The Snake-Charmers (IC)

[Ari]

GM

With a fairly anticlimatic rattle, the hanging lights dimmed and flickered, the jolts of electricity partially obscuring the arrival of the the four slinking black shapes on the floor. Thin wisps of some black vapor wafted off of their completely lightless bodies, which disintegrated as it approached the lamps. None of them were much larger than a normal human, though that was still large for a snake, and something about them suggested a general immaturity, as though they weren't what they might be with more time.

With a liquid hiss, one of them reared up to around eye level of the heroes, scanning them with invisible eyes as the others moved forward noiselessly, wincing as the light intensified, their tongues flickering as they tasted the air. Jane Guan gave a sigh of relief at the advance of the black serpents, and relaxed noticeably.

[Aoiroo]

Silhouette didn't need much more invitation. She sprung forward, putting both hads together like she was diving and changing form to two dimension. She brought the clasp hands down on top of the snakes and split one of them from head to tail only leaving it's wispy halfs shaking at the sudden slice, before glancing around,

"I kind of expected better from snake demons, but regular demons are much more vicious."

[Ari]

GM

With a hollow shriek of pain the diaphanous scion of Apep, with a violent effort that sent lashing tendrils of shadow writhing across the room, reformed itself, closing the large gap Silhouette had cut. Coiling into a wavering spring, the recently bisected shadow snake seemed to pour itself across the floor in a liquid movement, and with a black light blazing in its eyes formed a lance from the shadow cast by the King of Suits which it sent stabbing towards its 2-D assailant.

Two of the others, their sinuous heads fixed on the red and black-clad vigilante, sent a coiling mass of tentacles at the King of Suits to try and bind him. One of them barely missed, groping violently as the man ducked and dodged the limbs, which sent him straight into the grasp of the other, who quickly covered most of his body in a black and seething mass, stifling his every movement.

The last dashed forward, drew back its head and sent a sickening cloud of dark power directly at Silhouette, which missed her by several inches.

[Ari]

The King of Suits had been as surprised as anyone when the serpent of darkness reconstituted itself, muttering peevishly under his breath "That's certainly not fair." This set off a train of thought pondering whether creatures like himself and Silhouette might have similar abilities if in the shadow world, which regrettably left him a little slower on his feet than he ought to have been.

He saw the first attack coming, and with a careful series of ducks and jumps managed to evade the grasping, boneless limbs, which left him open to the follow-up from it's comrade.

Marceau yelped in surprise as the shadow tentacles neatly wrapped around his midsection and slammed him bodily into the ground, and he winced as his left hip thudded painfully onto the metal floor. Well this is embarrassing he thought wryly, glaring at the shadowy monster that had pinned him so can't even get at my belt like this with my arms stuck to my sides. Seeing how effectively his comrade had cut one of their number in half, however, he didn't see any immediate danger to either of them. "Keep at it, Sil!" he called over as best he could lying prone and slowly having the air pushed from his lungs "I have complete confidence in your prowess and their weakness!"

[Aoiroo]

"You're telling me."

She took a few steps back before ducking an attack and swipping her leg through the air slicing clean through two more snakes before backing up and looking at him,

"Do you need some help?"

She said that but she kept an eye out as another one of them tried to lunge at her, she jumped out of the way and let it fall forward before she resumed her position.

[Ari]

The two shadow monsters, their bodies cut neatly in twain by the flat heroine, gave twin shrieks of anguish utterly unlike anything a terrestrial snake could emit before they briefly expanded before exploding into ribbons that swirled through the air, sailing almost invisibly through the air back through the hole in the floor, following their comrade's remains. At their banishment, the dark bonds constraining the King of Suits evaporated along with their bodies.

"Do you need some help?"

"Quite a lot!" exclaimed Marceau, springing nimbly to his feet and neatly adjusting his cape "My thanks for that". Glancing at the last child of Apep remaining he frowned briefly, sliding a card marked with the suit of Clubs from a container on his belt, before throwing it directly into its face with a careless flick of his wrist. The explosion did a number on the floor, slightly melting and bending it under the sudden burst of heat and force, but the light was what really harmed the slithering monster. With a low howl that was cut short before it could get any higher, it was simply burned away by the explosive card, a smoking stain on the floor the only sign it had ever been.

Turning briskly back to Carrie, he gave a slight bow before walking up to Jane, squatting in front of her until his eyes were level with hers, and asked "So..what exactly will happen now?" Shrugging, the cultist said casually "Oh, the high priest will probably send a lesser shadow to drift through that hole, and when he sees we've survived he'll call upon one of the elder children of Apep to come up and kill us all by mere proximity. It's really impressive," she added with utter seriousness "I'd advise we just wait around and see it happen." Staring at her in quiet shock, the King of Suits asked, eying her with no little distaste "There wouldn't happen to be another way out of here, would there?" Jane pointed up at a large and quite heavy-looking vent around 30ft. up the wall near the door Silhouette had come in through, which like the doors in the steps had a shimmering black field in front of it, as did Marceau's.

Whipping out a grapple gun, the King of Suits glanced at Silhouette "Do you want to go up first, or shall I?"

[Aoiroo]

Sil picked up the woman,

"I probably should, I bring the woman up, you come second after you've set this place to blow to high hell. Small subtle explosions at areas of structural weakness should bring the place down without causing any flying debree going outward. Shouldn't be too hard to find, I bet dollars to donuts this place hasn't been up to code since the eighties."

Looking over the hole she nudged the woman as she got the grappling gun ready,

"Wave goodbye to the demons who would of likely killed you upon sight, you won't be seeing it again."

[Ari]

GM

With the assistance of the grapple gun, it was child's play to climb up to the metal vent grate, which yielded easily to the combined efforts of the two heroes, the cultist seeming almost put out that she wouldn't get to be horribly killed by a shadow snake monster. As shards of grilled iron clattered and banged down onto the sloping(and now rather dented, cut and burnt) floor below, the cramped and dusty passageway in front of them dimmed rapidly as it proceeded further into the bizarre cult hideout, with the usual tricks of light and shadow creating the illusion of movement deeper within.

[Ari]

Sliding neatly into the ventilation tunnel('shaft' seemed inappropriate considering the hefty materials and solid construction of the place). the King of Suits made sure to keep as careful a distance as he could from Jane, which in the cramped confines amounted to little more than a couple of feet. A short look at the gloomy way, revealing only musty shadows and smooth stone, got a quiet sigh of relief out of him, followed by an idle rumble of "Well..looks like there isn't much to detain us, but just to be sure..." Slipping a pair of night-vision goggles from a pouch on his belt, he glanced at the way ahead, humming quietly to himself until something unexpected caught his eyes.

"...Ah, I spoke to soon" he said regretfully, neatly 'cuffing Jane's hands behind her back as he began to creep forward in a rather spidery fashion "Do you see it Silhouette?" he asked a little nervously, flicking a fold of his cape aside to get at what looked like a card marked with the suit of Diamonds.

[Aoiroo]

"I really wish I hadn't, light this place up, or tear it down. Those things should not see the dark of night that's for sure."

Sil hefted the cultist with her as she moved down the tunnel. She could call up the lab if this was some radioactive giant bugs, but yeah she knew when she was out of her deph, and she really wished someone more occult minded was around to help deal. Maybe she could find a way to contact Nick Cimitiere later, or maybe Warlock if he was still doing that thing. Maybe next time she saw any of them she could suggest a hotline, or a facebook page, or something. Given she'd need a cell phone by then, if only version would take payment plans in sterling gold coins.

[Ari]

Hefting the card, an odd look came over Marceau's face, and his quietly slid it back intot he pack it came from. In the same movement he unhooked an odd-looking but identifiable flash-bang grenade from a lineup of them on the back of his belt. Removing the bottom half and tossing that into a pocket in his cape, he slung it with impeccable aim at the slowly waving mass of shadow coating the ventilation tunnel. Turning his head aside and deactivating his goggles, he held up a portion of his cape to block out the flash of light that exploded from the small device. The 'bang' was nigh-nonexistant, a necessary precaution in those close quarters, his ears thanked him for it. Dropping the mass of fabric with a slight smile of triumph, he reactivated his goggles and surveyed the damage.

To his shock, he beheld the writhing mass exactly as it had been before, though with ripples passing through it at the point of impact.

Turning to Silhouette he said apologetically "I'm really most dreadfully sorry. If it's alright by you I will try again, but with this:" with a rasp the card he had been holding before was in hsi hand "I must ask, however, that you shield your nose if your mask doesn't provide protection from that already."

[Aoiroo]

Silhouette put her hand on her mask almost immediately and spoke through it,

"It better not be one of those smells that somehow stains. I only have one of these."

Looking at the mask she had to squint, she wanted to do something, but other then going into the darkness and doing a shadow battle royal she really didn't have one. Her tricks were best for humans, or at least definitive opponents, blobs of demonic shadow was not something she was prepared to deal with. Either way, she'd trust Mr. Trick Bag for this one.

[Ari]

"Oh, no worry about that!" Marceau laughed quietly "I am very careful when putting the mixture together into the cards. If it does stick around you for any longer than a few minutes, just tell me and I'll get rid of it" the King of Suits took a razor card, made a small incision in the one he had already drawn, and hurled that card into the mass, the tunnel erupting in a lightning-quick blaze of light that was almost immediately partially obscured by a thin haze that began to quickly fill the tunnel. With utter fastidiousness he then pressed his nostrils together with his right thumb and forefinger, and opening his eyes slid the night-vision goggles back on.

His knees were already aching a little from the strain of crouching in that abominable 'not high enough to stand' position that he found maddening. Pleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework...

To his delight, the goggles revealed the smoking shreds of living shadow, shrinking into a small grate in the side of the tunnel even as he watched. "Hurrah!" exclaimed Marceau with unrestrained glee as he began stalking forward on his hands and feet, calling back nasally "I will go first, if it's alright with you"

He went forward as fast as he could, wanting to get out of the cramped place and get on with the rescue mission, though he wondered what else they would need to bypass to have a chance at that.

[Aoiroo]

Sil shuffled up the grate behind him, looking back to watch the shadows disappear. There was a certain satisfaction in seeing them go. The world didn't need anymore shadows afterall.

She followed Suits out down the tunnel with the prisoner in front of her so that the woman wouldn't do anything stupid between herself and the other hero. It wasn't very comfortable, and very quiet, but it was a good alternative to starting up the woman with one of her weird rantings. She'd wonder if losing one's sense of self preservation or really self respect was part of joining a cult, or maybe it was just another addiction to be fed like all the other addicts that used the Fens as an outlet.

[Ari]

GM

It was a hard scrabble through the tunnel, but at last the two heroes and Jane found a small vent in a side-tunnel only a few yards from the opening looking down into a dark room. From what could be seen, three serried ranks of the cultists that had fled through the doors at Silhouette's attack were standing with arms raised in worship before an obsidian altar, chanting a slow song in what sounded like Latin as they watched a surprisingly dapper and merry gentleman with silver-gray hair and a spotless gray suit under a heavy black robe. He was bowing low before the giant snake head rising out of the altar, the slow movement of its eyes reflecting the small lights on the floor and the pulsation of its visible throat telling them at once it was alive, though it stood so still it was otherwise impossible to tell.

Raising his head, the old man said gravely in a voice that was almost wheedling "O messenger of Apep, O child of our dread lord Apophis, we beg our master and God to forgive us, for two interlopers have attacked us and driven us into the tunnels you bore for our worhip. One of them has strange powers that ape your might and can cut your darkness; the other is of no import, a mere man with little tricks up his sleeve. We will destroy them speedily, and send their broken souls to you for your pleasure," he added, sweeping the black floor with his long hair as be bowed again "we vow this by the dark river from which you drink and create."

The colorless beast stared at the human with an unguessable expression, then nodded once, rose to an impossible height in the enclosed space, and dove into the altar it had sprung from, its huge coils writhing after it for what seemed like miles, the surface of its impromptu passageway to the Schattenwelt rippling like watery gelatin.

As the serpent departed the apparent leader of the cult rose, dusted off his knees, turned to his flock and intoned in a much stronger voice "Now, my fellow soldiers of darkness! We shall form bands, arm ourselves, and search every passage and cranny for these intruders! I have heard it reported by our shadowed brethren" he said quietly with a face twisted with grief "That our fellow soldier Jane Guan has been captured by the invaders, and that...she was executed by them" he finished, a catch of horror in his throat as he said the word 'executed'. A gasp of shock and horror rose from the throng, who all began whispering to each other as weapons glinted suddenly int heir hands, mostly pistols, but a few carbines as well.

[Ari]

GM

Jane Guan blinked in surprise when the high priest announced her demise to the congregation. "But..he knows the heroes that live here aren't supposed to kill" she muttered in bafflement. Turning hopefully at her captors she said softly "Hey..if you let me down there, I could get a few of those folks on your side; they'll be surprised enough to listen at least a little if they see me, the Listener isn't known to lie" she glanced back at the altar "Maybe I could even convince them to let those prisoners of yours free"

Down below, the followers of Apep were beginning break off into smaller groups, with calls of "We'll take the second hall, you guys sweep the north passages" suggesting they wouldn't be very lackadaisical about looking for the two.

[Aoiroo]

She narrowed her eyes under the mask at leader. He struck her as the type of guy who talked his way through anything, well dressed and charismatic. If she was lucky, this was just a front, that his actual belief was a way to make money, or lure hapless believers as cheap labor and pawns. If she wasn't, he believed himself to truly be indispensible to his god, and that his way was truly righteous. Those were always hard, true believers always fought harder, always made the desprite moves and struck out when cornered instead of negociating. The false declaration set to tarnish their images seemed excessive, but it was likely he was building up to something. Outrage was a good modivator for people to do something stupid, but the living girl meant they could shake mans credibility just a little, and she was glad she wouldn't have to push the woman into it.

"I'll shadow you when you do in case things go south."

She glanced at her companion in this matter,

"Can you do some recalls about all the ways we can in fact escape, and maybe set up some alternate routes? If things get really bad we want a clear route, and not just for us."

She leaned out the vents and slept her gaze over the rows of cultists sitting around the alter,

"I have a feeling that it won't just be the prisoners up for sacrifice."

[Ari]

Still in awe of the horrific monster of darkness he had just seen swim into the portal/altar, Marceau took a second to realize he had been spoken to, replying abruptly "..Wh-? Oh, yes. Alternate routes." He frowned in the dimness, the flickering lights of the temple below casting bizarre shadows across his face. After giving the problem due consideration he began dubiously "Well..those doors we came in through were blocked by whatever it was that sealed shut the ones used by the cultists, but this ventilation tunnel has to lead somewhere, I'll try and see if it leads anywhere useful, if not; there is bound to be a back door somewhere, and I dare say it will be quite easy to find. If they were invaded beyond hope they would need a way to escape capture, after all. I will be right back" he added in a whisper as he began scuttling off deeper into the tunnel "Don't cross us, Guan" he said tersely to Jane. I don't know about Silhouette, but I do not trust her in the least

He struck out for a branch of the tunnel leading upward, as sooner or later the vent would HAVE to reach the surface in order to get air into the place. The logistics of underground facilities always baffled him, and it was times like this that he wondered if they were really worth the added secrecy if they were so hard to maintain. The drag of his cape on the ground was stilled to silence, and he stepped as carefully as he could to keep quiet.

[Ari]

GM

The search wasn't as thorough as it could have been(but considering the circumstances...), but after a brief sweep of the northern region of the vents they were in Marceau discovered a broad hatch set in the roof of a room leading to an alley a few blocks from apartments he had followed his quarry into. Now all they had to do was find the prisoners, defeat the snale-cult, and defeat whatever stood in their way!

Meanwhile, Jane had dropped to the ground from the tunnel after getting the nod from Silhouette. Landing with a thud as she awkwardly sprawled to the cold black floor, she stood up with a little more drama than was strictly necessary, declaring loudly "Brethren! Behold! Our high priest attempts to deceive you! The infiltrators merely wish to make us release the prisoners, if we let them go we will no longer be under threat!" during this declaration she had swept her gaze around the room to meet those of her fellow practitioners, and ending by looking directly at the stunned high priest "So, either we let those wretches go free, or else we will all be taken into custody. What do you say, Fangspeaker Andrews?" she asked with a cocky smile that was audible as well as visible from Silhouette's perspective. Despite that, it was plain that she had at least got the others' attention from the greatly changed murmurs.

The Fangspeaker appeared to have recovered himself, and he proclaimed scornfully "Bah! Acolyte Guan, do you really think we will surrender our bargaining chips so quickly? You shame us with your haste! No, we will await the coming glory of our god, and shall behold" his voice dropped to a spectral whisper as his eyes took on a far-seeing glaze "his Radiance...."

A long and uncomfortable silence followed this, broken by Guan with a frustrated tone "Oh come off it, you know we won't be spared NOW!" a mutter of agreement washed around the crowd, who were slowly moving to stand beside Jane. "Really? Then why don't these infiltrators show themselves and ask in person? Why send a proxy, if they don't mean to just get us fighting amongst ourselves over their message?" the old man demanded triumphantly.

[Aoiroo]

"Cause we're trying to be reasonable,"

Silhouette was right behind the old man just suddenly, in fact she was leaning back over his shoulder, matted black like his shadow had decided to take a closer look as to what his dulipicate was doing. She faced the crowd taking a step where they could see her better but she kept a hand on the hold man shoulder in case he decided he wanted to flee,

"I mean, you go around accusing us of executing a prisoner then start throwing around wild accusations when she comes around the corner not a hair out of place. Geez, it makes me wonder what sort of stuff you've thrown around about all those people you've kidnapped. You know, the ones you took out of their homes in the dead of night to sacrifice to some god that has not a dang thing to do with them."

[Ari]

GM

High Priest Fangspeaker Andrews was ready for many things, but not for his own shadow to walk up behind him and touch his shoulder. Staring in momentary horror at this apparition, his face briefly contorted with fear before he mastered himself. "They are entirely within our rights!" he exclaimed, batting her hand away and standing to his full height, which was incidentally a few inches short of hers. "We have full right to expressing our religious freedom in this nation, and especially in this city! We had no intention of harming them," he added furiously, glancing dagger-like at Jane, who seemed baffled by the look "merely in dissuading them from trying to draw some of us away from the worship of Apep the All-Embracing!"

None of the other worshipers moved an inch, and in the room a vague feeling of tension was building.

[Aoiroo]

Silhouette actually leaned on the guys shoulder, her mouth right next to his ear even as she spoke loud enough for everyone else in the room to hear,

"Yes, it is your constitutional right to express your faith and worship whatever god you wish no arguement there,"

She took a step forward,

"As it is the constitutional right for others to express their distaste in said worship. It's not a crime for people to express their opinions Mr. High Priest, it is however a crime to hold people who hold a different opinion then you against their will in an efforts to change their thinking."

The shadowy woman began to softl tap her chin as if thinking,

"Lets see, kidnapping is a class A felony which has an average sentencing of say ten years, twenty if theres any previous convictions, for all parties involved. Though for testimony a lot of you could get a lesser sentence, but it's a minimum one year sentence for everyone involved. That's not the minimum security prisons either, no it's the same ones as say murderers, rapists, arsonists and the like. Which really leads to one question?"

Silhouette let go of the priest walking forward to the center of the room to put herself front and center as she faced the crowd with her blank mask face before saying in a clear loud and inquisitive voice,

"Is it worth it?"

[Ari]

Sighing with relief at the newly-discovered hatch, the King of Suits began to make his way back through the tunnels We need to find the hostages, just in case that monstrous snake thing tries to pull something on us! he raced back to the temple-room, pausing for a few seconds to observe what Silhouette was doing before dropping to the ground into the center of the cultists.

Leaning over to Jane he murmured with great intensity "Where are the prisoners? Tell me quickly, we need to free them as soon as we can" he glanced over at Silhouette and the high priest, but decided she had the situation well in hand, and said nothing, with an eye on Jane for her answer.

[Ari]

GM

"Down the hall on your left, sixth door on the right" Jane answered softly, not taking her eyes off the two standing before the slowly rippling altar "It's not locked, but the cells are, only the High Priest has the key, though." She glanced at him for a second, looking puzzled "Why do you want to know? Your friend can most likely just cut through the doors anyway" she pointed out, turning back to watch the show.

High Priest Fangspeaker Andrews blinked in surprise at learning that kidnapping was considered such a serious offense under the law. After considering her words, he said dubiously "Not all that much, no. I assumed we would be well-hidden enough to avoid detection, and could convince the trouble family members to stop trying to get some of us to recant before being found. But, if that's the case, I suppose there's not much use in doing much but surrendering" he said thoughtfully, drifting slowly over to the altar behind him "After all, if what you say is true(and I do not doubt it is), we face some pretty harsh penalties for this. No use in adding on more."

[Aoiroo]

Silhouette looked at them, if anybody could see her face it'd show her eyebrows at the top of her head, but the blank mask just produced a voice,

"You mean you thought you wouldn't get caught? Someone disappears people notice, reports are filed, and if not us the police would of knocked on your door eventually."

She turned back to the cult and looked at them,

"You guys couldn't of seriously just gone along with all of this blindly right? Maybe you think you've been excluded from the world because maybe your religion is outside the norm, but come on, actions have concequences did you think that your snake god was gonna bale you out of whatever hole you dug yourself in?"