammers, while the thick length coiled around necks and limbs with a brutal crushing strength!
Robor and Miguel could see this clearly, while the Saint just saw a flurry of lashing shadows coming from the stairway. To Beats, it was like watching the Saint and Robor having an epileptic fit - until an invisible force cracked him in the chest, breaking a rib.
Robor was caught around the neck, and yanked sideways into a bookshelf. It felt as though his eyes would pop out of his head from the pressure!
The Saint (Killer) meanwhile, took a violent blow to the head from a brass-bound end - feeling the bones in his left brow shatter under the force! His vision exploded in a flash of white light, then slowly came back - albeit blurry and quickly obscuring from the blood now flowing down his face.
As Emend and UsdiYona had just walked out of the room, they were spared the onslaught.
In twilight, Miguel took a brass-bound end right through the torso! He gawked at the sight of himself impaled by a thick length of red velvet rope for a second, expecting something like that to be a mortal blow - then realizing that he was already dead and couldn't die again (right?), he chopped the rope in half with his halberd and took a swing at the doorman standing before him.
The doorman turned sideways, trying to evade the blow entirely, but Miguel had anticipated such a move and sheared off a small section of the shade's right arm.
Choking out words of power, Robor managed to inflict some damage on the doorman as well - causing spots of its blackness to mottle.
"Is that all you got?" the thing mocked, "At this rate we'll be here all night! And I don't expect you can last that long haha!"
-
"He will if I keep healing him", Killer mutters under his breath, as he drags himself into a sitting position. Only one thing he could really do right now anyway.
Spending a willpower point, he casts a healing spell targeted at the entirety of the team currently present.
-
Beats readies to charge jn and stab the... whatever demonic thing it is but holds his ground defending until he can see it
-
Emend looks towards the sound of the crashing noise, before pressing on to the kitchen.
"I'm sure the others can handle a single bouncer. So do you only eat human food, or can you actually make it?" Emend asks UsdiYona.
-
Robor nods.
"Okay, this thing is stronger then I thought. Let's move back outside of it's range." Robor says.
-
As all this went on, the Sklorch contented itself to chew on the end of a large sofa - having already eaten two of its three seat cushions...
-
Beats swears some more, his old lingo coming back to the fore before he retreats from the room "K, how we get dat thing into da open or let me see it?" He asks clearly frustrated
-
The Saint (Killer)'s balm of flesh rote was more than enough to heal everyone's wounds - the bones in his eye socket and Beats' rib resetting themselves and fusing back together.
Miguel, in twilight, was not effected however.
"Nice trick," the doorman replied to the Saint, "but it just means I have to hit you hard enough to keep you down this time."
With Robor and Beats ducking out of the library into the sitting room - the Saint (Killer), still on the floor, suddenly felt a tad vulnerable.
Ignoring Miguel, the doorman focused his supernatural energies on the priest and violently flung him toward the window!
"GET OUT!" the doorman hissed wickedly - as the Saint crashed bodily into the glass and frame! Bones broke against the wrought iron, as long shards buried themselves deep within his chest.
As the Saint bounced off the frame - landing back in the room - the doorman exclaimed, "So close! Haha! You got to admit, that would have been pretty sweet, right? 'GET OUT' - BAM! Right out the window, haha! Ya be like - 'Say what?!?' Damn!!!"
Miguel meanwhile, took another swing at the shade with his halberd.
"Let's see how you like it!" he growled, as he thrust the point of his polearm through the doorman's black silhouette!
The blow seemed to hit home, as the doorman stopped his crowing immediately and frowned.
"Oh, it's on now, Casper!" the doorman remarked, making a motion akin to cracking his knuckles.
-
"I think we need to have a conversation about how to not follow strangers who offer you food, even if it's cake," Emend remarks.
"Why? Is there something wrong with cake?" ;D
Emend looks towards the sound of the crashing noise, before pressing on to the kitchen.
"I'm sure the others can handle a single bouncer. So do you only eat human food, or can you actually make it?" Emend asks UsdiYona.
"You mean you can make human food?" UsdiYona asked in surprise, "please, do tell!"
-
Beats swears and runs back in to drag Priest out of the room with the annoying invisie thing "Farking ghost thing cant you spirit ppl harm it?"
-
"Sklortch! Get back into twilight and attack that demon." Robor commands the sklortch, as he walks back in, and attacks the demon's corpus again
-
Cursing internally, Killer starts casting, "I heard that being destroyed hurts. A lot. He weaves the magicks for his healing spell again, intermingling words of power in his speech as he casts his spell and spending another willpower point.
Can't really afford to half ass healing when on the verge of death.
"Hope you're ready for it."
-
"Why? Is there something wrong with cake?" ;D
"You mean you can make human food?" UsdiYona asked in surprise, "please, do tell!"
"I suppose I'll just show you how," Emend remarks. "I'm sure you can handle making simple food."
-
"Ooh!" UsdiYona replied with excitement, imagining all the possibilities. "What should we make first? Twinkies, Doritos, Snicker Bars, Pepsi, or fruit snacks?"
-
"Ooh!" UsdiYona replied with excitement, imagining all the possibilities. "What should we make first? Twinkies, Doritos, Snicker Bars, Pepsi, or fruit snacks?"
"I was thinking something other than junk food. Not that I expect to find many ingredients," Emend replied.
-
Switching focus to Miguel, the doorman sent the spirit manifestation of the red velvet rope out to attack him. Miguel deflected most of the thrashing lengths with his halberd - taking only one significant hit in the process.
As this went on, the Saint (Killer) was able to heal himself again - the glass shards slipping from his body and the integrity of his bones reforming once more.
At Robor's command, the Sklorch spit out a half digested couch cushion, spun around, and snorted. It was then quickly distracted by a brass table lamp on a nearby stand and oozed over to begin munching on it. Almost the entirety of the rug in the library was now hopelessly ruined - not to mention what was left of the sofa.
For Robor's part, he raised his ring and corrupted even more of the doorman's corpus - as Miguel continued the onslaught with his halberd.
The fight between Miguel and the doorman only lasted a few moments longer, as Miguel took a few hits and then swiped off the doorman's head with an arcing swing of the poleaxe.
Sans head, the doorman flashed out of existence and was gone.
Back in the material world, the red velvet rope and brass stands abruptly fell over - clattering to the floor.
Turning to the Saint (Killer), Miguel smiled - "He was pretty tough, no? It was a good fight."
The Saint (Killer) then noticed something wrong with the conquistador's pattern, though the ghost did not seem to be aware of it. He was more translucent than he had been before, and seemed frayed at the edges...
-
Meanwhile, down in the kitchen, Emend and UsdiYona found that the place had been cleaned out of all foodstuffs - though plenty of utensils and the like remained.
-
"Yes, it was. Miguel, how are you feeling?"
He was a good investment.
-
"Hmm..." Miguel ponders, making a show of patting himself down - "I don't know. All right I guess, but I do feel a gnawing hunger in my gut. I would not have guessed that a ghost would have to eat."
"This is most strange, no?"
-
Beats looks through the door "Dat invisible thing dead?"
-
"You were almost destroyed just there. You will need to recover, we only have one foe left in this castle and they are up that attic where you cannot follow anyway. Rest, see if you can absorb any essence from the pool downstairs."
Wouldn't do to waste him
-
"Wouldn't say dead. Gone would be more accurate." Robor says.
-
"Guessin dats a yes then?" Beats says as he walks back in the room "The next enemy better not be invisible too." He adds
-
"You were almost destroyed just there. You will need to recover, we only have one foe left in this castle and they are up that attic where you cannot follow anyway. Rest, see if you can absorb any essence from the pool downstairs."
"Huh," Miguel considered, "I do not want to think about what happens if I am destroyed, after I am already deceased."
"But yes, I will go to that pool room. There is something about the place that seemed fulfilling in some way."
"Good luck with what lies up those stairs. I will wait for your return - or for whatever bonds us to draw me to you once again."
-
"Beats, Robor", Killer says as he checks himself to make sure he's still all in once piece.
"Emend said we have to be naked to get up there."
Satisfied, he pats his hands against his pants and looks up.
"Can either of you please check to make sure he was wrong or lying?"
-
"Might scare da ladies with my whitey white body but no issue wid me" Beats jokes as he heads up the stairs to test whatever is up there.
-
High Oaks Castle - Attic Space
(http://www.bountyheadbebop.com/Disc/Sanctum3.jpg)
-
Heading up the wooden stairs into the attic space, Beats sees an otherwise empty storage area. He notes that the east wing of the castle's attic is closed off by a sturdy-looking oak door - though the brass handle has apparently been broken off and lies on the floor nearby.
-
He calls back down semi-quietly "clear so far!" Then heads over to check out the door, seeing if it opens just by pushing or pulling on it.
-
Posted by: Forge
« on: 2017-07-14, 20:52:13 » Insert Quote
"Might scare da ladies with my whitey white body but no issue wid me" Beats jokes as he heads up the stairs to test whatever is up there.
"Ill have you know, the ladies loved the whitey white body." Robor grumbles, as he follows Beats up
-
Killer follows up behind the two, sword drawn.
"I hope to take you at your word on that one Robor"
-
Meanwhile, down in the kitchen, Emend and UsdiYona found that the place had been cleaned out of all foodstuffs - though plenty of utensils and the like remained.
"Looks like we'll have to postpone our cooking project," Emend remarks. "I suppose we could help up a floor and pick out our rooms while the others take care of the attic," he suggests.
-
"Which one do you want?" UsdiYona asks, "can I be by you?"
-
As Robor and the Saint (Killer) came upstairs to join Beats, Beats found that he could simply push the sturdy oak door open (the latching mechanism have been compromised by the removal of its brass handle).
Beyond the doorway was a strange laboratory of some kind, filled with work benches, similar to the ones down in the basement vault. These however, were covered in an assortment of dark colored fabrics and sewing paraphernalia, rather than riches.
Atop one of the work benches, at the far side of the room, sat a medium-sized dog kennel cage - strange braided strands of knotted fabric arranged in unusual patterns around it. A rather large diamond also hung directly over it - suspended from a silver wire, hanging off an iron nail in the low attic ceiling.
Beyond that, Beats could see another oak door - it too, missing its brass knob.
Cautiously stepping through the doorway, Beats was stopped by an invisible force, pressing against his body.
Emend was right - the laboratory seemed to blocking entry to his clothing.
-
Sighing, Killer tries to put his sword through the barrier, as well as extend his senses (casting analyze life on a random patch of floor past the barrier and spatial map in quick succession) to see if any of his magic could get through.
If this fails, he will strip without saying a word to the other two, and walk stiffly (pun intended) through.
-
"Which one do you want?" UsdiYona asks, "can I be by you?"
"Naturally I will be taking the master bedroom," Emend replies. "There's a room beside that if you want, and then the rest of the disciples can have the rooms down the hall."
-
Beats strips down quickly, making a few more skinny white guy comments then heads inside.
-
"Watch yourself Beats." Robor mutters, as he strips down.
-
The Saint (Killer) found that his spells could not perceive the other side of the doorway - even though his weapon had no problem going through.
The ban appeared to block spatial arcana, as well as everyone's clothing, which would account for no one being able to scry into it. There would also be a spirit component of some kind, which would explain why Miguel couldn't enter - and probably why Doll couldn't leave.
Heading into the laboratory, the Disciples had ready access to large bolts of fabric - should modesty be an issue - as the Saint's attention was drawn to small voices giggling out from under one of the work benches.
"Hee hee hee hee! They're naked! Don't look! Don't look! Tee hee hee hee!"
Neither Robor or Beats could hear the voices, though Robor could sense a disturbing demonic presence, emanating from behind the closed oak door at the far end of the space.
-
Killer makes haste to clothe himself.
If the doll was anything like Hans, she wouldn't attack straight away anyway, might as well provide himself with some modicum of modesty in the meantime.
Once done, he will again cast spatial map (now having passed through the barrier), and then analyze life on the doll and whatever else might be with her (provided they can be analyzed at all).
-
Beats simply wraps a piece of cloth around himself like a kilt and ties it off "Right, where's this girl we came to find den?" He asks out loud "An pleas don't say she's invisible too..."
-
"Naturally I will be taking the master bedroom," Emend replies. "There's a room beside that if you want, and then the rest of the disciples can have the rooms down the hall."
"Sounds great, let's go check 'em out!" UsdiYona replies. "Do you think they have mints on the pillows?"
-
"I'm sensing a demonic presence nearby. I'm gonna guess you cant see anything." Robor says, raising his ring.
"But I'll share with you the sight. I'm very charitable obviously ." Robor says, giving Beats spirit sight
-
As Robor bestowed Beats with the fleshless speech, the Saint (Killer) took a look around with his spatial map. The area being warded against space proved very claustrophobic, when magically scrutinized from within. It was like the attic laboratory and small room beyond represented the entirety of existence - there just wasn't anything else past its confines.
As for that small room behind the door, it was made even smaller by the sloping attic ceiling. Inside appeared to be a child's nursery, with a small frilly bed, mirrored dresser, short round tea table, and matching chairs.
Propped up on the bed was a large child-sized doll, with long blond hair, wearing a white dress, black buckle shoes, and pink sash tied in a bow. Its eyes were closed - and it did not appear animated - but looked disturbingly life-like.
A shudder ran up the Saint (Killer's) spine, as he realized that the doll had the ghost-girl Kelsey's face and hair - probably her real face and hair too!
A quick casting of analyze life showed that the doll was completely un-living however.
As for the source of the voices he was hearing, (clearly that of small children) nothing was showing up - though they continued to talk to each other from under one of the workbenches in the laboratory.
"What are they doing now?"
"How should I know? I can't look."
"They might still be naked."
"That's why I can't look! You look!"
"No way!!!"
As this went on, Robor continued to feel the demonic presence - but it was coming from the room beyond the door - not from within the laboratory itself. That, and neither he nor Beats could hear the voices the Saint (Killer) was hearing. To them, the immediate area looked clean.
-
"Thanks for the sight." Beats says then heads for the next door "Doesn't look like anything ere, shall we head on?"
-
"Maybe. Saint, what are you seeing?"
-
"I can hear two voices here with us, perhaps more of the children. The doll does not appear to be animated but I do not wholly trust my analysis."
Then, in a louder voice, "We're clothed, you can come out now!"
-
״ There is a demon in the next room.״ Robor states. "I'd be cautious of the voices."
-
In response to the Saint (Killer)'s directive - though perhaps not intended for them - two ghostly heads popped out from under a nearby workbench.
Both were young children, between the ages of six and eight. The older of the two being a curly-haired black girl, approximately the same size and build as Doll, while the other was a fair-skinned red-haired girl - who's skin tone matched Mama Kark's wicked creation to a 'T'.
Saint (Killer) could surmise the modes of the two children's death, based on some tell-tale signs. The black girl had hand marks around her neck, like the girl Kelsey had - meaning Mama Kark has strangled her. The white girl had blood stains soaking her back, where a long slit in her clothing ran from between the shoulder blades to the small of her back. This one had been slit open with the thirsty cleaver, in order to harvest her lovely skin.
With their other sights going, both Robor and Beats could see the two apparitions - though the details were extremely blurred. This was due to the offset between the two arcanum at work - one dealing with the spirits of the dead and the other more suited to reveal demonic influence.
Neither Robor or Beats could hear what the girls were saying however, but they at least could see where they were now.
"Who are you?" the older black child asked the Saint (Killer) precociously.
As this went on, the Saint (Killer) was still aware of what lay on the other side of the oak door - though it made no movements or gave any indication that it was something other than a large creepy doll.
-
"Sounds great, let's go check 'em out!" UsdiYona replies. "Do you think they have mints on the pillows?"
"Pretty sure they weren't running a bed and breakfast here, so no, I doubt there will be mints," Emend replies as he heads towards the master bedroom.
-
"I can see dem this time, though blurry. Like that movie with tha tv girl thing." Beats helpfully adds
-
Well, good thing my better half isn't seeing this; he'd be crying his eyes out at such a pitiful sight.
"My name is Saint. I'm a priest, i've been sent here to cleanse this castle of the evils that inhabit it, as well as help the spirits of the fallen who reside here. I would help you if you would let me, though first my companions and I will have to destroy the doll created by the evil woman who used to live here.
Are you able to leave the attic?"
-
"No, we can't leave," the other girl replied to Saint (Killer), "we want to go home, but the big bad lady won't let us!"
"Yeah, she yells at us when she sees us," the other explained - "That's why we have to hide."
-
With some small measure of confusion, Killer looks to the kids.
"When was the last time you saw the big bad lady?"
-
"They asking about a big bad lady? If ya mean Mama Kark, She's gone for good and won't be coming back." Beats adds hearing Saints responses if not the ghost actual words.
-
The children both pursed their lips and gave a shrug.
"I don't know," the little black girl answered, while the little white girl scratched her head, as if trying to remember.
-
"Well, if I'm not mistaken, my friends and I already dealt with a rather frightening woman named Mama Kark. She should be gone now, forever. You don't have to be afraid anymore.
But there's still one more thing that we need to deal with here, I'm afraid. There used to be a doll up here, and inside a poor girl's soul is trapped in its body. We need to free her, same as we freed Hans."
Killer looks at Beats and Robor and jerks his head towards the Oaken door behind which was the Doll.
"I'm sorry for what you're about to see, but we are only helping this poor soul free herself from her cage."
With that Killer, his unused sword still drawn, waits for his companions to engage the doll.
-
Beats happily takes the hint having been pretty useless so far. He heads right over to the door and barely waits for Robor to be ready before swinging it open and stepping back and to the side, guard up.
-
Robor nods, and readies his ring.
-
Looking in, Beats and Robor could see the small slope-ceilinged room that the Saint (Killer) had already observed through his spatial map.
The doll - looking so realistic and fake all at the same time - abruptly opened its eyes and stared at Beats with glassy blue eyes. Meeting its gaze filled one with a sense of unease and revulsion - there was something horribly wrong here - something demonic. With Robor's spell, Beats could feel the malevolent entity emanating from within the doll. This was what Robor had perceived earlier and what gave the doll a semblance of life, though like all things infernal, it was a false life - a lie.
The doll's mouth then moved, almost puppet like, and little girl's voice asked, "Where is my mama? Have you seen my Mama?"
-
"Mama's dead bitch"
Killer opts to distract the doll as long as he can for his comrades, until he is once more relegated to healing them of their inevitably grievous wounds.
"Yes, actually. Not too long ago, a week or so. What's your name little girl?"
-
Robor grimaces. Even if it is a demonic spirit, it's still feels wrong to destroy a child. Even if its only masquerading as one.
"Beats, just hold it off while I destroy the demon possesing the doll." Robor says, as he casts Damage Corpus yet again.
-
Beats readies his defences and a counter punch, moving inside the door a few feet. The moment the doll moved in range he would strike with his prepared knife fists, if however it was a ranged type, he would charge it.
-
"I am Doll," the doll answered Saint (Killer), before snapping her gaze toward Robor and narrowing her eyes.
"You're trying to hurt me!" she accused, folding her arms across her little chest. "You are a bad man and that makes me mad!"
Robor's spell meanwhile, went off without a problem - other than having no effect on the doll whatsoever. Apparently, she was not the demonic spirit Robor was sensing. Whatever that was, definitely originated from inside her however - but seemed shielded from his spell in whatever current state it was in.
Perhaps if Robor could somehow expel the demon from the doll first?
For her own part, the doll didn't make any moves to attack, but rather seemed satisfied to snub Robor and then make a show of ignoring him.
"Hmph!"
-
Robor nods, knowing what ge has to do.
"I need to exorcise the demon. Watch out." Robor says, as he begins to chant in the language of the heavens, and wave his iron ring symbolicly
-
Beats glances around the room, seeing that it hadn't attacked yet "So, erm, dis your room then? You always stay in here?" he begins in order to get the dolls attention.
-
"Are you alone in there, Doll?"
-
As Robor cast his spell, Doll answered Beats; "This is my room. I stay here until Mama lets me out to play."
At the Saint (Killer)'s query, Doll replied, "What do you mean ' in there'? My room?"
As this went on, Robor felt no resistance to his exorcism, which would not normally be the case - it should be a contest of wills, lasting a few moments at least. It was as if there was no spirit there to excise, yet he could still sense its presence within the doll.
The thought then occurred to him, that Hans had been 'powered' by some kind of magical gem. A 'shadow stone', as Sarapheen had called it. Maybe Doll had something like that inside her too...
-
"Oh. Right. Forgot about that." Robor mutters.
"There's probably a whatchamacallit in it. The demon-stone-holding-soul thing. It's protecting the demon from my magic. Can't touch it."
-
"Can ya tell where it is?" Beats asks Robor, flicking his headphones to a more agressive rap track but leaving them around his neck so he could hear the music but not drown out other noise.
-
Killer taps his skull, "In there."
"There's something very, very evil inside of you. I think a friend of yours, Hans, had the same problem. We helped fix him, maybe we can help fix you too. We can take you to see Mama Kark when we're done. Would you like that? I know you probably don't get out much and all, stuck up in here."
Then he smiles and offers the girl his hand.
"It must get so lonely being up here by yourself. Even Hans has his rats. Let's be friends."
-
"You know where Mama is?" Doll asked hopefully, extending her hand to let the Saint (Killer) take it.
-
Meanwhile, downstairs, Emend and UsdiYona staked their claims on the master and guest bedrooms - finding the large spacious chambers much to their liking.
-
"Yes. She's been sick and couldn't leave her rooms, Hans has been taking care of her with my help. I'm a healer you see, I can work magic just like your mom.".
Saint sits down and bids the Doll sit next to him. He leaves his sword leaning against the wall behind him.
"Now, close your eyes, but listen carefully. My friends will begin speaking words of power, so that they can summon their magic to them."
As soon as his comrades attack Saint will try to overpower the Doll with his own brute, enhanced strength and keep her hands off of them while they destroy her body.
-
Doll did not sit down with the Saint, but rather stepped back.
"You are a liar too!" she accused - "Get out of my room!"
An angry scowl then crossed her face.
"I'm telling Mama on you. You are all bad men! Mama will punish you!"
-
Killer bites his lip and then says "All right, I didn't want to tell you this because I didn't want an outburst but Mama Kark is in much worse condition than I let on, and Hans is unable to help her. Please forgive me."
Should this fail (because Beats inevitably attacks first) Killer will seize his sword and begin cutting wildly at the Doll, spending a willpower point to ensure his success.
-
Dd iding that the talking is over Beats begins with "Sorry lil doll, but your mama's dead" Beats says sadly as he goes in with a haymaker at the dolls head, forcing himself to remember that it it a horrific flesh golem not a real child.
-
Robor nods, and draws his magical shield sword, and attacks the doll
-
Doll was stunned - first by the revelation that Mama Kark was dead, then by Beats landing a heavy blow upside her head. Beats could feel his knife-fist penetrating human skull, beneath preserved human skin.
Doll toppled over from the impact and did not get back up - her eyes closed - and sawdust spilling from the gash in her head.
Taking advantage of the situation, Robor brought his imbued sword down on the prone girl. Her arm lopping off at the shoulder, revealing child-sized humerus, clavical, and scapula bones packed in more sawdust.
With a cry, Doll startled back awake - "W... what are you doing?!? Don't hurt me! No!!! Mama! Help help!!" she begged - her pleads so convincing that pangs of guilt suddenly slammed into the disciples.
Something about the cries exhilarated the Saint (Killer) however, and he felt a hidden glee that the kid was making such a show of it. This was rich, especially given that his companions were probably buying it and feeling awful about what they were doing. She wasn't real though. Too bad.
With a half hidden smile, Saint (Killer) impaled the doll through the chest with his angelic sword.
After a few more moments of weak struggle, Doll went limp - this time for good.
At her 'death', a rush of euphoria surged through the Saint (Killer) and he could feel the Saint stirring within. What was this? Surly the fake girl's death didn't count? Did it?
Stumbling back, the Saint (Killer now gone) came to consciousness - finding himself in an unfamiliar place in a rather odd-looking situation. Of course anywhere was better than the horror show the flesh grove had been. Bit how did they get out of that situation? Where were they now? Attic of High Oaks Castle? How much time had he been blacked out this time?
-
"Dis is all farkin shite" Beats mutters, flicking his track over to somthing a lot darker to match his mood "Didnt sign up to kill a kid even if she was fake." he adds then heads back towards the door "Gonna check around for somthin more real ta fight."
-
Robor shakes his head.
"I hate this part of the job." He says, as he starts to cut through the doll to get at the demonstone
-
I'm being cheated! I'll just have to make up for it next time.
---
Huh? Where am I?
Saint stares at the dead Doll, limp and still impaled on his sword, and he pulls the blade out, making the sign of the cross over her.
She must have been like that poor little Hans, the Doll that Emend mentioned
He looks around, taking in his surroundings.
What the hell happened?
He pauses, closes his eyes and rubs at his temples.
"This sucks", he mutters under his breath.
I'll ask them later what happened. Beats or Robor, I'll ask them when we're alone. I don't want to scare anyone.
I'm losing time... Lord, these trials of yours are oh so trying, but are they truly so terrible that my mind cannot keep hold of them?
Am I truly so weak?
-
"Hey Robor, you don't need me here right now do you? Everyone is uninjured?", Saint asks
-
Robor shakes his head.
"No. I'm good." Robor mutters
-
Robor found that the bones inside Doll were somewhat brittle and had no problem breaking open the skull along the gash Beats had created. As he dug around to see if anything was hidden inside, he marveled at the incredibly fine stitching down the back of the golem's neck - where Mama Kark had sewn her skin closed.
It was an ugly reminder, that this was the actual remains of dead children - cobbled together into the nightmarish living doll they had just destroyed.
After a moment or two, Robor removed a large diamond from the sawdust - similar to the one they had seen hanging in the laboratory. It glowed an eerie colored green with moving swirls of liquid black inside. In fact, there was a lot more black in the diamond than glowing green, but the radiance of the green overpowered the darkness. For some reason, it brought thoughts of blood sucking leaches to mind - swarming around their prey.
Whatever this gem was, it was completely different from the shade stone the disciples had found in Hans. That stone was a small smoky black-quartz crystal and had no radiance in it at all. Neither did the shade stone seem to harbor any malevolent entity like this diamond did - it being the source of the demonic presence Robor was feeling in the room.
-
Saint looks at it for a second and says "Maybe we should wait for Sarapheen to coke back before destroying that. It looks different somehow."
Then he shrugs, "Do as you will."
He goes downstairs, remembering that the bouncer should have been at the base of the attic stairs
-
Saint found the red velvet theater rope and brass stands at the bottom of the wooden stairs, but no doorman present.
He did however, take immediate notice of the fully manifested Sklorch in the library - or what was left of the library - as the Sklorch seemed to have completely digested everything within - right down to the bare wooden flooring!
It currently sat in a bloated heap near the window, soaking up sun rays like a giant over-indulged cat, and did not appear to have seen the Saint yet.
Something about the oddly broken window frame (and shards of bloody glass on the floor) pricked a hazy memory in the Saint's mind. There must have been a fight in here, but with who? Surly his companions wouldn't have left the Sklorch alive, if they had been fighting it...
-
Robor examines the stone.
"I think it might be in the process of corruption, maybe." Robor mutters, examining the daimond. Could he excorsize the demon from the stone now that it is free from the doll?
-
"Vile creature", Saint mutters.
We must have destroyed the bouncer when he didn't let us through. No matter, he should re-manifest eventually, hopefully before I have another blackout.
"I suppose it is Robor's."
He closes and rubs his eyes for a second.
"I wonder where Emend and Usdi are?"
Saint casts Spatial Map, hoping to find the two somewhere in the castle. Should he succeed he will look for them.
-
Saint's spatial map revealed Emend and Usdiyona in the gallery walking towards the library. No one else appeared to be in the castle - and the attic spaces were still warded from his view.
-
Given that they are coming here, Saint waits for the two to get to him
-
Beats simpy goes wandering theough looking out for bad guys, demons etc. not really expecting to find much but using it as a good distraction. He plans to ens up at the pool
-
Meanwhile, downstairs, Emend and UsdiYona staked their claims on the master and guest bedrooms - finding the large spacious chambers much to their liking.
With the bedrooms claimed, Emend makes his way to the Gaming Room to see if he finds anything unusual.
-
UsdiYona walks into the library and sees Saint. "Is that creepy demon doll gone for good? She asks.
Looking at the Sklorch, she then complains, "how come that thing gets to eat and no one ever feeds me? Sheesh!"
-
As Beats and Emend spread out to check over the rest of the castle, it became clear that nothing else remained in it, save a few ghosts and Robor's Sklorch - which seemed to be doing a lot more damage to the place than anything else.
In the attic spaces, Robor noticed the blurred forms of the murdered children standing in the doorway, watching what he was doing with the green glowing diamond. They may or may not have been trying to ask (or tell) him something, but he couldn't hear or make anything out with his current sights. It was a reminder however, that the other ghost, Kelsey, was also still waiting out in the woods with that puppy spirit of his, for the disciples to return.
In the sitting room, UsdiYona waited to see what the Saint had to say about one thing or the other...
-
"She might be, it depends on what Robor decides to do with the shade stone."
Then, "I never feed you? I think my empty fridge would have something to say about that!" He says, giving a wan smile.
Saijr hesitates for a moment before continuing, "Usdi, can you keep a secret?"
-
Robor shakes his head, and sticks the shadowstone in his pocket. He'll figure out wjat to do with it afterwardss. First, the kids need to be allowed to pass on.
Robor begins to head over to the basement. On the way, he'll command the sklortch to finally go back into twilight
-
Saijr hesitates for a moment before continuing, "Usdi, can you keep a secret?"
"Why certainly! I love secrets!" Usdiyona answers with excitement.
-
Finding nothing of interest, Emend heads over to the library.
-
"I've... been losing time, recently. I think the things that I have been seeing have taken a toll on me. I forget things I shouldn't. I can't remember anything that's happened since we were in the flesh grove. I saw the thing summon fleshy trees to its aid and then... nothing. Could you tell me what has happened since then?
I only came out of the blackout when the Doll died on my sword in the attic.
I don't want to tell the others, it would just worry them. Nothing that can be done for it, I imagine. It must be something like that which aflicts Beats and Robor"
-
Beats chills out by the pool for a while with his easy listening playlist on random before heading back ul to find the others.
Got to get our bodies switched back soon and go see to my kids he thinks as he slowly heads back
-
UsdiYona's excitement fell to concern for her friend.
"Hmm, let's see, where do I begin?" she replied.
"I'm honored to keep your secret. Those tree monsters died and we got some treasure out of the stump thing. Nothing to eat of course. Then we went home and came back today."
"We got rid of a jabbering idiot spirit and Robor tamed that weird plant thing. Then y'all went to take care of the creepy doll kid, because I didn't want to see you naked."
"Plus Emend and I called dibs on these first two rooms."
"Any of this ring a bell?"
-
Saint smiles weakly.
"Maybe it'll come to me in a bit. Some of it does", he lies.
Saint is a terrible liar.
"Is Faith doing all right? I'm glad she has you there for her. I'll get you a pizza when we're back home. I might even show you how to make one, though I confess to being a mediocre cook at best."
-
"She's OK," UsdiYona replies, "but sometimes she's scared to go to sleep with that lost spirit in the house."
"By the way, I love extra cheese and pepperoni! And no funky mushrooms!"
"There should be no fungus among us!"
-
Startled, Saint asks - "What lost spirit?"
-
"You know, that old Spaniard guy you've been toting around with you. You should see if he knows how to make tacos!"
-
"I... ah, it would seem I do not remember him either. I think maybe I should talk to him too. Thank you Usdi."
With that, Saint - using his currently active clamor of the departed rote along with a scrying or spatial map spell, searches the castle for an "Old spanish ghost"
-
The Saint did indeed locate a Spaniard ghost - quite readily as a mater of fact. He appeared to be loitering in the basement pool room; and was dressed like a conquistador, in pantaloons with a breastplate and helmet.
There seemed to be some kind of sympathic link between the two of them, which would explain why it was so easy to locate him immediately with almost no effort.
But that didn't do anything to explain why (or how) the Saint had apparently become the physical anchor to one of the departed.
-
Saint heads down to the basement as fast as he can, doing his best to remain composed but occasionally bursting into a bit of a jog.
As soon as he gets to the basement he calls out to the ghost, extremely unsure as to how to approach the situation "Excuse me sir, please, can we talk?"
-
"Yes Padre?" the ghost replied, with a quizzical look on his face. "You were right about the pool, its energies have filled me."
-
"That is good to hear. I take it you were injured then?
I'm sorry, please, just give me a minute to explain."
Saint takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, then opens them before continuing.
"I'm afraid that I do not remember you. At all. I am a new disciple of the Lord, you see, and I think that the things that I have been seeing in his service have taken a tremendous toll on my mind. I have begun to lose time recently. I do not remember you. In fact, I do not remember anything that has happened in the last week. The last I remember was walking into the flesh grove and seeing that monstrous thing at its center scream.
I'm not sure if it's a personal failing or if it's a side effect of the powerful magicks that I use but it has happened twice now, and I am afraid of what I do during these times that I cannot remember.
Please, if you can, tell me about yourself. Anything about yourself. I know so little. How did the link between us come to pass?"
-
"Aha, you jest with me Padre!" Miguel answered with a laugh, but then seeing that the Saint was serious, he put a hand to his chin.
"Hmm, you are not joking... I see..."
As the Spaniard spoke, the Saint realized that the words he was using were Spanish, but that the Saint could understand them and the same seemed to true for Miguel understanding English.
"Well then," Miguel continued with a regal bow, "Miguel de Díaz; Formerly Commissioned of Our Holy Roman Emperor, Charles the Fifth, to explore and settle the Bay of Saint Mary. Now in the service of The Saint and Disciples, until the Lord see-eth fit to forgive my many trespasses and receive my soul into Heaven."
"By that I understand, that you will know the time for such things and make it happen. I do not pretend to know the means by which you saved my soul from the fires of Hell, to secure me a place by your side in this holy work - but I am honored and grateful for the opportunity."
-
Saint smiles then, "I am glad that even when not myself I could show kindness to a man willing to accept the Lord into his heart. It is a pleasure to meet you again, Miguel."
Then his smile fades, "However there is another matter of grave importance. As it seems you have been anchored to me, my daughter Faith has become aware of your presence and is frightened by you. I would ask that you stay as far away as possible when she is near, my daughter is not awakened to the wonders of the world and your presence could drive her to disbelief and insanity. I am not sure why I never touched on the subject with you before but there is nothing more important to me than her safety."
-
"Of course," Miguel bowed; "I will keep that in mind and only hope that nine rods distance will be enough."
-
With no immediate threats presenting themselves, and Robor having sent the sklortch back into twilight, the disciples took the time to scour the rest of the castle and found that it was clear.
Curiously, the two ghost children in the attic spaces were gone – they having been put to rest with the destruction of Doll.
Upon heading back through the woods to retrieve Robor's van, the team discovered that the ghost child Kelsey was still anchored to the woods. Apparently there was going to be more to freeing her soul than just destroying the golem that had hijacked her likeness.
Robor also noted that the green glowing diamond reacted to proximity with the ghost girl – the light flaring brighter and the black entities inside growing frantic the closer it got to her.
Additionally, the verge the disciples had discovered was still opened – and a handful of minor shadow spirits had wandered out. The spirit puppy that Robor had given the ghost girl had managed to destroy or chase them all off – but Kelsey had been traumatized by them harassing her.
She described them as "black rats with ugly baby faces".
His heart moved for the girl, the Saint volunteered to remain on the property with Kelsey, until a means to set her soul free could be found – but UsdiYona pointed out that his own daughter Faith needed him too.
In exchange for the promise of both pizza making and tacos, UsdiYona agreed (or rather just took it upon herself) to remain with Kelsey, while the Saint and disciples returned to the Washington National Cathedral to wait for Sarapheen's return.
Of course, the Saint wouldn't just leave the two spirit girls to fend for themselves twenty-four-seven, deciding to come out for a few hours each day to check up on them and (of course) bring UsdiYona some form of junk food or another to snack on.
End
-
Epilog
The room was richly appointed; lavished with ornate paneling, dark-stained wood accents, columns of heavy-laden bookshelves, a stamped-tin tile ceiling, and a huge black desk facing the door. Ornate brass candle stands, with huge squat candles and fat ropy wicks, sat in each corner - unlit.
Blume and Blumenthal discussed paperwork piled on Mr. Blumenthal's desk.
"Just settle it," Mr. Blumenthal said, dragging a long puff off a fine cigar. "There's no point in fighting for the place with a forgery, no matter how good the document looks. It's not worth the accusation itself getting out and upsetting other clients."
"You are aware that Mr. Hardman is one of them now," Mr. Blume replied, "does this give you pause, seeing that he remembers our little 'offer'?"
"Mr. Hardman is worth keeping tabs on;" Mr. Blumenthal pointed out, motioning with the cigar, "And what better way, than to let them have the place. The hallow itself is too good for them to pass up, not to mention its longstanding history among the Chosen. They will be very easy to watch, when we know where they call home."
"It is a shame we lost him," Mr. Blume lamented; "His father was truly amazing and we had such high hopes for the son."
"The line is not yet lost," Mr. Blumenthal replied, "We are still playing the long-game. What is another twenty years to us? A drop of water in an endless ocean. Mr. Hartman will be long gone, by the time his son stands before us to make his own choice."
---
Returning home for the evening, Emend was met at the door by his live-in girlfriend Trucy, who wrapped her arms around his neck and excitedly drew him into a big kiss.
She had something in her hand; and when she finally drew back to show him, Emend could see that it was a home pregnancy test.
It took a moment, for his eyes to focus on the red 'plus' sign in the reader – then another few seconds for it to click in his brain 'what it all meant'.
---
Heading back to Morrow Wind's hallow on the Blackfoot Confederacy Indian Reservation, Saskatchewan Canada, Robor and Beats presented Robor's retrieved sword and gave an accounting of their mission to clear High Oaks Castle.
Satisfied that they were well on the right track, Morrow Wind agreed to bring them before the Archangel Benjamin to lift the adversity of having had their bodies swapped.
Opening the heavens and ascending up with Robor and Beats, Morrow Wind brought the two disciples to an alien dimension of strange sterile beauty. This was Elysium – a flat plane of perfectly polished, crystal clear glass, infinitely deep and containing the entirety of the physical universe within.
Robor and Beats were struck with its eternal depths and had a difficult time not losing their finite minds to the astonishing awe of its overwhelming glory.
Tearing themselves away from the marvelous sight beneath their feet, and looking forward, they saw a Greek-style white and rose colored temple standing before them. It was a large open affair with wide steps leading up to the cella.
Following Morrow Wind up, they met the Archangel Benjamin waiting there for them.
If anything ever met the classical interpretation of 'angel' it would be the Archangel Benjamin. He stood an imposing seven feet tall, had a radiant white robe, glowing golden halo, white feathered angel wings, the whole bit.
He was surrounded in a nimbus of white fire that stretched out like six additional wings and bleached his skin in such a way as to give his features a mirror-silver like appearance.
Without a word, Morrow Wind indicated that Robor and Beats wait where they were, while he went and stood before the archangel, relating the disciple's plight and subsequent efforts to right it.
The Archangel Benjamin listened, then in an unusual mode of communication, repeated it all back to Morrow Wind verbatim, before nodding and invoking white fire to rise up around the two disciples. It did not burn of course, but caused their souls to transpose back to their original bodies.
When it was done, Morrow Wind nodded to the Archangel Benjamin, who nodded back.
Morrow Wind then returned to the disciples near the steps, but was bidden to pause by the Archangel.
"You have a soul stone?" Morrow Wind then asked Robor, who reached into his jacket pocket (Beats currently wearing it now) to produce the green glowing diamond he had fished out of Doll's skull.
"Oh, yes, that's it," Morrow Wind replied, taking the gem and letting it go into the air, where more of the Archangel's holy fire surrounded it.
In the purifying fires, the inky black motes within instantly vanished and a soul was then separated out of the gem.
It was a portion of the girl Kelsey's soul and in a moment, the girl herself appeared in a flash of white, to stand next to it.
"Where am I?" she asked, as she and the missing part of her soul rejoined each other.
"You are safe now," Morrow Wind said to the child, "I will take you to be with your grandma and grandpa."
"But they died and went to heaven," Kelsey replied, a little confused.
"It will be all right child," Morrow Wind reassured her, "they are very excited to see you again."
Kelsey seemed satisfied with that answer and stood patiently, beside Morrow Wind.
"Thank you for the puppy," she then said to Beats, apparently not realizing that Robor and he had changed bodies.
"All is right, we can go now," Morrow Wind announced and directed the disciples to the stairs.
As they went, soft unspoken words abruptly entered Beat's mind – a message from the Archangel Benjamin.
A that name that he would need to know at some later point.
"Kajet Kajet"
---
Back in the woods at the High Oaks property, UsdiYona and the spirit puppy were sitting with the ghost girl Kelsey when the girl abruptly alerted – "I have to go now" – and stood up.
UsdiYona then saw a portal of light open above Kelsey.
Having seen this before, with other lost human spirits, she knew that it was how they 'went home' (wherever home was).
"Goodby Kelsey," UsdiYona waved, as the girl ascended into the light, "It was nice to meet you and be friends!"
---
The following Monday, Sarapheen returned, appearing in the Washington National Cathedral to meet with the Saint.
She seemed a bit sheepish of speaking about her destruction and reformation, but expressed pride at the disciple's ability to handle themselves in her absence. Especially given that she had intended to tell them about the verge and flesh grove after they had dealt with Jack Eaton Jr.
Apparently, the verge opens for two weeks every year, beginning a week before Halloween and finally closing a week after. During that time, the disciples would have to post guards at the verge to ensure that 'things' did not walk out of it into the physical world and (more importantly) that people didn't inadvertently walk in.
She then went on to explain that the flesh grove was too powerful for her and her own group to deal directly with and how impressed she was that the Saint had been able to save his team from being trapped therein.
She did seem a little put off however, by the Saint's new ghost companion Miguel, expressing that she was not sure of the wisdom that went into deciding upon that particular arrangement, but decided to leave it in the Saint's hands as he saw fit, warning him that he would be responsible for any unforeseen 'complications' such an agreement might ultimately entail.
For his part, Miguel simply promised not to be any trouble – piously bowing his head in the presence of a glorified angel of Heaven.
---
Eight Months later, ownership of the High Oaks Castle and Properties was officially turned over to Emend, and the disciples had free and lawful access to their own hallow and new base of operations!
After refurnishing the place and spending another thirty thousand dollars to repair all the sklortch damage, the place was fit once again for occupancy.
While there was a certain satisfaction to be had, in foiling the demonic plans that Blume and Blumenthal had for the place, as well as liberating it from their possession, an impending sense of doom hung in the air – like the calm before the storm.
Emend and the disciples had made powerful enemies and then embarrassed them with their victories. These slights would not go unanswered – but how and when would the forces of evil retaliate?
No matter.
The disciples would be ready for them.