ic Welcome to Springsvale, AZ(IC)

[Supercape]

"Some mummy in here" she shouted at Equinox. 

 

It did have an eerie quality, even to her. This was getting deeply spiritual. Life, death. The big stuff. One didn't have to be a genius to see the symbolism of water, either. Flowing, life giving, clear water. If one got really fanciful, it was a womb. 

 

As water steam and smoke fumed, she felt the electric vibe on her skin. Even with Pitch in her veins, it made her hair stand on end, excited. Perhaps a more than physical sensation. It tingled with vitality. 

 

"Lets get this show on the road" she said, shaking herself out of contemplation. 

 

"I'm hauling this to the shore. If you got any magic spells to move it, that would save some trouble" she shouted at Equinox, before starting to paddle the thing to the shore. 

[Ecalsneerg]

Equinox pulled a wand from her pocket even as she drifted back to shore, steadying herself back on dry land, "I reckon I can move it. Although, if it's integral to such a large flow of energy, you're going to want to get back to shore." She ushered Hayley behind her.

 

"So, huge energy flow. Mummy. OK. Let go of it. Get beside me, and I'll move it over to the other side first." The witch levelled her wand at the mysterious object. "If it sets down alright, fine. If it explodes, or backlashes, or what's in there wakes up and is hostile, or any number of strange possibilities, at least we'll have time to react. Sound good?"

[Ari]

GM

 

At Equinox's mental command, channeled through her wand into a force the world could not ignore, the crystal coffin levitated slowly from its muddy bed and began moving to the mouth of the waterfall.

 

The elemental power lifting it shimmered in the water, which curled and pushed its cargo with gentle, unrelenting momentum until it came to rest at the feet of the two magicians.

 

Almost from the moment it hit the sandy shore, the glyphs covering its glittering shell glowed and shifted subtly, sending a fresh wave of creative energy through the earth and air, causing a small pine tree to abruptly shoot up beside Equinox(carrying Hayley a few feet up in its branches) and a a flood of ants and beetles to wash over Pitch's steaming boots before vanishing into the ground and grass. Otherwise nothing happened, and the figure dimly to be seen within the coffin never stirred.

 

it was about then that Dr. Drake's cellphone rang with Eric LaCroix's number.

[Ecalsneerg]

Equinox glanced at the coffin, then at her phone, and sighed, answering it. "Yeah, your timing could be... better. We've possibly found a local power source. It looks like a coffin, and there seems to be a lot of energy convergence and ephemera in the vicinity." She put her hand over the receiver and mouthed to Pitch that it was Nick. 

 

"There is a lot of energy flying around. I've got a few theories on why, but practically speaking, if this was an unusually magically dense region, would that explain some of the summoning activity our new snake buddy's located?" She held up an arm as she spoke, irritably yanking her raccoon from the pine needles.

[trollthumper]

"Coffins? Well, if there's one thing I know more about than I should, it's coffins. Let me know if you want me to come take a look." Nick cast a glance back at the spiritual entity of Springsvale, which still seemed to be lazily coiling before his eyes. "And yeah, that might explain it. If the area is dense in background magic, then it's reasonable then summoners, practitioners, fortune tellers, etc. would come around and set up shop. More spectacular results, less of a need to shovel coal on the fire. Plus, all that mojo would thin the barrier between worlds, making it easier for big things to come through."

He put his hand over the phone and turned back to the spirit. "So, my friends found a coffin. There any big red button on that thing we should lay off on?"

[Ari]

GM

At the word 'coffin' Springsvale looked at Nick for a moment like it wanted to bite him. The life shimmering along its ephemeral bulk tensed, and something like spines slid out for the barest of moments.

It swiftly recovered its compsure, however, and in moments the town spirit was calmly speaking "Under no circumstances must the lifeshell be allowed to totally leave the lake. The man inside has sacrificed themselves for my sake, and I must honor the pact he has made with nature if his sacrifice is to not be in vain. Do not attempt to change the letters marking the lifeshell, or break the lifeshell, or-" pausing, its immobile head tilted to the side, the microbes crowding its nose sliding until they looked like a droplet. Then the head righted, the odd gesture evidently complete "-in short, do not attempt to do anything with the coffin. You can sure look at it, touch it, and figure out what it's made of and does, but that is the full extent of what I permit. Myself shall watch, and see this is obeyed."

Over at the lake, another, smaller lifesnake coiled up around the new pine tree, observing the two women critically.

"Do you wish passage?" Springsvale asked politely, a tendril placed against the runes surrounding the dead Yigith, channeling power into them like a river flooding tributaries "Any place in my boundaries can be a mere step, if you allow me. And it is getting very late." it added, looking at the Sun already fading over the horizon. A rich bluish/silver sheen covered the arid land, a strong contrast from the red and gold of the day.

The small camp had already set up its fires, and returning from an impromptu lecture on safety for the same came Ranger Aqui, who nodded wearily to Nick "I'm headin' back to town. You got all you need, Mr. Cimitiere?"

Edited November 11, 2014 by Arichamus

[trollthumper]

Nick Cimitiere realized that he was cloaked in strangeness most of the time. He made himself a bit of a freakshow so that others would understand that he was someone who was one with the weird stuff of the world, and that they could turn to him for a consult. But there was a difference between "weird stuff" and "weird stuff", and getting an instantaneous teleport from a magical invisible giant snake in full view of a group of spectators might be too far into that territory.

 

But. You only lived once. 

 

"The site is neutralized and safeguarded," he said. "We'll make sure to get rid of the corpse - probably make a large bunch of rattlesnake chili - and then everything will be back to normal. I would not recommend poking it with a stick, though. If you'll excuse me, there's some residual energy that needs to be tamped down, just as a final precaution."

 

And with that, he nodded to the lifesnake, and readied himself for transport. 

[Ari]

GM

Bowing until it hovered just above him, Springsvale opened up above Nick. The spirals of life slid and reformed into a corridor, through which could be seen every possible angle and span of the domain under the spirit's control. Like looking at a hundred televisions arranged in a dome, it was almost impossible to follow all of them, and the necromancer's eyes were caught by thousands upon thousands of inches of sand, water, grass and rock. All of it teemed with life, from invisible microbes and the movements of spirits generating newborn ants deep underground

Then Springsvale caught up Nick Cimitiere into its mouth, and with a sensation o being bodily flung across a room and a blaze of light he found himself by the shore of the darkening lake, with the softly-glowing coffin lying dripping on the shore.

"Inform me when you wish to be moved again. I have sent an...agent, to the local hotel. It is under my aegis for the rest of this Moon." the smaller emanation of the lifesnake declared, glancing a second head up at at the very sharp and gleaming full moon hanging above the jagged hills. Somehow, it looked much larger than normal.

"Do not delay."

---

Back at the hilltop, Aqui blinked, looking very impressed at the necromancer's adept vanishing act. "Hn. Mebbe they'll really solve it this time," she muttered, hauling herself up into the small, battered truck and began heading back down the hill road, one arm resting on the open window "should really tell the boss. Can't keep up the bargain if outsiders start causin' real trouble." With those listless words, which were almost forced out throug her lips, the woman settled into the rhythmn of driving, an odd, hissing tune whistling between her teeth.

[Supercape]

"That was a neat entrance" commented Pitch, leaning against the Coffin, smoking away more gently. She had a curious urge to smoke a cigarette. Not an easy thing, when wisps of flames floated briefly over body and hot smoke poured out of her mouth. 

 

She straightened up, leaning on the Cantos Cane instead. 

 

"What's the deal with all this mojo? Sounds like some life and death thing, all symbolic and Freudian. Got some river of life flowing out of some strange source. Giant snakes, too, now I think of it. I can think of one or two right-on feminists who would have a good laugh about a river of life and a giant dead snake at the end" she said, the thought just occuring to her. 

 

"Looks like a heap of trouble anyhow" she finished, tapping the coffin with her cane. 

 

"Whats with the stiff?"

[Ecalsneerg]

Equinox gestured to the coffin as Nick appeared. "I'm going to defer to you on this one, I can do life, I vaguely understand death, but where they intersect is more your area." She glanced down at the prone form in the coffin. "This was in the centre of the lake. I managed to move it using magic, and deposit on the lakeside without any noticeable disturbances in the local magic flow."

 

She frowned at Nick. "One possibility for what's going on was the old shamanic tradition of... let's call it Obi-Wanning. When you willing to die to allow your life energy to amplify the local area's background magic for one reason or another. No idea how you'd do it, or if this is what's being done, but I thought it a plausible idea. Thoughts?"

[trollthumper]

Nick turned his eyes onto the corpse, just barely dealing with the sudden change of surroundings. It hadn't been the first time he'd been bumrushed down the secret roads of the world, and it wouldn't be the last. Once he managed to center his sight and process the kaleidoscopic display of power flying out of the suspended body, he started to get an idea of the scope of everything. "Yeah, I think we found the source of all the weirdness," he said. "The beneficial weirdness, that is. This guy's managed to weave himself into a pure line of mystical energy, something both inside and outside of reality. Not in the 'eat your face' sense of 'outside reality,' but more like higher potential. It seems to be funneling right into the heart of the town - which might explain why the genius loci is up and running with such strength."

He blinked, trying to process one detail. "And... why this guy's not exactly up and dancing. You can't really lick the wall socket of reality and not expect to get shocked. And while he's managed to ward himself pretty well to keep him from utter destruction... it's still slow burning. If this keeps up, he's going to die."

[Supercape]

"So what does that mean? When he dies, this...dries up?"

 

She pushed at her temples. 

 

"Why did he do this? It feels like he is plugging something. What happens when the plug is removed? Or are we feeling the cracks already? This is way over my head. What are we going to do?"

 

The frustration and ignorance was beginning to fray on her nerves and paranoia. She was not averse to a delicate subtle touch, but only when she knew what she was doing. Which was not today. 

[Ecalsneerg]

"Hmmm," said Equinox pensively. "Well, I think I might have an answer." She turned to Pitch. "Well, not to your questions. This is really quite a complicated thing, I don't think even Eldrich'd be able to turn around and give a quick answer." She turned back to Nick. "But even if this guy isn't entirely physically or mentally here, he's still somewhere."

 

The witch shrugged. "Why don't we go ask him? The entire energy map of this area is pointing to this physical body, why wouldn't that be the case on other planes? Bar something wildly different, the flows'd be similar. We could project our consciousnesses and see if we could find some way to communicate with our friend here."

[Supercape]

"Project Consciousness? Like some shaman thing?" bluffed Pitch. She knew smatterings, and that was it. 

 

"Well asking the dude seems the right thing to do. And looks like he ain't in much of a speakin' mood on this Earth" she said, as she commanded Tazel to fire down. The smoke and flames whiffed away, leaving her dressed pretty much as normal, which was still like a rock chick with bleach blonde hair gone wild. 

 

She didn't want the demon latching on to any ride to another dimension, that was for sure. He was dangerous enough locked up tight in her belly. 

 

"Well, I'm up for a Seance. Done a few before. Count me in!"

[trollthumper]

"Why's he doing this?" said Nick. "Well... the life snake did say there was a second source of weirdness in the town. A group of cultists, trying to summon a bigger fish that they can send out into the world in the name of power, chaos, and... I dunno, unpaid parking tickets. So, this guy may be trying to lend his own power so that the town has a defense grid against these incursions - including, as mentioned before, the gigantic life snake. And, while I'm sure everyone really appreciates it that they're not being eaten by a Child of Yig, it would probably be a good idea to make sure this guy doesn't die, either."

When Pitch mentioned the seance, Nick stroked his chin. "Yeah, that's a good idea. We've got a lifeline right here - and that line likely extends all throughout the town. If we call him up, we can probably get some intelligence on where the cultists might be, then go take care of them." He sat down, cross-legged, before the coffin. "So. Shall we join hands?"

[Ari]

GM

Hands were joined around the crystal coffin, and this narrator will not waste time detailing his outrage at not being able to participate in such an action.

Clearing their minds and casting them through various channels into the realm beyond, the three mages reached through the torrent of coursing life to the focusing, living lens of this stream of power, wrenching their spirit free and back into the physical world!

With a crack like lightning, the spirit of a man in his mid-thirties appeared, rising from the coffin and shimmering from translucence to partial solidity with the steadiness of a heartbeat. His long hair reached to his shoulders, and an almost aggressively aquiline nose cruved over thin and compressed lips. His broad face was weatherbeaten, and his eyes burned from under hooded lids. With a slow, crisp voice he spoke, his words echoing through the worlds that barred him from the land of the living.

"What the hell do you people want? Kinda busy making sure this town doesn't dry up and blow away or get eaten by blind gods, case you didn't notice. I'm Springsvale, used to be Tom, speak your damned piece and skedaddle." Crossing his arms over his ephemeral chest, the silver shade glared at his summoners, one eye on the coffin below him.

[trollthumper]

Well. Given the tone and the forthrightness, it was clear to Nick that Tom - or Springsvale, or whoever he was now - knew what he was doing. For the most part. There was always that damnable arrogance of practitioners. Most of Nick's magical talents were borrowed from gods and ghosts, but he knew those who had more natural talent often had the wherewithal to craft elaborate rituals that could move Heaven and Earth... only to miss that one detail. Maybe leaving a blank space in the pentagram, or creating an alchemical tincture with just a bit too much aqua regia... So, he had to ask.

"You've got one incredible working going on here," he said, "and you're doing good work for the town. You've probably taken into account the fact that it's draining you dry. I'm... not going to stand in the way of one's choice on that matter, if you think you're doing the right thing. But are you sure you'll have any sort of permanence when you cross that threshold? Or do you have a backup plan for Springsvale when you kick off?"

[Ari]

GM

"It's an inevitable, unavoidable problem with magic that anything powerful enough to actually support what you're tryin' to do will vaporize ya if you don't take steps. The raw material of creation and life? Believe me, deathcarver, I know what it's doing to me." Sitting, or doing a reasonable mimickry, crosslegged on the coffin, Springsvale flicked a lengthy tangle of hair over his lean, ghostly shoulder and fixed the trio with his pale eyes.

"I'm counting on this thing killing me. But," he raised a forestalling hand and one eyebrow "this isn't some dumbass suicide plan. The lifeflow I got going will soon be enough to form a perfect loop, but you know as well as I do that just getting lots of power into a place is only half a plan. So that's where me and my immortal soul come in." Rapping on the crystal shell, the spirit grinned wolfishly "Put it this way: Being a genius loci is my retirement plan. But I gotta do this right, stretch the end out 'til I AM the lifeflow and the ley line, transfer my consciousness bit by bit into this ethereal corpus."

His smile vanished, the hawk-faced man looked over the magis' shoulders at the orange lights in the valley below. For a fleeting moment he looked almost regretful, but it soon changed to determination as he looked the three in the eye again "This place...it's had some real bad stuff swim close a while ago. That child of Yig? I was sorry to eat 'em, but they keep me alive and they're a shadow of what could come out. It's not just the Cult of the Demiurge either, this town sometimes, it's like...like it calls things here from outside. A year ago everyone here was replaced by a copy from some other dimension, and that was about the time I decided bein' a human was only so useful." Standing up, he added "No offense, I hope? I just want to keep the town safe, I need power to manage the transition, controlled summonings ease tension and annoy the cul-" Suddenly Springsvale snapped his silvery mouth shut and shook his head ruefully, motioning to the magi with his broad hands.

"Sorry, I talk too much if I don't see people, you go next."

[Supercape]

"I heard some crazy in my time, but that sounds plain loopy, mister!" blurted Pitch. "All the humans replaced by another dimension? What is this, the twilight zone?"

 

Well, it sounded crazy enough. Sounded like the kinda crazy you get in a lunatic bin. But on the other hand, whilst plenty of crazy was simply crazy, just so often, just so every now and again, crazy was right. 

 

"This town must be sitting on a whole heap of twilight zone, then. But why? why here, why now? And whats this here cult of the Demiurge?" she asked pointedly. 

 

"Burning giant snakes and stuff like that? I gotta take a look. We all gotta take a look. If troubles brewing, I'm a-lookin!" she explained. "I never looked for trouble, but I never ran!" she quoted. 

[Ari]

GM

Springsvale shrugged, some of his earlier irritability creeping back into his voice "The Cult is a bunch of bad people who summon things from elsewhere so they can do...something here." He shrugged again "I don't know much about them besides that. I have plenty of speculation, but few facts."

"One thing I know for sure, is that they want the power to reshape reality. They didn't pick the Gnostic creator of the sensous realm because it sounded cool. Besides that, damned if I know."

By now the Sun's light was entirely gone, and only the harsh Moon cast a thin, silvery pall over the small lake and the eclectic gathering on its shore. Crickets chirped, birds called drowsily, and the grass itself seemed to murmur gently into the night. The cooling air mingled the dry smell of desert dust with the scents of wildflowers.

Brushing an incorporeal hand across the lid of his body's coffin, Springsvale added "As for why now...why not now? There's power enough in the dark, and this is a small, isolated place that's only just gained any prominence, with a protector who's limited at the best of times but is only going to get stronger. This is when I'd attack, if I was them."

[Supercape]

"Sensuous realm, I kind of like" said Pitch, a little cheekily, hand on hip. Licking her lips and giving a wink did not work quite so well when you were breathing out smoke and fire, though. 

 

"But reshaping reality, not so much"

 

As the Suns light departed, and the Moons began, Springsvale comments about taking in the dark took on an eerie quality. 

 

"So...does that mean they strike at night, too?" she asked. "Sounds like we should strike them first, get the sucker punch in, if you ask me. Although we should find them first..."

[trollthumper]

"'Demiurge' is the term used for a crafter-god," said Nick. "Gnostics often used it to mean 'the bastard who keeps us all in these shackles of the physical universe,' so I can't exactly see him as a figure to emulate. But then again, I haven't gotten so cracked that I take my vodka with heart's blood of ram, so there are a lot of ways I don't line up with your usual cult."

He looked to the magician. "You're wired into all of Springsvale, right? Is there any way you could share your senses with me? I've got my own ways of picking up on the threads of magic. I may be able to pick up on these guys gathering their will before they actually go through with the summoning. That way, we can isolate them instead of whatever they're bringing to the party."

[Ecalsneerg]

"Alternately," suggested Equinox. "Is there any way you can isolate them temporarily?" She shrugged her shoulders, and spread her palms flat. "No plan survives contact with the enemy. We go to interrupt a summoning, even if it goes well, things are likely to happen."

 

She gestured at Nick, Pitch and at herself. And, as an afterthought, Springsvale himself. "We can handle ourselves. A lot of people and places around here are less able to. So, if there's any way to keep much of the fight within a small area, that way we can stop any unfortunate consequences quickly, rather than giving any summoned monstrosities time to escape into the surrounding area and wreak havoc."

[Ari]

GM

"'Sensuous' and 'sensual' are two entirely different words, ma'am. I meant the former, 'pertaining to the world perceived by the senses'. Anything that they can't touch or see or any of that, they don't seem able to give less of a damn." Springsvale crossed his arms, blowing a few strands of ephemeral hair off his nose as he considered Equinox and Nick's suggestions.

Glancing between them and the glimmering orange lights of the down below, he suddenly nodded tersely. "Yeah, I can do that. My domain, I decide how things go down, including physical movement. Cimitiere." he snapped his fingers noiselessly and pointed at the ground beside Nick's right foot, where a much more solid version of the lifesnake from earlier was rising like a silver ribbon. In moments the pale thing stood suspended at chin-level with the necromancer. "Going to need you to swallow this," the would-be genius loci explained, sounding a little apologetic "or at least put it in your mouth or let it bite you or something. Need a close connection to share my heightened senses. Soon as you find them, shout it out and I'll set things up for the fight."

Turning to Equinox and Pitch, he went on, looking earnestly at the two women "I can't allow any harm to come to this place. It's against everythin' I'm trying to be. So try and keep your stuff from getting out of hand. I don't expect there to be any need for real power, but if there is I'll send you and them Backstage to the spirit realm for a bit. That happens, keep to the shadows. Everything's backwards there."

Raising one hand, the ghost concentrated on the silver serpent, which under his piercing gaze unwound until only a mass of sensory organs spiraled up, both the familiar and the fantastical in equal abundance.

Edited January 11, 2015 by Arichamus

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Shoot, this place just gets stranger and stranger every second" said Pitch, gobsmacked by the spirit of Springsvale. She only understood half of what was going on. But then again, that was pretty much how she rolled. Studying books and scrolls and hocus pocus, that was for somebody with time and patience. 

 

"Well, thats Rock n' Roll by me, mister" she agreed with the spirit. "I can reign it in a bit..."

 

She forced Tazel out of her veins and marrow, back to seething in her stomach. Her clothes smouldered back to normal, and the smoke and fire snuffed out. 

 

"Spirit realm sounds far out. As long as we get back to the real world" she asked.