13174/Bones for the Hound

Bones for the Hound
Date of Scene:	30 October 2022
Location:	Church of Saint Fife, Scotland
Synopsis:	When the JLD is asked to investigate a missing church grim, Lydia, Patience, and Sho are given a Grim mission, a Grave situation, and found the risks of any horse spirit in Scotland can be handled with Teamwork, Clever Thinking, and a little dog, too!
Cast of Characters:	Nettie Crowe, Achilles, Sho Oto, Lydia Dietrich, Patience Alperen

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Nettie Crowe has posed:
    It was supposed to be an easy mission, in and out. Investigate the disappearance of a Church Grim.

    Nettie, stepping off a bus as the sun goes down over a run-down rural church on an abandoned bit of rocky coastline in Northern Scotland, has a handrolled cigarette hanging from her lips, her pale hair pulled back and wearing a nicer gray sweater over layered skirts against the chill of the oncoming night. She's looking over an old, cracked clipboard with 'I (heart) Mayhem' scrawled on it, but the old witch had a Bad Feeling about This.

    And you learn to trust your gut after a while.

    "So. The story goes that when the church was constructed originally, back in the late seven hundreds or so -- there's been a church an' yard on site for centuries -- as tradition dictated they buried within the original crypt a 'hounde as blayke as nacht an Helles, w' eyes as embyrs and barke like Gabriel's Horne'." she introduces all her 'little ducks' to the legendry of the place, the cigarette unlit for the moment.

    "This Church Grim is a protective spirit, usually protects the dead from the living -- grave robbers, occultists like me, the like." she states, looking up at the church itself.

    The current building is roughshod out of local stones and wood, with a simple faded cross over the belfry as she looks over the wrought-iron fenced yard of ancient graves. The door is currently closed.

    "'Owever, doesn't seem like this is the case. Original buildin' was built to keep somethin' /in/, not keep somethins 'out'." she states as she turns to her assembled Justice League Dark associates.

    "So, the gent who mans this church hasn't heard nor seen the grim in a fortnight. Longest it's been, and it's worrying 'im."

Achilles has posed:
    Small tour bus. Such things seem a bit odd for Angelo. But he has become used to SHIELD jets and the like. But if there is one thing Angelo has learned in all of his years, it is to adapt. And though he is not a fan of the smell of cigarette smoke, he isn't exactly worried about second hand smoke.

    He also learned to rest when he can get it, and so most of the trip out here had his head lolling back on the seat while he napped. Typical gear was present, a sidearm and civilian clothing and the like. Pretty much all he brought other than his smartphone and his ... well armory bracers...

    But when the bus stops, he wakes up without much grogginess. Up on his feet, he follows Nettie off the bus without a word, merely letting his green eyes study the lay of the land while he listens to her briefing.

Sho Oto has posed:
Having been sitting silent the entire ride, and using the tour bus as a means to see the world, Sho Oto was absolutely there for the tour. Not. Seriously, he was passed out in the back and just now waking up.

Sitting up, he rubs his eyes then looks around before looking at the four leaving the tour bus. He yawns, stretches, and gets up to go get off. Stretch his legs a bit.

Then he overhears Nettie and looks over, then looks at the building. "Huh."

He starts to head towards it, backpack still over his shoulders and looking around.

And whistling at that. The man pulls out a small note and stops for a moment, then turns to look at the quartet. "Hey, this is the Church of Saint Fife, right?"

And of course, it's all said with a bit of a lazy, half-arsed way. Like he's just seeing the sights.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia heard Nettie's call to action to investigate the disappearance of a church Grim. She hadn't been out in the field for a while now so she decided, 'why the heck not?' When she was portaled over it was still day, to which she reacted with an 'ugh,' but holed herself up in a nice dark corner of the tour bus on the way there.

    She's dressed for fall on this occasion. Grey woolen skirt that comes down to her heeled boots, and a black turtleneck sweater. As the sun sets, specks of light begin to wink on around her, until she surrounded by a starry field, lights blinking in and out of existence around her.

    When they get there, she gets off the bus and stands next to Nettie gazing at the old church. Her mystic senses aren't as attuned as those might be around her but even /she/ can feel the awfulness coming off of it. "Yup. That's bad. May have to grab a snack afterwards."

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen had taken time away from the JLD team over the past month for personal reasons. When Nettie reached out and asked her to come on this, erm, 'outing', Patience agreed on that principle alone.

Riding on the bus, she was prepared. To most it would seem, perhaps. garrishly so - the black and red body suit and armor, the black cloak. Among the weapons she carries is a length of spear shaft about 18" in length. To those who could sense it, it has its own emanation of holiness; not so different than what Patience herself radiates.

For most of the bus trip she kept to herself, eyes closed and hands clasped in silent prayer.

Listening to Nettie as they get off the bus, she studies the area intently. At some point that length of spear shaft found its way into her hand as she prepares for the anticipated conflict. Her lips move with silent prayer but she is still listening to the rest of the team.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie, meanwhile, is full on exhausted goblin mode compared to everyone there. She was also singing folk songs and old Punk songs with the bus driver, who apparently knew her 'grandmother' at one point.

    Weird how they're all named Nettie, isn't it?

    There's a caw as a crow lands on Nettie's shoulders, and she looks at the churchyard, and then as Sho questions... she looks at him with a wry smile.

    "Aye lad. Nice to know you were listenin' when I gave the rundown. So."

    She claps her hands.

    "Who wants the Crypts, who wants the Potter's Field, who wants the North End? Small enough area that if we Scooby-Doo this, we should find out what's wrong in no time." she states to the group, looking around them.

    "Patience, you may want the North End, dear. Just as a suggestion."

Achilles has posed:
    "Well, my senses are pretty much just the Mark One Eyeball. I have been learning a bit about how to draw upon power for magic stuff." A pause, "Zee's a good teacher. But I have no sense for it yet. Instead... I'll rely on my tools."

    His eye is drawn to the spear shaft in Patience's hand, and between one blink and the next, a celestial bronze headed spear is in his hands. "Would the lady prefer... for the moment only.. a fully formed spear just in case?" he asks as he holds it out to her.

    And he looks back to Nettie with a shrug, "I'm easy. I can go wherever you need me. Field? Whatever." he says

Sho Oto has posed:
Sho shrugs, looking at Nettie. "They've been asking for help for a while." He says towards Nettie.

Then he moves on, "Mm. Much as I'd like to tangle with whatever's on the north side, I'll go for the field and see what I can find."

Then he looks to Nettie, "They do know not to harm the scary dog thing, right?"

He starts to walk towards the fields. He sticks his hands in his pockets, starting to whistle again as he goes.

At a leisurely walk.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia shrugs. "I take the crypts, I guess," she says with a grin. "If nothing else but for the irony of it. I can see fine when it's pitch black." She sideeyes Sho for a moment before saying, "Yes, I know what a Grim is."

    With that, she moves off to find the crypt, the points of light surrounding her dimming into pinpoints of void, signaling that she means business.

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen finishes her prayers and looks to Nettie, offering a nod. "Then I'll heed your guidance, Nettie. Thank you." She takes a few steps away from the others as she pulls out a vial of holy water.

Pausing as Angelo summons a spear, she looks curiously at it and offers a smile. "Thank you for your offer Angelo. I.. fight best with the one that I am attuned to, however."

She holds up the length of spear shaft and slowly pours the vial of holy water across the length of ancient wood, letting it soak into the grain for a moment. The pendant around her neck with its icy blue gem at the core begins to glow. Her brown eyes momentarily fade to pale blue with that same glow as the Glacier Stone's power is channeled to form a full spear of pure, crystal clear ice from the holy water. In just moments it becomes full length with a spear tip of ice that resembles the Spear of Destiny.

With a measured spin of the weapon, she offers a smile of appreciation to Angelo for his offer. Glancing toward Nettie and the others, she sets out for the North End as advised.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "... you really *weren't* listening to the speal." Nettie mutters at Sho, and she breathes out, looking over the graveyard.

    "Be careful, duckies." she whispers, and she plunks down next to the bus to monitor the situation.

    THE CRYPTS.

    Through the church, which serves as a beacon of light and good, there is a little entrance for the crypts themselves. It's down a trap door handily marked CRYPT - BASEMENT - NO TRESSPASSING and a sharpied 'get fecked' on the door. Dropping down into the crypt there is the sound of water dripping all around Lydia, echoing.

    The crypts are a natural cave; the church was built over it, closing the entrance off for the most part and keeping things in the dark for ages. There are bodies down here, most long forgotten and in the cool and moisture of the crypt they have begun to rejoin the earth that spawned them. Many were in wooden coffins that no longer bore their names, now known only to whatever diety they beleived in.

    <The ancient foundations of the church are deeper in the crypt. Were the hound actually buried within, that's where he would be.> Nettie's voice cracks over a cheap comm. The com's whine echoes in the darkness... and there's the sound of leather on leather somewhere in the dark.

    The Potter's Field was where the poor and destitute were burried. There are no markers, but there are places where the ground has sunk in where bodies were buried. There's a few small, scraggly trees that grow here in the high wind, twisting like all manner of old people and who could be imagined to be groaning with the way their branches reach out.
    <The Potter's Field is haunted, by the by. Travelers who were murdered by brigands and never claimed, the poor who could not afford a proper stone, take a breath and listen, old man, and see if you hear anything on the wind.>

    And then the North Field.

    Here the graves are spaced closely, compacted. Some of the graves have the remains of iron bars placed over them, or are bricked so that the chasm cannot be opened again. There are even smaller graves and markers outside the fence, here.

    <The North End of the graveyard is considered Unhallowed. One of my relatives was buried there, once.> there was a pause. <She got better.> Nettie continues. No one should be sure if that's a joke.

    The Bad Feeling is increased here, it's the feeling of ice drawn down your spine, of a needle under your toenail. It's tingling and awful and moving.

Achilles has posed:
    Accepting that Patience has her own way of doing things, Angelo just gives her a nod of approval before he turns the spear about and carries it over one shoulder as he moves. He heads into the field, and even without the ability to sense the supernatural, he -knows- that something here is wrong. Something unrestful.

    In ancient Greek he murmurs softly, "Wish I had drachma enough to pay Charon for all of you." he intones for their benefit. But he mostly just stops and lets his instincts guide his senses. It's almost like he can -hear- the brigands assaulting innocent passers by and leaving them dying in the roads. Even at his worst, he was never -that- bad. I mean he was a total douche-bucket, but not to that degree. He almost finds himself wishing that these restless spirits would expend their anger on him. If that was the cost of giving them peace, he'd accept it and move on. Other than that, he is not really certain what to do here.

Sho Oto has posed:
Finding a decent spot under one of the trees, Sho just moves to sit down. And looks at the nearest spirit type. He seems to consider before moving over to kneel down by it. "Hello."

He smiles, "Listen, I can tell all of you are scared. Yes, I can see and hear you. If you can tell me of what, I can try to make it go away." A sigh is given, "And, as a priest... I can listen to your stories so I can attempt to help. To make it where you can move on in peace to what awaits you."

To those not spiritually sensitive, it looks just like Sho is talking to a grave marker.

Apparently a crazy man tagged along! Surely the tour bus driver's at least giving him weird looks.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia drops nimbly down to the floor of the crypt, peering about the dark. Once away from the others she stops pretending to be human and sands stock still, letting the sounds and smells come to her.

    The only sounds she picks up are the slow drip-drip-drip of water seeping in from above. The crypt smells of earh, and damp, and of the dead. The ghosts here are... skittish, hiding from something.

    She pushes her way deeper into the crypt noting that the farther she goes back, more ancient graves have returned to the surface.

    <The crypt is wet,> she says over the comms. <Especially in the back here. If I were to take a guess, here, I'd say that the damp uncovered something that should have stayed buried.>

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen listens to the words of advice and background of the church and its grounds as she strides toward the graves of the North End. The closer she gets the darker the sense she feels from the graves.

<I'll be certain to say hello to any other kin who may still be lingering..>

It's a rather grim sort of joke, given that anyone 'still' here is probably not the sort of kin one cares to visit with any longer.

Her brown eyes flicker about the headstones and markers as she moves, the holy water spear held at the ready.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    <See if you can get to the back. Look for the remains of a canine, goat, or... infant.> Nettie states, lighting her cigarette as she leans against the bus.

    The ghosts whisper to Angelo, and to Sho. The wind and rattling of the twisted little trees in the Potter's field provide just enough white noise for him to hear Ruith air falbh, ruith air falbh gu sgiobalta!

    In the crypt, Lydia would be able to hear something quiet, a swaying sound, and the soft pad of a furred foot, before a pair of eyes peer out at her -- about calf level -- out of a pool of water. The water has some sort of grime on top of it, and the closer that Lydia comes to it she may recognize the sweet smell of myrrh oil.

    And then there is the North Field.

    The sun finally sets over a mountain, casting the church into darkness, that thin bit of violet light between dusk and night that may last a smattering of instants, and the gravestones begin to glow a pale and sickly green.

    Patience may feel the sudden chill in the area, a hazy fog of ice crystals forming on the ground within the churchyard.

Sho Oto has posed:
The whispering has Sho blinking. He seems to consider, then comments, "Can you speak in modern English? I do not speak that language."

He says to thin air. Not having communications or the like, he just seems to be considering how best to go about it.

That they did not ask for anything in return has Sho worried just a bit.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia carefully picks her way through the dark and dank of the crypt, deftly stepping aside puddles where she can, when she hears the pad of feet, and is confronted by a pear of eyes.

    "Oh, hello!" She says in a friendly tone, and crouches down to be more at eye level to the apparition, only to see that they belong to a ghostly terrier that looks for all the world like Toto.

    "Are you the Grim?" she asks in that kind of sing-song baby voice that you use whenever you talk to a dog. "I bet you are! Keeping away all those bad nasties. Who's a good dog? You are!"

    <I think I found the Grimm,> Lydia says over the com, but eyes the ghost dog dubiously. <Okay. Maybe he's just /a/ Grimm. Cute little guy, though. Does myrrh mean anything to you in this context, Nettie? We're standing in a puddle of it.>

    She leans a little bit closer and whispers conspiratorially, "Now, can you show me what's bothering you?"

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen pauses as the headstones and markers in the North End begin to glow with such a comforting glow. She'll call it Nauseating Emerald. With the ground turning to an icy chill, she takes a moment to .. commune .. with the Glacier Stone. Nope. This is not its doing. Some part of her mind had wished it was. The growing level of unease being from another source is a far more unpleasant notion.

<Is she baby talking a grim?> asks Patience with her soft liltling Irish/Nova Scotian accent. <The ground is freezing in the Northern plots. Headstones are glowing green.> It's such a cheerful report to give to the others.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The grim is stuck in a puddle. It doesn't appear to be able to exit out of it.

    <Aye, she's baby-talkin' the Grim. However, Lydia's...> Nettie's voice trails off a moment <Been through a measure or two. Myrrh is generally used to disguise the smell of death. I wonder if someone's charmed it to trap the grim in a reflective surface?> Nettie responds. The grim wags its little tail, its eyes glowing like darkened embers as its black tongue sticks out, black teeth showing as it turns in little circles, as if saying 'aye ma'am I'm th' best pooch!' its feet tippy-tapping.

    Sho and Patience would not hear the tippy-tapping of happy l ittle feets below the ground, though.

    What they hear are hoofbeats. Slow. Steady. Rising up from the cliffs, echoing off the old stone of the church.

    Nettie feels her back burn. She gives a gasp, hopping up as if someone had lit a fire under her ass, and she grasps at the headset she was wearing.

    <Duckies. Be on your guard. Somethin' big is here. An' if it's a Dullahan, it's a waaaaaaay from home. But if it's a different ghost... best be on our A Game.>

Sho Oto has posed:
The sound has Sho looking up. Frowning. Hoof beats? He starts going through his head what it could be before he moves to the open away from the graves and looks around, trying to find the source since it can't hide from him so easily on his end.

He doesn't bother to put his backpack down. It's not that heavy for him, probably! Nope, not at all!

Still, he starts going through possible hostile things that can scare ghosts in his head.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    A loud snort is heard over the comms. <A measure or two is only half of it.>

    Lydia reaches out to the Grim to give it earscritches, a feat really only made possible by the fact that her mutant ability gives her mastery over the substance of ghosts. "There you are," she says, soothingly. "I bet you haven't had anybody scritch your head in a long time. Don't you worry. We'll get you out of there."

    She stands up and looks about her for tell-tale signs of magical workings, something she can disrupt. Not finding anything she just shrugs. <Trapped in a reflective surface, hunh?> She asks. <Well. Let's just make it not reflective, then.> With that she *stomps* the puddle.

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen listens to the comms banter while keeping on the move, her gaze searching the northern graveyard attentively. <Nettie you sure know how to talk to a girl. Dullahans and Grims and all. It's inspiring.>

Holding her spear in hand, her gaze rises to sweep the area, <We've hoof beats. It's like you've scripted this, Nettie...>

The grim humor in her tone also carries some appreciation. It isn't often she gets to work with someone so seemingly well versed. Usually she's on her own.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    <Right then, two to four measures it is.> Nettie's voice sounds distracted.

    The hooves pick up the pace as the last of the sun fades.

    <Patience, this is no time to flirt with an old witch. We've got hoofbeats and no live horses for miles.> Nettie offers as a grim joke. It's one thing to get ahead of the game, it's another thing entirely when Nettie's preparing to get everyone out in a hurry.

    Luckily, it's not a very lost dullahan. The headless horseman of Ireland isn't making an appearance this evening.

    No, this is a gaunt figure. Its horse has sea wrack for a mane and tail, its ribcage empty of all guts or heart. The horse's eyes burn like dull lanterns in the distant sea beyond, dripping brackish seawater to the ground, where it freezes in little icy patches.

    

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    thug thu na h-amadain dhomh anail a bhith beo a-rithist.

    the horse coughs. Its rider, armed with a rusted lance, doesn't appear to be in control, but the horse turns, and charges SHo first, thinking it was going to get the drop on the traveler instead of the prepared, spear-bearing Magdalena!

    In the crypts, when the puddle is splashed by a mighty stomp of a boot, the Grim gives a surprisingly deep bark for its little form, hops out of the water, shakes off -- and then immediately disappears into the rock wall of the cave!

Sho Oto has posed:
Sho just looks mostly unprepared. Seeing the water however, gives him pause. "A Nuckelavee?"

Then he dives to one side, barely avoiding getting skewered and trampled as he vaults over a gravestone, followed by another. He raises his hands up to show he doesn't mean any harm. "Hold up. I mean no harm."

The man says towards the apparent death causing thing as he moves back towards the more open space. "Can we reason this out without having to go that far?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia gives the Grim an approving nod and says, "Go get'em boy," as it leaves. She turns back to the puddle, scowling in disapproval. She can't just leave it here for the Grim to be trapped in it again. Reaching out a hand, the specks of void that surround her gather and coalesce into a large drill, which she uses to dig the puddle a bit deeper. Then, using the dirt that was excavated, she covers it up.

    <Okay. Grim is free, so my job here is done, it looks like. What's going on topside?>

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen scans the area around her. Other than the icy frost ont he ground and the sickly glowing headstones it seems that her area is otherwise clear.

Turning quickly at the sound of the charging horse tears past her and toward Sho's location in the Potter's fields.

<It's charging at Sho. Moving to try and assist.> Her tone is determined as she breaks into a run to try and reach Sho.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie hisses into the coms <Lydia, we need you up here. *Now*.>

    A Nuckleavee is a dangerous creature, and as it charges show, Patience moves to intercept.

    The lance on the horseman rises up as he takes aim, but it's intercepted by the lady in the red cloak!

    The horse moves its head towards the spear-wielder, and there is a low, angry, metallic sound before it gapes its mouth wide, skin sloughing off the sides of its cheeks and showing its tapered and forked tongue as it curls and breathes death at Alperen, and then moves to try and whip it shaft of its lance at her!

Sho Oto has posed:
Sho sighs. "I guess not."

Then he serves as a bit of a distraction. A bright light suddenly comes from him as he starts to walk towards the Nuckleavee. It's not just a light is easy to figure out as a set of burnt orange eyes suddenly look from it, followed by black markings going along the arms. And it's growing.

By the time he makes his way back over to the fight, the traveler has become something of a miniature giant at six and a half feet at least. Complete with horns going up on either side of his head right about where the ears would be.

A further distraction comes as orange lines flare along from the blue oval on his chest. The lines shoot along down to his hand as they make some sort of oval sphere before he swipes his hand to launch it at the Nuckleavee's horse-like body.

A loud "cha" sound is given as if to get the creature's attention away from Patience.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Nettie needs say no more, and Lydia is off down the length of the crypt, moving faster than any human could and leaps back up into the crypt and out of the church. "What's going on?" she shouts, looking around, just in time to see it try to whack Patience with it's lance.

    'Horse!"

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen skids to a stop as she manages to distract the demon from completing its charge at Sho. It might have been better for her if she hadn't, but it's too late now.

Spear held high, Patience watches the Nuckelevavee turn to strike at her with its own lance.

There is no denying the power of the demon, or its strength. Holding her spear to deflect the blow of the lance strike, Patience tucks into a roll before popping up and driving her spear back at the ribs of the demon-horse.

The spear tip of ice as clear as glass seeks out the demon's body. If it strikes true, Patience will try to drive the spear deep before intentionally snapping the ice spear tip and upper shaft off within the demon. Holy water, though frozen, is still holy water. There have been few enough demonic creatures that can shrug off such an attack without coming away somewhat worse for wear. At the least.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The creature halted its charge at Sho.

    The creature also regards Lydia's cry of HORSE! with a wan eye set to her, and that gives Patience more than enough time to prepare her own attack, the spirit rearing backwards a moment as Patience prepares her own attack, and is struck by Sho's surprise attack, the head whipping around to regard the SUDDENLY TALLER and VERY SCARY looking wandering priest-turned oni!

    Well. That's something you don't see every day in Scotland.

    There's a snarl, echoing off the deepest, darkest waters as the horse turns its head back to Patience, only to get the tip lodged into its body.

    The nucklevaee screams. It's the scream of a thousand women wailing at their lost husbands, babies screaming as they disappear into the deep, the sharp metallic scrape of ice against metal hulls as it dances sideways like a shying horse, brackish water leaking from it like ichor as it launches another attack, this one brackish ice crystals launched at Patience, at Lydia, and Sho!

Sho Oto has posed:
Seeing it about to do something, the oni priest turns his body sideways. A smaller target to hit, even at his size.

About to go in to help out Patience is the wrong move as the ice crystals are launched, his leg and arm turning brown where the crystals hit.

Giving off a battle cry seeming sound, Sho steps in and swings his fist at the horse. Instead of letting it hit, however, there's another burst of the orange lines looking more like cracks or fissures as they charge down his arm to send out a closer burst of the orange energy again.

After the attack, he looks for a second down at where he was hit. Then back to the Nuckleavee.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia almost nonchalantly raises a hand and a onyx black shield forms in front of her to deflect the ice crystals. Compared to some of the things she's seen in the past (and some of the things she's done) this seems quaintly normal to her.

    Her strange golden eyes catch the pain that Patience's spear caused the creature and she quickly throws out the other hand, tendrils of night lashing out at the beast to hold it down, keep it from moving so Patience can give it another good stab.

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen has no immunities to supernatural brackish water-ice shards. She does have her cloak, at least, which is made for protection.

With a twisting move that one of those vigilantes in Gotham should be pleased with, she pulls her cloak about herself. Most of the shards strike the cloak and shatter; but not all. Two of the larger shards manage to pierce the cloak and impale the back of Patience's left shoulder.

Crying out in pain, she snaps her head back as Lydia uses her abilites to try and pin the demon. Rising up, Patience's eyes and the Glacier Stone glow again, drawing more of the holy water out of the shard of spear shaft in her hands to replace the last tip broken off.

Despite the pain in herleft shoulder, she lifts up the spear and seeks to drive it into the demon's chest again, aiming for where its heart should be, intending to snap off this spear tip as well.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Cloaks are awesome for their protective nature. Unfortunately, Nettie does not own a cloak.

    She does, however, pack a variety of thems which may be of use, and she ascends into the sky, keeping a bird's eye view as the old Crowe flies over the churchyard.

    "Well, the stranger lad has proved himself useful, Lydia's about, Patience is doing her job well... but where is our wee Grim?" she questions.

    And Lydia's tendrils reach out to bind it.

    Sho's energy attacks charge forward, striking the creature of the dark seas and making the horse part cry out, the rider horribly mute.

    And Patience's Spear of Holy Water peirces through again. And this time, there is an aid!

    The wee little grim dashes past Patience's left ankle, banking hard, and then leaping at the knucklevee, grabbing at the ankle of the horse's hind leg, and with strength utterly not congruent with his size...

    ... rips the leg off, and runs off with it.

Sho Oto has posed:
Sho brings himself around while the thing is bound. The horse part crying out is disturbing, and it's obviously time to shut that part up.

The oni reaches to grab at the horse's head. Glancing at the rider on it's back, he looks to Patience before motioning at the neck behind the head as he tries to pull on it. Maybe even rip it off.

Apparently the priest does know team work! And maybe hoping the horse being headless will kill it.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia's tendrils constrict and bind the tight, and another hand flies out, flinging more tendrils to wrap around the rider. She grins when the Grim comes out and rips off one of the legs and she shouts, "Good boy!" as it runs off.

    Now that the horse is hobbled, it's time to end this. "Stay PUT!" She yells, her hands clenching into fists, tightening the grip her tentacles have, and she throws her fists down, to force the beast to the earth.

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen recovers from impaling the demon the second time, taking a few steps back as the Grim gets its chew toy for it's efforts.

The segment of spear shaft is almost bone dry as she looks down. Not enough left to form a new spear tip. But that is why she comes prepared when she is demon and monster hunting. A fresh vial of holy water is produced, but there isn't time for it to be absorbed. So she coats the fragment and her hand and her sleeve. Tossing the vial at the demon almost absently, she forms a third spear tip, drawing the water from her skin and from the fabric of her sleeve. This time, the shaft and spearhead are larger, more broad, as she uses all of the water.

Stepping up, she follows Sho's gesture and drives the spear into the demon-horse's neck, the spear tip seeking to pierce and thrust itself up into the skull. Gritting her teeth, she puts all of her strength and weight into the effort.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The creature couldn't withstand their jointed attacks.

    Sho's oni form grabs at the head and pulls, the horse (the rider is utterly for decorative purposes) losing its head, showing its skull and a glowing, yellow eye in the middle of its forehead as its mask is pulled away. It screams, the tentacles forcing it down, scrambling on three legs -- two, the wee grim has come back for another round, ripping the other back leg off and leaving it dragging itself around -- or trying to.

    BUt it's Patience that wins the day. All the damage from that purified holy water, that freshest of fresh water peirces through!

     With a groan, the creature slowly turns back to sea wrack and stinking, brackish water.

    The ghosts stop whispering. The ghosts settle back to their rest.

    And the yellow-and-red little terrier grim wags its stubby tail, sniffing around to make sure that the creature was gone before it too, turns around, trotting back towards the old stone church, and pausing to wag its tail at Lydia, it fades into mist as it disappears.

    The graves are quiet again, and the bad feeling about this north end of the yard has come to rest, peaceful, even the unhallowed members buried here awarded their rest.

Sho Oto has posed:
Sho pauses as he realizes he has a horse head in his hands and drops it. Taking a few steps back as the thing dies to avoid the water.

And shrinks back down. The silvery form fades away as Sho goes back to being the traveler from before.

Finding a tomb stone nearby, he settles on it and bends over. Hands on his knees and looking like he just ran a marathon. There is a small crackling, grinding sound from the sleeve of his jacket before small black pieces start to fall out of his sleeves.

He finally looks up and over at Patience. "Hello. Sho Oto, wanderer at your service." He still looks like he ran a few marathons.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    When the horse beast dies, Lydia lets up on her tentacles, letting them evaporate into the air. Slowly, the spots of void around her blink back into existence as points of light, returning to their starry constellations that float and bob around her.

    "Well that was.... grim," she says gravely, before bursting into finger-guns at Nettie. "Heyo!" Turning to the church, she says, "But seriously. I get the feeling that somebody purposefully trapped the Grim down in the crypts. Myrrh from the graves just could have mixed with that puddle, but that's one hefty coincidence to have happen right before this showed up."

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen pulls back as the demon is finally killed and disolves into the putrid water.

With a grimace from the stench as well as the injury to her shoulder. Where most would be concerned by that putrid water-ice impaling their shoulder and the risk of infection or illness, she seems less so. Not because it isn't a serious risk, just that she'll deal with it later, when it is clear all is safe.

A nod to Lydia, "It was. And very suspect, I must agree." She looks to Sho with a smile, "Hello Sho Oto. I'm Patience Alperen, the Magdalena." She carefully puts away that shard of The Staff, secure and safe.

"We did a good thing here. For the land. And its people."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "I don't think it was an issue of 'this showing up'. This was a deliberate act in order to *release* that creature. After all, a Grim protects the churchyard from the living -- but also the living from things buried deeper than bodies." Nettie states, not able to set proper foot in the churchyard as she flits down on her broom.

    She does finger-gun back at Lydia, and then pinning her skirt up, she hangs upside-down on her broomstick.

    "Nettie Crowe. Sho Oto, how would you like to have a position with a group of sometimes heroic individuals who fight the evil supernatural things?" she asks, and then adds: "Also, love Japan. Met my wife there." she adds, and then with some difficulty, she swings herself back up and sits on the broom.

    She looks to the church.

    "I'll talk to our lad Barry, and see iffen he saw anythin' in his watch. Visitors are generally logged by the local council. I'll look into it. For now -- this calls for a celebration. Nearest pub's about a fifteen minute drive. Who's ready for a pint?" she grins around the lit cigarette in her mouth.

    And elsewhere, the grim settles in for a well deserved nap in his little stone bed, deep beneath the church.