Scene #6174: An Ounce Of Roget

Owner	Pose
Melisandre Lebeau	While the Volunteer Fire Department had become the headquarters for the Multiversial visitors, the Police Station for Kingsmouth was still the main greeting to Kingsmouth - and today, there's a note asking everyone to meet with Helen Bannerman at the Station itself. Moose, Doctor Bannerman, and the good Deputies (Andy and Jackson), are watching the gate outside, and motioning people through. Inside the station, Helen is looking at her own map of Kingsport - which has a couple of names in large text on a paper attached to it. "Hey, everyone - thanks for being willing to step out. Lord knows we need more and more of it every day. To everyone new, I'm Helen Bannerman. I'm the Sheriff of what remains of this lovely little town." She grins, just enough for the levity. "As a result, I need to keep my eye on everyone - as some of you may be aware, not everyone's holed up with us here at the Station. Norma Creed and Madame Roget are two of our biggest concerns - Norma's elderly, although tough as hell. Madame Roget is somethin' of a fortune teller - and she's all by her lonesome. Roget's the closest one to visit - hang out here on Arkham, a right on Lovecraft, and there'll be a opening into the yards. Can't miss it - Raven's Knock." "When you're done visitin' her, come on back."
Riva Banari	Riva spends regular time at the police station in general. They always need more ammo and supplies, and Riva continually runs about the town, scavenging them up. Oddly enough, they always seem to pop up in about the same areas... Weird, that. Still, Riva salutes to Helen, dropping a pile of VHS tapes. "Hey Helen, brought in some tapes so you have something to watch. Figured Living Dead would be in bad taste so I gave you a selection of comedies." The woman gives her spiel, and she laughs. "Telling them to go out around the town and get you checkups again, huh? Okay. I'll keep them company." She looks over to the others and gestures. "Come on guys, let's check up on them and find out how they're doing."
Raziel	A whole ago. Raziel pushes open a door, someone had a tip for him, and the price was not too unreasonable. Now. 'I found myself in the spectral realm of a land that was not far different than my own, at least in the spectral realm. Though more crowded, but that was expected of larger cities. The 'modern' feel of this city was something I was still getting used to. However, the amount of activity was weird...like something was preventing the dead from moving on, and just as there were sane ghosts who could not find their way, there were melevilent creatures who preyed on them.' Raziel continues, his contact giving him a very specific address. Walking through the spectral relm, he decided to avoid confrontration for a moment, until he got to the building in question. Pushing himself through the door, he arrived inside. 'There was a dense fog that fell on this land. Unable to see farther than a human could see through normal fog, I found this to be strange. Whatever was going on in this city, it was...it had the feeling of something back home, but I could not put my finger on it. I will have to materialize and ask question to understand what is going on more.' Holding his hands out, Raziel, through a force of will went from insubstansial, into being a physical person. To those without spectral sight, he would look like he just appeared in the room. His body, a loathsome thing, almost demonic...or some sort of horribly mutated undead. His eyes blank, pure white, with claws on each hand, and each leg. Around his mouth was a standard wrapped around of a unknown land, holding his hands up to indicate he not only met no harm, but was actually able to communicate. "I hear there is a issue you have, and that my special brand of skills could assist in helping clear up." he says, in a measured and highly intelligent tone.
Twilight Sparkle	The purple pony known as Twilight Sparkle hasn't been outside her world much in the last year. The Multiverse just seems like such a dreary place most of the time. But, when she heard about people in need dealing with magical undead creatures she thought her knowledge and experience with magic might be of some use. In an effort to draw at least a bit less attention, Twilight has worked up a spell that makes her a bipedal pony rather than going about in her usual four-legged form. She has also donned a simple purple t-shirt and blue jeans. She introduces herself to the sherrif and her crew and explains her skillset of magical study and spellcasting, then greets the others present before heading out to visit this Madame Roget. It should be noted that the short girl pony seems rather nervous. Zombies and Draug seem pretty dangerous, and she hasn't dealt with real threats in quite a while. She sticks close to Riva as they go, her ears pinned back and tail twitching every now and then in nervousness. "Fast zombies...those are the worst kind..." she says quietly as they go, her head darting back and forth at the slightest sound from the darkness.
Orchid	Orchid has been keeping a number of balls in the air. (Metaphorically) Among her projects are helping out the Hikari fleet and improving her own tools to keep up with the evolving and improving multiverse. So when a friend asked her to help out with keeping a place supplied, a place with fog that interfered with radio signals, Orchid was glad to take the stuff over, bringing with her a selection of her recon drones to stress-test their signals. From that it was an easy step to helping out with this little look around the place. "Check on the status of Norma and Madame Roget, sounds good," she says to Helen... and wow. She blinks as Raziel 'decloaks'. "Okay, that was nifty, but I don't think there is time for me to bug you for a demonstration in front of sensors." The reploid is wearing her usual style of armor, and there are a few robot spiders visible in her area.
Riva Banari	The arrival of Raziel complicates things. The moment he appears, Riva blinks and raises her shotgun. "HOLY CRAP HOW DID THAT GET IN HE-" And then he holds up his hands and talks. Riva blinks, and lowers her gun. "Oh. Uh... Hi! Um..." She looks to Helen, and then to Raziel. "If you're here to help, then I guess that's cool. I didn't expect to get a hand from the living dead." When they finally get going, Riva seems happy to have Twilight around, smiling pleasantly to the pony. "Don't worry. Nothing's going to get past me." A pause. "Unless they do, in ehich case do your thing. Really, it's not the zombies you have to worry about." She twitches. "The Draugr are way worse. And there's worse stuff than that, too."
Nova Terra	Dread. That's the closest word Nova can think of to what she's feeling as she walks down the road towards the Police Station just ahead. She resists the urge to shudder as her psychic senses instill the horrible feeling inside her. A feeling that something is Wrong with this place. Though she can't pin down what exactly. Sure, she can pick up on a number of readable minds in the area. But it's none of them that are giving her such trouble. Could the place itself be the cause? ... Can a location have such an affect? Nova shakes her head to try and clear away the feeling as she enters the Police Station. Not that it does any good. Nova arrives just in time to see Raziel suddenly appear. She looks at the spectre for a moment, remarking, "You look familiar..." Oh, briefing time! Briefing complete. Nova nods slowly, "Seems simple enough." She chambers a round in her large rifle, before hefting it up on her shoulder and walking out. The barrel bumps into the top of the doorframe on the way. Silly small Earth doors. As the group begins to move towards the reported location of Madame Roget, Nova naturally sticks to the rear. Twilight does get a bit of an odd look from the Ghost. However, it's Riva which gets most of Nova's attention, "You seem to know this place and its monsters. Any particular place on them we should aim for?"
Doctor Strange	A burning eye hovering in the sky is probably not the strangest thing the various and sundry gate guards have seen in their time entertaining arriving Multiversal guests. But, all the same, the source of that eye feels it's better not to have one's hosts get jumpy. It disappears, once Strange has a moment to take the place in. Rather than opening a portal, Strange leaves his entrance as 'mostly' weird--hovering down the road with his arms spread slightly outwards and the Cloak of Levitation billowing behind him. He touches down just outside the gate. "Hi." The doctor listens to Helen's explanation with crossed arms. The names of the streets draw raised eyebrows from him, and he tries to cover his frown with a cupped, heavily scarred hand. He lets it run down the length of his goatee, then sighs. City council was really playing with fire naming the streets around here. When the sherriff's through, he introduces himself to her and the others. "Doctor Stephen Strange, Earth's Sorcerer Supreme." Riva's attempt to marshall up the volunteers is met with a nod. "Sure," says the sorcerer. His black Converses strike an anachronistic contrast to his blue tunic and the red pleated cloak upon his shoulders. As others arrive, his attention is upon Raziel, first and foremost, despite the eclectic display of homeworlds present in the station. Riva's reaction merely confirms to him that choosing to fly in rather than appear was the wise choice. "Draugr," repeats Strange. "Norse zombies. What's so bad about them? Do they groan in Icelandic or something?" Another one of him appears in a flash of green light. That one accompanies the party, while the other hovers slightly in the air and enters the lotus position. While the Future Strange accompanies the volunteers on their way to Roget, Present Strange scries the town's streets, casting a mystical eye in the air to give him a bird's eye view of their path. If he sees any zombies that look... well, out of place compared to the others, the Future Strange will warn them, naturally having already lived through these events.
Melisandre Lebeau	Helen, being fairly methodical, doesn't seem all that surprised by the newer Multiversial visitors, although the clearly-old-enough-to-remember her childhood Care Bears gives Twilight a bit of a thoughtful look. Raziel, however, gets the biggest reaction, Helen suddenly narrowing her eyes at him, hands flexing slightly. "Hey there, partner. Have a favor. Don't do the appearin' trick again. You'd prob'ly get shot." Helen is straightforward but nice about it. She also has a point: hi Riva. Riva does get a bit of a shrug. "Hey, to be fair, you guys are ... well... more durable than most of us here. You get in there and get out safely enough. There aren't enough of us to go around. I see that - I know that." She glances at Strange, raising an eyebrow. "Sorcerer Supreme. Huh. Not sure how much that'll help - things here... repeat themselves, it feels like, some days. Same old areas we go to for item collection. Same old zombies." Indeed - the brief, two block walk to the Raven's Knock has some zombies here and there, but all of them are focused on eating, and eating, and eating. Bodies that, perhaps, should have been gone a long time ago. Nothing 'out of place'. Ravens, here, there - watching the zombies. Waiting. But nothing unusual. Not for a town overran by zombies. Not for a town, where, the very humans like Helen are the minorities. Once in a yard with a open door leading to the 'Raven's Knock', there's even less worries. It's almost peaceful - at least up til the young woman downstairs realizes that it's more than Riva, and a whole group of people - and promptly shoos them back out to the yard, standing on her own porch. "Well, I didn't see this comin'." She says. The mid-twenties looking woman says dryly, brushing back her orange locks behind her ears. "I'm glad you're here though - the things I have seen... the ravens. Even more malice than the fog. Like a funeral shroud. And have you noticed the ravens?" "There's more than there used to be. Just like there's always more zombies. But you're not the first I've told about this. Just today, even. Perhaps you might not be the last- today, maybe. Things go here, but they always come back... they always seem to come back. Follow the crows. Put a rest to the end of things at this." Strange: The closest group of crows you've noticed was on Lovecraft, opposite the entrance to the yard.
Orchid	One of the things that Doctor Strange will notice, along with the local stuff, are Orchid's drones, also keeping an eye out around them. In this case, she brought out both her usual spiders and what look like tiny aircraft, flying around on twin propellers. Back at Orchid... "I did see a lot of ravens," she says, turning to look directly at that nearby group of ravens. "Who else was it that visited you?" she asks of Madame Roget.
Riva Banari	"It's all right, Helen. That's why I'm here! Don't worry about it, we'll keep you guys going. It's not your fault, and believe me, you don't want to swap places. Keep things settled here, keep calm, and aim for the head." She winks to Helen and turns to the Doctor. Riva looks over Strange as he appears, whistling. "Weeeeeelll now. You look totally awesome. Sorceror Supreme, huh? Well, I hope you have the chance to live up to that name." Riva seems to know the area best, lacking any of the other locals, so she generally takes point, gesturing to the envrionment as they head out the front of the station. Perhaps of note is the barricade designed to become a makeshift killing ground for the punctual zombie attacks that come after the open areas of the fence. The locals keep guns trained downrange to intercept them, and they seem to have become accomplished shots. Riva gestures at the Old Sticks Town Motif going at the houses as they travel. Very New Englander rural. "So, welcome to Kingsmouth, guys. The fog's been here for a long time. Ever since it rolled in, this place had become a supernatural hotbed of evil, villainy, and general zombie movie references." She points at a group of them tearing at a corpse. "See those? Typical undead. Feral, really, and they go down quick." A few shotgun blasts and assorted murder later, this gets proven, the dessicated things laid out,. "More will be back soon though. The problem is, well... Like I said, the Draugr." Riva pulls out her cellphone and presses a couple buttons on it, then tosses it to Strange. On it is a gory set of pictures showing drenched, mutated, horrible waterlogged creatures. "These things came with the fog too. They seem to be controlling the zombies, and have their own hierarchy. Tougher, too. Not sure what their ultimate source is or what's motivating them." OOC: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/secretworld/images/6/68/Draugs2.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120417220722 When they get to Roget, Riva's about to walk right in with the lot of them, but finds herself quickly shooed out. "Oh, hey." She looks about at the others. "Guess it's a little much for your parlor?" She thumbs back at the crowd. "No biggie." She smiles to Roget, and folds her arms. "Wait, so you want us to follow some ravens around? But they're everywhere..." She frowns a bit at this. "Well, if you think it's important..." She looks back to the others. "She knows her stuff, so if she says it's a thing, it's probably a thing."
Raziel	"That is why I came raising my hands. I also can not, not do that. I am not a zombie, I am...a wraith, I am just capable of manifesting a physical form," Raziel explains, "But if it matters that much to you, then I shall attempt to disappear and reappear out of your sight." Raziel says, again, a tone that bespokes more of a intelligent man in life. He does not take offense to almost being shot, infact he probably wouldn't have taken offense to BEING shot, he was...well what he was. Considering Riva for a moment, he simply makes a small wave with his hand. Towards Orchid he gives a long withering glance, "I'm 'camera' shy, and I am not your lab rat." The appearing 'sorcerer supreme' gets a glance from Raziel, who at this point is rather distrustful of people who claim that title. Just don't tell him you can see the future and manipulate time. Raziel's head turns to the side as he is reguarded. as the Zombies are directed to, Raziel squints... 'These vile husks seemed to be similar to the monsterous forms that many of the clan's had degenerated into during my...sleep. However, there was something instead of a soul there, a...putrid blackness more foul than I had ever realized, even in the depths of my own underworld...even fouler than the dreaded unknown.' Raziel walks with the group, the pictures provided causes him to frown again. 'These vile creatures were even more grotesc than the zombies, and resembled greatly what had became of the clans. No doubt that vile darkness rested in them as well.' "Would you care to explain the rotting darkness that seems to animate these creatures?" He speaks towards Riva. Stopping when they come across the lady they were sent to meet. Ravens..? Following birds around in the fog was a fools erand at best. "I do not suppose one of you has a way to somehow track a bird?"
Twilight Sparkle	When the Sorcerer Supreme joins them, Twilight makes her way over to walk with him. "Hello!" she says cheerfully. "You are Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme? I am Twilight Sparkle, a long time student of magic. Would you be interested in comparing notes on magic?" The purple pony-morph seems quite excited to meet someone who is already so well known for his magical prowess, even if it doesn't seem to be quite the same type of magic as hers. Raziel gets a bit of a wary look from the pony, but he seems amicable so she takes his appearance in stride. Twilight watches those zombies nervously and a bit nauseously as the group proceeds down the road. "...how...how did these zombies come to exist? I've heard it can be viral or magical, but why would anyone create such creatures? I guess it could be natural, but...it doesn't follow the usual trend for natural sicknesses." She is likely trying to keep her mind busy so she doesn't freak out. Riva provides pictures and Raziel provides some insight, so Twilight pays both close attention. Rotting Darkness definitely doesn't sound good, and...holy crap those are the Draugr?! Twilight has battled dangerous creatures, but those look like they are in another league! When Madame Roget directs them toward the ravens across the street Twilight blinks in surprise. "Follow the ravens?" she repeats, then blinks at Riva. "Oh! I actually have a tracking spell. Here..." She focuses on one of the nearby ravens and her horn starts glowing purple, and it causes the raven to light up with a soft white glow. Then, all the other ravens do the same, followed by all the ravens in a large radius. "Does that help?" The glow can be seen through objects, but it is much harder to see than when unobstructed.
Doctor Strange	Riva's remark about his attire is met with an accommodating nod and a little shrug. He catches her phone--but there is a moment where it seems like he'll drop it. His hands have a noticeable tremor. He scrolls through it, nodding along as she explains. When he's satisfied, he tosses the phone back to her, but it's a little off-center. He doesn't have anything to say until Roget tells them about the crows. What he says to Riva afterwards might come across as a non-sequitur. "Ravens. Lovecraft." Riva, above all others, seems a local or something resembling one. So he figures she knows where that is. "I'll meet you there, when you're done in here." He vaguely gestures around Roget's house. It's a weird thing to say, considering it's literally just a few feet away. But then, he vanishes in a flash of green light. Present Strange ceases his scrying when he spies everyone and himself arriving at Roget's house free and clear. He leaves the lotus position and flies the rest of the way there, arriving at the front door. Again, he vanishes in a flash of green light--leaving to go to the past and accompany everyone there. When he returns, he does as he said he would, meeting Riva and anyone else at Lovecraft. It's plain to see that the comforting, easily-explained rules of mundane existence have been bent over something's knee here. Possibly the Draugr, as Riva calls them, or whoever pulls their strings--if there is such a being. So, when he approaches the ravens, he addresses them, not in the dry, sarcastic tone of Doctor Stephen Strange, MD, but in the knock-that-shit-off tone of the Sorcerer Supreme. Making a mystic sign with both hands and crossing them over his chest, Strange narrows his eyes and looks askance at the birds. While Twilight casts her tracking spell, he questions them openly. "Hear me," he begins. "Which master do you serve? What is your purpose here?" He's not so much expecting answers--but he wants them to know that he doesn't believe they're Just Birds any more than the zombified townies are people.
Nova Terra	Nova helps put the zombies down with the suppressed barking of her Canister Rifle. The large bullets are no doubt capable of dealing with them easily enough. It's not the first time Nova has encountered the ravenous creatures and it most likely won't be the last. Nova is not particularly fond of them, though for reasons most can't understand. Nova leans against porch wall as the situation is explained, though for the most part she's just taking in the cliff notes. Primarily because she's not really into all the weird magic phenomenon and the like. So when the fortune teller asks them to follow the ravens, Nova gives her a bit of a look. But, it could have been worse. They could have been crows. "Follow the ravens... Okay." Lifting her rifle once more, Nova begins to do just that. It's helpful that Twilight is able to provide a tracking spell, making it easier to follow them. But much like Strange, Nova is not content with doing only that. While he speaks to the ravens, Nova instead chooses to listen. Just, not with her ears. She focuses her mind on the nearby ravens, trying to pick up on their thoughts. Animal thoughts are naturally not as coherent as those from people. But often times Nova is still capable of picking up on something. And who knokws, they may not be normal ravens.
Raziel	Raziel observes the sorcerer supreme talking to the birds. 'And then it was that this sorcerer supreme was talking to the birds, hoping for answers that they did not have. Of course, as I laid eyes on them...something was there. Something not wholly unfamilar, like the Zombies...but also not quite like them. There was the same putrid black that I saw in the Zombies, but less of it in the birds...despite the absurdity of the action of talking to animals, he might have something to his bizzare actions.'
Riva Banari	"The rotting darkness? You're perceptive, Raziel." Riva replies to the wraith. "They seem to be associated with a dark, strange material that we call the 'Filth'. It seems to corrupt and change everything it touches. Or doesn't touch. It's complicated." She sighs. "We don't entirely understand how it works yet, but it's dangerous. Multiversal travelers seem to be more resistant to the effects, but anything it can't corrupt it tends to try to kill, so be careful." Twilight's question gets a nod from Riva. "It looks like they're being raised by the Draug to use as cannon fodder and other things." Riva explains. "The weird thing is that they don't seem to run out of corpses." Riva nods to Strange. "Yeah, I know where it is." She doesn't seem to notice the phone fumble, but Riva certainly fumbles it a bit, causing the phone to slip out of her hand a couple times before it falls to the ground. "Whoops." She says, scooping it up and poking at it, then holds it up to the others. "I know the way, but there's a map on here too. Took a picture from the town hall." She chuckles, then turns to lead everyone to Lovefract, totally missing the Time Shenanigans that Strange got up to. When they get to the place, Riva stares at the group of ravens. "Welp, there they are. Any idea what we should be doi-" She pauses, looking over Strange and opening her mouth for a moment. "... Oh, wow, you can talk to animals?" She asks. Okay, so Riva might not be the smartest person in the room. She does, however, clap as Twilight casts her tracking spell. "Good job!" She exclaims. "That will help a lot! It's not the first time I've been told to chase ravens, I keep losing them." She shrugs.
Melisandre Lebeau	"Another one like Riva here. Says she's from this Earth. Not that I ask too many questions, mind." Roget informs Orchid. "I just told her the same: Ravens in my dreams - lots of ravens. More than normal. Coming from somewhere, somehow. Controlled- I don't know... I just don't. That's why I tell you all, though - so someone - someones - that can hold up better out there can go find out." Leaving the group to their own devices, Roget goes back inside the Raven's Knock. The instance that the group starts focusing on the birds, however, there's a great ruffling of feathers and they all alight and take off, back the way the group came, ghosting over to the side of the lone church in Kingsmouth still holding any sort of service. Behind it, the graveyard, as is tradition in these small sorts of towns. After all, where there is life, there is death. They are barely visible in the dark of the sky, but circle they do, over a singular area. Twilight can find them exceptionally easily, however, and once they get there, though... a singular black feather, slightly larger than most raven feathers, lies on the ground.
Orchid	Orchid is sending her drones to follow the birds, and to take a closer look at that feather. This makes more sense than just asking the birds. Sometimes the easy approach works, but this place doesn't do a good job of encouraging optimism. Back with the others, Orchid frowns. "They're building an army with cannon fodder? That's seldom a good thing. Is there any indication of what they want?"
Twilight Sparkle	Twilight is a bit surprised when Strange tries to talk to the ravens, but it passes quickly and she actually looks like she expects an answer. She has a friend who actually can talk to animals, after all. But, when there is apparently no answer and the ravens take to the sky she takes off after them. "Hey! Wait!" she calls, as if they might actually wait for the group. She smiles when Riva compliments her spell. "I'm not surprised! With such dark feathers against this general blackness, they would be really hard to follow unless they were just very loud about it." she says as she runs after the ravens, her hooves clopping on the roadway. When they reach the church and the graveyard behind it, Twilight slows to a walk and looks around. A feather on the ground doesn't seem all that unusual, but since her tracking spell highlights it and the ravens seem to circle it she approaches it. "...hmm..." She crouches down and starts reaching toward it slowly. "...why would they bring us to a feather..?" she wonders aloud as she picks it up, then turns toward the others. "They led us here, but...all that's here is a bunch of gravestones and this feather. Is it special?" She holds it toward Doctor Strange, since he seems to be the divining type.
Nova Terra	The last time she was in a graveyard, there were zombies. Nova is naturally cautious as she approaches the rear of the church. The thoughts of the ravens hadn't produced anything of particular use, not that Nova expected much. However, as she follows them towards the church graveyard, sweeping her rifle left and right in search of zombies, Nova starts to doubt whether the ravens' intentions were friendly. Is the group being led into a trap? Could the ravens be hiding their ill plans beneath a cover of innocent creatures? At Twilight's question, Nova proposes, "Maybe they're just animals who fly around on instinct and the so-called 'fortune teller' has led us on a wild raven chase." The feather is a curiosity, but then with all the ravens flying around, feathers on the ground are probably common place. Somewhat annoyed at their progress so far, Nova sighs in frustation, "Really. What's happening here!?" The Ghost is clearly confused.
Doctor Strange	"Sure," says Strange to Riva. In the same way that anyone else can talk to animals. When they all take off, the sorcerer's expression sours into an annoyed frown. Twilight's spell has at least made them easy to track, though. He lifts into the air, the cloak billowing out behind him. Someone else can handle the feather. Part of him wants to antagonize them, to buzz them or tailgate them. But in addition to the obvious problem with that, there's also the mention of the metaphysical hazards by Raziel and Riva. He trails the birds, and touches down a safe distance away from them. In the event of stragglers, he opens a portal--a burning ring of sparks. As it turns out, fate has other plans. Twilight offers him the feather. He raises his hands. In an instant, thick, yellow leather gloves are upon those heavily scarred hands of his. Wouldn't do to catch whatever disease these things might be carrying. Or worse. He holds it up, turning it over between his fingers. "Well. First of all." He lifts it before Twilight. "It's too big to have come from a raven. At least, a normal raven." He makes a motion as if he were about to toss it into the air, but it simply disappears, and in its place there's a book. "Second of all..." The title is in runes that Riva might find familiar. Futhark. It looks OLD. Strange rests the spine against his palm, letting the book fall open. He displays the ancient text to Twilight--and to anyone else who might be looking. It's not the words his finger points to, but an image. An old, one-eyed man sending two ravens out. "Huginn. 'Thought.'" His finger taps one raven. Tapping the other, he names it. "Muninn. 'Memory.' The two pet ravens of the god Odin, who is..." His free hand waggles slightly. "Kind of a big deal. They fly all over Midgard--Earth--and give him information." "Smart money says that's what these are," says the sorcerer with a look towards the frustrated ghost. "Spies, or a trail of breadcrumbs, working for somebody else."
Raziel	Raziel...pauses... Through his years being alive, he has seen things...including plagues. He looks towards Riva, "Does this...'filth', which by the way is very apt, spread like a disease?" he asks...looking back up at the birds. "There have been many plagues in the years I have been...alive, and birds are a known vector for some. Rats for others...and I believe Raven's area known scavengers." Raziel says, eyes keenly focused on the birds flying around them...and then towards the Grave yard itself." Looking towards Strange, he speaks again, "Why not other types of Birds then? Why specifically Ravens?"
Riva Banari	"And you wonder why I always lose track of them." Riva complains as the ravens take off. She doesn't bother killing all the zombies on the way, she just blasts them a few times almost irreverantly as she leads the way to the destination thanks to the tracking abilities of her associates. "This place is gloomy as hell. I wonder what it looked like before the fog rolled in." She hums to Twilight. "You know, maybe it woulnd't have been too different. It IS New England." She casually turns and shotguns one more zombie that got too close for her liking, then picks back up. "I've stopped being super impressed by the local zombies a while ago." She explains, shrugging. "They're not hard to deal with, there's just tons of them and they keep coming back. They're much more of a threat to the people at the station than any of us... But that's just the zombies." She grumps for a moment. Strange gets some Serious Mage Research going, and she looks on, impressed. She pokes at her phonr while he does so, and tilts her head. "Huginn and Muninn, huh? Well, that fits in with all the other Norse stuff going on here. But why are Norse undead and mythological figures showing up here? It's New England, not Iceland." She rubs her chin, then. "Spies, maybe. But for whom?" She turns and looks to Raziel. "I've seen it before. It is like a bubbling, black oily substance. It might have other ways to spread, but that's what I've seen and reported on before. There's al ot we don't know about it. It could be a plague, that could explain some things about it." She looks back to the others. "Ummm... Are we done following them? I lost track. Womp womp.
Melisandre Lebeau	There's a caw from one of the circling ravens. It's almost derisive sounding. The group does some talking amongst itself, some zombie dispatching - but no real good information comes from anything yet, perhaps. After Twilight passes the feather onto Strange, the birds take off again. The group, as a whole, collect even more ravens as they lead the group back further into the forest to a place where two roads meet, then down the road that lets them see Arkham Avenue and the church, and then they take off heading towards, perhaps surpisingly, to the south-west of the Volunteer Fire Department. As they make their way around where the three strees - Arkham, Angell, and King's Court - kind of meet in a weird corner the group is suddenly barrelled into by a woman, mid-twenties, jacket, crop top. Bleeding, but she seems to be self-repairing, based on the fact that she isn't shouting 'HELP!' She is clutching a black feather. "Oooh, friends!" A delightfully French-accented voice says. "Friends, I suggest running. Or, perhaps if you're so inclined, flinging everything and the kitchen sink at what's behind me?" Behind her, in the playground, a creature stands up from the top of the slide, wearing a hood very much like a raven's shape over its' head. The clothing is patched, with metallic dots keeping it patched together, wearing something like a long overrobe and pants of various leathers, and boots. Around it perch dozens upon dozens of ravens. There's a startling amount of caws, before two, sharply curved, pointed-hook like blades are raised, and then the group is rushed. So everyone was right about things, here and there: Now will they survive to tell Roget about it?
Doctor Strange	Strange follows the ravens, who lead the group on a wild goose chase and most certainly not as the crow flies. "Nah. Down in front." This is the response given to the French girl's suggestion to run. In a way that might resemble Chaos magic to any bee-carrying members of the Gaia Conservation Society, the sorcerer begins making arcane gestures with his hands. And in a way very much different than that sort of magic, his fingers trace glowing orange lines of energy through the air. His gestures form a glowing, gently chiming mandala. Bouncing it up into the air, he somehow duplicates it several times over. Every Heroic Spirit he's met minus one has had this obsession with just hurling weapons at their enemies. What's the deal with that? The mandalas rise up into the air, splitting off of each other like patterns in a kaleidoscope. They rotate to face the creature, and with a gesture from Strange, they all begin to spit out weapons formed of smoldering orange energy, each one a unique creation of his own imagination. The Sorcerer Supreme gives the creature a sharp, disrespectful whistle, then flicks his wrist towards the creature. Jian swords, spears, scholars' pens, staves of the quarter, full, and three-section variety, dadaos, war fans, and katars are flung from the burning rings of energy, into the path of the creature.
Raziel	Raziel has been around the monsterous underside of his world to know a threat looming when he sees one. The birds fly, fly, and fly. As the approach the playground, the nearby firestation, where they started, looks. As they walk, however, the woman with the french accent catches his attention. Looking at her for a moment, he moves towards her, as she looks injured. Then the creature... "Behind me." he says, stepping infront of the woman, and swings his right arm forward. From it extends a spectral blade, almost looking like a light saber, but the ENTIRE thing looks like a ghostly sword, from hilt to tip of the blade. It waves like flambarage, as ghostly energies flow up and down it. 'One more, I find myself facing down a hideous monster. If souless beasts were not enough, then bird possessed people was certainly a new experience. However, as it reared back and charged, there was no way out of this by a fight.' Raziel moves low, aiming to leap at the creature, and thrust. The Soul Reaver was a weapon that was the bane to many many things, including creatures that should not die. Raziel thrusts repeatedly, aiming to take advantage of Strange's Legaly Distinct Hurling attack, and repeatedly aiming to pierce the creature's chest, before rolling to the right and avoiding any counter attack, allowing someone else to follow up with his staggering blows. "I do not know what this Holloween is, but I do not think I would like it."
Riva Banari	Oh, no. they're not done chasing birds. Okay, well, that is what it is. Thankfully, tracking magics make this a lot easier to deal with than it would be otherwise. Riva needs to make a note to get Twilight a cake or something later. Maybe a cake shaped like a book. Yes. Book cake. Meanwhile, they run around and get dragged into another unpleasant corner of Kingsmouth, this one happening to contain... Oh, someone bleeding. "Oh hey." Riva blinks at the regenerating woman. "Are you a Bee too?" She asks offhandedly... But the answer looks like it'll have to wait. She looks where the woman indicates, and up at the slide. "Oh. That's a thing." A pause, then Riva pales as she realizes that the thing is considerably more horrifying than she thought. "I THOUGHT HALLOWEEN WAS OVER!" She yells... But she doesn't run. Instead, she charges forward, a hand sweeping through the air and pulling a massive anchor-like metallic hammer from a ripple in space. It immediately begins glowing goldwn as Anima surges through the embedded circuitry, and she takes the thing head on, feinting to try to block the scythes before simply crashing into the thing with a train-like shoulder tackle. "DOWN ON THE GROUND!" she yells at the horror, trying to pin it down so everyone else can come down on it with a proper alpha strike.
Nova Terra	The ravens are spies. Nova eyes them suspiciously. Nova proposes they deal with the ravens now, to prevent whoever is controlling them from gathering any more information on the group. However, Strange suggests they continue following for now. And after some thought, Nova agrees. Hopefully the ravens will lead them to their master. Which is exactly what happens. But then I guess no one has ever accused the monsters in this town of being very intelligent. As they are accosted by what appears to be a local, Nova looks her over and figures her for for a civilian-in-distress type. Not that it really matters, as Nova was intent on dealing with the threat presented by the ravens and their master regardless. The lights pulsing along Nova's suit speed up as she shifts the grip on her rifle into one hand and raises the other. Psionic energy lights up around the hand as Nova asks Strange once again, "NOW can we kill the ravens?" It is a rhetorical question, as Nova is already in the process of attempting just that. Whipping her aura-encased hand in the direction of the charging raven master and its pets behind it, Nova unleashes a large blast of telekinetic energy to slam into the creature and then beyond it, the ravens, to smash it and them into the ground or the sides of buildings or simply kill them via the impact alone. Depending on how durable it/they are.
Twilight Sparkle	The fact that the person who is apparently under attack is so calm about it strikes Twilight as very odd. Especially when that thing comes charging after them. "What or who is that?!" she exclaims just before she thrusts her hands out. Her first instinct isn't to attack, but to defend, and a bubble of purple energy surrounds the party as Twilight casts a barrier spell. It won't stop the attacker from reaching them, but in case he does reach them it will keep his blades from cutting so deep. Of course, anyone who runs toward the creature might not benefit from this particular strategy, as Twilight has to be within the shield bubble herself to maintain it. "P-perhaps this is one of those towns where Halloween is every day?!" she responds to Riva before blinking. "Wait! My shield won't protect you if you just..." Buuuuut...Raziel and Riva are gone. Twilight sighs softly, then follows after them. Usually she tries to stay out of melee range, but if people are rushing in they will need the shield more than the ranged attackers.
Melisandre Lebeau	"Well, I tried to warn you." Melsi says, watching as Strange starts casting some magic. Her eyebrows draw together - she's visible impressed - and then she's even more impressed at the Legally Distinct Weapon Hurling Attack. "Okay. That's cool. More blood loss than even I can tank, I think, but I've got to give that a shot. Oh, wait, hell-" Looking down at her palm, she frowns at the very clean, no-open wounds. "Darnit." She immediately bites down on her own palm hard enough to draw blood, it dripping down fresh where similar streaks were. "I, hey, you know what barriers are, right?" She shouts after Raziel and Riva. Team R&R. She rolls her hand, massaging it a bit with her other to encourage blood flow before she twists her wrist again, flicking the droplets into the air, where they coalesce and settle into blood barriers around team facecheck the bushes. As Stranges' weapons rip through the revenant, the many ravens around thin out as he seems to heal from his 'wounds'. Raziel staggers it, drawing a strange, wicked sounding raven's caw from the creatures maw, as Riva follows in with a quick shoulder tackle. The damage from it going down to the ground helps, as it draws in more and more of the ravens, but then- Nova's telekinetic attack rips at its' skin further, banishing the rest of the ravens as well. It feebly reaches out, in any attempt to reach them, before the strange look fades, leaving just a corpse. Just a corpse, with a raven-like mask over it. "Are you a Bee. Are you a Bee, I've just been asked. All my many namedays and chaos theories have come at once. Yes, hi, Bee here."
Raziel	Raziel sighs, shaking his head as the beast goes down. The soul reaver flickers, ravenously, before disappating back into nothing. Luckily, there had been nothing the Soul Reaver wanted to eat, much like Raziel himself. 'In the end, it was no difficult task. While the creature might have been imbued with 'filth', it was also unable to withstand the Soul Reaver's power, and that of a convinetly thrown object, and a small girl shooting it.' Raziel turning towards the other girl raises a eyebrow, while undead, the face does carry some expression...just mostly expressed through it's dead vacant eyes. 'And now, a woman obviously delirious over the stress of the event. Her talks of Namedays, chaos theories, and bees...of course, she called herself a bee. The fight must have robbed her of her sense.' Pitifully< Raziel shakes his head. "I would suggest we take her somewhere safe, until she has recovered her wits."
Twilight Sparkle	"Unless that creature has a ranged attack, you and Mr. Raziel -are- the ones that need protect...ing?" Twilight's statement trails off as the revenant goes still. That didn't take as much work as she was expecting. It seems the creature, while scary, was not quite as fearsome as it presented itself to be. Twilight blinks before lowering her barrier when it seems the creature is dead...again. She looks down at it for a few moments, then shakes her head. "What was that?" she asks the others. Riva and Raziel seem okay, so she heads back over to Melisandre. "Are you alright? And...what is a Bee? Other than a letter of the alphabet and a hive-dwelling insect?"
Doctor Strange	"Hi, Bee." With a flick of his wrist, the weapons, all sticking out of the ground, scenery, or the corpse, simply dissipate. Gone, into shimmering motes of energy. "Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme." He offers a gloved hand for Melsi to shake. Accepted or not, he introduces those Multiversal folks he's acquainted with. "That's Riva and Raziel--just met. Twilight Sparkle and Orchid, friends from work." Raziel's concern for Melsi is assuaged by the sorcerer. "Oh, that. No, she means she--" He pauses. Swallowed a bee. That's probably not going to convince him. "The bee is --" Figurative. No, that sounds stupid, too. He runs a gloved hand through his hair. "Riva," says the doctor defeatedly, gesturing between Melsi and Raziel. Explain it to him PLEASE. While they converse, he goes to inspect the corpse that's been left behind. Namely, he's doing so by the very scientific, medical-examiner-approved method of conjuring a staff to poke and prod it without having to touch it and risk contracting whatever it had. That'll probably work, right? Sure, he's not the expert here, but he's the Sorcerer Supreme. If something goes wrong he can just Fix It.
Nova Terra	See? Killing the ravens was a good idea. As apparently their master could heal from them. Nova lowers her hand after her psionic assault, watching the creature die... But was it really a creature? Or just a man utilizing magics? Regardless, Nova strides up to the corpse at about the same time as Strange, stopping once she's close by. She looks it over for a moment, before raising her rifle and firing a single round into the corpse's head. Looking up at the Sorcerer Supreme, she remarks, "No point in letting it become more zombie fodder." Shouldering her rifle, Nova walks back over to the group before nodding in agreement with Raziel, "Ramblings and self-harm. Some rest is probably warranted."
Riva Banari	"OF COURSE I KNOW WHAT BARRIERS ARE!" Riva yells as she works to make sure the thing never gets back up. She tilts her head at the familiar sight of the blood barrier manifesting around her, and she squints before getting back to smashing things. It doesn't take long. Alpha strikes are awesome that way. The creature dispatched, Riva turns away from the new corpse and looks back to the new woman. she steps forward and tilts her head. Slowly, she rolls her neck, popping it, and then straightens. "Well, that answers that. Welcome to the neighborhood. You must be new. Which side are you on?" She asks the woman... And then she's asked to provide explanations. "As for what that thing was, I think that's what Madam Roget will explain when we report in. As for as what a Bee is... It's a slang term for people like me and apparently her." She thrumbs at Meli. "There are people in this world that are chosen by, um... Well, they're bees. Sort of. Just, they're also technospiritual caretakers of the world-tree of Agartha that runs through the world, connecting spaces and times. Having this Bee as part of us allows them to basically keep us from being permanently killed in most cases and also infuses us with the life-energy of the world, called Anima. This allows us to do magic crap." Very precise. Then she looks back to Meli, clearly expecting an answer to HER question.
Melisandre Lebeau	"Yeah, so we basically eat an aspect of the caretakers - which to us look like bees- and it grants us our powers. I don't know about Riva, here, but I'm a warlock, kind of: my magic allows me to imbue my own blood with protective and attack-based properties. Blood barriers, runes drawn on your skin to help you absorb attack, and even outright turn my own blood into weapons of both singular and mass destruction." Melisandre explains this simply. "So it's not self-mutiliation - besides, we're immortal, and regenerate crazy quick." As proof, she lifts up her rapidly healing palm. "I also use small firearms in combat just to really help nail the headshots on the zombies. Ah, but you don't have to call me Bee - Melisandre Lebeau at your service, or just 'Melsi' for short." A quick glance at Riva as she shakes Stranges' hand. "Ah." She says, simply. "Dragon." Nova takes the headshot, and confirms the lack of 'getting back up' from the Revenant. Strange doesn't really find anything unusual - bullet wounds, rash from the tackle to the ground, feathers near the corpse, weapon-cuts... It's down now. Now, in twenty four hours, who knows? things come back "Anyways. Hi, you all must be from the multiverse. AWESOME. I love that. I love getting off of this planet. Does anyone know a good beach? A group to hang with? I just want to help make the world a better one. Worlds, I suppose. Why just stay on my own planet, yes?"
Raziel	"Oh, you just call him bee," Raziel says, dully. "Do they call themselves the Hub of the Wheel? The Purifying Cycle of Life, death, and rebirth?" He asks, almost sounding dejected. Like 'Oh my god he's here too, but instead of a squid he's bees'.
Nova Terra	Ah, so she's not crazy. That or they're all crazy. Nova walks up to Melisandre and offers a hand, "Ahhhh, I see. Nova Terra. I'm a Ghost, a covert operative." Introductions complete. Nova smiles at the question, "Sorry, can't recall any specific beaches that are nice. Don't really see many in my line of work." Nova motions to the corpse of the raven master, "Do things like this affect your whole world, or just this town?"
Twilight Sparkle	Twilight listens with interest to what Riva and Melsi say. "I see...facinating!" she says excitedly, though the talk of blood magic brings a bit of a sour expression. But, she doesn't say anything about it. "So, you say this Bee power keeps you from being permanently killed. Could it be contributing somehow to the phenomenon where everything in this area seems to return?" she asks the pair, then pauses a moment as she hears mention of dragons. No one here looks like a dragon, but apparently it means something else this time. When Melsi asks about other worlds, Twilight smiles. "I know I enjoy hanging out with my friends back in Equestria, and we have everything from beaches to forests." she says, then offers her hand as well. "I am Twilight Sparkle, by the way. Nice to meet you!" Nova's question is a pertinent one, so Twilight listens for the answer (if it is given).
Riva Banari	"No." Riva replies to Raziel. "It's nothing like that. There's no Purifying Hub of the Wheel or anything like that that I know of. Everything is fine, don't get all depressed just because something is kind of like the guy who apparently pisses you off constantly." That said, Riva looks back at Melsi with an 'oh god, not again' expression when she confirms she's a Dragon. "Um, how about no. Just, stay here. Yeah, that's it. Way more useful to do your chaos thing around here instead of going out anywhere. Trust me, it doesn't need any more of that." Nova's question gets a shrug from Riva. "I just get deployed to trouble spots. This is the main one I've been working with, but I hear some other places might be having trouble. Tokyo is a big one, but the only path there is, uh..." She pauses. "Unavailable right now." She shakes her head to Twilight, then. "No, I think this is something different. If we die, our spirit gets whisked off and we can rebuild our bodies out of Anima or bring the anima charge back to our corpse to cause it to spontaneously reconstruct. By the way, the spirit realm /really sucks/ here." She peers at Raziel. "You probably saw some crap on the way here."
Doctor Strange	"No argument," says Strange to Nova. He realizes he's leaning on the staff. A thoughtful expression appears on his face, and he calls forth a mirror in the opposite hand to see how the whole thing looks. "...nah." The staff and the mirror both disappear. Maybe when he's old and grey, as opposed to getting old and greying. He returns to the others after his curiosity is satisfied. "Daytona," he says. "Nice, but crowded. Grace Bay... Baia do Sancho... the Realm of Eternal Torment--" He raises a gloved hand. "I know what it sounds like, but it's a Greenland-Iceland situation. Hotels there are making a /killing./" "Anyway. Looks like you guys have things pretty well in hand here, so." He folds one arm behind his back and extends the other. All this talk of beaches has him thinking of visiting one. Summer--the area, not the season--is nice this time of year. He burns a hole into reality that peers into... a thick curtan of fog. Okay, well. That's a problem. With a put-upon sigh, the sorcerer just throws the portal. It flies through the air, swallows up the corpse of the revenant, and disappears. He totally acts like that's what he meant to do. Magicians are never the sort to allow the universe to tell them no, so, his next trick is calling for help from the most powerful source he knows. Himself. The Eye of Agamotto opens, bathing him in green light as his hands and fingers mimic the opening of an eye. A Strange from the future appears beside him. Present Strange opens a portal to Agartha, the golden-hued realm of the mystical world tree. Future Strange opens a portal visible through /that/ portal, which has this weird sorta hall of mirrors effect going on. Future Strange vanishes, and Present Strange becomes Future Strange, then travels back in time to open the portal inside of the other portal. Still with me? The Sorcerer Supreme returns to the present in a flash of green light, then walks through the first portal (into Agartha) and the second (to Summer) in short order. Being made to actually put Effort into something has annoyed him to the point that he closes them both after passing through.