3254/That Old Black Magic

That Old Black Magic
Date of Scene:	22 October 2015
Location:	Paragon City <CoH>
Synopsis:	The season of the witch is ongoing, and Salamanca is experiencing strange events as it celebrates Halloween.
Cast of Characters:	Maya, 560, 769, 774

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Dr. Vahzilok (769) has posed:
    The resort town of Salamanca and the zone it is part of (also called Salamanca) have had weird things about it for a long time, but usually nothing too major. Certainly nothing that would interfere with the tourist trade. Infact, some of that weirdness even drew people, like the rumored lake monster 'Sally', or Salamanca's very own Stone Henge. But now strange markers have been popping up in the woods, emblazoned with an unusual, crude symbol. And no one knows where they're coming from.

    On top of that, strange supernatural events like the 'missing equinox' and ley line anomalies indicate something problematic might be coming in the future. And with Halloween right around the corner, a time when all KINDS of stuff can go wrong... This may very well be a chance to find out what's coming, and maybe even stop it, before it happens. A chance for heroes to be proactive instead of waiting for the bad things to go down and then reacting.

    To save people, before the danger can hurt anyone.

    Assuming there's anything dangerous happening. That's unconfirmed. And that's what those aseembled here to do are here to confirm. A shadowy group referred to only as the Cabal once has activity in this area, according to the records of the Midnight Squad. A Contact with the group already enlisted Dorian to look around. And Dorian's efforts would have turned up not just more of those markers, but also strange fog that seems to appear from nowhere out in the woods, many circles of mushrooms and stones, and even what appears to be a standing mirror just sitting in the middle of a clearing, golden-framed, unattended.

    No one has gotten hurt yet. But it should be clear that there's WEIRD STUFF happening. And going to where the Cabal are said to have once held their rituals (and bringing along some help) might be the next step. So far, the total absence of villains or monsters may well be a relief for some of those who have been fighting here for so long.

    But the possibility of danger is still there, since clearly not all is as it should be. There's a small river boat ready to take heroes across the lake from the southern shores, the beaches of Salamanca itself. It may be a bit chilly today, what with the lake and it being autumn, but the sky is still clear. The destination is an island-like section of the zone to the north-west the boat can take people to... Unless they choose to travel there by other means, such as flight, leaping, or whatever else.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Dorian has been reading up on this 'Cabal' as much as he can in the meantime. He's found out precious little, though. In fact, he's found nothing at all. Which doesn't really surprise him; if the organization was public, it wouldn't be SECRET! And they also wouldn't be needing to figure anything out in the first place.

    That's why Dorian has been reaching out to Multiversal Elites that he knows have had dealings with this world, because going into a situation blind is not something the mage ever does alone. One of those, someone who's been rather active in the dealings of this world, is one Emiya Shirou. He'd sent a message to Shirou, asking him if he'd mind assisting in the investigation of certain odd events, since Dorian hoped that Shirou might have a better idea of the dangers they might face better.

    Here and now, though...

    Dorian REALLY doesn't like the cold. So his cloak today is a thicker one, though still white, and one can catch glimpses of soft white fur poking out from the arms of his leather armor. But aside from that he looks normal.

    He is, however, boarding the river boat when it's time. Unfortunately Dorian has no ability to fly, and he most certainly isn't going to just go swimming in the water. Particularly not when it's COLD. He doesn't like boats all that much more, truth be told... but rather this than a big ship.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    When Shirou arrives, having read upon the situation along the way, he's REALLY hoping that someone else can handle the fine details of magic. While he can USE magic, he lacks many qualities needed to properly investigate most magical situations. Oooooopsies.

    So he shows up wearing jeans and a jacket, and presumably under the jacket his shirt and light fiber-weave armor over his vitals. The amber-eyed, red-haired young man's neither smiling or frowning. Instead Dorian's treated to an intense lookover. They have worked together before, sure, but he hasn't had much opportunity to really get to know the guy. "Yo... Dorian, right? You have some way to investigate this? I have no idea how you'd steal a season or whatever's happened here. That kind of magic's way past my level."

Maya has posed:
Maya had come nhere to look into the strange goings on. It was a strange place but that was saying little. Primal Earth was stranger than many other Earths were it's like someone had warped things ever so slightly here she was also again in her outfit she used often on this world. Hey she went by the name the Blue Witch after all for a reason. She felt the magic here it was nice it felt more like home even if it was a biot strange. She was one of the first to get off the monorail as she stretched her legs and got a good look about the city. It didn't take her long to catch up with Shirou and Dorian, she was thankfully able to catch the boat and was just enjoying the ride.

"This is huge for a body of water, well back home at least. I do wonder what is waiting for us at the end of this trip and yes that's some pretty high level magic to be sure...it's messing with a fundamental part of reality."

Dr. Vahzilok (769) has posed:
    The boat ride, once everyone is aboard, is relatively short and pleasant. At least relatively speaking, for those who don't like boats. When they make landfall, it's upon a landmass north-west of Salamanca, after having past a couple of other, smaller islands in the middle of the lake directly to the north of the town. It's a rather ramshackle place that they land, and not really an island, since it's technially possible to walk there. Maybe someone should have told Dorian that. Oops.

    But it gets them to their destination a bit faster. Some ruins may quickly be located. According to what Dorian may have turned up in investigating the history of the area, this is all that's left of the original village of Salamanca, established in 1641. There's not a lot left here, but it's one of the locations associated with the Cabal in mystical records. There's even a big, old, gnarled tree up on a hill that looks like exactly the kind of place weird mystical orders might hang out. Assuming they had no grasp of subtlety.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Dorian offers a polite smile as Shirou appears. His question of the mage's identity gets a nod. "That would be me," he confirms. As for investiagtion. "At the moment, trying to sense the flow of magic around the area was what I had planned. If I can find any anomalies in it, I should be able to follow them to the source, with luck. Or at least, closer to it."

    Maya's appearance gets a smile, and a polite bow.B "Greetings," he offers. He remembers having met her a few times, but much like Shirou, never really gotten to work with her very closely. he does remember her being trustworthy and quite strong, though. "Good to have you here."

    Dorian is grateful for the pleasant boat ride, he tends to get motion-sick if the boat rocks too much. Really that's all he's concerned with as they finally make landfall, that he's managed to not embarrass himself by becoming ill on the trip. That and finding the ruins, which yes, are indeed here.

    "That's what I thought," Dorian confirms. "Ruins of the old village of Salamenca." A look at the tree on the hill. He pauses. Blinks. "...Really? Do these people not understand that meeting on a hill is exactly the opposite of 'keeping your secret magical organization secret'?" Sigh. "That said, they HAVE managed to keep a great deal of information about them out of public record. Though I'm starting to believe they did so by killing anyone who might have known anything rather than actually keeping it secret..."

Maya has posed:
Maya checks out over the water on their trip looking for something but there's no signt of the rumored Sally out there. Then again given this place she may still well ewxist but there's no time to chase after the existance of a local creature who may or may not exist. For now she's moving to get off the boat s they arrive. She's seen the ruins but she's not sure what to think on it she does however return Dorian's greeting gets a smile out of Maya.

"Glad ot be here."

She follows up Dorian as listens to what he has to say.

"If that's the case we're going to be in for some trouble if this group is willing to kill to cover up thier existance."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou makes a face. "Well, that's still keeping it secret." Not at all in a way he can approve of, but he's not terribly approving of this group as it stands. Wherever they are, he'd like to have a few words with them...

    But first they have to find them. His attention's drawn to the tree, then the ruins of the old town...

    "This isn't a very big piece of land to hide on. Underground, maybe? Some old cellar? Or maybe a cave in the woods?" Are there even caves in woods? Shirou's not the kinda person to know that offhandedly.

    But he does know that they've gotta be hiding SOMEWHERE most people wouldn't go.

    "Or maybe their hideout's disguised behind a boundary field that keeps attention away from it. Where should we we start? The tree and ruins are both pretty suspicious."

Dr. Vahzilok (769) has posed:
    This much, at least, can be said: There are no actual indications of anything being done at or around this area any time recently, based upon what can be observed right now. A more thorough inspection is probably called for, but there aren't even traces of magic for those who can sense such things. Certainly there's SOMETHING here. Some sort of spiritual significance, perhaps. That is a very old tree, after all. Or maybe that's just a trick of the mind, being inspired by the solemn, bent and twisted frame of the blackened growth, overlooking the abandoned remnants of a place where once people dwelled.

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Dorian nods to Maya's observation. "It's a very distinct possibility," he agrees. "Mages, particularly those up to no good, tend to be rather... irritable when their dark secrets get exposed. That's a quick way to find a knife in your back in Tevinter. If you're lucky." Implying that there are worse fates that could befall one who sticks their nose into others' business in Tevinter! Not a threat, though... a warning.

    His brows raise, and he nods to Shirou's word. "It is. A messy way of doing it, but if you can afford the cleanup..." A shrug. Shirou's suggestions get a thoughtful 'hmm'. "If it's the latter, that's going to take power to maintain. If it's the former, the magical antics going on should lead right to their front door."

    He takes a moment to try to sense for magic and... "...Or not," he mutters, frowning crossly. "Either someone's taken great pains to hide their activity, or we're in the wrong place," he decides. A pause, and then he looks up at the hill. "Let's try the far-too-obvious place, shall we?" he notes, and begins to head for the tree on the hill.

Maya has posed:
Maya Says "Worlds where not everyone can use magic tend to breed that sort of behaviour."

She gets the idea it's a warning and not a threat, it's like warning someone of a local hazard. She'll take it as such and pulls out a card, it glows faintly as blue fire bleeds from her body into it. She then starts to sense the area to see if there's anything beyond what her normal senses can detect.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou has very little in the way of magical senses. But upon getting near the tree he puts his hand against the trunk. "Trace; on..."

    A gentle PULSE of magic flows from his hand into the wood and down into the ground from his feet. It's a sounding, basically, that lets him expand his awareness through the structure of objects around him. If there's anything unusual underground - or, perhaps, strong interference from a magical phenomena in that very limited range - he will have no trouble detecting it.

    "The problem's with ley lines, right? Don't those flow along natural formations like forests and rivers? This tree might be important."

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    To Maya's words, Dorian adds, "Particularly when it 'just happens'. Greater control can be learned... but if you're not a mage, you're not a mage." She can probably imagine the kind of resentment and fear that Thedan mages have to put up with, most likely. Or if not, she can probably get an idea. He pauses as he notes Maya doing something with a card, and waits. Perhaps she'll have better luck.

    He also stays quiet as Shirou does his magical 'sounding'. Though he does rub his chin thoughtfully as the magus makes the suggestion. "That could be," he replies. "It's not unheard of for mages in Thedas to utilize places where the Veil is particularly thin. The intersections of leylines in this world are similar places."

Dr. Vahzilok (769) has posed:
    Under the tree... Are winding tunnels and caverns, as seem to honeycomb this entire city. Though these, at least, seem to be much more 'earthy' in the sense of they could have been dug out by natural processes or by primitive tools, rather than an elaborate underground city or something. There's SPACE down there, and a sense of magic definitely. So this very well may have been a place for the Cabal to gather in the past.

    But the magic right now feels... Sluggish, if Shirou can detect it. Like a river of mud instead of water. The natural energies of this place are gunked up with something. But if it were so easy to discern WHAT precisely, then the Midnight Squad probably wouldn't need to ask outsider Elites to come check it out.

    It might be realized that it's a bit brighter here than it probably should be, and getting more so, by the other two mages present. A soft glow that suffuses the nearby area. Looking up will reveal a strange glowing ball of light surrounded in a shimmering mist. It almost seems to be watching them curiously.

Maya has posed:
Maya says "The divide even after ten years is still a bit alien to me. Forgive me for that that."

She seems to be focusing more on her spell the flow of magic coesn't feel right here it's not doing so well she thinks also the glow hints there are things enchanted here.

"Humm I think we have something's attention."

Maya shifts her spell focus from the area ont ot the strange ball of light that seems to be watching them trying to see what she can magically sense about it.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou's a bit dense and focused, and doesn't realize anything's terribly wrong nearby until things start getting brighter. "Huh?" A quick turn of his head and pulling away from pondering the issue leaves him staring at the nearby orb...

    "H-h-h-huuoooah?!"

    He leaps back, away from the tree into full defense mode... still looking up at the thing and not yet arming himself. "Some kind of spirit or fantastic beast...?!"

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    Dorian's unaware of what Shirou senses, and so what catches his attention first is the increase in the amount of light. He looks between Maya and Shirou, beginning, "Is it just me, or...?" And then he pauses, tilting his head back to look up to where the light appears to be coming from. He blinks at the ball of light, but if he can't sense any malice from it, he won't bother it.

    "Hm... what have we here?" he muses thoughtfully. There's no malice in his demeanor either, just a similar sort of curiosity. Possibly caution, hence why he's not trying to touch the ball of misty light. Shirou's reaction gets a look from Dorian. "Calm down, it's not going to hurt you. If it had wanted to hurt us, it would have already done it, before we noticed it."

Dr. Vahzilok (769) has posed:
    The glowing Sprite seems to float backwards and blink out, vanishing from sight, when Shirou leaps away and goes into a defensive stance. It eventually fades back into existence after ten or so seconds have passed without hostile action, and just drifts around them in a half-circle, before stopping and going the other way. It doesn't seem to be able or willing to speak, but it's aware of them, it seems. It makes a little bobbing movement in the air as it inspects the Blue Witch, the Smith, and Dorian, then does a twirl in the air and flies away at a casual pace. Its curiosity is apparently satisfied.

    An odd encounter. From everything anyone has been able to determine so far, beings like this are not native to this region (or at least no one has reported seeing them to the investigators. It's possible they might be both native, and known, but there's been no mention thus far of unusual lights). There's definitely something going on here. Something's going to happen to this zone, or is already happening.

    So far, no one has gotten hurt, no one has gone missing or anything. Maybe it's just the weirdness associated with the season, as the wall between the physical world and the spirit world weakens.

    If that's the case, the spirit they just encountered might be only the first of many.

    Hopefully they are all that peaceful and friendly.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "That's easy for you to say. It snuck up on us!" Shirou contests like a newbie, but he has relaxed tremendously in those ten seconds or so. "What's going on? This place feels weird. Like a stuffy, damp room that hasn't been aired out in years.... and there's glowing balls floating around."

Maya has posed:
Maya Gets a feel for the lights and pauses at Dorian.

"They seem to be having an effect on us and might actually help us they are not hostile."

May seem to think they mean no harm and is going to leave them be for the moment. She moves on with the group nothing major has happned yet she doens't feel threanted at all there may be a miss understanding here but there's till time to sort that out before things got serious. It could also just be natural for the flow of magic here.

"We should be wary other things might try to use this time of year to wedge their way into this world. Other than that it seems like yes stuffy like the flow of magic has been blocked."

Dorian Pavus (774) has posed:
    "...That was odd," Dorian comments as the sprite floats away. He doesn't try to stop it, even if he notices his condition seemed ever so slightly better while the little thing was around. He does sort of give it a sad look though. It's kind of cute!

    Though he turns his attention back to Shirou and Maya. "At least it didn't hurt anyone. So there's one less danger to being here." He can't help but snicker at Shirou's response. He does give the magus's words thought, crossing his arms and putting a hand to his chin. "The former... that's more of an odd feeling I get. I thought it was just the stifling amount of nature all around, honestly, but if the both of you are feeling it too, that must mean it's something else." He sounds like he's partially kidding.