11993/Another Wanderer on the Path

Another Wanderer on the Path
Date of Scene:	13 July 2022
Location:	The Velvet Room - Sitting Room
Synopsis:	An interesting welcome for Balder, but a key is gained and the JLD has a new friend!
Cast of Characters:	Rien D'Arqueness, Lydia Dietrich, Gabby Kinney, Balder, Robbie Reyes

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Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
The door to the Sitting room opens to admit two figures; both blonde and blue-eyed, but there the similarities end. Rien is 5'3" and athletic while Balder is 6'4" and built line a linebacker. There's a faint French accent to her voice as she speaks, but her English is excellent. She leads the way in then closes the door behind them. "This would be the Velvet Room, the sitting room, to be precise. This is a castle within the Astral Plane that acts as our headquarters. We can meet here, socialize, discuss matters of personal or group importance, talk strategy.. it's also the main room from which all the others seem to link."

Holding up the key she used to enter, she continues, "These keys, given by the castle to those who belong, allow you access to the Velvet Room from anywhere on Earth, and possibly beyond, though I don't think we've tested that one just yet. If you want to join us, the castle will provide you with a key of your own." Rien offers a faint smile, "We're fairly new residents to the castle, so we're still discovering rooms and amenities available. So far we've uncovered a garden, a training room, and a library." Rien motions to the bar, "There's drinks, which is odd but we've come to accept it. They're labeled after the major arcana in the tarot deck."

She glances up at him and lifts both brows, "Is there anything I can answer as to the nature of what we do, who we are?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia has been toiling away the hours in the library, working on a project. The problem with being in the Velvet Room is that you lose all sense of time since there aren't any windows that look out into the physical plane. In fact, there aren't any windows /at all/ in the Library, so Lydia had managed to work the entire day without rest.

    The sound of people entering the sitting room snaps her out of her hyperfocused state, however. Blinking, she tilts her head and listens to who've come in. Rien and... a guest. They seem to be getting a lot of those recently. Still. It would be rude not to greet them.

    Coming out of the library Lydia says, "Rien, just the person I wanted to talk to, when you get a chance." Lydia is a pale woman... unnaturally so. With skin nearly white, and deep ruby lips she appears that she, perhaps, isn't quite human. Doubly so that she's also surrounded by a field of stars that twinkle and drift lazily about her.

    "I see you've brought a friend," she says, smiling pleasantly, looking up... /way up/ at Balder. "I'm Lydia," she says holding out a hand. "How do you do."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
In the sitting room was a familiar figure to Rien at least who was already situated at the bar. There was a drink before her which was poured by Igor, who was behind the bar carefully watching. It wasn't anything bad though she was tempted to have worse. It was just a rather tall, fizzy rootbeer. One of her favored drinks to relax without trying to keep up with the heavy drinkers for funsies.

As the pair enters she glances over to flash a smile, at least until the familiar voice comes. The short young woman slides off her stool to her feet with a little bounce. By the time Lydia has made it over to greet Balder, she's blurting out, "RIEN!" Cheerfully. Mostly cheerfully. Somewhat accusatory. Either way the result is the same: She ducks in to try and give the blonde a hug. At least she didn't try to tackle her.

"I'm glad to see you're okay is everything okay who is this?"

She tips her head up to peer at Balder while Lydia greets him just staring a moment. Then she looks back to Rien.

"This isn't another one of our brothers, is it? Because if someone got the tall gene I'm gonna be annoyed."

Balder has posed:
Is it brighter in the Velvet Room today?

Normal people wear normal clothes. Balder Odinson, Balder the Brave, wears full armor, made of shining silver and bearing the imagery and design of Asgard. A purple cape hangs from the shoulders, topped by fur as if take from a great beast. On his back is a large axe humming with the largely unbreakable Uru metal, magic users could sense numerous enchantments on the weapon.

His beard is neatly trimmed and his skin is almost glowing a golden shine. His features are strikingly similar to the God of Thunder, Thor.

"Interesting." Hesays of the key. "I may leave herewith a key of my own then, but this...inter dimensional hub would make for a strategic base of many advantages. I imagine it's be difficult to be attacked here." He looks to the bar. "I prefer mead. But tarots...cards used for telling, is it not?"

He examines the others closely. He extends a large hand to Lydia and gives it a shake. "Balder Odinson. A pleasure to meet you."course anything he might say is underplayed by an excited Gabby. "I am not related to you. A small shame, I've always wanted a sister." He smiles at her. "and you are?"

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
"Lydia, you're still in here? You were here when I left... did you spend the day here?" Rien seems wryly amused, like it's something she would do herself. Get so wrapped up in a task that she loses all track of time or place. "How are you doing with hunger?" Since she's one of the few that needs special dietary requiements. "Of course, I'm just showing a new possible friend around, then we can absolutely speak. Is it regarding the current situation?" There's a brief sketch of concern across her features, a bit of that bone-deep exhaustion showing for just an instant.

Gabby's incoming hug is accepted and returned, squeezing one arm around the (slightly) shorter young woman. "Hey Gabby. Everything is as good as it can be under the circumstances. How are you getting along?" She offers a faint smile, "Sorry for being so standoffish lately. It's not going to get any easier from here, but I shouldn't be pushing you away." Giving her sister an extra squeeze, Rien looks back to Balder.

"This is Balder, he's part of the Norse pantheon Gabby. So not related to us, no. Not until it comes out that Logan is some disgraced primal God of the hunt or something. Which would make entirely too much sense and is also ridiculous enough to be true." Rien chuckles softly, then looks back to the God of Peace and smiles, "Mead is in the bottle labeled with The World. It won't be Asgardian Mead, however. That you would have to bring in yourself." She looks to Gabby and smiles, "Gabby here is my sister, after a fashion. Both she and Lydia are members of the Justice League Dark."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia just looks at Gabby with a shake of the head. "Just how many siblings do you all /have/?" she asks with mock consternation. "I think I've met most of you, save for Logan. When I was.." she scowls, and something /dark/ passes through her eyes. It passes quickly, though. "When I was with the Brotherhood, he wouldn't have much to do with us."

    "So," she says, giving Balder an appraising glance. "We couldn't settle on having just having a god's avatar on the team. We had to outright get ourselves a god." She lets out a wry chuckle, as she steps behind the bar counter and pulls down The World. "Can't say we couldn't use the help, though." Pulling out a large mug, she pours the Norse god a drink, and also reaches over and opens a large tupperware container that's sitting on the counter. "Looks like there's still some of Mercy's chocolate chip cookies left. Want one?"

    Her attention turns to Rien. "Yeah. Sometimes I get so focused on a project I lose track of time. I didn't realize how late it was and.... Yeah. I could eat, but my hunger isn't dire, yet. I think I've got something that will work and I want you to take a look at it later when we're not entertaining guests. I need another pair of eyes to sanity check me."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney grins up toward the much taller, brighter Balder. The fact that he was in some rather olden times armor didn't seem to phase her too much--She'd already seen Angelo change into his armor, and Chas into the angelic form, and really she was taking things in stride these days. "I'm Gabby Kinney, Rien's half sister. Kind of. Nice to meet you, Balder," she offers pleasantly while finally allowing Rien free from the hug.

A step back is taken only to give Rien a blank stare. "Would we really be surprised if that happened to be true about dad? Come on." Cracking a grin she looks over to Lydia with a shrug. It's something she has to actually pause and consider while silently ticking off fingers. "Well, eight of my sisters died, but Bellona's still around, then there's Laura. Jimmy, Akihiro..." Here she pauses with those fingers ticked off to glance up again at Lydia quite seriously. "Wait are we counting the adopted ones too? That'll take a LOT longer."

Thankfully she's distracted from such a count by the appearance of the tupperware container full of homemade chocolate chip cookies. "Yes," is all she says while reaching out to snag one. A glance is cast back over her shoulder to Balder and Rien. "You really should try the cookies."

Balder has posed:
"I don't wish to hold off important converse, I can observe other matters and return at a more convenient time?" Balder looks between Rien and Lydia. "I know many gods. I haven't heard of any of them named 'Logan'." Balder comments with a grin. Though he shrugs. "Regular mead is the next best thing. I prefer the mead of Asgard, but beggars can't also choose." Balder smiles.

He looks at Lydia then. "The Brotherhood? The brother l hood of mutants?" Balder asks, though his tone suggests curiosity rather than judgment. "A God's avatar? I'd very much like to meet them. But, I'd be happy to help if I can. It's the duty of all Gods to protect the world...or, it should be." Balder chuckles.

"I'd love a cookie." He tilts his head. "Maybe I could help with this 'sanity' check?" He turns to Gabby. "It's nice to meet you, Gabby. Short for Gabriella?"

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien nods to Lydia and smiles faintly, "I would be utterly and completely -thrilled- if you found a fix to this. I can't remember the last time I pushed this far without sleep, I'm rather impressed with how well the regeneration is keeping up." She motions Balder to take a seat at the bar, "Nonsense. New members are important. New eyes, fresh perspectives, new cultures. We may not be actively recruiting, but when likely candidates reach out or are stumbled across, we still roll out the welcome." A faint smile is offered as she settles in at one of the other stools and reaches for her homerolled cigarettes.

Lighting up, she draws on it and lets the nice herbal blend add a pleasant aroma to the neutral scent of the air. Looking over to Gabby, she chuckles, "Oh I wouldn't be the least bit surprised. It would certainly explain the healing and immortality, amongst other things. That's why I suggested it." Pausing, she smiles faintly over Gabby's listing of their 'siblings', then adds, "One of these days I'm going to portal in all the extra-dimensional kids and we'll have a big barbecue and compare notes."

Turning back towards Balder, she nods, "It's possible. I certainly wouldn't mind another pair of eyes on it." Rien looks to Lydia and nods, "If you want to get your research and share it, Balder's one of the more magically inclined Norse Gods, so he might actually be able to offer insight." She looks over the bottles on the shelves, "Hmm... we still haven't tried some of these yet..."

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Robbie's presence in the Velvet Room tonight is twofold: one, he wants a drink. No, he *needs* a drink. And two, Rien wasn't home when he got off work. So, two birds, one stone, and here he is in all his pierced, tattooed, leather jacket glory. Shredded jeans and a pair of cheap aviators too, just in case anyone thought he had a shred of class.

He slows his roll toward the bar at the number of people here tonight.. including one face he doesn't recognise. "Cerveza," he tells Igor while keeping his eyes on Balder. Then he collects it by its neck, and prowls on over to the gathering that's formed. With a pause, of course, to slide his arm around Rien and kiss her cheek. "Hey, Gabby. Lydia. Who's the new guy?"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
It was the first time in a long time someone had asked Gabby what her name was short for, much less outright guessed. The tupperware container of Mercy's homemade cookies is taken from Lydia to withdraw one of the chocolate chips before offering the container over to Balder as he had said he would like one.

"Actually," she hesitates glancing quickly toward Rien with a slightly guilty expression. She clears her throat then continues, "It's Gabrielle. Not Gabriella. One of my older sisters was named Xena. Another was Zelda. From a tv show and video games, apparently. I think they got tired of naming us toward the end. But," she adds with a laugh, "No one really calls me by my full name anyway."

"What have you been working on Lydia?"

Robbie rolls in as he often does to sidle up to Rien earning a quick smile from her as she watches the pair, and bites into her cookie. "I can't really help with magic research so..." She shrugs, and heads over to where the couches are. "I'm gonna grab a nap."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia lets out some delighted laughter when Gabby starts counting on her fingers. "There's more than I thought. Family reunions must be fun." She walks out from the bar and slides into a seat. "My family isn't nearly that big. I'm an only child, though I /do/ think of Clarice as my long-lost sister."

    She nods at Balder, her tone turning a bit cold. "Yes. Up until recently I ... was associated with them. Not any longer." She hurries to change the subject, "Jon. They're Ma'at's avatar. If you stick around you'll meet them soon enough. They're good folk, one of the best."

    "Alright," She says. "I'll go grab what I've got down." She disappears into the library and when she reappears, she's dragging a large standing chalkboard behind her by a golden tentacle that's coming from her starfield, and several other tentacles are laden with books and sheafs of paper. When she arrives, Robbie is here and getting himself a drink so she nods to him while she sets up. "Hey, Robbie."

    She sets down the books on a nearby table while tentacles reach out and arrange the furniture to face the chalkboard, and she invites people to sit. "Okay. So. The way that I see it, the circle that we used to bind Michael was the start of it all. I figure that when we briefly stopped the universe when we were channeling nullspace, that afforded this... thing an opportunity to come through. Not all the way, or else we'd be in a whole /lot/ of trouble, but just enough to get it's hooks into Rien who was channeling the nullspace at the time."

    "So I sat down and went through my notes, and dissected my circles to see where I got careless." She shakes her head. "Though, I don't know if I could call it careless. It would have worked perfectly had it been a normal angel like we had thought. But we had caught the Demiurge. So I looked at the circle with the mindset 'what if we wanted to catch the Demiurge and stop the universe?'" She pulls out a sheaf of paper and hands it to Rien. "What I found was this." On the paper is a circle. It resembles Lydia's original but it's simpler, more sublime. "It turns out it's surprisingly easy to stop the universe if you happen to have access to the demiurge trapped within a human body, and a direct connection to nullspace."

Balder has posed:
"Why haven't you been sleeping?" Balder questions Rien, almost seriously. "Without sleep, a warrior begins to lose function." Balder states then, even if they can pretty much recover immediately like Rien and Gabby both can. Speaking of Gabby, she announces she's going to take a nap and Balder smiles at her. "Rest well, young Gabby. The names of your sisters are beautiful, regardless of their origin. May I call you by your full name?"

With the arrival of Robbie, Balder looks at him. "Hello." He notices his behavior with Rien. "Are you two mates?" He's very blunt about relationship statuses, isn't he? Though he seems in a good mood. "Balder is my name. What is yours?" He turns back to Rien. "I imagine there are many. Our universe is something of a common stranding point for many people lost throughout all of time. My father had a theory on it."

Now to Lydia. "Binding Michael Demiurgos is no small feat." Balder comments, but he narrows his eyes. "...the Demiurge." He frowns. "If you have the demiurge, it is a correct connection to nullspace. I fear that it might not be stable."

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien watches Gabby trot over to the couches with a fond expression, one that lights up when Robbie steps in. She leans in when he approaches, stretching up to give him a kiss to the corner of his mouth. Balder's question has her chuckling softly, "Yes we are. This is Robbie Reyes, one of three Ghost Riders currently active in this area." Settling in and leaning against Robbie, she turns that lighter smile toward Balder, "She generally doesn't like going by Gabrielle, but she's been changing a lot of habits lately, so it's entirely possible."

Watching Lydia drawing out a chalkboard and papers and books, she can't help but to chuckle a little. "That is quite the presentation, I can't wait for the sharing!" As Lydia breaks it down to the circles and components of what they'd done, Rien, gives a small nod, "I can ssee that. We brought together Creation and Unmaking in a binding circle, forcing them to interact with a mortal in the mix..." Glancing to Balder, she adds, "No longer. We -had- him in a binding circle because he'd gone a little... out of sorts and was trying to bring about the apocalypse all on his own. It wasn't a great time. But we did fix it all, though it seems we may have left an opening for something just as bad to sneak in." Then back to Lydia with a nod, "I'm with you so far, do you have an idea for stuffing the Old One back through the crack it wriggled out from?"

Robbie Reyes has posed:
"Dulces suenos, chica," Robbie murmurs to the departing girl, offering her a quick wink as she passes him by. The beer, he pops the cap off of and takes a healthy sized swallow of, all while looking over the considerably bigger Asgardian with open curiosity. Rien's got the introductions under control, so he offers a simple upnod and, "Hey, man," in accompaniment.

"So you think this.. thing came through your casting circle from nullspace?" he summarises, lofting a brow at Lydia.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia nods at Robbie. "Exactly. Something /nasty/ managed to use the moment the universe stopped as an opportunity to get its hooks into Rien, which is what's keeping her up at night."

    She shakes her head at the Frenchwoman, "No, not really. Not without really knowing more about what it is that we're dealing with." She walks over to the chalkboard and dramatically turns it around to reveal another circle. "What I /have/ done is figure out a way to cut its connection to you." She looks at the circle. "At least temporarily. Getting Chas to power this with his angelic power should let you get a proper night's sleep."

    The circle itself is something else. Like the one on the paper, it's full of Hebrew text and iconography, and is littered with angles that just don't make any sense. How she managed to /draw/ these on a chalkboard is a a mystery. "This is what I want you to look over. If this proves effective we might be able to refine it to the point to where we can set up a ward in each of our bedrooms to protect ourselves."

Balder has posed:
"Hello." Balder tells Robbie with a kind smile touching his face. Rien's explanation of who he is casts a realization on his face. "A Ghost Rider? You have my sympathy - and my appreciation. Not many mortals can do what you do." There's a sadness on his face. Balder greatly wishes there was no need for Ghost Riders, but some vile spirits require punishment that can't wait for natural death.

Cna't help it. Balder is also a God of Peace. Rien's words about the Demiurge and the Old One they apparently let through the gates, Balder looks concerned. He doesn't overtake Lydia's words or conversation. He looks at the paper, the Hebrew text and iconography reach his eyes. He's been to many places in the Nine Realms, both known and unknown to the general universe.

"I might be able to help. Aesir and Vanir magic can help influence these circles, enchantments to strengthen the wards. One for each room, then for the mind." Balder looks at them. "At least, if my attempt at helping would be seen as warranted."

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien rests her head on Robbie's shoulder and looks over the highly detailed circle, looking over each of the symbols, the glyphs, the precision of the lines. She looks back to Lydia and gives a nod, "Looks solid, you've clearly put a lot of thought and research into it. I say we give it a try. At worst, I'll still have a nightmare and wake up, my regeneration can keep me going... potentially forever, without sleep, though I'd rather not put that to the test. At best, I can finally get some sleep." She offers a faint smile, "I'll put my trust in your circle."

Glancing up to Balder, her brows lift, looking him over before looking back to Lydia, "That might not be a bad idea. He's a God of peace, of light... he sort of mirrors a lot of those better aspects we look for from angels." Looking back to Balder, she smiles faintly, "Thank you, Balder."

Then she's nudging Robbie and teasing him, "And hopefully you can stop worrying so much if I can get a good night's sleep." There's a kiss to his cheek that follows before she murmurs, "Not that I would have it any other way. Your concern is welcomed, and warranted."

Robbie Reyes has posed:
"Got its hooks into me, too," Robbie points out. Lest they forget the apartment fire. "Though at least it ain't been taking bites out of me." He lifts the beer bottle to his lips, pauses. "That I know of." Then drinks deeply, and drags his knuckles across his mouth after.

After he's swallowed, he leans in to check out Lydia's chalk drawing, but can't seem to make heads or tails of it. Look, math has never been his strong suit. A shift of his eyes to Balder when the big guy confesses knowledge of his kin, and a quiet, contemplative study of the other man. "God, huh? Where'd you say you were from, again?"

Rien's nudge gains a small smile from the tall, dark-haired young man. A squeeze with the arm around her shoulders, and a quick murmur follow; the pair of them have had some friction recently, though things seem a little more settled between them tonight.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia nods to Balder. "I don't know much about Norse magic," she admits, "but having an actual God of Peace powering it would give it the 'oomph' needed to keep Rien safe." She looks over to the woman in question. "Hopefully."

    "When we cast it I'm going to watch over you as you sleep," she says. "That way if I see anything happen or if the circle starts to fail, I can wake you up before it does too much damage." She offers up a small grin, "I'll bring plenty of books to keep me company."

    "If this works we should be able to modify it to ward everybody." She looks over at her circle and frowns. "But this is... unlike anything we've encountered yet. Actually /stopping/ it from doing whatever it is setting out to do is probably going to take more than a mere circle."

Balder has posed:
Balder looks into both Robbie and Rien. "Nightmares? Hm...from what I have read in Odin's halls, Old Ones love to feast on fear. Do you feel like this is what you are experiencing? Are you afraid to sleep?" It reminds him of the old tales fishermen in Asgard and on earth would pray to him about. To shine light bright enough to cast away the demons. He looks at Rien and he smiles. "It's my duty to help those in need."

Robbie's question is heeded. "Asgard. I believe mortals call us Vikings, or Norse." Balder smiles at him. "We have a great deal of knowledge, where it flies with the speed of Huginn and Muninn. You may know of my brother, Thor."

He looks then to Lydia. "It should. Magic suh as this is dangerous and not easily thwarted. Thankfully, Norse magic is an easy countermeasure. Let us hope it's actually effective." Keeping his eyes on Lydia, he adds. "It will take doing to close the box."

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
"Then it's good that we'll be trying it together, hm?" Rien smiles up at Robbie, tugging him down she she can murmur to him softly. Releasing him with a soft kiss, she winks, "If you think I'm sleeping alone, you are mistaken."

She slips from the stool to stand, looking towards Lydia, "I appreciate what you're offering, but we'll have to respectfully ask that people not stay the night. With Gabe still at the house, we're limiting contact to keep him from getting too upset or freaked out. I've never had an issue with the nightmare not ending, more just the nightmares themselves are the issue... and what sneaks in with them." Taking Robbie's hand, she gives a squeeze.

To Balder, Rien shakes her head, "Not afraid to sleep, if it were just nightmares, I wouldn't care. But the Old One, it used my nightmares to make a... a doorway into this world. So I've been hesitant to sleep and give it more traction." She chuckles, "Haven't met Thor, but I've one-upped Loki. He's good, but he underestimated me."

She glances to Robbie with a faint smile, "We're going to head out for now, we still have some decisions to make and some personal matters to talk over. But Lydia, tomorrow night? Will that be enough time to prepare?" Giving Balder a light nudge, she points to the table near the door and smiles faintly. A key sits there, glowing lightly, "It would see the Velvet Room thinks you belong. Don't forget to grab it on your way out."

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Rien's hand is given a squeeze. She's saved him the trouble of awkwardly refusing Lydia's offer, and she's always considerably better mannered about it than he is. "Let me know if you need a hand with the circle," he tells the vampiress instead. Enigmatically he adds, "Or, uh. Anything else."

Balder gets a nod, and a quick, dimpled smile that almost finds his eyes. Mismatched eyes; one green, one dark, smudged with what looks like a similar lack of sleep. Probably for different reasons than his girlfriend. "Nice meeting you, man," he tells the Asgardian sincerely. Then he goes to recycle his bottle (such a good citizen, never mind his body count) and wait for Rien to accompany him out.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Ah!" Lydia says when her offer is declined. "I thought we had already relocated Gabe. Shouldn't be an issue if Robbie is going to be with you."

    She looks at her circle and lets out a sigh. "Give me an extra day to collect all the materials for this, if you're able" she says. "I have most of it but I have to track down a couple of things first." When the couple moves to leave she gives them a nod. "Have a good night, you two."

Balder has posed:
Balder gives both of them a kind smile. Rien is replied to first. "I see. Loki is a wonderful wordsmith and a cunning sorceror, but a melee combatant he is not. He's good, but not /that/ good." Loki is the God of Mischief, not War. He then looks to to the key that was awaiting him on the counter, reaching to pick it up and place it on his belt. "I consider myself lucky."

Robbie is given a kind forewell and a smile. "Farewell and light be with you." he waves, and he watches the pair leave. Turning to Lydia. "I will assist you with the preparations, if you don't mind. I find two to be better than one, and magic of this nature requires precision. It is no insult to your ability, more a request."