12262/15 Fears: Buried Secrets

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15 Fears: Buried Secrets
Date of Scene: 22 August 2022
Location: The Depths of the Velvet Room Castle
Synopsis: The JLD manage to get through the trials deep in the bowels of the castle and find that they are Wardens of a prison of some of the worst the universe has to offer. What they do with that knowledge is now up for debate, but they have been given a tool that could help defeat the Old Gods plaguing them and reality.
Cast of Characters: Chas Chandler, Cael Becker, Michael Hannigan, Jonathan Sims, Detective Chimp, Rien D'Arqueness, Mercy Thompson




Chas Chandler has posed:
    Things have been tense for the JLD. Between the confrontation with Lydia, the brewing uncertainty with Megan, and the finding that some of the Crawling Rot's minions had managed to infiltrate the plumbing of the castle--though thankfully stopped by the interior's security system--there is just too many questions and not enough answers. It is time to fix some that.

    Chas and the rest of those determined to acquire those answers gather in the sitting room. He was taking point on this one. His reasoning? It was time he braved some of the trials of the castle rather than force Rien or Jon to pay the price further. They spearheaded the acquisition, he would spearhead the discovery.

    The door to the hall above the sitting room is not used for much beyond an entry way to the room. Those who were there for when the castle was acquired would remember what lies on the other side. A pit of spikes with a bridge of bodies of Rien and Robbie as passage back out. Or at least that's what should be there. Instead, when Chas opens the door it reveals an empty void with a stair, perhaps two people wide, going down into the depths. "That's... unsettling..." Chas mutters as he shrugs and takes the first step.

    As his feet touch down the step lights up with the tell tale blue light that is typical of this castle's color scheme. Every footfall after, does the same and each followers steps also light up the stair as they go. The void doesn't give over to anything new in its depths though.

    Down. Down. Down. Down. Into the depths of the castle they go. Until they come to a landing and a single stone door set into a featureless wall. Most of the doors of the Velvet Room were that cerulean oak, that this one is stone might strike some as significant. "Nothing for it but to go on then," Chas says and pushes on the door giving way to the first trial of this exploration.

    Within is a long room lit by the same spectral light that most of the rooms of the castle is lit with. The group finds themselves on a landing before a gaping chasm. A number of floating rocks hover in mid-air between their landing and one on the opposite wall. A voice, familiar to many but not all. That of the older attendant, Margaret, comes over an unseen speaker system--or maybe it's just magic. "Initializing trial of balance. Setting for seven." It has the sound of an automated recording rather than her speaking to those present.

    After her words, the gravity of the room changes. It grows and shrinks in intensity in a pulsing rhythm. It makes the rocks fluctuate in their places. And might be disorienting to those unused to such drastic changes. Hopefully vertigo doesn't get too bad.

    Chas sighs. "Let's get this overwith..." he mutters and silvery feathered wings appear from nowhere on his back. He leaps to try and fly and cannot. "Of course" he says, the wings fading from view. "Balance. Not much to balance if we can just fly across, is there..." he says, looking to the rest. "Any suggestions?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael and Jon arrive together - as they often do - and just before the party starts to descend the stairs into nothing, she moves towards them, wrapping one hand around behind their head and neck and hold them close, and offer an encouraging smile.
    She releases Jon, starting down the stairs, dressed in unmarked combat fatigues and boots - with a small pouch at her belt, and a few small arms on her - just in case. The chasm and it's moving stones get a curious look, before she approaches the edge, looking down into the endless void. "Watch that first step," she murmurs.
    "I mean. It seems obvious, we're supposed to jump for it. I say we rig a quick harness with some rope, and let someone make a go for it. Then once we have a rope across... We can tie people off, attach it with a carabiner... I mean. At least have //something// to prevent anyone falling to their ultimate demise."
    She looks towards Jon. "Can you provide the rope?"

Michael Hannigan has posed:
It is one of those rare times when Mike seems well rested. It might seem odd considering what's going on the past week for others in the group but for Mike who has not been directly involved with matters of the Lydia, it's been oddly quiet for him. Other than checking up on Megan, making sure she had the resources on hand to be stable, and making sure those around her were just as prepared, Well- Other than the odd requests here and there, Mike had a lot of time to peruse the packet he was given to read.

So, he might have been getting a bit bored when there was talk of finding out more about the Velvet room. The place was odd, and finding out about the library's ability to produce sketchbooks was in a weird way exciting.

Mike has the disadvantage, or perhaps advantage of not knowing about the lost landmark of Bridge O'Bodies. So quietly down he follows after. When he reaches the landing, a curious look is cast around. The head tilts to the direction of the voice speaking. Trial of balance?

When the request for suggestions comes out, Mike glances over. Blinking for a few moments as he feels the beating... "Low center of gravity...Wait a few rounds to see if that pulsing sensation's changing in a consistent manner?" Last thing they need is someone to get their timing wrong and be thrown off on their landing.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon is unusually subdued, flashing Cael a smile as she moves to hold him but otherwise following along with the group, perfectly willing to let Chas take point. A couple of blue-black feathers fall off of him, and his summoned arm flickers in and out before he just dismisses it entirely, letting the t-shirt sleeve hang loose. Gray t-shirt, faded blue jeans, black Converse sneakers. The fading rainbow dye of his hair, pulled into a ponytail, is about the only pop of color on him.

    He eyes the chasm, frowning thoughtfully, and glances to Mike with a nod. "We should take a moment, see if it's regular or not... and then people can jump when the gravity is lightest? A rope's a good idea too. I could provide one, unless someone thought to bring one." Even his voice sounds subdued, the normally vibrant tone sort of hemmed-in.

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp has brought a few things with him, when he heard they were going exploring, he might not be as prepared as that other detective, but he does plan ahead some. He has a bit of rope loped across his body hip to shoulder and a larger fanny pack across the other way with the pack around his chest area. He has left his jacket behind for a bit more freedom of movement. He pulls out a flashlight but at the lighting stairs will wait not turning it on yet. Chimp does take a moment checking the walls on each side, to make sure there is no ledges or such where they can bypass this and will watch the rocks seeing if there is a timing for them or such. $
     He will pull the rope off, and offers one end of it to Cas "Hold on to this." He then takes the coil in hand so it will uncoil as he moves and with a slight run, he is off. Chimp jumps from their place to the first rock, and counts to three and is making his next jump, landing on his hands as he moves to holding the rope with his feet. It may have been a while since Chimp was in the wild, but jumping and swinging? I mean really. He counts off a second or two on each platform, before making the jumps with relative ease, and one on the other side, he will tie his end of the rope around his waist like a tug of war anchor. "Next." He calls back to them.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien is here because of course she is. She helped open this castle up, she's not going to NOT join the foray deeper in. There's no smiles today, however, just nods to everyone in greeting before they head down the stairs. The stone door is squinted at, but she simply draws in and lets out a breath before stepping through and up to the 'leap of faith'.

There may be a few things muttered under her breath, but Chimp's ease with crossing has her chuckling and glancing upward, "Weren't expecting that, were you?" As if she's amused that someone so easily navigated the castle defenses. Then it's coming up to next crossing and Rien steps up to Chas and holds out a hand for the rope. "You wanted to take point, you should be the first of us across. I'll anchor here and cross last." She looks up, and UP at him and quirks the first hint of a faint smile, "Besides, if you misstep, you're a mite heavier to haul up as a swing, live weight."

Then she's glancing back to the group and nods to Mercy, "You go next? That way if there's a surprise on the other side, there's a good fighter to keep Chimp free to anchor."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy made sure to bring a flashlight and dress for possible yuck. Good boots, sturdy jeans, a tank top, and even a loos overshirt. Under her shoulder is a gun holster with her pistol. She ha been quiet the whole way down, she feels that Crawling Rot got into the place at all is mostly her fault, and wants to do her best to make it right. "Well done," she compliment's Chimp's display of agility as he gets across with the rope. She glances at Rien, "If you taunt the big powerful things what do I have left to do?" Even if she thinks it isn't a great idea.
    The gun is secured as she gets ready and nods. "Yeah. I can keep him safe while getting across. I'm fairly light and agile. If need be I can always shift" She will wait for it to be her turn, keep one hand on the rope as she times her jumps to go from rock to rock. If it weren't possibly fatal, it could be fun.

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Chas is deep in thought trying to puzzle a safe way around this as Chimp hands him the rope. "...what?" he asks, taking it. Then his mouth stays open as the Detective jumps from one rock to the next with ease. "...Huh... I guess, that... solves it then..." he says, with a grin.

    Rien stepping up next to him has him arching a brow. "I'll have you know I've slimmed down since my pre-angel days" he replies with a bit of a huff. He adds, as an afterthought, "...some..." before he hands off the rope.

    His trip across is slow and steady, making sure his grip on the rope is secure with each hand over hand motion until he's at the other side. Mercy's trip across is watched pensively. It's one thing to do this yourself, another to watch your comrades make their way across the perilous broken chasm. "This gravity thing is... peculiar. I wasn't aware the castle had environment controls that specific," he mutters softly to those around him.

    The exit of this room is another stone door, this one opening into the Balance room. Once the others are across safely, he opens in with a wide swing of his arm. The next room is a circular library from the look of it. Stack and stacks of books line the shelves from floor into the darkness beyond the ceiling. Margaret's voice comes over some automated system once more. "Initializing trial of wisdom. Setting for seven." A single book sits on a single reading stand in the center of the room. It is open. Words appear on the page as Chas approaches it and he reads them aloud--what else are you going to do in this situation?

    "He opens in with a wide swing of his arm. The next room is a circular library from the look of it. Stack and stacks of books line the shelves from floor into the darkness beyond the ceiling. A single book sits on a single reading stand in the center of the room. It is open. Words appear on the page as the man approaches it and he reads them aloud. As he reads, one of the books flies from the stacks to strike him in the back of the head."

    As if on cue, one of the books from the stacks flies off the shelf and smacks him in the head. And then another, and another. It doesn't take long for book to come flying from all sides to try and strike any of those in the room.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael smiles as Jon offers to create a rope - then turns to watch the monkey, Chas, and Mercy make it across. Since when did they have a monkey on the team? Like life isn't weird enough?
    With a rope already present (how did she overlook that? She must have been too busy just staring at the fact that he was a //monkey//) Cael doesn't need Jon to summon one. Instead, she's able to clip onto the rope with a carabiner, that attaches to the harness that carries much of her equipment, including her two pistols. She doesn't think she's going to need it - but she'd rather be safe than sorry. Besides. ...Agnes and Jon have been through enough.
    She begins her own leap from stone to stone - finding the shifting gravity a little disorienting, but she manages it with only a brief slip. She's happy to unclip on the other side, though - and she propels her carabiner back to the other side incase anyone else wants to use it - or tie off to it with any more rope.
    Once in the room - with books flying at them, she lifts her hand to shield herself from the assault. "Okay, Archivist! This seems more like your thing!" she calls. "Unless you think adding, 'And then the books stopped and fall harmlessly to the floor, allowing passage to our brave adventurers' is enough to cover it."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
To the confirmation from Jon, Mike nods. The musician grows quiet, a finger tapping to his side as he gets a feel for the rhythm. As Detective Chimp flies across the rocks, the fingers come to a stop. Mike's head turns to look to him.

Well.

That does make sense.

When his turn comes up, Mike moves over, takes the rope and looks to the rocks. Guess he'll find out if all that time over at RockWallz racing Dazzler on the ninja course is going to pay off. Although the rope's an awkward addition and he's not racing this time. He doubts there are foam blocks down there if he messes up. His free hand taps to the beat for a few more moments before it halts.

Beat in mind, and disregarding the opposing hand held out to offset the positioning of the rope holding hand, Mike's move across seems more like a strut down a concert stage set to some unheard music. Complete with the pauses in advancement to play to the unseen audience situated just below the stage level.

As the titled 'trial of wisdom' starts up. Mike listens to Chas start to narrate his first booking. As a book comes towards, him, Mike brings up his hand to catch it. Brandishing it in both hands he starts swatting away at any of its kin that chooses to come at him. Mike nods to Cael's shouts "I wouldn't mind a make up your own ending solution either." Mike agrees.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon makes it across the chasm easily enough--far more easily than those who've known him a while might have expected, in fact. As if navigating physical challenges has become an everyday occurrence, or at least had been until recently. Grab the rope, gauge the distance, and then just jump across from rock to rock with seeming disregard for the chasm below. Admittedly, a lot of the cliffs in the portion of Hell he spent years in are a /lot/ higher.

    Jon's response to Chas walking in and /reading from the book/ is to summon a magic hand that actually flicks him on the ear. "First rule of magic books--NEVER read from the bloody book aloud! Ever! Everyone OUT of the room until we figure this out!"

    A beat, and then he adds, "Wisdom is /not/ 'run in without assessing the situation.' Back out to the landing and let's think this through." He's still on the landing outside the room, himself, frowning at the book on the central reading stand.

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp had an idea on what he wanted to do, but he hears Jon saying not to go into the room, as he is wrapping his rope back to put back around his body after all are across, just in case they need it again. He looks over and says "Might be able to narrate your way across the room, and it write in the book or might be just need to close the book. He does stay back though looking the room over slowly, watching to see if he spots anything out of the general weirdness of the room.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
After everyone else makes it safely across, Rien ties the end of the rope around her waist and gets to showing why the Howletts are often likened to various wildlife, making the leaps across the chasm with a general ease and lack of care for the inky darkness below. When across, she'll untie the rope to give it back to Chipmp, dropping a hand to his shoulder and offering, "That was a good idea with the rope. Glad you're along."

Then it's... nope. Not through into the next room! There's any number of ways the books could be dealt with, but they're largely destructive and likely not the 'answer' that is desired.

Instead, she'll grip the edge of the doorframe and lean partially into the room to help fish the others out, implacable in the face of the books striking, each cut and bruise healing as it appears. As soon as everyone is back on the landing, she will more than happily retreat as well, looking to Jon, "What are you thinking? Wait for the room to settle and do a search of it? Or something a bit more... wibbly-wobbly?" Yeah, she just made a Doctor Who reference, sue her.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy tries to not fret as others are making their way across the chasm, especially cuz her back is to them. She stays loose and ready for danger to come down at them. Fortunately nothing happens. Once all are there Mercy silently lets Chas take the lead, but stays near the front on the balls of her feet.
    She shifts to the side of the door when they get to the 'library if Diction Assault' as she thinks of it. Soon as the books fly she stays near with her back to the wall, less angles to get attacked from. Makes it easier for her to dodge. Eyes flicking here and there as she tries to see if any book stands out from the others. Mercy also watches to see if the podium is immune to this storm of pages. "The podium is the eye of the storm," she calls out her observation. Chimp voices a thought she also had and so quick as can be suddenly is a coyote, squirming out of her clothes. Items tumbling to the ground as the coyote dashes. Moving between the flying books and jumps up to the podium. One book clips her on the ass making her yip but then she uses her mouth to grip the back cover and flips the book closed. Sadly it looks like THAT doesn't solve it. She will curl up there atop the book, using it's 'shell' to be safe as can be, ears up and eyes looking around. If she could talk she be asking the group, ~any other ideas?!~

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Chas comes to swat at the hand flicking him at the ear. It does little, since it's a construct, and he makes his way out to the landing. "How was I supposed to know it was a trap? Not they've got Ackbar sitting atop a chair in there." Chas opts for Star Wars in the face of Rien's Doctor Who--because of course the Frenchwoman stole the Britist television reference.

    He frowns as he watches the books continue to fly as Mercy's smaller, swift coyote form darts in and closes the book. The hurricane of diction continues to rage around the podium, books changing direction mid-flight to avoid the activation center of the room. "I... don't know that it's going to settle," he says to Rien's suggestion, noting the continued onsluaght despite the closure of the book.

    He rubs his ear a bit more. "Look, I think I just proved that wisdom isn't my strongest suit so... whatever we're going to do, I'll leave up to you guys," he says holding up his hands in a mollifying manner.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael ends up retreating from the room as well, rubbing at her head where she got beaned pretty good, and ignoring the ringing in her ear as a result. "Maybe there's a specific book we're supposed to grab from the melee and read from," she suggests. "Can anyone read the titles of the books?" she asks curiously, as she tries to catch glimpses of them, mid-flight.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Alright! Retreating! Once they're outside and getting settled, the musician looks between the others as they discuss possibilities. Mike looks over to Rien. "Wibbly what?"

He pauses, giving a small smile. "...kidding."

Ok the childhood was crap when it came to show watching and he may never have played DnD but there is a universal truth. When one tours Europe for a period of time- there's no escaping Dr. Who.

The musician looks back to the entranceway to the room of mean books still swarming around. He glances to the book he grabbed that's kind of struggling in hand. Apparently it didn't like being used to hit the other books. "...Do we HAVE to go through the room or is there a way to go around it?"

As Cael suggests the possibility of another book needing to be read from, he looks curiously to the book in his hand, checking the title.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "You /presume/ it might be a trap, because it's a bloody magic castle full of booby traps to test us." Jon shakes his head, putting his hand on his hip and peering into the room. Where Mercy is on top of the book, because she didn't listen to him. He sighs.

    "No, I think--I think Chimp's onto something. I think--" He frowns. "In 'The Neverending Story,' when Bastian refuses to give the Childlike Empress a new name, she goes to the Old Man of Wandering Mountain, who reads to her from a book called 'The Neverending Story.' Which just winds up narrating the entire book thus far, leading back to her climbing the mountain and listening to the book, and becomes a kind of endless recursion. Bastian realizes he has to intervene and change the story, which is when he gives the Empress her new name, Moon Child."

    He chews on his lip, and then says, "So perhaps... we intervene and write a new ending." He summons up a fountain pen, which he floats into the room, over to Mercy. "Change forms and write something about a door and the books not flying around anymore!" Or someone else can jump in and take the pen, but, well--Mercy's already there.

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp will nod a bit to this and says "Books are in Latin, historical treatises on philosophy." He tells them, and seems to wait watching to see if his idea of adding an ending works. He will pull out a cigar, and puts it between his lips holding it there but not lighting it at least not yet. He scratches his chin thinking. This maybe the longest anyone has seen Chimp without a drink in years.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien shakes her head and focuses on the room itself. Looking around, scenting, listening. Selectively shutting off the sounds and smells she already knows. When she catches something finally, she looks to Mercy, "Don't open the door immediately when it appears!" Looking back to Chas and Jon, she wears a concerned expression.

"I don't know what's on the other side.. but it's big, it's powerful, and it smells... a little like you, Chas. That ozone scent. Only amplified. A LOT." Rien frowns faintly and looks back intot he library room, still looking to see if there's something, anything that could potentially provide a clue to the next 'challenge'.

One eye is kept on the pen's path through the room, and as soon as Mercy shifts, Rien tries waving a hand to clothe the woman in the ones she squirmed out of just moments before. Nothing that would affect the trial, but it will offer Mercy a modicum of protection against sharp pages and book corners.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy is just ducking and the one time she gets clipped by a book she quickly scrambles to hop back up and waits. She usually doesn't wish she was smaller but she does right now. Mercy nods her head once at what Jon says and watches that pen flying toward her. She tries to leap and snaps her jaws on the pen as soon as it's close. Shifting before she lands. At least being nude doesn't bother her so much, and there's more pressing matters. Mercy flips the book open and tries to hunch her lean body over the podium. Astute observes see a series of pockmarks on her left butt cheek that looks like a shotgun blast got her or something.
    Mercy keeps flipping pages until she finds their spot in the story to start writing in it. She focuses hard on what she is doing and ignores as many as the blows as she can. Here's hoping the book won't mind rushed or bad penmanship right now.

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Chas frowns at Jon. "Okay... you've got me there..." he says with a sympathetic nod of his head. He arches a brow at Rien. "Joy of joys..." he mutters to himself. Michael's book is, as Chimp surmised, a early Roman collection of the words of Virgil. It looks very old and very well preserved, but aside from the poems and philisophy's of the legendary man nothing of note lies within.

    The pen reaches Mercy and she starts to hastily imprint her will on the book and the story being told. As she writes several of the books collide in midair and land, a pattern or sorts starts to form where they land, the shapes of large letters. P-O-W-E-R. She continues to write and part of the far wall warps and shimmers into a passage through to the next room. The only visible aspect of the next room is the form of Margaret standing before a doorway laced with arcing electricity.

    As people move forward the woman smiles. "Good to know that balance and wisdom are part of your team. The next trial will prove that you are strong enough to protect this place from what lies in its heart. Beyond me is the prison of Erebus. While the great beast's name is only used metaphorically in this sense, what lies beyond is truly the worst of the worst. Great demons, dying gods, and other universal evils that our master was entrusted to keep contained and safe from external influence." The room is large and also circular in shape, the walls are bare stone look only slightly different from the walls of the Training Room. They hum with the same sort of resistive energy as the unblemished walls above as well. Protection spells woven in their creation to sustain them regardless of the forces brought against them. "Comencing the trial of power." Flickers of blue flame appear over her hand and she waves it in a gesture out to the gathering force. There is the sound of shattering glass and she speaks a single word. "Mara."

    Power rushes out of her as she summons forth a monster to face the group. A bronzed chariot with spikes and blades at its front is ridden by what looks like a tentacular, phallic demon. A gaping maw sits at the base of the creature's glans-like head with a large dark pink tongue flapping within it moans, a sound that is equal parts agony and pleasure as it rumbles forth to do battle with the gathering of the JLD.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "...okay, just //why// though?!" is Cael's reaction, as the group enter the room to be faced with their next foe. She seems, if anything, //exasperated// by the creature that seems born of a teenager's mind. She lets out a huff of air - and draws one of her pistols in a smooth motion. She opens fire - bullet after bullet striking with accuracy born of untold hours on the practice range, even as she falls back one small step at a time.
    Part of her wants to point the weapon at the damned fae for unleashing the thing on them. This is ridiculous.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
As the book has stopped struggling Mike is kind of tempted to carry it along to read later. Except for the in latin part. That'd probably slow down the enjoyment part as is and there's a library up above anyways. As the group crosses through, he gently sets down on one of the piles.

And then he finds clothes. Stooping down, he starts to collect the items before walking over to Mercy, handing them off. "Here." He offers, glancing a bit to the side. He turns away as she gets her clothes.

As the woman in blue comes out, Mike's lips twist into a bit of a smile in greeting. Considering the rock jump and bludgeoning books, this is the nicest encounter they ha-

The smile fades. His mouth starts to open to say something but something in him manages to not give volume to his question. "...okay." He shakes his head. "Quick question." Mike asks as the scar on his right forearm shifts to his left and his facial features start to mirror, "Think he can move around well without that cart?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon rolls his eyes. "I mean, it's an accurate enough depiction of... what, the Devaputra-mara, I'd say? The deva of the sensuous realm who tried to prevent the Buddha from gaining enlightenment? I suppose literally proving we can defeat the barriers to enlightenment makes sense." He shakes his head, and focuses on the creature for a moment, actually summoning up a screen in front of his eyes, reminiscent of the times he's helped navigate the group through the 'Tartarus' program in the Training Room.

    "Dark energy--negative energy--and fire aren't likely to work. The best bet is holy energy, light energy--so Chas, you should probably open up on it."

    He pulls his staff off his belt and shakes it out, glancing toward Mike as he does so. "I mean, probably not. Proof bigger isn't always better? I wouldn't know whether size matters that much or not." Look, he's not going to beat around the bush. It's a penis on a chariot, let's just get the commentary out of the way now.

    Then, true to his suggestion to Chas, they point the staff at Mara and summon forth a bolt of pure sunlight, aimed right at the thing's head.

Detective Chimp has posed:
Detective Chimp looks over to Mike and says "I was wondering the same thing, to bad, we aint got a bucket of Viagra, we could stiffen him up so he could not move perhaps. " He jokes a bit, but he does seem a bit unsure on what to do to this one. He aint going to be biting this guy thats for sure. He will pull the rope off again and offers one end to anyone "We can try to drag him off the cart from a distance."

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
When the trick with the book works and the passage opens, Rien is relieved to not immediately see something waiting for them. That relief is short-lived when Margaret appears, making her roll her eyes. "This one... can we get one of the other sisters? Elizabeth, Lucrezia? Hell, I would take Igor..." Thankfully, she doesn't get to continue her building rant because.. well. Some weird Roman/Japanese hentai hybrid monster appears.

"..huh."

Rien clears her throat, glances sidelong to Jon, and grins, "So the short answer is yes, but. The longer answer is yes, but not as much as you might think. The full answer takes longer than I have to get into right now." She looks back to the creature and sighs. "Fucking fuck you Margaret you suck so much."

The claws slide from the backs of her hands as she runs straight towards the giant tentacle penis. Only she's not looking to play chicken, Rien launches herself up into the air, looking to get OVER the, ah, head, and onto the shaft/body of the beast. The claws are for any incoming tentacles, because she is NOT that into Japanese culture, tyvm!

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy is rubbing at her shoulders and legs some, she's likely to have some fun bruises tomorrow. Jon's quill is tucked into her mouth as she takes her clothes with a muffled thanks to Mike. She starts to step into jeans and panties at the same time, Getting dressed quickly and efficiently. She's had a lot practice. She hears what is being said as people go through the room. Still not quiet dressed she quick writes something down and waits. Nothing seems to happen at first until Mercy looks into her left hand and grins.
    Clothes back on she hurries to catch up with the others and instantly regrets that choice. "I know I've been hard up a long time but... damn." Mercy starts to get up with the group and asks, "Can we nip the jokes in the tip? Not to be a dick about it, but having been nude near that recently is enough to make me want to shrivel up." Whatever it was she got in her left hand gets put into the right and thrown HARD right at Mara's mouth. "Open Wide, cuz here I come!" Mercy glances to Jon and hands the pen over. "Size matters, but it isn't everything," agreeing in support of Rien. "You sure you want to use that 'swear' around THIS monster Rien?" Mercy doesn't look too scared despite being faced with a monster such as this. You got to always seem brave or the bad guys think they're winning.

Chas Chandler has posed:
    The beast trudges forward with surprising swiftness. Cael's shots, pierce the scaly green skin of the creature and draw short whining barks of protest among the moans as it charges. Jon's beam sears a burn across the top of the glans near the 'mouth' of the beast as it charges forward directly towards the rope bearing detective.

    "Here!" Chas calls to Chimp for the rope. He catches it just as the chariot slams into the Detective and the bespoke ape is viciously slammed into a wall. His form lands on the ground and then simply fades from view.

    Rien lands on the shaft of the out of control beast and her claws are used against a few of the whipping tentacles as they flail to dislodge her, more screams of pain are heard among the droning maons.

    Mercy's toss is accurate and as the white substance hits the floppy tongue and swells, the moans are muffled by the white goop filling and spilling from the beast's mouth.

    A shriek erupts from somewhere within the creature and a shockwave of psychic energy washes out from the domed 'head' of the creature. It's loud and painful; not altering in anyway just meant to deal damage to the psyche, and if not for the muffling substance Mercy used, could've been much worse. As it continues its erractic spin, a gout of liquid fire spews forth from the one place liquid would erupt from a phallic object directly towards Jon and Cael.

    "Enough!" Chas says, blue flame surrounding his body and glowing in his eyes. The rope is tied into a lasso and he spins it with surprising efficiancy. "Let's drive this cock to the ground, shall we?" he asks and tosses his lasso around the top of the creature. "Hold on tight, Rien" he calls as he jerks with all his Heavenly might.

    The rope glows with similar flame and burns into the flesh of the phallus as it tightens around it. "If you've got something in mind Mike, now would be the time!" he says as he strains against the creature as more gouts of flame spew from the tip of the creature's "head".

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael seems impervious to the jabs and jests of the others as she concentrates with single-minded focus on destroying the creature. She empties a clip, stepping slowly to the side to keep Rien and other allies out of the line of fire. This is live ammunition - not practice rounds from the training room.
    As the chariot crashes into Detective Chimp, though, she calls out, "Shit! The monkey! Do we know if this place is playing for keeps or if the safeties are on?" She hopes the safeties are on.
    Before she hears any reply, though, the scream from the creature - even partially muffled - has her wincing and flinching away, disoriented as the fire comes towards her and Jon.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike looks over to Jon at his suggestion to use holy energy and light energy. Which Ok fine, is an idea which seems to be supplied already by two people in the party. And while he could surround himself in holy light, he's not really in the mood to light up and head over there to holy hug the damn thing into submission.

So, Detective Chimp's admission to wondering the same thing seems to bolster his initial thought. "I need books." Mike comments. While always a factual statement, the timing of his saying it is questionable. That is, until trades in his witty banter time for the opportunity to dart back to the library to grab a couple nearest the exit way and turn around to run towards the monster.

"On it!" He blurts out in response to Chas in the process.

The bounds being taken are of an unnatural gait, causing for him to cover quite a bit of distance as he starts to feed some of his energy into the books. Coming in at an angle, Mike slides in under the cart, shoving a book between the wheel and the axle holding it. He lets go, taking his energy away from the book to let it go solid again. He keeps sliding, closing his eyes as he ends up passing through the other wheel on the way out.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Werewolves can handle a lot of things--but not, at least in Cael's case, fire, evidently. So when liquid fire spews out of the thing, directly at Jon and Cael (eww), he brings out his wings and steps in front of Cael to shield her from the fire. He raises his staff and summons up a barrier, but not /quite/ in time to avoid some of the splash damage from the thing. (Eww again.)

    Coughing and spluttering, he shakes his head and expands the barrier to protect everyone he can manage from the liquid fire. "Keep it up!" he calls. "Just keep... hammering it!" Sigh. There's no way to do this without euphemisms.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien wrapped bodily, one arm and both legs, around the shaft of the penis monster. The free hand is busy slashing at tentacles that continue to try and pull at her. The one gripping Mara, however, is glowing lightly. She's channeling the creatures magic, siphoning it away from Mara and into her own reserves, much as she had with Lydia's runes. This is harder however, this thing is ALIVE and MOVING and... welp!

"Don't worry about me, just take it down! I'll keep it disoriented!" Rien calls back to Chas, flashing a brief, wide, even a bit manic, grin before she becomes a rolling flash of blonde and black on the thing's back as they go tumbling from the chariot. Both hands gripping the body now, she focuses solely on maintaining her grip and siphoning that magic from it.

Her ears trickle blood from the reverb of that psychic scream, but she growls the pain away and holds tighter, squeezing hard around the body to stay attached.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy gives a fist pump as she gets clear of the chaos, "Yes! Money shot." She's especially glad that it stopped whatever Mara tried to do. She gets really worried for Chimp before he vanishes only to be dropped to hear knees. Strong sounds and scents aren't her friend if used as an attack. Tears squeeze out her eyes as she recoils from the pain of what almost was done. She's curled up on her side just trying to roll away. The scream having kind of wrecked her
    When mercy lifts her head to see what is going on she gets really baffled by Michael's moves, then again she doesn't know him well. For a second she thought she was seeing four of him or she can't focus. They aren't getting better by the time she sees Jon play wing shield for Cael against the fire.
    She pulls her gun and can't trust her eyes, her head is ringing and the aim of the weapon wavers. She decides shooting like this is a really BAD idea and sheaths the gun as she shouts, "PLEASE DO NOT LET IT DO THAT AGAIN!"

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Mara is immune to many forms of damage, but the laws of physics still apply. As Mike jams a locking mechanism into the wheels of the chariot, they act in accordance to those laws and lock up. Chas heaves just as the chariot goes into a spin and the phallus is torn from the fastenings of the mobile device. It crashes to the ground, Rien still astride it, and flails appendages and body flopping weakly to the ground.

    Rien is drawing more and more power from it and the next gout of flame barely makes it a few feet before sputting into a trickle of steaming fluid around the large mushroom tip of the felled creature.

    "Everyone, give it all you've got...bullets, magic, anything... just pour it on..." Chas says and lets go of the rope to conjure a lance of energy that he directs into the main body of the creature.

    Another scream, this one less psychically charged and more actually pained erupts from the beast as the lance bores a hole into it, bypassing it's natural defenses with relative ease.

Cael Becker has posed:
    The agony that had filled Cael's mind for a moment fades - and she finds Jon standing between herself at the creature as it crashes to the ground. "Love," she murmurs, her left hand going to Jon's back.
    The right hand lifts her gun - firing off more shots into the creature's body. She doesn't need to be told twice to kill //that// thing. Good riddance.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Planting a hand down, Mike spins to a stop. Facing the monster, the phantasm's other hand is still holding the second book. He takes a moment to gauge the situation. He shakes his head.

Give it all you got.

Well.

Mike runs over and shoves the book into the creature's head and lets go.

Ok not as flashy as the first move but. That's got to hurt right?

And if not he could do ca-

Mike pauses.

Dammit he ran out of things to hit with.

Oh the hell with it.

He goes wolf.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon has scattered burns across his form, but he ignores them for now--healing will take care of that, later. With Mara mostly impotent now, he dismisses the barrier and starts to pour out the light again.

    "Whatever is kept in this prison had better be /powerful/ to warrant this much effort to get to it," he grumbles as sunlight pours from his staff at the thing writhing on the ground.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien is a little battered from the rolling around, but that clears up quickly enough and she's focused on draining this creature of all it's juice. Enough so that she doesn't hear the call to pour it on at first. When the lance of light pierces the shat, she raises her head, blinking once. The sunlight shines, the bullets fly, and Rien moves up to the head of the Mara.

Turning her hands so the backs are facing each other, she drives both hands down, releasing the claws to drive deep into the flesh just beneath the head. Then she /pulls/ with both hands, looking to perform a gruesome decapitation on the flame-spitting hentai nightmare. "This is hands down the weirdest thing I've done in at LEAST fifty years!"

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy can't really hear super well but she pulls herself up to her feet and forces her eyes to focus enough, walking closer to the creature in question as she aims the pistol for the center mass of the shaft, aware form her friends as well. She's about to fire when Michael turns into a wolf. "WHAT THE HELL! HE DOESN'T SMELL LIKE A WEREWOLF." Oh right. They're performing a bullet circumcision. She starts to fire in controlled squeezes of three rounds, using both hands on the gun as it barks in series with the shots. Mercy counting along silently, lips moving to the number of shots.

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Mara's final scream of agony is cut short as Rien tears the head off the creature. It lingers for a moment and then shatters into a million tiny motes of blue light. Margaret for her part is on one knee looking winded as she gasps for air. "Amazing... I knew you were powerful enough to be charged with the task, but to see it in action... truly magnificent." She waves a hand and the electricity barring the prison within disappears. "Go and see the truth of your management of this castle. You have more than earned... that much."

    Chas for his part stops as Rien destroys the creature. He re-establishes the hold on his power and the blue flames fade to nothingness before glances at her and grins. "Didn't know you were so keen to riding a huge dick, even in your age" he says as he turns to the opened gateway. "I guess, we should go and see what it is that we've inherited, shouldn't we?" he asks the others.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael frowns at the fae woman, an unfriendly look on her featurs, and her gun still in hand. She holsters it after a moment, though, and rather than moving to proceed through the hallway towards the prison, she turns her attention towards Jon. She's unhurt - having been shielded by them just in the nick of time, but Jon could not say the same, and there's concern on her features. "You good?" she asks witht quiet concern, one hand on Jon's unburned back, though her other hand seems unsure where to go.
    Whether she's ignoring the constant innuendo, or legitimately hasn't noticed is still open to debate.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
The grey wolf's claws grasp into the ground, launching the canine forward. As the monster loses its head, the Wolf formed Mike stands down by skidding to a stop.

Mike isn't that quick to agree with Rien. For one, he's only 30. And for two, that would require him to remember everything he did and the dreams he's been in. Also, he's a little distracted by the woman in blue's gasping. His head tilts as he starts to shift back. His facial features and scar un-mirror.

"Uh yeah. We just fought a giant penis on wheels for a look into what's going on down here. I'm not turning back after all that."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon takes a moment to turn the sunlight on himself, changing the quality of the light a little--from the blast of noonday heat to the soft glow of late afternoon warmth. It plays over his form for a moment, soothing away the burns and even restoring the singed shirt to wholeness. "I'm fine," he murmurs. "At least, in terms of... this. Still hurt, though. Bloody hell." He shakes his head.

    Then he focuses on Margaret for a moment, nodding to her politely, then looks beyond her to whatever's inside the prison. He's pretty much ignoring the innuendo at this point, a habit born from a lifetime of being around people who are just far more interested in sex than he is. Whatever's in the prison is the reason they came down here, after all.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Pushing up to her feet, there's some grim satisfaction in seeing it was actually Margaret powering the Mara. Pushing the hair from her face, she tosses her head, then turns to Chas. One clawed hand lifts up, those three claws glowing lightly. Then the outer two sliiiiiiide back into the backs of her hand, leaving that one middle claw standing tall and proud. She ruins it a moment later by flashing a grin, "That was a pretty girthy lance you were hefting yourself, Chas."

Approaching Jon, she looks them over, about to offer healing when they do it for themselves. Smiling faintly, she nods to Jon, then turns to Mercy, "Are you alright? Would you like any healing before we go in?" If agreed, she'll wave her hands in almost petting motions around Mercy without actually touching her, each swipe healing a bump, bruise, or cut.

Regardless, when everyone is 'topped up' and ready, she'll move up and nudge Chas, "Let's go see what we won, Bob." Paraphrasing from the Price is Right, she gives a small chuckle and starts in.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy drops her aim as soon as the beast goes away. She looks over at Margaret Nd then toward the others. She looks pretty pissed honestly. She strides over to Margaret as she holsters her firearm. When close enough to Margaret, Mercy tries to clap both her hands over the woman's ears very forcibly. Annoyingly Mercy's hands go through the woman's head, and it makes Mercy growl. Not that human sort of growl people do when mad either. Lips curled up, "If Chip is dead. I will rip this building into nothing brick by brick if I have to for you to just give some bull test, Margaret." She doesn't know what the woman is exactly but she means to find out. "Get a vibrator and keep your porn to yourself like everyone else."
    She's still sort of yelling but now that the fight is over she can tell she doesn't have to scream. Mercy pulls a cloth from the back pocket to rub at her ears. "What was that Rien?" Apparently not quiet hearing the question right. Then she's getting some healing and that's MOST welcome. Especially if it works as it should, and it seems to. "I bet you 'Miss Blue-period' there did that because she was mad at Chimp for acing that first test," thumbing at Margaret. So yeah. Their 'reward' awaits.

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Margaret has a smile on her face as she slowly rises incorporeal as you will. "Your ally is safely resting in the sitting room as any who fell in this fight would find themselves" she replies. "I had no intention of destroying those who care for the castle, only to keep those not worthy of finding the chamber beyond. I wish you well and hope that what you find is most agreeable." She completely fades at that point leaving the ghost of a chuckle in her wake to wherever it is she truly resides.

    As soon as Rien, Jon, and Mercy cross the threshold to the chamber beyond they can feel the resonance and power pouring through it and beyond. The well of Power, capital P, is astounding. It's a single straight walkway, maybe five feet across that greets them. There is some illumination but even the faint spectral blue of the Velvet Room seems muted here, dimmed.

Small alcoves are set on either side on the walkway at regular intervals. In each alcove is a large floating crystal surrounded by more blue light. There seems to be no uniformity to the sizes or shape of the crystals. Some are the size of a man's forearm and smooth others are the size of small cars with rough hewn edges and jagged facets. One thing is absolutely certain: each of the crystals contains something of great dark power that slumbers perpetually.

    "What are we supposed to do with them?" Chas asks as he peers at a small cystal whose occupant tosses in its sleep, sending flickers of light back out into its alcove to dance on the walls.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael shoots a last glare at Margaret - before focusing her attention back on Jon. As their wounds heal, she rests a hand on their cheek - a fond smile playing across her features. She drops her hand away, though, to grasp Jon's left hand. "Shall we go take a look, too? I mean - we came all this way..."
    Linked hand-in-hand, she walks with Jon into the prison - her steps slowing as she reaches the first of the alcoves - a puzzled expression on her features. She moves further in to study another, and another...
    "Can we contain the Fears here?" she asks. "Or Narly?"

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike steps in to the chamber after the others, glancing around at the contents. While he may not feel any of the power coming from the room, the visual is helpful. He tries to guestimate how many crystals there are. "I'm guessing we're supposed to keep what's in those, in those."

Mike glances over to Cael as she brings up the topic of the fears. "Good question." He looks over to Margaret, "Are any of them already here?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "I don't know about their Master, but the Fears...?" Jon's eyes are a little wide. "The, umm... the other timeline, they didn't have /anything/ like... this. Nowhere to store the Fears, or their avatars. If they had..." He sighs. "Well. A great deal of pain could have been averted."

    He squeezes Cael's hand and then drops it, to pull away a little and peer more closely at some of the crystals. Not touching any of them, but his eyes go green as he peers at them with the power of the Watcher. "Dark gods... demons..." He pauses before one of the big ones, brow furrowing.

    "That looks like a... Cthonian? One of those burrowing worm things from The Haunter of the Dark. Huh."

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien looks around at the scope of the hallway, the number of alcoves, and lets out a heavy breath, "If I had to hazard a guess... anything that's already got an occupant, we make sure the occupant stays inside the crystal. Anything that's empty.. well, that's for the VR's enemies. Like Nyarlathotep and Company." Shaking her head, she rubs a hand across her face, "An eternity of safeguarding a hallway of Oh Shit..."

She blinks, then turns quickly, "Lets, uh, lets not wake up the Cthonian. They're... nasty. And after being imprisoned in a crystal for Gods know how long, I'm sure that one would be very pissed as well." Rien doesn't approach the crystals, letting the others peer in. She lets out a breath and glances around, then up towards the ceiling, "You guys aren't going to tell us /how/ we're supposed to safeguard these beings, are you... not going to tell us how to capture enemies into crystals for storage... or what might be able to break a crystal... or if there's anything in particular we need to do to safeguard them?"

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    The hall makes Mercy's skin buzz some. She rubs at it and tries to get the feeling off of her. She's moving slowly into the area, touching nothing and looking around. Lot of questions brought up with this place. "I think this is going to lower the property value," deadpans Mercy. She's is not looking in the crystals too closely, that seems dangerous to her. "Hey Margaret, I would appreciate some answers," looking around and raising her voice. "Mostly, can the crystal prison things, what do call them? How do you get someone in or out of them and how selective is the imprisonment?"
    Mercy looks over at Rien, "Narly. Saying the Name of a thing when dealing with power and older magic tends to draw its attention. Let us not draw the attention of that one to This place please." Clearly her and Rien have similar thoughts and questions in the same lane. Mercy turns a slow circle, searching around herself high and low, looking for any and all details. Prisons often have guard towers. Towers where you keep information or controls. "I wonder if they know, Rien."

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Close to the entry of the hall a wall shimmers and another hidden alcove appears. Inside is a very large volume. Margaret's voice comes over the same PA system as before only this time it's clear she is speaking directly. "The tome before you contains a list of every entity contained within the Prison. From the smallest demon to the largest servitor of the Old Gods. It will also allow you to have the knowledge of how to call forth a new crystal should such an entity be discovered and contained. The process is simple, if slightly taxing."

    The smile lingers in her tone. "You have more than proved your worth and now answers are more than available to you if you ask for them. It's a simple exchange from one bested to the victor who did the besting." She pauses and adds. "Also, if the prison's atmosphere bothers you, you are free to take the tome with you to the sitting room and peruse its contents there. Placing it on in the library will return it here but I will work with my sister to see if a copy could be passed from one location to another... it shouldn't be difficult."

    Chas for his part does look slightly uncomfortable. "I for one am pleased to get out of here for a time. We can take the book and study in a less... antagonistic setting." He looks to Rien and Jon for their agreement. "It's a fascinating place, but we have free reign now and can come when we haven't fought down a demon of tempation, yeah?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "I'm more than happy to get out of here," Cael agrees in a quiet mutter, after peering into another of the crystals. She shakes her head, and turns to start back towards the exit, only pausing to look towards Jon - to see if they're coming as well.
    "I want a drink, honestly. Who's with me?"

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "I'll be a moment," Jon says, distractedly. "I'd like to look over the book, and see what's in the crystals. I won't touch any of them, no worries. Someone mix me up an old fashioned?"

    He looks... strangely comfortable in the place, his wings flaring out without him seeming to have noticed. "Thank you, Margaret," he adds. Finally, a glance to the others. "The attendants are quite helpful once you've proven yourself one way or another. Lavenza's quite a good friend, actually. But... well. If this is what we're meant to be doing, the Justice League Dark, then we will need to know how to do it, hmm?"

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien lets out a breath and gives a nod, "Of course..." This part in response to Margaret's answers. She moves down to where the tome is perched, picking it up and tucking it under one arm, "I'm taking the tome upstairs so I can start looking into this 'how to create and care for crystal prisons' thing. When you're done here Jon, just come up to the sitting room and we can pore over it together."

To guarantee Jon doesn't just sit down here for hours upon hours and remembers to do the peopling thing. Moving towards Chas, she gives a nod, "I'm ready to get out of the Hallway of Horrors." She looks to Cael with a nod, "And a drink sounds great. I bet you Chimp has already gotten into the bottles."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy was already looking for something so she's able to turn toward the speakers and then the alcove with the book. The mechanic brisk walks right over toward it even as Margaret still speaks. "We will take you up on that offer, Margaret," she says while Rien is picking up the book to tuck it under an arm. "I think that's a great idea, Cael. Even if I don't drink. I think we should mostly all go together. Return to the sitting room. Be sure Detective Chimp is alright."
    "Rien," Mercy hesitates as she glances at Jon. She's worried about him. "I request that Jon not read that book," pointing to the one under Rien's arms."I think this is not something that Constant Peeper should see. The report I read says they are 'probably' not a threat. But something can be a threat without going at you directly. For all we know what Peeps sees and learns, Narly knows. This is going to have information that should be protected." Mercy takes a slow breath. "I don't know what you been through Jon. I know it's been a lot. I also know at least two people have been.... influenced and somehow tied to these aspects. Maybe we can find a way to put the aspect but not the vessel in a crystal. That'd be great I think. But I know /I/ would feel a bit safer if Jon wasn't reading this one book right now."
    Mercy looks to Rien, "I think we should get out of here, and if you choose to let Jon read it. That's fine. I just ask you let me know that you have done so. By the way, thanks for the healing. That scream messed up my ears." She then looks to Jon, "you got a favorite cookie?"

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Chas is starting back for the exit before he stops and frowns. "That's... not how we do things, Mercy" he says looking between Rien and the others. "I've checked Jon's situation and he's clean as far as the Watcher is concerned. It's power is power but it's been severed from the source of these things. It's no longer connected to... their master. The dossier was in regards to other threats of the Watcher. Not particularly Jon's piece."

    He looks at Jon. "Jon's free to peruse the book as much as any other member is allowed, save two currently: Megan and Lydia. If that was not clear in the dossier, I apologize, I will make an addendum to clarrify if need be."

    He gives Jon another glance and nods. "Go ahead and take your time down here, mate. We'll be waiting for you topside."

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon stiffens at Mercy's words, and almost folds his wings around himself, as if for protection. "No, it's fine, Chas," he murmurs. "The team can't trust me, and that's--" A pause.

    Then he shakes his head. "Never mind. Don't wait for me. I'll look around here and then go home. Snickerdoodles, Mercy. Enjoy your drinks."

    There's a kind of closed-off tone in his voice, and he /does/ fold the wings around himself as he walks off further into the prison, away from the others.