15195/Nettie's Tea: Hitting the Books

Nettie's Tea: Hitting the Books
Date of Scene:	23 June 2023
Location:	Fourth Floor: Lounge and Sitting Room
Synopsis:	With the revelation that the poppet sent to dispatch and collect Dorothy Bell's soul was created and engaged by Albert Crowe, Nettie's younger brother who's supposed to not only be dead but also disavowed magic entirely, it's time to do some old fashioned research into how to steal an identity, magically.
Cast of Characters:	Nettie Crowe, Billy Batson, Lydia Dietrich, Megan Gwynn, Daniel Ketch, Gabby Kinney

---

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The call had gone out over the Aether, over the phone lines, along the phone tree, through E-mails and even one or two Kik messages (and one invitation delivered by crow), and Nettie Crowe herself has opened up the Lounge in the Candle, Booke and Belle for research purposes. The games are put away, the ashtrays cleaned and... also put away. The cooler was unlocked, there was pizza and Thai take-out piled up, along with books.

    Stacks.

        And Stacks.

    Of books covering every language that Nettie speaks well enough to have conversation with, and a few that she's not. There's a couple in Sanskirt. There's a few in Olde French.

    And there's the witch herself, wearing a long gray sweater over a plain gray shirt, worn jeans, and strangely bare feet. She has glyphs on the top of hers, and isn't wearing her normal gloves. Her silver-white hair is pulled back into a braid and pinned in a bun, and she has a large pile of notebooks, pens, pencils, sketch pads, and even a tablet or two lined up. It's clear she was expecting a crowd. Or at least a long book session.

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam never got a mystic summon before. In this case it was a large and stony eyed crow or blackbird who perched on Billy's shoulder while he was eating a hot dog. Billy took the letter from the bird. The bird took the hot dog because crows do that. When you are a Defender of Magic things happen. He recognized Nettie's perfume when he opened it, read it with interest. Then he got another hot dog since the crow left. Changing to Shazam behind a tree he flew home for a few essentials.

Shazam enters, his uniform toned down into a funky red track suit and a book bag over one shoulder. "Hello Miss Nettie! I got your crow! I am here to assist however I can. I mostly do the punching things heroics but... I brought Steven. Also a big bag of Double Stuff Oreos, not to show up empty handed. Behave Steven!" He removes a Trapper from his bag and an ornate ivory pen.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia was one of the ones contacted by Raven. It was only appropriate considering her fairly recent foray into Goth fashion. Today she's got a black dress whose skirt is just the right amount of frilly. She doesn't have any makeup on. She doesn't need any. Her porcelain white skin, and ruby red lips is enough. She's wearing her hair down, her very curly hair forming a mane around her head. And, as always, the twinkling starfield of her mutant power surrounds her.

    She blinks when she arrives. Out of all the people she expected to see, Shazam was /not/ one of them. "Oh, hello!" she says to him extending a hand. "I'm Lydia Dietrich. One of Nettie's friends."

    She looks about the place with curiosity, taking one of the books from the piles and takes a cursory glance through the topics. "I like what you did to the place. Feels homey." She snaps the book shut and puts it back on the pile. "I can't wait to go through these.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn has been a bit out of the loop, but as a member of JLD she's determined to help do her part...Unfortunately she did not realize this session would involve more book work and less action. "Awwwee.." rainbow wings wilt as she peers at mountains of books, glancing questioningly at Nettie.."Soo, I'm guessing this is some sorta..Study session?" she laughs nervously, surely there's a reward at the end of all this hard training at least?

Daniel Ketch has posed:
Daniel got the email, and surprisingly he read it before the meeting. Or maybe not so surprisingly since he has been doing much since some weird bubblegum robot hit him with a 500 pounds statue. His right shoulder is all black and blue under his clothes, and his arm in a sling. He even had to take public transportation to get to the shop.

Also, he was bored. A man can only brood and drink for so long. At least when he is at work, he is distracted. Or maybe it was the Thai food. No work means no money. And no money means no food. If nothing else, the Candle, Booke and Belle usually has some snacks around. "Hey, Nettie. People..." he greets. Then he pauses. "Lots of books," ever the master of the obvious.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Thank you for coming, lad." Nettie gives a wave to Shazam, though she does pause a moment to look over the tracksuit.

    ... a tracksuit...

    And she gets a moment of odd look before she takes a deep breath in, letting it out before stating: "Well, if ever we needed the Wisdom of Solomon, this is it." she states quietly to the crimson-clad hero.

    Lydia gets a bright smile and a wave in friendly gesture. "Lydia! This is Shazam. Shazam and I are relatively new acquaintences, and he's brought an extra helper to help with the note taking. Thank you, by the way, Steve, for helping out. I'm sure once the party wraps up the brooms will be about." she gives a smile to the ivory pen.

    "And I apologize I didn't mention that studying would be on the docket of a research session, Miss Gwynn, however on occasion we should be aware of what we're walking into." she states, and then to Daniel, she gives a warm smile.

    "Mr. Ketch. Good to see you up and about. I'd hate to see the other guy." she states, motioning to the sling.

    She picks up a carry-out container of noodles and a pair of chopsticks, and flops down to one of the comfortable chairs.

    "So, here goes. Couple days ago by my reckoning, I went to visit an old friend -- one of my former students, from World War the second after getting an alert via my crystal ball that her life was in danger. Miss Talia was kind enough to accompany me to the investigation -- both so I could restore my student's memory before she passed into the beyond, and because someone comissioned an ugly little damned wanker of a poppet--" her face twists slightly, contorting in anger "to kill and steal the soul of a century-old lady and former nurse. Obviously, this did not stand well."

    Nettie stands, stirring the noodles as she walks, bare feet making soft 'tapf' noises as she goes.

    "So we captured the doll and Dee was able to pass in peace to Death's embrace. Lovely person, Death, don't care for me much on account of the whole --" she rolls her hand in the air a moment, scrunching her nose "Focus, nettie -- anyway," she sits on the counter now, and digs into the noodles.

    "Day ago we had a bit of a dissection session with the poppet. Patience popped in and did me a solid by exorcising the demonic entity that was bound to it and we got a name of its creator. Just that there's two problems with it."

    She holds up her hand and her thumb to the side "First off, I know that the particularly named mage swore off magic in his twenties citing that it had never caused naught but pain and refused to see his children learn it and he died 'bout a century ago. Thing the second is that he is actually dead -- I checked again -- and is buried in a charming little expat cemetary in Mumbai. And I know this because the name and sigil that was given when the poppet exploded due to pressures from Holy Blood it was *my bloody brother*, Albert Crowe, who couldn't magic his bloody way out of a paper sack when he was in his thirties."

    She pauses, realizing she's said a lot.

    "... with me so far, duckies?"

Daniel Ketch has posed:
Daniel is munching a slice of pizza, using his left hand. He offers a nod to Megan, who he knows and kinda likes (but only in small doses) and a neutral glance to the others.

He is listening, or at least half-listening, to Nettie's words. World War Two. Dead nurse. Whatever a poppet is, maybe a Chucky kinda thing? And... long dead brother causing problems? Of course it couldn't be just a few drug dealers, or even ninjas. Nettie offers killer dolls and undead wizardly relatives.

"Maybe someone is messing up with your head, Nettie," he suggests. "Is Patience around?" Just curious, honest.

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam gives Pixie a sidelong look when she enters but says nothing. Instead he opens the notebook and asks the pen, "What kind of puppet is she talking about?" If a pen could sigh, Steve would but he rises and writes. -Poppet, not puppet, a magically animated or possessed likenessxxxxx doll.- The pen lies down and waits. "Thank you Steve." He looks over at Lydia and says, "He beats the heck out of Perplexity of Chat GP. Okay, Steve, got anything about spoofing an id magically?" The pen quivers in thought. Shazam opens his bag of Oreos.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "With you so far, Nettie," Lydia says, taking a seat and putting one leg over the other. "Though I should remind you that death isn't always the end. I should know. A person's soul doesn't necessarily have to inhabit their old body. One could have been made for him."

    "That and the fact that he wasn't much of a mage implies that there most likely is a third party in all of this." She shakes her head, "Your friend, Dee, does she have any enemies that would want to steal her soul?" She looks pensive for a moment, "Alternatively, is there something /special/ about her soul that would cause somebody to want to steal it?"

    Her eyes go wide when the pen up and levitates on its own to write a short message to Shazam. "Is that... a /magic pen/?" Excitement starts to creep into her voice, "Steve is a /pen/? That is... incredible! Awesome!"

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn eyes Shazam, arching a brow at his red tracksuit. "Oh, Yaaay...here comes trouble.." she mutters. Thankfully Lydia's here and she is greeted with a warmer smile and wave, as is Daniel, although she blinks at the cast. "Yikes, what happened to you?"

Then Nettie 'explains things' which only confuses her more..she grimaces at her, staring at her blankly. "...Uh. Sooooo...How can I help?" twitch twitch.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "I'm a *necromancer*, Lydia, with a crow that has the soul of a pirate from the eighteenth century. There is a chance that my brother's soul had been pulled from the afterlife and shoved in something else... but there'd be evidence of it." Nettie's expression flattens a little, a piece of snow pea pod hanging between her mouth and the noodles. "I might not be on the best list with the end of things, but there should have been signs that something was disturbed, but thankfully nothing."

    She considers a moment, then shakes her head "Other than she's the Bell in Candle, Booke and Belle? Nothing very special. She was a talented healer when we were working together. She's one of the two who survived the attack, but... her memory was altered. I opted to take those memories of the betrayal and her magical education on account of the pain. And before you get preachy, there wasn't a lot I could do to comfort her. My wife an' my familiar were both killed in the betrayal and I wasn't precisely in my right mind." Nettie states in a very dry, matter-of-fact tone because she knows precisely how toying with memories can be seen by others.

    "I did consider that someone was messin' with me. That's why I pulled every book from my library that had anything that might lend a clue to how someone was able to replicate a magical signature. It *shouldn't* be possible. Least of all to someone whose spirit is gone."

    She points to Ketch "Patience is off on other business of her own. I will tell her you were looking for her, though." and then to Megan.

    "You want to learn more magic? There is a price to pay, and sometimes the price sucks and involves research and tears."

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam arches an eyebrow at Pixie, "I may be trouble but I didn't help Juggernaut get away. What do you do for an encore? Cheer the house in Las Vegas?"

"Thank you Miss Lydia... Uhm Miss Nettie, are you sure your brother died or could this be faked somehow? Like a clone? Or maybe his spirit makes the commute for some reason? Sorry, like I said, I usually don't handle this end of things. I know you can spoof a cell phone to make people think someone else is calling... maybe tis is something similar? Nothing yet Steve? I never saw him take this long and he's indeed a magic pen. My wizard used him for research. I had to stop my sibs from using him for schoolwork. He can forge handwriting too."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Megan gets a grin and a nod before turning back to Nettie. She purses her lips as she listens to the old crone. "It still begs the question, /why/? There are plenty of ways to mask a magical signature, so... why your brother?" She thinks and drums her fingers on her knees. "Is there a possibility that the poppet was created while your brother was alive and just... dormant until now?"

    She grins at Shazam. "Oh how I would love to borrow Steve from you." She leans forward with a twinkle in her eye, "I wonder how he'd enjoy helping me write spicy lesbian supernatural romance novels."

Daniel Ketch has posed:
"Thought 'impossible' was not in the mage's vocabulary," notes Daniel. But he doesn't want to push it, looks like Nettie has some bad memories unresolved. Which he gets. Ultimately, it is not critically important who exactly is sending the killer puppets; the important thing is to stop them.

"You know if there has been more attacks?" He asks, going after a second pizza slice. But since Megan asked, "Would you believe it was a bunch of bubblegum robbers? Well, they are roadkill now. They weren't alive, according to you-know-who, so he run them over with the hellbike, repeatedly.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
"Really? He's a pirate?!" Megan peers intently, curiously at the crow as Nettie says that. She's still utterly confused by what on earth they're doing here today, with everything coming at her all at once. "Oh...Heh..Clearly I missed something important..Somethings.." twitch twitch..

More in depth, complicated explanations are made and Megan is more confused than ever. With an exhausted sigh, she sinks onto one of the chairs, staring at the books. "Yeah yeah...Just..Where do we start? What are we looking for...?"

When Juggie is mentioned, Megan just makes a face at Shazam, sticking her tongue out at him. "Phhht, sorry, but I'm not into lethal force.." or at least it seemed like it might go in that direction anyway...

Daniel's response causes her to laugh nervously.."Eheheh...And I thought I'd seen everything.."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Keep your interpersonals on the outside of the study group, Shazam, Miss Gwynn. If you'd like the fisticuffs afterwards it can be done down in the Fledging space as long as you both clean up after yourselves. A little more pressing issues."

    The old witch stirs her noodles. "That would be the easiest thing, but the poppet had Dee's hair and clothing. Dee wasn't gray until she hit her seventies." she snerks, and motions to her head "Some of us aren't so lucky."

    "And that is the question isn't it? Why? Why target me, pull the soul of my of my old students who can't reven remember being a magician. Use the signature of my dead brother."

    Nettie gives an uncomfortable sound.

    "Even in my experience, I'm at a bit of a loss. Someone either must have read up on me and is toying with me -- in which case I will *happily* pay them a visit to straighten them out -- or something worse is afoot." she states, and motions to the books.

    "I was hoping for more brains to bash against, but it appears much of the League has their own doings. And I wouldn't blame any of you for saying it's too hard, or too vague, or not your wheelhouse."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
A little scritch, scratch, scrape comes from the hall outside. It's barely audible and easily missed, though a few moments later a figure shambles through the exit with dark hair hanging down over her face. Thankfuly it's not Samara from The Ring, or the Grudge girl or some similar specter: It's just Gabby with her hair wet from a shower.

"Sorry I'm late," she greets with a bit of a stifled yawn. "Had to regrow my face and I figured no one needs to see that. I'm already as up-to-date on the situation as I can be--Thanks for the info dump in email, Nettie. Anything else figured out yet?"

The question is asked even as her attention sweeps around the room at all present giving a quiet, perhaps even tired, nod of greeting. Then hopefully, "Is that pizza?"

Daniel Ketch has posed:
It is indeed pizza. -Some- pizza. Daniel was hungry, but seeing Gabby arriving he moves into the Thai part of the food. "I am not much of a detective, but if you need help, I can ask around and, hmm, some reading, I suppose."

He looks unenthusiastically at the piles of books. But he doesn't have anything better to do than reading until his arm is healed.

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam apologizes. "Sorry Miss Nettie. And too hard implies I'd quit. I do not quit. Miss Lydia, I can't use Steve for commercial purposes... Steve stop doodling dollar signs! Give me some answers!" He idly picks up a dusty tome and flips it open and begins reading. After a moment he realizes it is in Sanskrit. "Hey Steve has something... 'Seek The Book of the Golden Tongue for Answers. Do you have a copy?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia just blinks at Gabby. "Regrow... your face? I... should know better than to ask."

    She looks at the closest stack of books and scans the spines, hoping that one jumps out at her. "Well, I guess there's no helping it. We just.... pick a book and start skimming it I guess." And she proceeds to do just that.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn just shoots Shazam a silent glare and groans and nods to Nettie. "Yes, Ma'am.." she frowns, staring down at the books.."Soooo we're trying to figure out why some Err..Necromancer targeted you and your students?" this whole thing still confuses her and seems a lot more complicated than she imagined. "Ummm do we at least have a name to go on..? Maybe a signature attack or..Or something?" she's not so good at research but if it will help..

When Gabby steps in, she just stares at her in fascination. "Yikes! Do I wanna know?,"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney moves to grab a slice which she folds in half proper New York style without thinking about it. A quiet mumble of thanks is given to Daniel's sacrifice so she can have a slice. She hasn't even taken a bite yet when the questions start to come about her delay so she waves her free hand dismissively. "Porcupine. Won't happen again, I know what one smells like now."

The slice earns a quick chomp out of it as she turns to find a spot to sink down sitting with legs crossed. One of the nearby books is snagged and pulled into her lap to begin thumbing through it. "Sounds like a grudge to me. You got any students you really pissed off ages ago? Or someone who really wanted to be a student that you turned away? Would explain why they're also after those you've taught," she reasons trying to drum up ideas while squinting at the pages of the book.