3151/Court of Owls - Black Book Prologue

Court of Owls - Black Book Prologue
Date of Scene:	29 August 2020
Location:	Gotham
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Rose Wilson, Damian Wayne

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Bruce Wayne has posed:
It was likely from the start that this one would be different....

For weeks now the Bat-Family have been combing various buildings in Gotham for traces of the Court of Owls, with relatively little to show for it beyond uneasy feelings and fleeting tidbits that don't really tell them much more than they knew before. It's almost been as though the court was taunting them. Tonight's building, however, was slightly outside the profile. Built in the right timeframe, but by a different architect from the pair that was largely responsible for Gotham's Neo-Gothic look. Preliminary scouting gave the indication that if there was a hidden space here, it was likely larger than several of the others, and thus necessitating a larger team to scout it.

And it WAS necessary, because there WAS a hidden space and it WAS much larger. Instead of taking up a "hidden floor" it actually takes up what would equal three, in a square of large chambers along the outside of the building, leaving the center "empty." Those that know the building in daylight know the unusual design does have an open center, reaching not-quite to the top of the building, but close. Glass elevators near the center give a great view of the building's interior. For Gotham it's even well-maintained, and something of a tourist attraction for the great wooden carvings on the wall part-way up the interior...reaching about three-stories tall, depicting events from Gotham's earliest days through to the Revolution, culminating in Darius Wayne's burning of British ships in the harbor...though in this carving the men accompanying him are wearing masks that...might look somewhat familiar at this point. Not identical...but the lineage is there. Talons.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
The building has interior elevators in all four corners, and it's via one of these that they have gained access to what can charitably be called a "foyer". Dim lights hang from chains dangling from the high-overhead ceiling. The carved faces of owls look down upon them, and portraits line the walls...many of people they do not recognize...and a few that they do. Prominent people from Gotham's past. Drakes, Cobblepots, Kanes, Elliots, Arkhams, members of old, long-gone families. Members of families that rose to prominence in the decades and centuries after the Founding. Some that were from none of the major wealthy families but nonetheless made their mark: A few mayors, a police commissioner, a Senator or two. It's a who's who of Gotham's history but for the complete lack of anyone with the Wayne surname. But the most disturbing part might be that there are sounds that can be heard hear, deeper in down darkened corridors...sounds like...chanting.

Jason Todd has posed:
Red Hood had been less than happy when he was put on this mission and was even less happy to be leading it. "I'm not even a member of this damn team," he'd tried to protest but it wasn't true any more and he knew it. So he sucked it up, suited up and lead the team to this latest of the possible Owl buildings. Though when the lift doors open it goes from possible to definite in the span of a heartbeat, the decor was terrifyingly familiar, and he glances back at Red Robin when he sees, seeing if his reaction matched Red Hood's own: concern.

Leading the way inside, Jason unslings a shotgun from his back, and flicks on the UV flashlight which keeps its light from being detected for those without UV optics, and moves towards the sound of the chanting. Gesturing with hand signs, he sends Rose and Tim down one flank of the room and then gestures for Damian to join him down the other side, giving Damian the nod to take point.

Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin does look concerned, though only for a moment before the proverbial mask slips back over his face. The chanting... he glances back to Ravager for a moment, before he takes the position Hood had gestured for him to take, switching the all-black compressed staff in his hand out for the other one, this one with light grey ends, hooked to the side of his utility belt before flicking it out to full. He scans the area ahead, seeing what feedback he gets in his headsup display.

The decor bothers him. The chanting unnerves him. For a moment, he's on a black sand beach with tentacles rising from the water towards him. He quickly shakes the image out of his head. Focus. Fear is for later, and Bats don't feel fear, they GIVE fear to others.

Rose Wilson has posed:
There is very little for Rose to be concerned about, except for the chanting and her own brush with it recently. But then again, she doesn't look concerned. Regardless of any inner reaction, she keeps that off her face.

Instead, there's an eerie calm that comes over her as she starts to move down the side of the room that her and Tim are directed towards. Often she opts for sword or gun, this time she's got both. One gun is very visible, and near to hand, although she's only got one of her two swords drawn for the moment.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     The foyer had been a sight to behold, even as they entered, he noticed the relief carvings on the wall, especially the one depicting Darius Wayne's burning of British ships in Gotham Harbor. But the Talons...Damian reached up to his mask, and after adjusting a zoom, grabbed a snapshot of the carving. Surely the fact that Talons instead of militiamen were on that relief, was severely important.

  Robin took point, drawing the katana he kept on him. The chanting, was unnerving, even in the League, chanting was never heard, that was a whole other brand of crazy, even for Ra's himself.

  Robin kept on point, gently opening the door from the foyer, just a scoche, to check for anyone on the other side, before slinking in, and continuing to check corners and entryways.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
A more narrow, but still high-ceilinged corridor leads towards the sounds, and dim light shines through the opposite end...dim blue light, if we're being specific. The chamber that lies beyond is indeed nearly full...with what looks like a couple dozen Talons prostrate on the floor, motionless. By the state of their uniforms likely the "mindless" variety. At the far end of the chamber, a "talon coffin" not altogether unlike that which Jason Todd has recently been all-too-familiar with. Only this one is...considerably larger than the norm. About twice as big, all around. On the floor? Disturbingly familiar symbols. Only this time? They're glowing with pale blue light.

The source of the chant is higher up, basically on what would be the "second floor" standing behind waist-high panels....overall likely a dozen men and women wearing owl masks. On the far wall, that second-story continues, but only a single owl-mask sits, holding what looks like a well-aged piece of paper or parchment or something of the type. He's leading the chant, and there is a nimbus of that blue light around him. He is flanked by two Talons on each side, of the variety that do NOT look like the mindless ones.

But between the chanting and the attention apparently being on the ritual itself, making a stealthy approach is easy enough. The only real problem is that there doesn't seem to be much in the way of avenues to get past the threshold without revealing their presence.

Jason Todd has posed:
Pausing in the shadows, Red Hood flicks off the light, there's enough illumination as there is and he doesn't want a better look at those circles than he needs to have. They already conjure images of slithering tentacles and promises of darker futures.

The sight of the prostrate Talons makes Red Hood's grip on his weapon grow tighter, though as he takes in the fullness of the scene, his grip loosens and he moves further into the darkness.

He keys comms, << There's too many of them here. Withdraw. We'll deal with them another time. >> Yes, possibly for the first time in history, Jason Todd has yielded to the better part of valour. << Record all this though, it'll be useful later >>

Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin stiffens a bit as he watches the scene in front of him. <<Recording already, Hood. Transmitting back to base as we speak.>> He pauses a moment. <<Get Robin and Ravager out. I'll hold visual until everyone is good, and withdraw last.>> He glances over towards Hood with a grim look. <<After all, they //probably// won't hurt me if things go sideways. No guarantees on the rest of you.>>

Rose Wilson has posed:
Retreat? Rose frowns, but she can't argue either, knowing what she knows. Experiencing what she's experienced.

That doesn't make it better, though, and despite Tim's very generous offer to go last she doesn't budge. And since he's close enough to see her the expression that she offers should easily convey the thought 'over my dead body'.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian turns to Red Hood as he keys in the order to withdraw, partially because it was Jason that said it, and partially because he felt they could prevail in an assault.

  But being in the heart of the beast was no place to call someone out on tactics. So, Robin started to step back, frustrated look on his face. He didn't key into the comms channel, he just moved, even hesitating a bit as he argued with himself.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
The chanting continues, the glow intensifying with each passing moment, until finally the gentleman holding the page shrieks in a combination of terror, pain, and surprise, but it's abruptly cut-off as he is nigh-instantly incinerated in a flash of blue flame, leaving only his owl mask to clatter to the floor below, bouncing right off that big "Coffin" before it hits the ground.

The circles and runes on the ground flash brightly along with that flame, and then wink out, and those dozen+ lesser-Talons on the ground promptly crumble into piles of ash.

The coffin hisses as it's seal is broken, the stench of rot from within strong enough that even those in the corridor get a whiff before the container creeeeeaks open, for a moment only impenetrable blackness visible within, before it becomes apparent that whoever or whatever is inside is wrapped in a black shroud.

Then it starts moving, struggling to pull that shroud off...

Then it speaks, with a voice that sounds like it's speaking from the mouth of an open grave:

"BOrn oN a MonDay...."

Jason Todd has posed:
<< Robin's probably fine too, Ravager and I are the gutter trash >> Jason says, voice full of venom for their enemies. Hotel Owl definitely got a 0/10 rating on Yelp from Jay. << But nobody's getting left behind. >>

Though when the Chanter-in-Chief gets incinerated Jay blinks and even smiles a bit, that smile definitely does not last long once what's in the coffin begins to speak. "Fuck," he says. "They've got Grundy," he says. Suddenly Jay felt like he didn't have enough firepower, not by a long shot.

<< Doubling up on that falling back thing, let's get out of here, now. >> Jason holds fast however, sticking by a pillar and keeping an eye on the Talons and Grundy, waiting to cover the team's escape.

Tim Drake has posed:
"Oh for fuck's sake..." Red Robin hisses in an undertone. "They didn't."

They did.

<<This is going to be very painful,>> Red Robin chirps over comms in the faux cheer he falls back to when things are about to get awful. <<Also, looks like our old friend from last week was not expecting the incineration inquisition.>> He grips his staff tighter. <<Yeah. Agreed, Hood.>> and then, because he realizes his girlfriend likely has no idea what's happening... (he doesn't realize Damian might not either)... <<He's like the worst undead Hulk. You can't kill him. You can't even really annoy him much. He's basically Frankenstein's monster with a permanent 'roid rage. DO NOT ENGAGE, Ravager. He will literally rip you in half.>>

Rose Wilson has posed:
Can anyone else feel the brow flick upwards?

<< Who said I was going to engage anyone? >> It's such a serene question, like never once in her life had it every occurred to her to do anything but dutifully follow orders. Which she's not, unless Tim moves. Until then, she's staying put, her free hand absently settling on her gun.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     <<What the hell is a Grundy?>> He answers, before he scowls yet again, given Tim's answer.

  "Fuck this." Even Damian knew when there was no other choice, and he double timed it to retreat. <<This locale is going to be burned, they'll sanitize it. Get as much data as possible.>> He was already uploading as much as he could to the Batcave.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Another detail that even if they don't notice immediately will be readily apparent on the footage they've gathered: The page the man had been holding doesn't get affected by the flames the least little bit. In fact it floats gently down to the floor the man had been standing on, where one of the Talons scoops it up, rolls it up, and tucks it in a case. Two of the Talons leap down from the second floor, one moving to pluck up the fallen mask, and the other moving to step in front of the coffin, where sure enough, the shroud has been torn off, leaving the grey-white skinned figure of Solomon Grundy beneath, though his attire is different now...not exactly the attire of a Talon, but certainly a jumpsuit that is far more...intact...than the tattered rags he normally manifests in.

Oh, and his eyes are glowing that particular blue color...indeed one might almost see some of the fire that just engulfed the ritualist burning in them.

The Ghost of Slaughter Swamp is making no move to attack the Talon that now stands before him. Indeed, the last thing they catch on their own video feeds before they make their retreat is Grundy lowering himself to one knee before him....