Latet anguis in herba (IC)

[Aoiroo]

She shrugged her shoulders,

""

Thinking over it for a few seconds she tried to find any holes in what she said that might be exploited,

"

[Supercape]

"Rusty? But still masterful" smiled Quentin. "And thankyou. Much appreciated. "

"And as for next task, I am at your disposal" he said. "Whilst I am not to shabby at Latin, and know a smattering of philosophy and the like, all this arcane stuff is a mystery. I am a man of science, not hocus-pocus. " he hesitated "I mean, umm... magic, that is. "

He coughed and adjusted his bow tie "anyway, what I am trying to say is, I suspect you have a clearer idea about what's going on that I. Nevertheless, my wit is keen and ready. For instance, I suspect we have to track down those three statuettes, and, as you imply, destroy them. "

"Unless they are made of something truly extraordinary, I can destroy them, yes. Just uncouple the atomic bonds. May take a few seconds, or longer, but it won't be long before I can reduce stone to dust. "

[Aoiroo]

""

She stopped for a few seconds, then looked down at the paper,

""

Reaching her purse she pulled out a small white domino mask, she slipped it on her nose and the mask grew to cover the entire top part of her face with a monarch butterfly masquerade mask. Her outfit itself switched to that of a deep amber renaissance dress, and from ber back two wings slightly transparent wings emerged.

""

[Supercape]

"" said Quentin "" and with that, his jacket and clothes changed to that of a hooded monk, identical to the cultists they had just encountered.

"" he mentioned, studying the map again. ""

"" he continued, "". He kicked his foot along the dusty floor, and pulled back an old carpet. The faint outline of a steel manhole could be seen.

"

[Aoiroo]

She looked him up head to toe and smiled,

""

She took a second and then a similar robe appeared on her, though the mask was still visible under the hood the robe itself was just another illusion on top of the glamour cast by the mask.

""

She took a few seconds to get into the manhole and dropped down on a side aisle of what seemed to be a long stream of rather fowl smelling water. She avoided thinking to much about what might be in it as she looked around,

""

[Supercape]

Supercape lowered himself down the hole. It didn't need supersmell to detect they were hitting the sewers. The smell was bad - very bad, but not overpowering.

Climbing down some metal rungs he reached another, looser manhole, and opened it up to reach the sewers proper. It was a short drop - one he avoided by floating down gently into a damp underground pathway. It was pitch black, although he didn't need his eyes to feel the passageway around him and hear the sewage floating past him just a few feet away.

"Come on down! its lovely!" he shouted at Etain, his voice booming down the tunnel.

"Oops!" he said in a softer voice ""

[Aoiroo]

""

She came down and walked down the sewer ahead being careful where she stepped and keeper a gloved hand against the wall as she did. She was rather good at ignoring smells, she could probably trick her nose if she needed to into smelling something completely different. Her eyes she was keeping wide open for traces of anything, mostly magic or a totem, or maybe an opening or a drop that she certianly did not want to fall into.

[Supercape]

"" cursed Quentin. Of course he would be able to navigate perfectly well. The same could not be said for his lady friend.

"" he called back, and concentrated deeply. Photons were complex things, and this wasn't going to be easy. Furrowing his brow, he started shifting some atoms this way and that. He hadn't done this before, and he could see why, elusive little particles.

There! he said, as the subatomic jigsaw fell into place. Bright blue light filled the entire sewer as far as the eye could see.

He wiped the sweat from his brow, and took a breath. That was hard, but he could hold it in place.

"" he proclaimed.

[Aoiroo]

It was a few seconds but she was greatly thankful when her steps became illuminated and she could see clearly down the tunnel.

""

She want ahead not really looking back at her companion, though she did have a lot on her mind. Whoever set this up couldn't be good, and the sooner she found the totem the quicker she could confirm this.

[Supercape]

Quentin dutifully followed behind Etain, trying hard not to think about the filth running past them, or the smell that assaulted his nose. He pitied any metahuman with supersmell coming down here.

As they reached the ladder, it could be seen that it was rusted and in poor array. It appeared to lead up to nowhere, but by dusting off the wall and ceiling, another ancient iron manhole could be seen.

[Aoiroo]

Etain had spent the short bit of time it took Quentin to arrive looking up at the ladder as well as the lid. She was very still as she looked at both and almost instinctively pulled on the tightness of the invisible gloves that were hidden under two layers of glamour. This was overtaken however as she looked at Quentin. She could hear something on the other side of the hole, and it was not standard English. She put a finger over her mouth, then pointed up the hole. The concealment was still on Quentin so he could go up without much fuss.

[Supercape]

"Hold on" whispered Supercape and concentrated, extending his superhuman senses past manhole.

"Four men, moving a little... can't tell much else. Not a big room"

He turned to Etain "Does your glamour effect sound? can we still talk without anybody hearing?"

He glanced at the light bathing the sewers "and what bout the manhole? the light? will they notice that?"

[Aoiroo]

She shrugged her shoulders as the sewers went dark around her,

""

Glancing up at the ladder she backed away and motioned for her to go ahead. She had been leading this whole time, but she couldn't really lift such heavy wroth iron comfortable and even if she could she simply did not like the idea of being in it's proximity.

[Supercape]

"Hold on then" said Supercape, and placed his hand on Etain. With a moments concentration, he opened up a quantum hole to just beyond the manhole, and after a few dizzying moments, they both collapsed into it.

...and unfolded into a dimly lit small room. Four figures, monks, where in the room, with electric lamps on the floor. One had, in his hand, a statuette of some ghastly demonic figure, and was studying a crumbly old book that lay open in the other.

[Aoiroo]

The sudden change of scenery was rather surprising since Etain hadn't been the one who caused. The earned her companion a few glances before she assessed the room. It wasn't very pleasant, and was about as dank as the sewers if not more so and the people there seemed to fit right in with it. She kept the concealment spell up as she walked around the small room careful not to touch anybody as she more closely examined the man with the book and the statuette. The book was in latin but it did not catch her eye as much as the statuette. It was a demon, she hadn't seen many but she knew what they looked like and it had a faint trail of magic as it was inactive. On even closer inspection she found a small crest that made her eyebrows jump up as she backed away from the man and his book to Quentin's side,

""

She took a breath as her dark had a slight unsteady edge,

""

She looked at the book,

""

Taking a few steps forward she let out a breath and shoved the man with the book in an attempt to knock it out of his hands.

[Supercape]

The monk fell heavily, and clumsily, from Etain's shove. The statuette was heavy, unwieldy, and held in one hand - and as the robed man fell hard on his rear end, it inevitably rolled out of his grasp.

Quentin stopped to pick it up - damn, heavier than it looks he noted, taking it with both hands, and as he groaned with the weight, he flicked a pulse of sickly green radiation around the fallen man. He may have been clumsy, but he was robust - screwing his face up with the nausea but not succumbing to the green glow.

[Aoiroo]

Gaining her footing she glanced at Quentin as he grabbed onto the totem then at the other people in the room who were just noticing something was terribly wrong. She didn't need to but glance at them and a blinding screeching flash very similar to a flash grenade as she moved to sweep the book up into her arms. She looked at Quentin,

""

[Supercape]

"Well said" answered Quentin, and reached out for Etain. As the startled monks began to collect their senses from the assault, he reached out and started his small nudges through dimensions and energies that could only be described in complex mathematical terms.

The entanglement causes a slight wobble in local time-space, and they collapsed into a singularity, instantly reappearing in the Church.

It was all a bit disorientating, and Quentin managed to drop the Statuette - loudly.

"Damn that things heavier that it looks!"

[Aoiroo]

The change in setting was still a bit unsettling, but she quickly got over it as she removed her mask as well as the illusion of the brown cloak returning to her regular clothing as she walked over and picked up the totem which was indeed heavy.

""

She held it up with a huff but kept it at waist level as she glanced around the church, she had not been able to compensate of the sound of the totem so everyone in the room had heard the loud thumping but could not find it's source. She looked at Quentin again,

""

[Supercape]

"Oh my aching muscles" groaned Quentin, as he picked up the totem. He felt its mass with his mind, about 50 pounds, he reckoned. Still, with both hands grasped around it, he could manage, even if he was a bit ungainly.

He looked around - with more than his eyes - the Church. He spotted a display case in one corner which had a series of posters set up showing old black and white pictures of the Church.

"That corner looks an attractive proposition" he said, nodding in its direction. "Unless somebody has a fantastic pair of eyes, we can just appear round the corner and nobody will be any the wiser".

[Aoiroo]

She glanced at him then at the totem he so struggled with,

""

Taking a few steps towards him she looked at it again,

"

[Supercape]

Quentin was still, at heart, stuffed full of chivalry.

"" he smiled, his shoulders and biceps aching as he tottered off behind the display as fast as he could. When he reached the blessed safe point, he carefully put the totem down and stretched his aching limbs "there we go, easy as pie".

"What are to do with this anyway? I thought we needed to blast the thing? do we inspect it first?"

[Aoiroo]

""

She glanced around as the spell lifted and she moved out with the statuette looking like a brown box.

[Supercape]

""

"

He gulped

""

[Aoiroo]

""

Glancing at the thing she let out a sigh,

""