13791/Discordants: The Telling of a Tale

Discordants: The Telling of a Tale
Date of Scene:	21 January 2023
Location:	Yasawa Island, Fiji
Synopsis:	The heroes gather to the site of what was a dark elf ritual in Yasawa Island, Fiji. They uncover some of the tale and bring about more questions.
Cast of Characters:	Thor, Natasha Romanoff, Daisy Johnson, T'Challa, Lara Croft, Clea, Loki, Jane Foster, Vision, Sif

---

Thor has posed:
    It had begun on social media. As all things do.
    There had been a report of a storm that roared across Fiji's Yasawa Island. Pictures had been taken, of the bright lights that shone out of the island coves. Those images made their way onto social media and then gained some prominence for a time. Those were not enough to catch the attention of SHIELD's data scraper. But it did when the first images of the aftermath of that storm started to propagate.
    The first images for that were of a large area on the island's Northern beach. An image of a burnt out hull of some kind of passenger vessel floating at anchor. Yet the subject that caught most of the attention was an area of that beach that... water would no longer touch. It was as if some invisible barrier prevented the tide from washing in onto that beach. A perfect sphere that the waves did not seem to wash around, so much as just disappear. Yet it wasn't until the close shots of the locals zooming in to what was in that sphere of sand sans water that SHIELD's data corps was triggered.
    There were old twisted burnt out runes that could still be identified, still could be analyzed of what would be known as the language of the Svartalfar. It was then that an investigative team was assembled, and a call put out to any and all experts on the Svartalfar in the current circle of trust for SHIELD. Local law enforcement was contacted and several patrol boats were in the local waters turning vessels away and the locals were moved off so no more photos could be taken. It left the scene then for SHIELD to investigate.
    And when the team arrived the sensor sweep of the area located three areas of anomalies. First was the floating ship that had been set afire with three visible husks left on the deck of the ship. Second was the mystical circle itself with its magical enchantment. And third... a myriad of scorch marks and plasma burns upon the rising hillside of the cove that looked as if someone or something either opened fire or deliberately set fire upon that raised area.
    All of which is fed into the Quinjet's datafeed as it arrives on scene banking low and then braking as its engines fire to slow its descent.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
The levels of anomalies were particularly thrilling. Just what they needed, more assaults. Aliens arms dealers, Dark Elf attackers.. how long before the two disparate groups started coordinating together? Natasha had already seen how nearly impossible it was to take down one incarnation that was deemed 'Scourge'. Imagine what they could do in numbers. And armed with Shi'Ar and Kree tech weapons. So, upon announcement of a discovered site that hadn't gone active.. She'd scrambled together whatever personnel were availble for a response team. For weaponry, for specialists.. Essentially whatever they could hopefully put at it into the field. A report sent to the Asgardian Embassy in the hopes that they might be able to send a group over..
    Not able to catch quick touch with Darcy, so just leaving a message for them on comms. And Natasha is there with the heaviest weaponry in the Quinjet that she can get access to from the armories without having to go to the deep vaults that you normally needed DIrector Fury's or Chief Carter's authorization codes to get into. SO, upon her arrival at the perimeter, she goes to quickly work on a heavy pulse rifle slung over her back while lgancing around.
    Speaking to the comms <<Status reports. Any available personnel, give updates>>

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Daisy isn't exactly an expert on the Svartalfar. Or their language. She's more the hacker, or as this mission may call for, the ass-kicker. And if this mission is anything like the last...

"So, do we think this may be related to the other event with that Malekith lieutenant?" She asks as they are finishing their landing. Her eyes go to Lara, "What do you got?" because someone has to be an expert on what's happening! Hopefully...

Unlike Natasha she mostly just brings her ICER. The rest? Her vibrational powers will handle so she begins making way to the disembarking area, eyeing the whole weaponry the Widow carries. "So .., no diplomacy today, eh?" a faint smirk to her expression.

T'Challa has posed:
He had been at the Mansion when the call went out as he usually was. Thankfully his suit had been repaired from the damage of the sonic attack, though mostly that just ment the inside. So Black Panther wore his suit as they flew in silently prepairing himself though other then the normal unarmed self he had a spear in his hands as if it were dark elves it might come in handy. Of course the spear was made from Vibranium itself though covered in etchings that he himself had made. If someone knew his history they might reconise the trials of his life though the images were more genric as he was not as good at etching as he was being king.

T'Challa sits not saying anything until Natasha asks for updates, he mearly puts a finger to his ear, "Comm Check." in a calm heavy accented voice. He had not run into anything like this, though he had read the reports that were avaliable. He checked his vision again, as his eyes shifted color slightly as he shifted over spectrums. Nothing of course was in the plane, but he thought it best to check his freshly repaired equipment once before they face whatever this maybe.

Lara Croft has posed:
Being with WAND, being experienced with Svartleheim and the Dark Elves, Lara was one of the more clued-in members of SHIELD on all of this so far, as mysterious as it yet remains to be.

Arriving with the others, she gathers up her equipment and stands up when the Jet comes to land. She'll regard the others, and adjust her sunglasses down off of her brow line to rest them over her brown hued eyes.

When Daisy speaks to her, Lara regards the woman. "Well..." She starts with a soft exhale, her pony tail whipping in the wind when the Quinjet is opened up to the outside atmosphere.

"WE learned that all 107 of the deceased from the previous site all had pristine-appearing lives... until you dug beneath the surface." She lets a more grim undertone touch the edge of her British flavored words there.

"It would seem that the truth behind each of the dearly departed was more sinister. Some were connected to drug running, others to child trafficking. Some were simply stealing money from elderly customers at the bank, while some were internet call scammers. Every last one of them had a dark underbelly. So if they were sacrificed, for some purpose, it seems they were specifically chosen for these reasons." Lara explains while adjusting the strap of her light backpack worn on one shoulder.

Clea has posed:
Clea's here as well. Given she's a full fledged Avenger now and they'd been callled on, she was around to answer. She makes sure that comms are working and then tries to keep herself from doing the floating thing in the quinjet. Not enough space really. So she keeps her feet on the ground. The white haired woman is quiet though as she's trying to figure out what the Dark Elves were getting up to with all of this.

They'd find out eventually.

She lets others take the lead for this, offering to be a support with things. "Diplomacy seems to go out the window rather quickly here." she states quietly.

Loki has posed:
Far down the beach, well out of earshot, near the arc of the edge of the circle where the burned runes paint thick swatches of darkness into the sand, there are two humanoid figures. They are wrapped well in cloak, and squatting down, quietly speaking together. Those with any familiarity with Asgard would pick up that they are dressed appropriate to that. Both are blonde, with braided hair, lightly armed. They don't seem like warriors. One male, one female, pointing and discussing at the edge, in voices that won't carry over the sounds of the ocean and Quinjet.

Of course, they do look up at the arrival of the jet, tracking those that are coming into the area, but make no move to do anything yet but gesture and discuss, pointing at one part of the rune, or another. A casual would assume by behavior that they were investigating.

Jane Foster has posed:
If astrophysics paid enough for Jane to regularly visit Tahiti and admire limestone caverns in dazzling formatios, she would undoubtedly go there on any day ending in Y. Or stressful days. Sawa-i-Lau would be a whole lot better than a margarita to unwind. Sadly a SHIELD employee only gets to travel there on the taxpayer dollar when matters go especially awry. She gets the dubious distinction to translate Svartalfjar runes and being 'the Asgard astrophysicist' voluntells her to be present.

Gorgeous white-sand beaches, azure surf, and three DWARFs dutifully trailing after her make this a work action. "Dark elves don't make a point of visiting Earth often. They like their happy hunting grounds, though, and something that attracts their attention can lure others. Like chumming the water." Right, shark-infested waters in a tropical paradise, good choice of metaphor. She nods faintly at Daisy. "Let's assume the worst, they might be rivals or allies. I'm unsure what is better, but even alliances in Svartalfheim rarely last longer than getting the upper hand to slaughter or put the weaker partner down. Otherwise, might tends to rule the day. Might, fear, and blood."

She nods gratefully for Lara's rundown. "Do we know anything about the victims thus far?"

To the mystically inclined, something is very much odd about her, as much as the reality around here is warped.

Vision has posed:
Vision was aware of so much of what happens on line, spending some of his attention to watch for exactly this kind of thing. He was living as Victor Shade and staying out of sight after the public alarm about synthetic beings that arose after Ultron. But some threats were too much to ignore. Predictive algorithms ran in his unconscious, assessing potential threats and outcomes, and then pushed the conclusion into his awareness. All in nanoseconds.

So Vision arrived as his Avenger self in time to board the Quinjet for the trip.

"I am here," Vision says. His signal is always enviably clean and crisp.

"I do not think this is an immediate attack," Vision offers to Natasha, standing just behind and to the side of her seat. "It is unlikely someone who could cause this would miss using the element of surprise."

Thor has posed:
    The Quinjet sets down and the pilot flips the deployment switch, shifting the interior light from red to green as the ramp lowers with a mechanical whirrrrr. As the ramp lowers the first bit, the whine of the engines is heard and there's a rush of wind from outside, only for the engines to then shunt down and the disruption ease. Once the door hits the beach they have a clean deployment out on the objective area.
    Distantly they can see that small cruise vessel's burned out hulk as it continues to float there as a testament for the need of fire control on all sea-faring vessels. Nearby is that runic circle with its curious effect upon the waves. One can make out the mystic signs even now, somehow untouched by the wash of waves or whatever corrosion might prey upon it. Up on the rock face and the hill rise those blast marks are still evident, larger than one might first think from the photos, they do seem to be directional, as if they were coming... from the circle, or toward it.
    The pilot's voice is heard on the comms, << Looks like we have two... civilians on the site. Local law enforcement was supposed to have secured this. >>

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff goes to sweep her rifle along, getting a view with the scope. She's carrying a full charge wit hthe pulse rifle, "Any reports of hostiles so far?" SHe would glance over at Clea, "And is there any signs of magic present?" That's what they have teh experts there for. And Natasha, wary of magic as she was could very much enjoy having thier own on hand.

They had a Skourge, we had a Faltine. With weapon in tow she would glance at the others, giving a low nod over to Daisy as a signal of Natasha deferring to her when it came to SHIELD affairs. Natasha was a killer. This was an investigation.

So pending them having immediate hostilties.. Then they had a group here to sweep and secure the area. Speaking to the pilot <<Tie in local comms to Avengers and SHIELD frequency nets so we can talk to one another.>>

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Last time we tried diplomacy it didn't go well..." Daisy says over to Clea with a sigh. "Hopefully now it will go better."

Attention is then on Lara, "Urgh ..., internet call scammers..." Daisy makes a face at THAT. Not at the rest of course. Those are NORMAL crimes. But call scammers? "... they deserve their own personal hell.." still, the information is alarming enough so she furrows her brows, "What would the ultimate reason be though? Some sort of ritual?" by her tone she isn't liking the sound of it at all.

"Civilians? Let's meet with them. Weapons ready though.." Because they all knew how it had went LAST TIME. Daisy hops down from the quinjet, looking in the distance to the two figures.

"Hey, you two okay?" she calls from afar at the two figures before beginning her approach.

T'Challa has posed:
Before T'Challa departs the plane he says lowly to Clea as he passes, "Perhaps you see it with new eyes, if you see they are missing something they will listen." and gives her a nod though says nothing more as he didn't need to. He exits to view the site, and frowns a bit. Nothing is jumping out which means it is a hidden threat which were always complicated. He scans over the land to double check the numbers of people he heard Over the comms. Seeing no threats he asks, "Any idea what the ship was carrying." as his vision zooms in on the ship, and then again as he tries to find some identifying mark as maybe they could look up a cago manifesto or something on those lines.

After a quick check of the ship, he would return to normal view looking at the people again as he would leave questioning witnesses to shield. He only watches them out of caution they are the hidden danger as he walks away from the QUinjet, and towards the water itself though he is staying on the land.

Clea has posed:
Clea looks to T'Challa when he speaks to her and there is a slight dip of her head, "Maybe I can figure something out." she tells him quietly. She forgets the floating thing and glides off the jet all Dracula's bride like. There is something immediately apparent to the Faltine though.

Clea looks up to the civilians and there's a bit of a head titl, "Not civilians. Not inhabitants of Earth either." the woman states. "Asgardians with magical abilities...though...do they all have magical abilities." she wonders absently. "Ah well. I'm guessing if there are those two around then there might be more about as well." she points out as her gaze flits from one place to the next.

She didn't see any other immediate traces from them. But the ritual that had taken place was...a lot. "This is very concerning to say the least." she tells the group. "It's repeatable, but...could be one of those things that we might not want to do." she frowns a touch.

Loki has posed:
The two civilians certainly see Daisy's hailing of them. One of them stays squatted, continuing to examine and work. There's some sort of items in his hands. The female of the two stands fully, adjusting part of a cloak back from a shoulder. There's no gleam of armor here, just soft tan and silver colorings. Still, those familiar with Asgard will recognize the attire's origin.

The standing Asgardian, the female, does a brief curt greeting of fist near shoulder at Daisy, as if to say they are fine, and approachable. It is polite without being showy. She doesn't call out a reply, she stands there while her companion continues to scry. Clearly, she is waiting for either Daisy's approach, or something (someone?) else. Clea's flight gets an analytic stare, as well.

Jane Foster has posed:
Jane departs from the Quinjet with the DWARFs in tow, relying on Agent Fitz's superlative engineering talents to add another layer to their merry heist. Coordinates plugged in send the modified quad-copters up on a perimeter run to gather photographs and basic scans that they relay back to SHIELD and the Avengers. With the tablet up and running, she can defer to their SOP until an override is incorrect.

"No," Clea's question of magical abilities comes forth, though little more. She gets her footing, breathing in the salt-laced air. "We might need a passenger list or something similar. I'm not sure that would have survived the fire."

A DWARF forms an unblinking familiar for her as she approaches the runes, cautious on the sand. Soft-footing it, she gestures to the markings. "These performed their function. They run across a twenty degree arc here, give or take. A peculiar arrangement, though, it isn't merely a string of symbols that repeat 'barrier' or 'stop adult males.' Look at how few of them repeat, and these have almost a poetic rhythm based on their shape and placement. Am I mistaken in that?" Deferring to the wizard in their midst (or sorcerer, take your pick) is certainly the wiser course of action.

Her pacing takes her further, looking to the cliffs and back again, the plasma-splashed limestone in hardened detail to the runic script. Queue running an adjusted path on the tablet, the DWARF zooming in and out, taking basic measurements. "The landscape feels off."

Sif has posed:
About thirty feet from the two civilians, there is suddenly a glowing line in the air. It is perfectly straight and seems like light leaking in through the edge of a closed curtain. Then that curtain parts, revealing more of the golden glowing light from within. An instant later, a woman stepped through.

Sif was in full armor, shield on her left arm, sword in her right hand and what looks like a quarterstaff across her back. No cloak this time, leaving her armor fully visible, bright silver against white and red clothing. A helmet protects her head but also frames her face, leaving her dark hair flowing out at the back. She has a small box in her left hand.

Immediately her attention focused on the people near those two civilians and she frowned. A quick scan of the area allowed her to take in the Quinjet and all those who were visible. A hint of a frown marred her expression as she moved toward the two civilians. She offered the box to the two civilians when she got close enough, barring anything interrupting her from reaching them and doing so.

Vision has posed:
Vision walks out of the Quinjet and takes a moment to look around. He rises up into the air for perspective. He looks briefly in the direction of the cruise ship to double check there is nobody left onboard. Looks over the beach for any patterns in movement through the sand that were not obliterated by the first responders. And second responders. Then he drops slowly to the scorched rocks to inspect them closely and try to understand the cause. He is not quite a portable visual and olfactory spectrometer, but he is not far off.

Thor has posed:
    The Quinjet pilot reports back, << Triskelion Actual reports we got nothing on sat-feed. No hostiles picked up by the Quinjet sensors. Hold for comm adjustment. >>
    The comms then go through a hiss-pop cycle where the various feeds are keyed in and after a few moments all of the agencies are locked into comms together. Local law enforcement is partially muted/subdued, as the SHIELD comm AI filters out the information it deems mundane for the operation.
    In response to T'Challa's inquiry the sound of a SHIELD technician's voice comes online, likely from Triskelion. << The cruise ship is the Lady of May, local business, tourism. Crew complement of 13, passenger capacity of 60 roughly. No cargo. >>
    The silhouette of the ship, however, is not a pleasant thing. There are three visible bodies in a burnt state. The raised command deck is destroyed, a burnt out wreck with twisted spires and embers evident. It remains at anchor and does not seem to be listing nor likely to sink, however.
    From their elevated positions, Vision and Clea likely can tell that the scorch marks, the circle, and the cruise ship all lead from one to the other in a straight line. Either those burns on the side of the cliff came from the circle, or were going toward it.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Nothing's hostile so far. And Natasha feels like they have sufficient supports onhand to deal with somethign should it occur. She gives a nod over at Sif with her weapon slung over her back. "Good to see you." She doesn't ask the Shieldmaiden if she has any idea what's going on immediately. The comments from the other members of SHIELD and the Avengers are noted as she hears the state of the ship.
    She speaks to the comm <<I'll be going to board it and see what a physical sweep turns up. I doubt that we'll find anyone still alive onboard. But if it's secure then we can send a team in to investigate more thoroughly>> By which she meant the ship was not going to fall apart, there weren't any Dark Elves or other threats aboard.. Or no sort of nasty surprises. Presuming she's not told to not, the redhead goes right towards the ship, weapon up and in front of her and fully charged.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
The sudden appearance of yet another Asgardian by way of teleporting gives Daisy pause, even making her hand slide cloooser to her ICER. But then she recognizes the face to go with the rest and relaxes her stance. Lady Sif is an ally. "Greetings.." she says with a faint, yet grim smile to her lips.

"We were sent in to investigate the area." Her eyes going from Sif to the other two. She greets the other Asgardian woman first with a small nod, then regarding the man still squatting by the rune. No recognition there yet. "This reeks of Malekith's people all over.." she comments, eyeing the runes, "Know what happened?" she then asks.

"Let us know what you find.." She tells Natasha.

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa knew on somethings he did not know how they worked, and his sister could name off several more he did not even consider. As king he isn't expected to know things instead reconise, and deliigate. As he hears Clea not only spot the Asguardians, but to at least see what the rituals level was at he figured it was best to stick by her though she is floating so maybe with flight it would not be for long as... he still couldn't fly. With a sigh he considers that Jet-Pack idea, but decides he needs to focus.

Walking a little back to make sure he is talk distance away from floating-Clea he asks, "Do you know what might be required for such a feat?" nodding to the ritual as he assumed such a thing couldn't just happen though he could be wrong there. Though over the radio "Vision do you see people in the water?" he for a moment worries about a cruise ship hitting a portal. The chances of survival were not good, but there might be people on the other half that are still around and need help, or what happened to them if they were not there.

Of Course T'Challa remains on the beach as while he could swim in this suit there should be easier ways to save those people for now his best place was here. He still watched the interaction when he could though as Thor was cool, but not all Asgardians were him. He ran his kingdom, and knew it was full of many different types of people. There was no promises that these people would be like him, though he had heard there were many Thors now. Still he griped his spear well just incase the suit giving a light crackling as the metal on metal sound of his tight grip though outwardly he smiled so to not give away his suspisions.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara comes walking across the sandy shore toward where Jane is located. She offers Jane the tablet computer she was holding. "All of the previous 107 victims were deceased, but showed no reason to be so. None of them had any signs of trauma, physical, or otherwise." She says with a faint smirk. "Whatever we're looking at here, doesn't match what we saw previously." She states, looking back to the husk of a wreckage, and the bodies there-in.

Lara's sunglasses covered eyes scan over the others within her range of vision, and she offers a smile, and a light wave toward Sif, should the Asgardian catch the gesture.

Clea has posed:
Clea gives a look to T'Challa and then realizes she's doing the floating thing again, "Sorry, habit." she states as she lets her feet touch the ground. She is letting her gaze investigate things. Seeing the lines of the magic and the unfinished runes. She reaches out with a hand, just feeling for things. Well, you know how magic users can be weird, right?

"I'm going to try something. It might give us a better advantage going into this, but in case I get possessed or something I won't feel bad if anyone hits me in the head really hard." she muses as she kneels down. She then moves to lay her palms flat on the ground, "Show me..." she whispers. Then she slowly starts to move her hands away from the ground, little sparks of magic start to wreathe her hands and even her crown shows up as she does this.

Loki has posed:
"Thank you, Lady," the kneeling male Asgardian 'civilian' says, accepting the magic box from lady Sif. The other Asgardian mage comes over, and they both draw a little design in the sand together. It's quick and effortless; they've done this lots of times. They create a square in the center, and set the little box there. It creates a beautiful light burgandy and pearl kaleidescope of colors, patterns around it.

"We've send an imprint of what I can find of the spell," the male says politely to Sif. The box continues to shimmer and rotate slowly. It's pretty, and relatively passive: some sort of minor magic communication. "But everything here is residue. With these runes incomplete, I don't know what it was. Too much is missing. But the Prince Regent may know -- if he's not too busy." There's an undertone in the words to Sif that the mage sort of hopes the Prince Regent is too busy, though he doesn't actually show it.

But the arcane box suddenly spits a flare of green, a somewhat obnoxious blast of light. Both Asgard mages know what that could mean, and drop to one knee right away, just in case. Better safe than sorry, when it comes to their current ruler.

To everyone else, it'll look like the unarmored Asgardian pair are being weird, making a magical (summoning?) bonfire and kneeling to it.

Jane Foster has posed:
Jane doesn't quite freeze when the warning from the Faltine Avenger, but she certainly takes note of it. More anomalies crackle through the placid Fijian beachside, from Sif's sudden arrival bearing an enchanted box and the Asgardian civilians communing with green fire. "If you see hope at the bottom of that box, kindly shut the lid," she quips, not entirely absent of a streak of mordant humour.

Her solemn regard sharpens on Lara's offered tablet, and she peers at the list of names memorialized by the Englishwoman's infinite care. "I see. We had some of the details, but I do not see the same marks or patterns either. About the only common factor seems to be the state of the deceased." An attempt to be tactful, when infinitely wary.

Sif has posed:
A nod was given to those that she recognized but for the others, Sif spoke. "I am the Lady Sif of Asgard. These are...my companions." She waved a hand to the pair of mages after handing over the box to them. She did not offer their names because she was fully aware that names could have power in some ways and as mages, they tended to be more sensitive to such things. While she was simply a warrior thus less cautious.

Unless she was dealing with Elves. She was really getting tired of Elves...

"We will be of what assistance we can," she offered though that really wasn't saying a lot potentially. Though she did glance toward the runes as her brow furrowed slightly. She said nothing as she waited for others more educated in such matters to weigh in. She started to sheath her sword. But when she heard the words from Clea, she moved slightly closer to the magic user. And kept her blade ready.

She did not smirk at the tone from the Asgardian mage, though she really wanted to. Especially when they immediately dropped to their knees. Sif, however, did not. She would show respect to the Prince Regent, but she wasn't going to be dropping to her knees. Besides, she need to be read to stab...no, not stab. Knock out Clea if things went wrong. Though stabbing felt like it would be more efficient.

Vision has posed:
Vision rises from where he was examining the rocks. "The blast appears to be plasma-based," he says over the conjoined comms. "It was sent outward in exactly opposite directions from the approximate centre of the circle."

"If the victims were used for energy, as Ms. Clea said, is it possible that energy was released as plasma when the spell failed?" Vision asks the others. He comes to a stop at a respectful distance from Clea. "If so, it would appear the ferry had unfortunate timing, rather than being a target."

"Agent Romanoff, could you check for any dropped phones or ship security cameras on this side of the ship? Someone might have filmed the event, even if by accident."

Thor has posed:
    Heading across the little islet that leads toward the ship, Natasha is able to close the distance relatively quickly, though perhaps with a few sloshes of water as the tide is still out. She is able to get to the ladder on the side of the vessel and when she makes the ascent she is greeted with the grim tableau of the burnt corpses and the torched deck that leads up to the command area past some of the recreational saloons.
    There's no hint of survivors, and the only sound on the vessel is that of the waves sloshing against the starboard hull. A cursory investigation, however, will reveal that whatever ignited started in the command area and set fire to a good 75% of the foredeck.
    But even as that greenish light flares near the Asgardians, there's the feeling on the air for a moment as what little wind there was slowly eases. No longer do the leaves of the trees rustle. No longer do the waves seem to wash upon the beach, more they slowly ease forth. Then falter.
    To Clea it feels for a moment like as she reaches out that she feels a hint of a tendril, a tantalizing sliver of power that is just flotaing there before the mystic circle and its spent spell. She tugs on it, and there is a charming thrill of power that unravels, visibly becoming a hint of a spark around her left hand. There's another surge, this time on her right hand. It seems like she is reaching. But something is eternally out of reach.
    Then slowly she pulls on another thread and suddenly the eldritch sweater of chaos unfurls.
    Then in sequence the runes seem to come back to life upon the circle, as what power is left within the spell feeds back into whatever framework it had. Suddenly there is imagery that flashes into life, harsh severe shapes that float in the air as if someone had decided that a knife was the best way to carve out images. There is a dagger like shape floating in the air, and it lashes fire out of its sides, a starfield flashes behind it as if it were flying and hurtling. Other strange shapes come into view only to be shattered by whatever is hurled from that dagger's shape. Then a low guttural voice is heard.

    "Daggog ul tali ro ul gra shemat."
    "Daggog ul tali ro ul cru ro valor."
    "Daggog ul tali ro ul lutaum wagid."
    "Daggog ul tali ro ul rugga faln."
    "Da-ig agh gogoz war ul zols."
    "Prem agh pur, bound ve koning."
    "Val nadgaj. Val lutaum."
    "Da-ig agh gogoz lid ul Aesir ul."
    "Ishrakig tyms wre ul armauk."
    "Gogoz tyms wre ul armauk."
    "Stel ul shemat waled."
    "Ontl kilgjas flagit burot lav-li poshat."
    "Ve ul dvth."
    "Ve ul dvth."

    Then with that image depicted, the tale told, the circle seems to collapse in on itself, disappearing with a roiling flicker of energy, while the waves begin to wash across the beach once again.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
The contact from Vision is met with an <<Affirmative>> from Natasha as she goes over onto the ship. She has a breath mask on, is wearing a ceramic reinforced bodysuit, and is switching out the pulse rifle for a large flamethrower just in case. She moves to sweep ahead wiht each step. The HUD on her helmet giving the other members of SHIELD and the Avengers deployed her visuals by camera as she goes to start to take steps in. Moving ot sweep each room one by one.
    <<Wherever this started was on the command area and took out over three quarters of the foredeck. Advancing towards the bridge next>> Checking the corpses over for phones, or any sort of electronics.
    There's very litlte chance of something having survived the conflagration, but no reason not to. She goes to advance towards the bridge, flamethrower leading the way.
    Hearing the chanting over the radio coming and just resist grumbling. Presuming the others will update her if they can. And she has a -very- good position to snipe with from the foredeck and bridge.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
There is no bending the knee for Daisy. She only looks a bit doubtful at the green smoke coming out from the box delivered by Sif. But the Lady doesn't seem that worried so she isn't either, instead going back closer to Jane and Lara as her questions are left unanswered.

"Well, whatever happened here it's---" She stops as Clea does her magick things and chaos is let loose. Her eyes go wide but then she is looking at Jane.

"Did you catch what it said?" She asks the astrophysicist.

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa is walking listening as he watches the Asguardians he mearly gives her a nod as she lands as he did understand if he could float too he most likely would, but he stops turning to look at her as she reaches out a hand. He considered this, and wondered if there was a style behind it or if this was just as needed though would never ask that instead standing quietly watching. When she gives the disclaimer he frowns a bit, "Please do not make me hit you." he states calmly as he did not like using violence on teamates even when it was required he always regreted it though he would do what he had to do.

He looked down as she put her hands on the ground though takes a step back when the sparks start as electricity, and Black Panther suit, did not mix well and that is what his mind compaired the sparks to as he did not understand magic. He watches her, and almost misses the magical bonfire though he can't be distracted he steps between the fire and Clea as if they were doing something.. He rather be in the way, though he turned his mind back to the Asguardians as the Lady Sif actually introduced herself, and even with the green smoke he felt a little better as that was a good sign. Though when she looked at Clea Black Panther smiles over at Sif, "She is helping with the ship, please do not disturb her." his tone as serious as his look despite the smile on his face. He did not know her well enough to try something against the kneeling lady behind him.

Though he hears the words like everyone else he can only record them for now. Later he will go over it and find out exactly that was, but for now as the thing collapses he nods. "Perhaps you are better at this then you thought." he says to Clea watching if this is the time he had to punch her, hoping it was not., "You are you yes?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Wizardry, Alchemy, Necromancy. Is it all happening here on this beach this morning?

Lara steps forward, a velcro pouch on her utility vest opening up as she pulls out a recording device to aim at, and capture as much of, the Asgardian ritual as she can get for future study. Of course, it starts to amp up quite a bit as well.

A glance is given over to Daisy, to Jane, and then back to look to where T'Chala is with Clea.

"The power from the spell--" Lara cuts herself off when the strange language can be heard.

Her knowledge in languages is extensive, but it begins and ends within Earth's history, languages beyond that? They bounce around in her mind much like they might in anyone else's who has never heard them spoken before.

She stands, she observes, she records, and she tries to keep down whatever uneasy feelings she may be having about all of this.

There is a right old gaggle of burned bodies not that far away after all, and she doesn't want to become the next one.

Clea has posed:
Clea reaches for that tendril, like someone that wasn't afraid of the dark. She grabs onto it. The feeling that comes with it makes her close her eyes and try to not lose her composure, because Clea doing that was like a bomb going off.

The white haired woman opens her eyes when she hears the last of the words ring through her mind and she looks to T'Challa, "I'm me." she tells him. "No getting to whack me over the head with anything today, your Majesty." she muses to that as she moves to get up from the ground.

She brushes off her pants, "I think that helped." she states.

Loki has posed:
The Asgardians' box flares more, and suddenly it arcs like a weird half rainbow, twisting, shot backwards... and from that weird loop of magical backlash, the person the Asgardians hoped wouldn't grace them with their presence arrives.

Loki is not in full battle regalia, but he is suited up to fight a mage battle, should one break out on Saruman's tower, or the like. Gleaming golds overlayed with magic, a shorter crown of horns worn - a different one. It has elements of Odin's crown to it, as Loki currently holds the throne of Asgard. His presence is magically very heavy: he's loaded with shielding and other magic currently running. It would be annoying to other magic users: like trying to listen to a whisper, and someone brought in a full orchestra to play nearby.

Because Loki doesn't care.

Fortunately, he arrived after all the magic from Clea's pull went off.... but, he seems to have witnessed all of it. His magic door was wide open. "Doing a backward cast? I don't think you have the sacrifices here to power a full requiem," Loki's 'warning' is sort of indifferent, more factual. "STILL, the original casting used... well, let's take a count. Before your cast destroys every speck of evidence in the circle before I can look at it." Loki's projecting, he's easy to hear.

Loki gives Sif a sort of half-smile that bears his teeth on one side just a little, which should //scream// warning bells for her. She knows the mage, and here comes something that might be awful.

Loki drops both hands, flips his palms over, and then slowly lifts. Curls of blue, elements of water flutter along his fingers. And in the circle where the ocean is now rushing in, things ... move. From below.

...Corpses.

They float, they rise from the water churning in, up from the floor below. Dead bodies, rising out of the water, slowly up through it. Water drains out of dead, open mouths and noses, as ... a least fifty bodies float to the surface and hang...

"A horror To --well, From-- the depths," Loki comments aside at Sif. He's not referring to the bodies, though, as more float up. More than fifty, now, out of the water.

Jane Foster has posed:
A lift of her chin is as close as Jane Foster gets to bowing. Bowing isn't exactly in her nature, but acknowledgment in a polite form to one of her overlords is called for. Until that sound makes everything go wrong, visions flashing where they all see, and it forces her back several steps past Daisy.

"Hear the tale of the Grey Horror. Hear the tale of the crew of valour." The rhythm adapts easily to her tongue, and it exists no matter who hears her speak. It's English, it's Aesir, it's Xhosa, it's the Black Speech of Mordor for all it matters. "Hear the tale of the battle waged, hear the tale of the courage..." A break, a beat, as the sounds pile up and she chases to follow them. "Fallen. Twelve and twenty were the souls. Prime and pure, bound to the king. Valiant war. Valiant battle. Twelve and twenty laid the Aesir low."

No point in being dispassionate about it, as she falls into the skald's beat, mostly. "Ten times were the enemy. Twenty times were the enemy. Still the Horror wailed. Until those foul brought her down."

Blessed is the curse of knowing the words, and rapidly transcribing them to a pair of artificial brains whizzing around to anyone who hears her or for perpetuity in some SHIELD database overseen by Daisy on a good day. "To the depths.

Her unease for staying to the sidelines is explicitly drawn in her posture, shoulders a tense bridge to the stiffened arc of her back. Shadows cast over the water almost beckons her to glance to the waves in case something lurks in the deep. "To the depths." The last repetition is forced out, and she puts her hand over her brow.

Her fingertips go to her brow in an effort to push back her hair, and if that's a salute of sorts to Loki, then call it a shielding of her eyes too. "This place... for what it's worth, I think the Fijians hold it -- the caves here -- to be the vault of all the mana, the spiritual energy of their people and their country, or specifically miracles. Imbued in the water and stored in the cliffs, and could adhere to inanimate things as much as living ones."

She specifically isn't looking at one of the bodies nearest her by sheer force of will and not much more.

Sif has posed:
The warning from the Black Panther earns a brief nod from Sif though she remains at the ready should the ritual go wrong. Then as the world slowed to a standstill, her hand was back on the hilt of her sword. It was not drawn though. She watched as everything played out, head tilted as she listened to the words. And at the point the world started again, she was frowning very darkly indeed.

Cue the arrival of Loki and that half-smile. This was not helping reduce Sif's frown as she watched. Only to see the corpses rising.

"From the depths," she repeated then she moved toward the edge of the water. Though she wasn't looking at the many corpses rising. She wasn't really looking at anything that was here on this plane of existence. Her mind was on history as the words went through her head. She's simply trying to work through this.

To help those that might not realize what it was, she shared, "The Grey Horror was an ancient dreadnought of the Svartalfar. it disappeared in battle, and was thought lost. I remember hearing the tale, though it was before my time." Which means it is really really old. She considered and turned back to the others. "But what does such a tale have to do with this atrocity?" She looked to Loki then the bodies he was raising so easily into the air. "Were they searching for it?"

Vision has posed:
Vision comes to rest on the sand near Jane when she begins to sign. He comes to stand quietly beside her.

He looks saddened rather than impressed when Loki raises the bodies from the water. Some process in the back of his mind runs face recognition against the known victims, adjusted for... immersion. The results are transmitted to the Quinjet's mission file, along with an ongoing recording and analysis of everything Vision observes that he thinks is relevant. This includes a notation that the bodies Loki recovered are not... damaged. No sea life touched them, despite the oceans here having abundant fauna.

Vision notices Jane's discomfort, but gives no outward sign. He turns to her and projects a holographic screen with the runes for what the voice spoke displayed on it. Rhe runes from the spell circle are arrayed picture-in-picture and it looks like Vision is checking for similarities. The hologram's opacity and 'coincidental' placement obscures the bodies from Jane's view. "I am not certain I understand the translation, Ms. Foster, or whether the most likely runic for it shares origins with the spell runes. Perhaps you can offer some insight?"

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
With the site seemingly secure, Natasha goes along then to quickly sort through the bridge. She downloads the log, and then goes over to the camera feed. <<Location secure. SEnd a followup team to sweep. No hostiles encountered>>

Because they had all just risen up from the water

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa nods to Clea and grins a bit at her comment despite everyone thinking he had no sense of humor. "And I told you, I am no-ones Majesety here. Black Panther for now will be fine." though he looks out at the water where the thing was as he nods. "Do not relax just yet." he notes as he nods over to the Asguardians though he doesn't comment just watching them listening to Loki. He frowns again as he isn't what he is up to, but it looks like he is a bit flamboyant, and that was never good.

As he floats over the water he frowns a bit more as the dead rise into the air, "Any idea what he is doing?" he says to Clea in a low voice. Though he is actually answered by Sif instead, he listens closly as it is explained. This was magic, and while he understood it really was not his thing as he didn't understand it as rituals and hidden means just got a bit too deep.

So instead he would quietly stand back and let those who did do their thing. He was fine not being a part of it as they seemed to have it handled he said in a low voice again, "I am going back to the Jet, This magic gives me a headache" and grins a bit before giving her a wave. "When you are done we will return, but then you have to write the report."

Lara Croft has posed:
The opportunity to see Loki in person was not something one really expected to get, ever, but Lara knew who he was the moment he arrived. She was raised on myths, and legends, that involved Thor and Loki, and where Loki shows up like this with grandeur and spectacle... the first time Lara had seen Thor, he'd been holding a Burger King cup and wearing cargo shorts.

It's quite a contrast.

Pretty unsettling too.

Lara's camera is clipped to her SHIELD utility vest over her right shoulder, and she takes a moment to glance toward Sif before she looked back to the man as he spoke, as he started to raise the dead from the waters beyond the shore.

Lara just draws in a light breath, her loose bangs flowing against her forehead in the winds coming off the water, and she sighs ever so softly with resignation.

"I have a lot more dead people to research..." She says with no small amount of glum!

Clea has posed:
Clea gives a bit of a look to Loki, "I didn't know it was going to work out like that." she tells him. Though her attention doesn't stay there very long...there were a lot of dead bodies to suddenly look at. The Faltine's aura flares around her for a moment, but doesn't put off any heat. Thankfully. She gives a look over to T'Challa, her gaze a bit uncertain for a moment before she nods to him, "Alright." she states.

"Wait, who is report writing? Me?" she asks. But he's gone!

"Well, do we need to do clean up here?" she asks the others.

Loki has posed:
"Ah. Well, now you know," Loki answers Clea. It isn't snippy, it's more regal in tone. She knows now, good enough. He's taking a 'high road' to not be an asshole, at the moment. Sif can be proud of her Prince today.

Loki turns his gaze aside to Sif, as she asks him if the Dark elves were searching for the Grey Horror. He looks back at the corpses he has floating. They are particularly creepy now, suspended out of the water like odd puppets, dripping water, dead and limp, but otherwise unharmed in appearance.

"Not anymore," Loki says, cryptic.

Loki's mood is mercurial; he starts to lower his levitation spell on the bodies, and the corpses start to topple into the water, though it's clear Loki can probably move them if he chose to.

Jane Foster has posed:
"Thank you. I don't believe we have met." Jane turns briefly to Vision and nods to him, rather than a more emotive form of greeting that would make light work of the seriousness of the situation. "That's the closest I could get, so there could be some imperfections. However, with the visual composition of the runes..."

She trails off, and then extends her arm in a brief gesture to the warded sorcerer-regent of Asgard. A tiny flicker of relief might be found in the steeled way she carries herself, accepting the inevitable with the grace of the lion slouching past Ozymandias en route to the bedimmed town of Bethlehem. Another of the DWARFs wings off to circle after Daisy, establishing proximity near the agent in case anything happens to her.

"They were calling something. They wanted to raise it. If she was in the /depths/, Lady Sif..."

The words don't quite fit together easily. "Wild speculation, they wanted to bring back an ally denied to them. Why would you want a dreadnought, something of titanic power or without fear, unless you intend violence? It certainly does not follow that they want to rescue a beloved friend or haul a lost monstrosity back home. Did they find it?" Only then does she look from the bodies to Loki, eyebrows arched. "Or is this improper speculation?"

Sif has posed:
And at those words, Sif sighed. "So they have found it. But...why?"

She glances around, taking in the full scene again. "Deaths perhaps to power magic was stated by someone. They raised a long lost dreadnought for some reason." A glance to the bodies going back into their ocean crypt. "Perhaps it was for a person. or perhaps it was for the ship itself. Though the technology would be useless this far in the future."

She shook her head. "I cannot believe they raised it simply to restore a relic or to add it to a museum. So why?"

Vision has posed:
"Entirely proper, Ms. Foster," Vision replies, reassuringly.

"Forgive me, I am Vision," he explains. "And an Avenger, if not a well-known one," Loki's regalia makes the synthezoid's red and gold seem entirely normal by comparison. It is a bit of a relief to fit in better by contrast, without even using holograms.

Vision glances over in the direction of the bodies. Milliseconds of processing and image capture give him a more detailed view of the bodies. He starts to examine them while he turns his attention back to Jane. "If you have any idea where we could research more about this being they summoned, I would be happy to go with you. I have a feeling we will be confronting it soon."

Loki has posed:
Loki looks to Jane now, and her demanding question, without any PROPER approach due to his current position... but there's only the phantom of annoyance there, as he considers, very obviously, if he's going to answer Jane directly. She did have a total lack of compliments in how she asked.

But Loki lets those issues slide, as he does get an opportunity to talk. And Loki likes to TALK.

"Well, the traces are gone /now/, but from the imprint collected, this is arranged as a focal point in the center, which acts as a lever. The souls powering the spell. I questioned if they had enough power to pull something large, but given the number here, arrangement, and the vision this sorceress splattered onto the landscape...."

Loki's talking just to talk, but the patient will get their answer:

"Yes, they found it. More importantly, it has risen entirely."

Loki distractedly glances at Lara, and ...sends the corpses to the beach, in heaps. It isn't like he THREW them, but there it is. But Vision suggests something about research... And Loki has to talk more.

"//I// am an ideal source of information, including visuals of the summoned monster ...As usual." Loki says that, without actually offering to share any of it ... only to smile vaguely, gesture a little to the two Asgard mages ... and teleport away.