17490/Happy Harbor: Bump In The Night

Happy Harbor: Bump In The Night
Date of Scene:	15 April 2024
Location:	Happy Harbor Cemetery
Synopsis:	There's something weird happening in the cemetery...lets go poke it!
Cast of Characters:	Morrigan MacIntyre, Corben Kelly, Michael Hannigan, Richard Stadler, Caleb Dykstra

---

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Happy Harbor is generally a quiet little town...

...Unless there are protests, robberies or attacks. We said 'generally'!

Tonight however there has been some eeriness, a bit of an unnatural fog has rolled into the waterfront and there have been reports rolling into the local police about strange noises and maybe some people from the cemetery that is in the waterfront part of the town. The police radio chatter has ranged from indifferent to outright saying 'It's just the local college kids.'

The lone security guard that works the overnight shift is outside of the gates and while he doesn't want to be there...it is clear that the man is not abandoning his post.

Corben Kelly has posed:
ASL ran a little late this evening. As promised Corben taught the class how to say 'bite me twatwaffle' as the last lesson of the class. He's pretty sure a whole lot of faculty will be seeing that one soon enough. As per the norm, he took to the skies as his method of getting home for the night. Why drive or walk when one can fly?

He heard there was something amiss and couldn't miss the fog so he does what any respectable raven would do. He lets out an eerie sounding 'caw' as he circles above.

He circles lower and lower until he's close enough to land and perch himself on a gravestone. 'Caw Caw'. Still creepy!

That is until his cover is completely blown by a little voice, "Corbs! Wait for me! I have little wings!" Now see, Kib'Kir the demon-bat slug cannot stay invisible and speak at the same time. So, eventually, the little sprog comes to roost next to his Corben on the gravestone.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
If anyone ever asked Mike, he would be adamant he doesn't have a mystic sense. Which, is kind of ironic considering the source of powers but- Nope. He does not at all consider himself sensitive t that stuff.

But you know, some things are just so off that-

...

Well...

On a whim, a purplish black bird has departed the safety of the Shaw Studios beach retreat, likely trying to clear the head. But there's just something OFF going on. And the bird soon seems to be heading towards that fog.

He doesn't end up upon a gravestone. Instead, a nearby branch will do, providing sufficient coverage. No caws either. Instead the throaty Cro-ack of the raven's call.

The bird's head tilts to look to the other bird that spoke.

Caw caw?

Richard Stadler has posed:
     The time, RIck could easily account for; he worked late as a matter of course, and when you didn't have anyone waiting for you at home, a seat in those brand new officers in a modern building was about the same as one in his home basement. Night was coming in quickly enough, and he didn't have to leave to cross the bridge for some time. A short jog would do him good certainly.

The place? Sometimes you just needed to show death you weren't afraid of it, and graveyards always tended to be peaceful places. He could only hear the call of crows in the trees himself, and the foot falls of running shoes on a concrete path between plots of headstones, a University of Maryland hoodie worn against the chill of the Hudson river.

He hadn't heard about any trouble, of course; he didn't spend his days glued to a police scanner. But he would pause at any... odd noises. Crows, of course, being expected.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
And why, oh why, is Caleb coming to the Cemetey after hearing some stupid rumors? Well, because he's seen first hand things actually happening in cemetaries before. The rising of vampires comes to mind; yeah, that time back in Gotham when he sold to a bunch of kids at the cemetary, good times! Or zombies, too - last Christmas was super fun; from the sluggish ones to Dead Space's Necromorphs.

Coming fully loaded and strapped for business, he skips over the wall, to land as quietly as he can on his feet.

And he scans the area for something out of the unusual...

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
For those that can sense the strange, there is not a major amount of goings on. While there are magics at work in the area they seem to be centered around a certain mausoleum and it is fairly new.

It is the ping of metal against stone that rings through the fog and the subsequent string of curse words that come together after it that pin point where the trouble is coming from...and it is nowhere near said mausoleum.

Corben Kelly has posed:
"You blew my cover," Corben grouses, still in raven form. Well, the jig is up, so he might as well go back to being a bi-pedal, featherless boy - fully clothed, but featherless. But not before he spies with his birdy eyes something familiar. Where there once was a large and rather majestic raven, there's now a Corben sitting atop the gravestone. He hops down. He has a leather bag tossed over one shoulder.

"My wings are little, you fly too fast," is the response from the little demonling that flutters up to perch on Corben's shoulder. "So foggy, reminds Kibs of when Corbs mixed up potion bucket with cleaning bucket." ... "Stop talking." ... "You yelled so loud..." ... "*Stop Talking*".

For once the little thing listens, at least for the moment. It lasts a second.

"... yes, Corbs yelled just like that!"

Uggghhh, Corben groans.

"This is a terrible idea," he mumbles to himself before he actually raises one hand to yell, "Hey, Nubi dude! S'up?" One hand slips into that satchel as he starts toward the sound that is not in the same direction that he just 'waved'. "You probably don't remember me! But I think maybe we were in Egypt 'round about the same time."

"That when we fall through swirly hole?" Kibs asks. Corben doesn't even bother to tell him to stop talking.

"Need a hand back there? Sounds like you're having a rough go of it, yeah?" That was aimed at the sound and the swearing.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
The raven tilts his head as the caw caw becomes a complaint.

"Croa-ack."

The raven displays nerves of steel as the form changes shape. Staying high up on its perch out of reach of Corben. And...whatever it was talking to him. As Corben makes his way towards the cursing, the curious bird of the branch struts along, hopping branch to branch, keeping watch.

Ravens are weird.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Rick expected birds and perhaps, this close to the water, a couple of croaking frogs in some nearby marshland. Not hurried talking between two people, and.. the odd clanging of metal through the fog. It was an... unfamiliar sound. One that generally shouldn't be in a place like this. And, well, Rick had learned that there was something wrong with him long ago, because he decided to jog right toward the sound of speaking and metal on stone.

"Hello? Whose out there?" He calls out. His hand moves to unzip the fanny pack hanging at his hip, hand reaching inside it and finding the butt of the Taurus 905 hidden there. He was discomforted by how many places he felt a weapon was needed, these days.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Attracted by the noise of metal against stone, Caleb quietly approaches, eventually spotting Corben and a... little flying demon(??)... And a raven that flops from branch to branch. "Uhm, hi...? Custodian here, have you seen or heard strange shit going on about lately?"

And that's when Rick approaches - a teacher at his school.

Shit. This isn't gonna go well, is it?

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Well, being called out makes one notice others. And indeed there is an individual now standing on top of the mausoleum. The black and golden raiment looks eerie in the overcast evening but they lift a gloved hand to give Corben a thumbs up.

It looks kind of like Moon Knight...if he was an Avatar of Anubis.

When the voices ring out from the back though they are gone. Like walking against the wind. The voices from further into the cemetery are a bit muffled for a moment until they all here, "Oh yeah we're fine! Just got a little lost!" the voice of a man calls out. "Don't need any help. Thanks!" there is another that intones nervously.

Corben Kelly has posed:
"Where you been dude? The appropriate question is 'when have you not seen or heard strange shit going on lately'?" Corben tosses that out to Caleb without taking his visual attention away from the direction he's heading. Normally he removes his cochlear processors after class and the silence is beautiful. Tonight he's rather glad he forgot to do so. Sometimes accidents *are* happy accidents.

Something about the way the rising moon glints off all that gold in the gold and black raiment has Corben turning to look. Another fortuitous accident! He catches the thumbs up and offers a snap point and a wink in return.

"... I think they lie. Corbs needed help when he sound like that..." Kib'Kir offers so very unhelpfully. Or maybe helpfully.

"Kinda sounds like you do!" he calls back toward the voices. Been there, said those words... in French and English and sometimes in Coptic!" That last one was a shout out to 'Nubi Dude'.

No Rick, he still doesn't know a damned thing about OpSec and apparently he hasn't a clue about sneak attacks or subtlety either.

The one *constant* about Corben is that his hand never strays from inside that leather bag.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Hearing the familiar voice, the raven's head turns, looking briefly in the direction of Rick. And so, Mike is left with an important decision. Does he

A) Stick with the Laurel and Hardy of the supernatural world
or
B) Abandon the duo to go fly over to give support to the well seasoned and reasonable soldier... who doesn't have a magic bone in his body?

As the mental coin flips, the visual of the weapon ladden Caleb comes into view. And while that's kind of an upgrade to the three stooges, at least one of them is Moe.

The bird almost turns away.

Still.

Stooges. The bird remains still, glancing from the high up perch to try and monitor each situatio-

...

Did Corben get props from a death god?

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
As Caleb takes a look at the people here assembled, and he looks at the Mausoleum...

And the name engraved on it.

And of course, let's not forget the Anubis-looking figure thumbing up.

"Wait..." He points at the name in the Mausoleum. "If she..." And points back to the school. "Then who...?"

Deadpan.

"Okay, I'm at a fucking loss here. Someone mind filling in the rank-in-file?" He looks to each and everyone assembled - yes, this including the raven; it's not the first time birds talk in his presence, "Please?"

He looks past the Mausoleum area, shaking his head. "Okay, it can't be good...", he tells the others, "Someone's trying to do some mojo-pojo here, and then we're gonna have the dead rising from their graves, and I've gone through that shit twice."

And into the heart of the commotion he follows...

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Stadler, sometimes... just needs to take things as they are. For instance, dog person on top of the mausoleum, and a lot of talking, and people from the school simply there looking at what was there, themselves. Could he blame them for walking through the same cemetery he was, at this point? At least he had a reason for being here, though, unlike what he assumed was a gaggle of the macbre.

"All right, everyone, just... deep breaths, watch where going here and let's not bumble through the dark into this one." He says, moving toward the sound of the digging, and the call of those out there saying they got lost. He calls out to the person who responded. "Stay where you are, then. We'll help you figure out where you're going." He said, before turning to Caleb.

"Doctor Macintyre suffered some misadventure in Cairo which led to her being erroneously reported deceased. It was corrected, but you can't exactly go back on will easily, so, here we are. Now, would you mind explaining why you, and half the school seem to be taking a walk in a graveyard?

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Richard is not really alone. "Boo." comes the vocoded voice from the cowl wearing figure. Then those blacked out eyes look to Richard and there is a nod. "What he said basically." the figure nods. "She got killed by The Morrigan, some dumb asses forgot that when two things are entwined you are not assured that the right one will return. They found an old ritual that gave them words, but not the right ones. She returned. She lost everything at the end of the year last year. Now they are separate. Nothing nefarious." the robotic voice states.

"Now lets go scooby doo this shit gang!" they clap excitedly as they take off towards the digging.

The moon comes out in all of it's glory and down on the ground the fog parts as the people are revealed towards the plots that hold the very old graves, there are shovels and all kinds of stuff strewn about.

And the cowl wearing figure teleports from beside Richard to crouch on one of the gravestones that is being towering over the space that is getting robbed, "Grave robbers?!" the figure growls. "In the old days we'd have your hands." the mask looks pointedly to one of the men as they grip one of the shovels, "Maybe just one..."

...But that is cut off by the gunshots from the scared man in the hole that hit 'Anubis' squarely in the chest and the figure drops to the ground on their back.

The others turn to see who else is coming. "Don't come any closer! We'll leave!" one shouts!

Corben Kelly has posed:
"You two got this, right?" Corben asks of Rick and Caleb. His attention goes to that mausoleum and the God perched upon it. "Also, who's bumbling?" he asks of Rick without actually looking back toward him. "I know exactly what I'm doing, do *you*?"

Talks of misadventures and mistaken deaths - he's almost positive the mistake part is a giant un-truth. Not his place to judge if the headmistress is some sort of zombie or pod person. She seems cool enough.

Growing bored of the mundane-ness of those that *are* bumbling - The Two Brother's Daryl - making all the noise, Corben turns around toward the teleporting about 'puppy of death'.

When he speaks it's in Coptic and the closest he can get in that language to, <<So, everything good, dude? What brings you all the way from the dessert to our ever so humid lit...>> He's surprisingly cool in the face of it all, other than to flinch and duck just a little when the gunfire starts.

"Corbs, don't get killeded!" Screeches Kib'Kir.

"Alright..." His hand finally comes out of his bag. He crushes two small vials in the palm of a leather clad hand. He raises his clenched fist and says, "Snigglefritz," under his breath. From his clenched fist, a mist the color of dried blood pours forth. "Now I'm pissed. I was *talking to him* and that was *rude*." When that mist reaches the grave robbers, it's intended purpose is to snatch and latch onto hands and feet to bind them together. The one that actually did the shooting, well, he might just get a magical gag as well.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Well with the group gathered, the raven swoops down, landing upon a certain teacher's shoulder. But with the lack of weight it should become quite telling to the perch that this is no ordinary raven.

Well, once Rick turns his head just so to see him.

Well, at least that was the plan. When the gunshot occurred, the bird immediately pitches forward flying towards the extended firearm. Talons reaching out to grab at the weapon with a general intent to remove it from the equation.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Well, you see, Mr. Stadler, you hear through the grapevine that strange shit happens at the cemetary, and after two really close brushes with the unliving, I really don't feel like having a third if I can say anything about it. So I felt it was a civic duty to come and check and stop whoever's behind it before they decide to rise up..."

When Anubis provides the reply about Morrigan, he ohs, "Okay, it's not my first rodeo, so I'll just take your word for it."

Upon reaching the area where the grave-robbers are, he shakes his head. "What a friggin' bunch of morons! You really want to be snagged down under by the creatures of the night!? You wanna join the ranks of the undead??"

Richard Stadler has posed:
     There shouldn't be a surprise that, as soon as some creature joking about things stands next to him, in some sort of jackel mask, the hand goes in the fanny pack to draw the small revolver, thumb on the hammer, but not yet having pulled it back. It at least remains pointed at the ground as Rick assesses the threat next to him, and just rolls his eyes. "Does no one in this goddamn town understand operational security? Probably hand off your bank passwords to the first number from Russia that asks, he mutters.

Corben... that's who that was, now, that he could get a look of who it might be, before he shakes his head. "Often, but I don't exactly walk through graveyards. That being said, I'm all for on the job training." He notes, before looking over to Caleb. "While I appreciate civic responsibility... " He notes, but trails off. Pot, meet kettle, in this case. "Just... maybe stay behind me, if you could. I don't like losing students," He asks, before he steps forward to the digging, the shovels... and then the gunshots next to him. Oh, damn it.

The weapon comes partway up, but not all the way; escalation of that nature was hardly needed with slinging spells around him, and the brief flit of a weightless raven on his shoulder going for the weapon they held. Caleb, at least, seemed to have the right idea of chastising, so, well. Voice of reason. "We've got you 4 to one, up here," He says, looking to the downed 'Anubis.' "If not more, and you're not the only one with a gun. Toss it clear and come on out."

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Thankfully the suit is bulletproof. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt! 'Anubis' sits back up and gets to their feet as they watch the men handle the taming of the robbers.

The guy that had shot earlier is as pale as a sheet given all the blood is resting at the bottoms of his feet and his hand is scratched up from a raven. He doesn't protest, he tosses the gun away and then moves to haul his ass out of the grave, "This fuckin' town is cursed and I ain't takin' no more jobs here!" he announces as he gladly lets folks detain him. Humpty and Dumpty, his partners in crime also surrender.

"Wise decision." the voice behind the mask states. But Anubis looks like they are more than happy to let the others get the credit for this. "If you can take them to security to wait for police to show I can take care of the graves." the armored person tells them.

Corben Kelly has posed:
Corben? Well he's starting to have doubts about who's really under that mask. A *God* downed by a bullet? He has questions, but he doesn't ask them.

The red mist bindings will last about four more minutes, so that'll make rounding them up for security easier. As for Corben? He doesn't do 'clean-up' work.

He snap points at Rick and says, "See now that's why I keep all my cash under my mattress." Is that the truth or sarcastic irony? Only way to find out is to check under Corben's bed.

Kib'Kir, who hid under the nearest bush once the shooting started, now takes flight - little wings beating just as hard and fast as they can. Corben? With a wave and a bow, turns right back into the majestic raven that he was in the beginning and takes to the sky.

"Hey, I have little wings! Slow down!" screeches Kibs.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Gun discarded by the robbers, the bird's motion continues forward, getting a bit of a breeze of something unpleasant gracing upon what should not be there. "The Fu-?!" The bird snaps, spinning around mid flight in time to see the blood mist.

The raven's movements are clearly unnatural as he essentially glides back on his talons while standing on nothing but air. The bird's eyes remain fixed upon the mist and the sliding back motion does not stop until he's very much clear of the fog. "WHAT IS THAT?!"

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Tell me, what exactly were you planning on doing here? Some occult ritual? Read from the Necronomicon Ex Mortis? I'm confused", he chastises the robbers, and turns towards Rick, "All packed up and ready to go, it seems.

He looks at the robbers with a sideway glance, thinking how they're really the sort of stupid that would really read from some arcane book if they had it in their possession.

And then, his attention turns to the now tlaking - and alarmed - bird. So, he pulls a sword from his coat, ready to strike at whatever's coming.

And he just showed he has weapons. D'oh!

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Well, there it was. Issue seemed to be resolved, and no one had to die. Stadler carefully decocks the revolver, and stows it back into the fanny pack. "No more than any of the other five boroughs. You know one of them has some sort of spider person?" He says, before looking over to 'Anubis'. "I'll be checking back shortly. Not entirely sure I trust you, but we can deal with that after we get these people to security."

A quick look over toward the... bird that sounds and is probably Mike. "Oh, does the sudden appearance of magic leave you shocked and unnerved?" He says, his tone both exasperted and perhaps a little triumphant. Finally, he wasn't the only one staring at things appearing from thin air like a perverse organic chemistry experiment and getting a little unsettled. "Just... you." He say,s pointing at Corben. "Just go get security." He says, waiting for the robbers to get themselves out of the hole.

And Caleb gets a barked. "Oh, for- put that thing away, goddamn it. Where the hell were you even /storing/ that?" A knife, maybe. A /sword/?

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
"Nothing else is coming." Anubis states. And really there wasn't. "Go now." they wave them off towards the gates. Everything else here would be taken care of by the morning.

The robbers look at Caleb, "The fuck are you on about man we got hired to steal some jewelry from old graves. That shit is worth a lot." one of them states.

And off in the distance there is the sound of sirens.

Ah. The Cavalry.

And Anubis? Well...if they need to be talked to after the graves a sealed they'll be there perched upon one of the gravestones like a big old egyptian ornament!