6529/Du Manse Du Baton

Du Manse Du Baton
Date of Scene:	11 June 2021
Location:	Buton, France
Synopsis:	Jovian and Rien learn that the Benevolent Cult is using Cthulutech to cause psychic projections and other weird Migo and Yithian tech to do ...not good things and somehow Jovian factors into their plans. Rien keeps a scientist from phasing out and they go to question him at her clans Ville.
Cast of Characters:	Jovian Anderson, Rien D'Arqueness

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Jovian Anderson has posed:
Jovian Anderson used some of his new found wealth to actually DO something and chartered a data analytics company to begin scouring the web and other public networks for anomolies simliar to the ones that occured in Maine and Upper State New York and got a hit in France. Not having enough to really enlist the authorities, he contacted Rien who had seen first hand what...WHOEVER these people were could do. Plus, given the SHIELD fiasco recently, and their treatment by the US government he wasnt keen to tap his own federal contacts. He carefully arranged transport to the site. The epicenter was a family manse now turned into a local museum called Du Manse Du Baton.

Research into Jovian's family line quickly turned out that he was adopted, and the birth parents unknown. It was when he was an infant. Jovian himself doesnt know this because he's never thought to look into it. Both his adoptive parents are alive and quite well adjusted, both senior federal government employees as is the entire Anderson clan, albiet on the more...'normal' side of things, to say that diplomatically. Agencies that or branches within agencies that tend to focus on dealing with threats to humanity or the paranormal but not in the 'x-files' way more like Sentinels or the Buruea of Normalcy.

Initial research into the method of projection across the negative zone doesnt yield much. There are spells that allow a powerful shadow mage to go to 'other shadows' essentially a magical method of going to alternate universes via the negative plane. The negative zone (see Wiki) is ancient and full of peril such as the old gods. It is the source of many darkness themed heroes or villains and is often a world used for teleportation between spaces, but long term 'projection' is a science that isnt even hinted at in current works. One very very old book in the family library spoke of an obscure experiment by a clock maker in the 17th century where he suspected he was finding another world and left a more and more incoherent journal talking about the madness the experiment or shadows caused and created the more he was exposed to it.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
After spending a good amount of time looking into the events she found herself involved in, Rien finds that she's dealing with something that isn't widely studied, thus has little more exact info than she did before. Arming herself with several banishing spells aimed at minions of the old gods just in case they rear their ugly heads/tentacles/amorphous masses, she otherwise just keeps her normal spells in mind, since they served her fairly well the last time. She will look up a ward against teleportation through the negative zone, seeing if she can turn it into something to cut off projections through that same space.

With research on Jovian's family basically a bust (Not really the clan's specialty anyway), Rien will simply have to see what turns up if there is another incident.

When Jovian's call comes in, she is still in La Ville D'Arqueness in the French Alps, so has no difficulty at all reaching the location in question after doing a quick search of the library to see if Du Manse Du Baton has ever come up as a site for any sort of mystical problems before this.

Jovian Anderson has posed:
There are a TON of warding spells against the negative zone since it is the oldest area of forbiddance from life, so there are whole schools of magic dedictateed to just that. The few she picks up are quite potent though there is only one that seems to focus on 'projecting' from since most schools of thought agree that keeping breaches from happening in the first place or sealing them immediately are the best way to handle that.

Jovian himself gets out of an uber looking at the stark Manse with its 17th century architecture in the distance. There are vines, a small parking lot and a visiter's center. He checks his phone and waits, knowing she can teleport.

Research into the Baton family reveals that some believe they were the inspiration for one of the four suites of the Tarot deck, or instead became the cadet branch of a major line instead named for it. The lore is curiously and almost equally obtuse. HERE there is a lot more lore, filled with murder, despair, necromancy and dealings of shadows of many kind. Many of those killed in the inquisition were from the family line which spread to many parts of the globe before the local peasantry rose up and burned the manse which has since been restored by the French government for tourist dollars.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
While not one for terribly flashy entrances, she's also not terribly worried about hiding from the world, and so again Jovian sees that silent flash of light that indicates her arrival, this time from just maybe ten feet away or so. She looks over at the Manse for a moment, then turns to him saying, "Bonjour, monsieur Anderson. Welcome to France, even if it is on business. Did you manage to discover any further information about what is going on?"

She's in the same outfit as before, apparently it could be called her 'work clothes'. She looks back to the Manse, "An interesting history, from what I could find in a quick search. Possible association with the Tarot, as well as much darkness in their background."

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Jovian Anderson says, "A bit. There are reports of the curious duplication of identities and non eucledian folding of reality here, Gotham and southern Arizona with here being the most concentrated and longest. Indeed the 30 mile radius effect has been here the longest of any of the anomolies so far. I'm in discussion with a few companies who have some out there theories on what these guys might be doing with regards to the negative zone but nothing concrete. The Tarot? You mean fortune tellers? And creepy families going back a ways does seem to be a theme with these guys."

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien D'Arqueness nods, "Oui, the Tarot is often used in such a way. One of the suits is Wand, or 'Baton', which is the connection, of course. No proof, but an interesting fact all the same. So, we have the same strange effects here as we did in New York, but over a larger area. Either it has been here longer and gone unremarked, or this is a more powerful manifestation. Either way, we will need to be careful, many strange and dangerous things come from the areas that spawn these beings. Still, we will discover nothing remaining here, so I say we go take a look."

She looks over at him and adds, "Let me give you some protection again, just to be safe." She repeats the ritual from last time, circling him while chanting, and the invisible field of force shimmers into being just over his skin.

"There, better. Let us head in and see what there is to find."

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Jovian Anderson rubs his chin listening as she speaks, "well might be a coincikidink but on the other hand, here we are at creepo central and they are named Baton which even I with the worst french in the world know means stick/wand." He actualy says slash, "And yeah, the ...things in the shadows in main werent good. They seem to keep plenty of critters around. I'll take it, they certainly seem interested in me."

If anything the invisibility takes to him even easier before, like the Ring of Power, and he is Truly Invisible. If it werent her own spell she wouldnt see him at all. He nods, looks at himself, and moves forward, Bolo in hand.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Nodding, she moves alongside him, headed for the main building with all of her senses alert. She's an old hand at this sort of thing, but doesn't take anything for granted. Magic is unpredictable, and with the sense she got that this was being done by a kind of science, she knows anything could happen.

"Let me know if anything looks out of place to you. They seem most interested in you, so might have things specific to you set up."

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Jovian Anderson looks around and its funny, because, now that he knows that they're projected...he sort of...LOOKS and can sense the ones who are, and unlike the previous incindent only about half of the people here are 'not from this Earth.' He carefully looks around and whispers, "About half of the people here are weirdos. I'm not sensing as much bendable space here, so the weird things they do they're being more...subtle. Not sure why.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
She nods again, replying, "It is possible that they have been here for a while and are trying to remain unnoticed. If everyone here is a part of it, this could turn ugly quickly."
Extending her hand, she tries to get a better idea of where the distortion is centered.

Jovian Anderson has posed:
The distortion is clearly in the basement about 20 feet, and its as easy as seeing the sun now that Rien is looking for it, but the curious thing is that until she DID look for it, she literally didnt see it. And it isnt magic, whatever it is. There are also two or three other effects that she can sense the peripheal of but she has to 'look' at it.

Jovian thinks, "Before they were looking for me. Now I'm looking for them. They might have a different pattern. Indeed, this might be a trap, though I'm STILL not sure why they are trying to find me, despite what the goombah back in New York said.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien blinks a little at the intensity of the effect here. Realizing that there is more than one effect in place, she pauses to try and identify what they are.

In the meantime, she says, "There are multiple spells here, the main on is very powerful. I am trying to identify the others, but I think this may be their main base. We will need to be very careful."

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Whatever they are, while they feel like magic...it isn't. She isnt quite sure WHAT it is, since aside from her previous encounter she hasnt really sensed anything like it before but...it does jog a memory deep in her mind about something she read about once, something that will require research. As she looks at the effects, she sees that there is an effect to make people assume the shadow people are real and have always been here, an effect to make people outside of the area not pay attention to the anomolies that goes MUCH farther than the 30 miles and something keeping...the same critters that appeared at all the other sites away, as if the breach...attracts them.

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Jovian Anderson says, "If this is their main base, I say we blow it up."

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Taking a few minutes to sort through the information her detection and sensing spells are giving her, she just holds up a finger to ask for a moment while the verious feelings wash over her. Once she has a handle on what she's getting, she looks to him and replies, "Ok, there's a lot going on. There's an effect to make people believe the fake people are real, another to make people outside not notice the strangeness and a kind of ward, like whatever they are doing attracts creatures like the ones in New York, but this site is protected against them."

After another moment, she nods, "It feels very much like this is their main operation, they have taken a lot of steps to both not be noticed and to protect themselves from creatures their portal, or whatever it is, attracts. They're also doing this in my backyard, which quite simply offends me. I wonder how they'd like a visit from a couple of the Clan's sorcerers." She sniffs, then starts moving in again, "We're going to get some answers, and will take it from there. The center of all this is in the basement, that is where we need to look."

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Jovian Anderson nods, "Sounds good to me." Being invisible is nothing he isnt used to with his darkness powers, but he still moves as stealthily as he can, moving along a hedge maze towards a cargo loading dock in the back, "Stupid question then, I guess you are from France? And Clan?" He whispers it but the tone of curiosity is genuine. Inside, she can see two armed guards who have powerful psychic waves of 'do not pay attention to me' radiating off them. Jovian doesnt see them and they dont see Jovian.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien D'Arqueness chuckles, "I forget you are new to all this. Clan D'Arqueness is one of the great magical clans, with roots stretching back thousands of years, and yes, we are based here in France. We have many powerful mages among us, but this place is so shielded with effects that it didn't stand out like the disturbance in New York."

She pauses, trying to look like she's just in the hedge maze, and asks him, "Can you see the guards in that loading dock?" She interested to see how good their spellwork is, can it hold up when they are actually pointed out.

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Jovian Anderson says, "Yeah..." he looks around and blinks. He snaps his head to the left and right and suddenly, once she points them out he CAN see them and somehow instinctively knows that trick will never work on him again. He whispers, "I can now." He shouldnt be able to. He isnt a wizard. "We need to blow up whatever is in the basement and get the hell out of dodge. I dont know WHY they are looking for me, but nothing about any of them says its a good thing."

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
"I pretty much agree. If this is their foothold here, shutting it down should make it much more difficult for them to do any sort of serious work in this world. Right then, time to play. Don't stand too close to me, in case they're trigger happy."

She does some interesting adjustments to her bustier which has the effect of making her chest spill out a bit, then puts on a somewhat vapid expression and heads for the loading dock.

She calls out to the guards as she approaches them, "Oh, good! I thought I'd be stuck in the maze for-ever! Have you seen my friend? She's got red hair, little taller than me, she's in jeans and a crop top?"

Jovian Anderson has posed:
The first guard falls for this, and smiles widely, "I havent but I will definitely look out for her. What's her name?"

The second almost does but as Rien looks closer she can see he has some odd contact lenses and then a look of alarm crosses his face. He still doesnt see Jovian who stands ready to attack invisibly. She can see the second guard reaching slowly for his gun.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien crouches and leaps the rest of the way to the second guard, leading with a foot to the face, after which she drops into a leg sweep, putting him on the ground and knocking him out with an elbow strike. The other guard boggles for a moment, but manages to pull his gun as she hops to her feet. He aims at her and pulls the trigger as she pops her claws and actually deflects the first bullet. The second tears through her shoulder with a spray of blood, then she is on him. Claws slice through the gun, then there is a knee strike to the solar plexus and a palm strike to the chin which drops him as well.

Turning to Jovian, she glances down at her shoulder, where the wound is visibly closing before his eyes and says, "Well, at least he didn't ruin my clothes. Leather is expensive." as if getting shot is an ordinary kind of thing for her. He can probably tell she's gritting her teeth a little though, apparently she may heal, but bullets still hurt.

"Let's go, we can't be sure if anyone heard that."

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Jovian Anderson says, "I....am happy to replace anything you lose. Its the least I can do and have very little idea what to do with most of the money the Nazca says I've inherited. Clothing is something I've learned to buy given my early absolutely awful attempts at costuming." He puts the bolo away as she tears the guards a new one, clearly impressed. Jovian is relatively certain no one heard it but then again the cthulutech contacts shouldnt have noticed Rien for what she was either. He presses the button on the service elevator and it opens with an ominous 'ding' He notices the healing factor and nods approvingly. "Handy.""

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Once the elevator opens, she steps in and waits for Jovian to enter, waving him over to the side of the door as she moves to the other side so that neither of them are directly in the door when it opens again. Depending on how many sublevels there are, she'll his the button for the lowest one first.

"Yes, it comes in very handy in my line of work, you tend to get wounded a good deal when you hunt demons. Being able to heal makes me especially good at my job, so it was a nice surprise when it started happening. I would have been doing it either way, this just makes me a lot harder to kill."

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Jovian Anderson says, "Its handy in my line of work too but something tells me you dont get that from vitamins." His own powers were horrific enough and caused the death of dozens of people. That is not a roulette wheel he is anxious to try his hand at again. The elevator descends and then opens up with two more guards surprised to see the two of them, one of whom Jovian immediately bolos with surprisingly fast reflexes."

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
As quickly as Jovian reacts, so does Rien, striking out with a quick savate combo to take out the other guard. AFter that, she quickly looks around, trying to get an idea of the space that the elevator has opened up into. "No, afraid it's natural, not something that can be granted."

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Once the guards are dispatched it is easier to get their immediate bearings. The two of them are in a long coordidor, a converted wine cellar that seems to twist in non euclidean angles clearly larger on the insinde than the outside. The entire area twists in ways that Rien has no doubt would induce madness if she were to stay here too long though Jovian seems utterly unaffected. There are three other workers on a catwalk frather into the middle of a room tending to a giant machine. On seeing it, she immediately remembers the obscure reference that she saw before. It was an artifact on another timeline she visited once called the Great Race of Yith. A city in the far distant past that seemed to allow mental time travel accross vast aeons and it looks like the people from whatever Shadow Earth these people come from have adapted the technology to allow projection across the negative zone instead of the future or the past. They seem to constantly tend a complex array of crystals that she can feel the magical energies flux back and forth in a series of sonics that only her heightened senses can hear that is impossible flute music like the Music of the Spheres played backwards. There is only one guard but he is near what is clearly an alarm.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien stares for a moment as the music fills her ears, then shakes her head, "Merde. These people are insane. This thing was never meant to be used for this. I'm surprised it hasn't blown up in their faces to begin with. This needs to be shut down, quickly."

She glances to Jovian, then indicates the guard, "Can you take him out before he hits the alarm? My ranged attack has a better than even chance of killing him, and I prefer not to if I can avoid it."

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Jovian Anderson says, "Well, I'm invisible...why not take advantage of the fact?" He moves with surprising stealth, able to sync his own skills with shadow memories in his mind with increased ease in this state, moving quite effectively and totally unaffected by the increasingly odd and shrieking tones played by a demonic Dr Demento reverse engineering the sound track from "Big Trouble in Little China" to a Zither. The guard doesnt notice him and with a quick flick of a bolo and a punch to the face, the guard is out.

The scientists are initially horrified at this until one of them says, "YOU! QUICK! USE THE EXTRACTALATOR!" He grabs for a large cone shaped...thing...points it at Jovian and...well, visibly nothing seems to happen but Rien sees something reach out in N dimensional space, waves and tentacles on the ultraviolet spectrum and something ...happens.

"All Hail Emperor..." he looks at something that lookslike a Speak and Spell made Iphone, "Jovian Anderson?!"

"

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien curses and pulls earplugs from a belt pouch as she rushes forward, jamming them into her ears as she heads for the scientist. She reaches out with her telekenesis to yank the cone out of his hands and over to her. "What did you do?" She glances at the conical object and then over to Jovian to see if he seems to be ok or not.

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Jovian Anderson looks at himself and checks up and down, shrugs and gives a thumbs up to Rien.

The first scientist is all to happy to babble,"It is actually a variant of a Migo device really, it explores the differences between timeline variants and the psychic concept of self aligning the two in a way to gain significant details about who a being is, primarily useful for assimliating into a new timeline..."

The second scientist shouts, "Silence you fool. That isnt what she wanted to know." He looks at Rien and says, "He is the way to bring back the Consort. This device is linked to the central network back in the Empire. We have cowered like rats from the hunter long enough. Now we have our OWN emperor. Our lives are meaningless."

"My life isnt meaningless."

"Silence worm! And this is why you were never trusted with the Greater Secrets....Active Self-" Jovian punches him in the gut.

"Seriously?" Jovian snickers.

The first scientist howls with rage, "I am just as worthy as you! Activate Self Destruct!"

A red claxon begins to sound and the first scientist frowns, "Well that was wasteful and anticlimatic..." and reaches onto his wrist and suddenly vanishes.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Grabbing the second scientist than Jovian punched, she punches him again to make sure he's out and won't vanish like the first one, then tosses him over her shoulder with surprising ease and reaches out to grab Jovian's arm, "Time to go." She spits out a quick phrase and teleports them out, landing them outside where she appeared earlier. Once there, she checks the scientists wrists to make sure he doesn't have some kind of escape device like the first one did.

Jovian Anderson has posed:
The scientist is positively indignant. This isnt supposed to happen! He squirms a lot but POOF the two are teleported out thus depriving the artist/narrator the tense running to escape just in the nick of time he desperately wanted but if he had been clever he would have put up a teleportation blocker in the first place to make that happen now wouldnt he?

As it is, there is a large plume of smoke as the basement implodes. While the priceless historical building is not ruined, it is very much on fire and the sound of sirens for firetrucks approaches in the distance. Without the central link, many people disappear, but the scientist is able to be kept on this plane with a simple binding spell on Rien's part.

"Well, that went better than last time" Jovian smiles and while he doesnt PUNCH the scientist he does take the thing on his wrist. The scientist seems shocked that Jovian cand do that and smiles before falling unconcious.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien D'Arqueness looks at Jovian, saying, "We should probably make ourselves scarce before police show up. At least this time we have somebody to talk to about it. Just as a suggestion, I think perhaps my people can help us with him, both in keeping him on this plane and questioning him. Unless you have any ideas what to do with him."

She adjusts the scientist on her shoulder, handling him easily despite her short stature. "This one boasted about knowing the greater secrets, punching him was a good call."

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Jovian Anderson says, "Aside from SHIELD which are pretty hard to get ahold of these days, nothing immediately comes to mind." He thinks, "Well OK thats not true I do have the Nazca..." he looks at the scientist who is looking RIGHT AT HIm practically begging him to go on, "Yeah...maybe you should take him to your clan. Look at those beady eyes. And thanks, it was the most coontrol of this crazy situation I've felt in some time."

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien D'Arqueness nods, "Well, I have a lot more information now, I have an idea what they're using to do this. I don't think it's over though, they talked about a network of those portals in their empire, so I expect they may pop up again."

She considers him for a minute, then asks, "Are you coming along too? You're rather directly involved in this, obviously, I would think you'd want to be there for the questioning. Hell, he called you their emperor, maybe he'll answer you."

Jovian Anderson has posed:
Jovian Anderson is very much used to mildly helping, moving back to the shadows and the occasional dimestore batman adventure. He thinks a moment says, "I...yes, I will come. I have no idea what any of this means but its time I stopped living in ignorance.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien reaches out and takes hold of Jovian's arm again and nods, "Always best to know what you're getting into. A good choice, in my opinion."

She chants for a moment, then in a flash of light, all three of them vanish from the scene.

Next stop: La Ville D'Arqueness