2100/Harbinger of Trouble

Harbinger of Trouble
Date of Scene:	14 June 2020
Location:	Belvedere Castle
Synopsis:	Spider-Man reaches out to OG Spider-Woman about the Kulan Gath threat.
Cast of Characters:	Peter Parker, Jessica Drew

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Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man was hoping Spider-Woman would show.

He had considered using Spider-Comm, but this sounded crazier than a soup sandwich, and he had to show her things as well as tell her things. And right now, Belvedere Castle was closed due to some renovations, which made the roof a good place to meet.
Spidey had arrived 20 minutes early, hoping to see her soon.

This was his life now, wasn't it? Madness, malice, death...and things worse than death.

Jessica Drew has posed:
The castle has always held a fond place in Jessica's heart since discovering New York City and the pleasures of the park. She liked looking down on the park below from its flag topped towers. Spider-man's message was intriguing to say the least so as soon as her work with SHIELD released her, she was on her way. Of course, not through the main entrance but up the side of the building, a way to shake out some of the cobwebs.

Still in SHIELD black, she drops over the edge, she saying sprightly, "Hello! What's new on the web?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man turns as Spider-Woman appears. Okay...this is a look he hasn't seen on her. Must be nice to have a clothing budget.

"Hey there. I had pondered telling you over the channel, but I think you would think I was a NUT." He removes his backpack and places it on the floor of the parapet, sitting down next to it. "Do you promise to hold off on thinking my web has a few loos strands before I finish?"

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jessica frowns, head at a thoughtful tilt as she considers all the implications of what he has just said. "Catch me up on what's been going on to make you say that, please. You sound worried. And, do I come off that judgmental?" Without ceremony, she sits down cross-legged in front of him and makes an open-handed gesture of invitation to talk.

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey shook his head. "No, you don't. But this will push the boundaries of credulity...and sanity." He took a long, deep breath. "How much H.P. Lovecraft have you read?"

Jessica Drew has posed:
"I have these funny... gaps in my education. So, only that he wrote about the weird and the spiritual. Oh, and science fiction like things, I suppose but I've never been attracted enough to him to spend my time reading him." She leans forward searching his face for clues. "How come?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man took a deep breath. "Well...about 120 centuries ago, the world went through what was called the Hyborian Age. The bible talks of days when giants walked the earth, when angels had children who became heroes of old, men of renown. During this age, a sorcerer named Kulan Gath sought to gain control over most of this ancient world, if not all of it. He was thwarted repeated by by two major heroes of the time. Conan of Cimmeria and Red Sonja of Hyboria. Recently...I have seen things that suggest that Kulan Gath has returned."

Jessica Drew has posed:
"Oh!" Jessica impatiently brushes back her hair over her shoulder and frowns till her generous lips flatten out. "I'm confused. A bit. I thought that was that fellow, Howard, who wrote about that, a setting for Conan. Erm, I should know who Kulan Gath is, I imagine. But don't. Who is he? He, I take it."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey sighs. "It's...complicated. Kulan Gath was a major-league sorcerer, but he served something known as Shuma-Gorath, or 'He Who is Sleeping.' Basically, a Great Old One...something so monstrous, looking at it could snatch the sanity right out of you."

He leans back against the parapet wall, opening the backpack. "I suspect that Howard had some kind of connection to some source that lived during that time, maybe even Conan himself. But it was too much for him. He committed suicide in 1936. Maybe he couldn't handle what he was seeing."

Jessica Drew has posed:
"Yes. Right, right," she replies impatient with the veil of mystery. "So what is it that you've been seeing?" Jessica's expression softens and she again leans forward trying to read him. "How are you doing?"

Peter Parker has posed:
"Right, okay. Sorry...uhm, how do I...right."

Spidey takes a deep breath. "Okay, first...I met a woman who is channeling the spirit of Red Sonja. They are both sharing the same body. Second...there have been some creatures that have been spotted in the subway."
Spidey sends an image to Jessica, and a picture of something that looks like a goblin appears in her HUD. It is not an artist's rendition, but a photograph.

Jessica Drew has posed:
"Well, crikey. He's a beauty, isn't he?" Unconsciously leaning backward as though that would distance her from the frightening face.

"And a woman, ah, channeling Red Sonja? Now, that's disconcerting and interesting at the same time. How is she at handling swords?"

Settling in as though for a good story told before a fire, "Where did you all meet?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey sighs. "Well, I'm going to send a video file you can peruse at you leisure. But suffice to say...she's VERY good at it. I've even added her to the Spider-Comm system. Check in the user category 'Honorary Spiders' and you'll find Red Sonja."

An alert pops up of a video file titled "Failed Monster Summoning at Smallpox Hospital, Roosevelt Island" being made available.

Jessica Drew has posed:
"I'm very out of the loop," she murmurs, reading the alert, then looking at him intently for his reaction. "What's this then?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey rubs his face. "About forty of those goblin types...and two cave trolls, because they look like cave trolls, and I got to say The Line...were trying to summon something worse than them. They even had two women from Cornell Tech as prospective human sacrifices."

Jessica Drew has posed:
"And here I've been worried about paperwork burying me at the Triskelion!" She holds her head as though a headache is dawning behind the eyebrow she rubs. "Cave trolls and goblins? This is all of one piece? Some how related? How can I help?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey looks around, then takes an object out of his backpack. it is a stone tablet, the cunieform letters charred and blurred.

"I'll send you all the data I can on these. Right now, it's mostly keeping your eyes open and spotting these things easily." He looks around. "I don't know if you have anyone in SHIELD who knows about this sort of thing...but if you do and they want something to look at, give them this. It's some kind of used-up summoning stone."

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jessica holds the tablet gingerly, "How old are these? I'm surprised it isn't in a museum if my guess about how old it is, is right." She examines it closely, brushing her fingertips over the surface in awe.

"SHIELD has a whole division given over to this sort of thing." Jessica raises her head to give him a piercing look, "Spotting /these/ things? Spotting what things exactly?"

An idea dawns on her, "Wait. Was this used recently?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man nods. "Yes. It was almost used successfully, too. However, there was some sort of overload when Sonja slew the spellcaster goblin, and it fried it. In any case, just...any weird stuff matching the creatures in the database or language in the same lettering."

Jessica Drew has posed:
"Are you asking me to make an official sort of enquiry?" The tablet is handed back to him. "I mean, bring SHIELD attention to this? I can, if that is what you want."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spider-Man sighs. "Look...on the one hand, I have no idea what SHIELD would do, and I'd like to be able to act quickly on this sort of thing. On the other hand, I don't want New York to be renamed New Hyboria because I got selfish with information."

Jessica Drew has posed:
"I can look on the computers but there are people who know far more about what most of us call the supernatural. I can't really do it unofficially. All of our computer enquiries are tracked." She watches his reaction before going on. "I can talk to a few of my colleagues and get their opinions. Or I could officially notify them of supernatural events that are potentially dangerous. What would you like? I'd find it hard to be quiet about something that is potentially dangerous to the general public, you know."

Peter Parker has posed:
Spidey sighs. "Better make it official. At the very least, no one can say they weren't warned." He looked around. "Listen...thanks for listening. And not considering me a candidate for Rubber Room Ritz."

Jessica Drew has posed:
"Send me the material. Pictures. Especially what you showed me. Please." She leans forward to tap him on the knee. "No one would doubt your sanity. Well. Not much," she smiles faintly, trying to get him to laugh. "I'll let it be known. Alright? I think alerting them is a good thing, myself." Rising she stands looking down on him with a concerned expression.