What Will Draw Them Out?

July 26, 2015:

Fenris calls together some people to discuss the next steps in addressing Darque

Fenris House - New York

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Mood Music: None.


Fade In…

There's been a lot of focus on the Deadzone. Which makes sense. When someone merges an underworld and a dimension of dark necromantic energy with the regular plane… well, folks take notice. And are alarmed. As they should be. This is dangerous. A slow moving apoacalypse. Fenris has been coordinating with various magi to try to deal with it, most prominantly Zatanna Zatara who is also a Ley Guardian. She's promised to bring one of her fellow Homo Magi over who apparently wants to chat with him.


Hax tentatively rings the doorbell (at least he thinks it's a doorbell. Could also be the signal that lets HIM know that dinner is served). The wolf puts Hax in a general state of discomfort, but if anyone has answers it's him.


Zee's there already, inside, waiting. When the doorbell rings she looks over to Fenris. She wants to see how Hax responds when the Old Wolf answers the door. She might have a degree of amusement at her fellow mages discomfit with the Wolf God.


Ryden has a tendency to just, show up. Usually when something is about to happen. Or is already happening. Sometimes for no apparent reason at all. This time there is a reason. It's also apparent. It isn't just books that Ry uses to do his magic. Pretty much anything that has words on it will do. Like the realtor's sign across the street from Fenris's house. Foreseeing some future need of getting to the God-Wolf's home in a speedy manner, without being able to use leylines for some reason or another, Ryden has added some invisible graffit to this sign and turned it into a sort of doorway.

It isn't clear just what the lorekeeper had been doing when he comes bursting out of the sign moments after the doorbell rings. He's dressed in pink lounge pants with red lipstick kisses all over them and waving a silver longsword while screaming in terror. He's also riding atop a unicorn. An actual unicorn. Or so it appears. Briefly. Then it fades away and Ryden lands in a heap on the street, somehow managing not to skewer himself on his sword. He turns his head around and weakly brandishes the sword at..well, nothing. Whatever was chasing him didn't follow.


May is also already here. She seems also to have somehow made herself sufficiently at home in the God-Wolf's place that she's cooking. Actually cooking. Because she suspects as bad as the news is going to be, the people here will need the fortification. Also, she had a hankering for some COM SUON NUONG, and well, she can make enough to share.

When the doorbell rings she looks up from her cooking, not sure who else is supposed to be arriving.


Fenris is expecting Hax and Zee and May - both of them being more active members of Primal Force. Nobody expects the Spanish Ryden. Or the Pink Pants Unicorn Ryden, as the case may be. Fenris opens the door to see Hax. He's a tall, lean faced man with a peircing gaze and an ever present disturbing, predatory aura about him. All the stronger since he recovered his mantle of divinity.

May might have seen him smirking as he opened the door. And felt the aura get that much stronger. Is he trolling Hax a little? Yes he is.

"Hello Hax." Aaaaand then there's a Ryden. "And Ryden."


Hax nervously walks in but is constantly fidgeting with his fingers. The Wolf God seems… different than he remembered. That growly murderous rage has now been overwhelmed with an extraordinarily deadly sense of power. That kind that could end a world. Yeah Hax is damn right to be nervous. "Th-thank you, sir". After entering he sees an empty space on a couch and promptly places his scared ass down in it.


Zee does smirk as she senses what Fenris does "No fair, Fenris, I told him you wouldn't eat him." The words should carry through to the other mage. "Did you say Ryden?" Looking over to May, in the kitchen, Zee smiles broadly…. what will the Agent think of her old family friend.


Ryden sheepisly gets to his feet, giving the sign another glance before trotting barefoot across the street. "Ow. Fuckity ow!" He cuts one side of the lounge pants open as well as his ankle swinging the sword around idly. He does an odd hoping dance waving his arms and the sword wildly for balance the rest of the way to the door. Just missing whacking Hax with it. "Shit, man sor-..Hey! Hax! How's it going dude??" Ryden sets the sword against the wall next to the door and grins. Fenris trolling has no effect on Ryden. He doesn't actually seem to have even noticed the God-Wolf until, Ryden looks up and sky blue eyes blink and then focus. "Hey Fenris. How are you??" It might be noticable at this point that Ryden is just a little high. Or very easily distracted. Probably both.


May's initial reaction? She raises an eyebrow. It's like Stark, but with magical capability. And isn't that a truly distressing thought. She turns her attention back to the food she's cooking, filling Fenris' house with the rich aromas of Vietnamese cuisine. Oh, and tea.


Fenris looks at Ryden. Just stares at him. "Zee, your father is a fairly traditional mage, isn't he?" By which Fenris mostly means 'how is this an old family friend?" Either way the God-Wolf reaches over and flicks Ryden's nose. As he does so he pulses life magic through him… purging all toxins. That'll be fun.

"Come on in you two. May's making something I haven't had in over four hundred years. And some tea. No I'm not going to eat you Hax." Beat. "May makes better food so you lucked out."


Hax calms down a little bit. The sounds of ruffling paper is heard as Hax pulls out a stack of paper. On it is written several notes and many arcanic formulae. "T-this is what I know about the Deadzone." He pushes the paper across a table towards Fenris. "It's n-not very complete, b-but I hoped I could find some more answers."


"He was a friend of my mothers, first, apparently." Zee doesn't speak about her Mom, ever but that might explain something, potentially. Her eyebrows rise as Fenris pulses life magic through Ryden…. Fenris can expect some questions about that later.

Smiling to Hax who's now sitting next to her, Zee settles back on the couch and crosses her ankles, watching the paper being transferred. "We have information to share as well…." We: May, Zee and even Fenris.


Ryden's eyes clear up and he eyes Fenris as he steps inside. "Oh Suuuuure. That you can fix but the leg, nooo." He procedes to drip blood on Fen's floor. He frowns. "Wait how did I even..dammit I love this pants." He gazes mournfully at the slashed leg of the loungewear. Sober Ryden isn't entirely different from high Ryden it seems. It's also possible he colors ever so slightly at the mention of Zee's mother. Time to change the subject! "The deadzone you say?" Ryden claps Hax reassuringly on the shoulder. "Bloody awful wreck that." He looks around and frowns slightly at May. Have they met before? His internal one night stand alarm bell isn't going off so that's good at least. Actually its his run the hell away now bell thats going off. Hrm. Dangerous. Interesting. He's about to try a flirtatious grin when he suddenly gapes and turns around and trods over to Zee. "Hey Kiddo. I have something for.." He trails off and looks panicked. "Shit my pack where's my-..oh." It's on his back. Sheepishly he fishes around in it until he finds what he's looking for. A soft vevelt hooded cloak that matches her eyes.


Melinda May watches Ryden some more and frowns in that very faint manner that Fenris and Zee would recognize. She finishes doing something at the stove, then steps away just long enough to brandish a first aid kit and set it in front of Zee. Make yourself useful, 'kiddo'. The man's dripping blood on Fenris' flooring. Then she goes right back to minding the food. "Wash up, food's almost ready."


"You should be able to manage that, Magus." And he should have been able to cure his high. Fenris just knew that he wasn't going to.

"Looks very detailed Hax but… this isn't anything I particularly recognize." Meaning, uh, he can't read it. Fernis is a couple thousand years old, he knows dozens of magical languages but if he's never seen it of course he can't read it.

"Now, Zee, about that information you had?" He'll let Hax describe things next.

"May, do you need to record any of this for WAND?"


Hax begins to expand upon his gathered knowledge. "W-well, everything I have gathered is scrap-scrapped together with no very clear leads. The, um, zone is most assuredly con-connected to the underworld. The death magic sur-surrounding the area can confirm that. How-however, um, w-we can't or I can't determine wh-where it connects to." He turns a couple of pages and points to another set of runic symbols. "I have been de-developing a divination spell to-to track it's exact l-location."


Zee cringes as Ryden calls her 'kiddo' and it's on the tip of her tongue to retort when he presents her with the cloak. She blinks a couple of times and smiles faintly "Thank you, Ryden" she also notes the blush.

As May puts the first aid kit in front of her, Zee raises an eyebrow. Ryden can heal himself and clean up after hi… Alright, she'll clean up the blood on the floor… Collecting a clothe from Kitchen, the teen mage cleans up the mess and glances over her shoulder as Hax stutters.

"OK, Fenris. I was summonsed by Black Adam the other day, he had information to share with me." He'd noted that she had been active in tracking Darque "Apparently, his soul is bound to his sister. He thinks she's dead, but apparently she's alive. Adam thinks we might be able to use that as a distraction."

As to their latest investigation… she gives Hax a pained look "I don't think it's bound to just one underworld…. May, would you mind showing them the artifacts we retrieved?"


Ryden grins impishly at Fenris. Of course he can heal it. He just hadn't. Besides, those drugs were medicinal. Totally. He decides the cut isn't worth the effort of summoning a magical healing whatsit and sets about using the first aid kit while he listens to the others. He stares forlorning at his ruined pants leg. Did anyone notice on closer inspection they are also fuzzy? "Why couldn't I cut it along the seam? Now itll look rediculous if I sew it.." He says this as if its entirely normal for a grown man to be wearing fuzzy pink pajama pants with giant red lipstick kisses printed all over them. Nope, not rediculous at all.

glancing up he notices Zee cleaning up his mess. "Oh shit, I'll do that, I didn't mean.." He finally looks abashed. Then the rest of the conversation catches up to him and Ryden nods at Hax. "Good research and plan tho. He then looks at Zee with approval. "That's pretty much what I've been thinking too. Did a little poking around. What really disturbs me is that this Darque isn't that old. Only around a hundred from what I've found. Even with the evil shit he's been up to, to be this powerful already.. this isn't just godlike power..its like cosmic power, man. The things I saw in there looked like its from not only different underworlds but different points in time. It's.." It's like something out of some story. One that doesn't end well and Ryden looks very troubled by the thought. "I didn't stay long..on my own that place is way above my capabilities. But man.." He just shakes his head and trails off.


May nods to Fenris. "Please. I have a report already started, and this will be useful intel." Then she carries over a sealed plastic bag with the random items in it and sets it at Zee's spot. And then she levels a disapproving look at both Hax and Fenris. It's that look her mother used to use. "I told you to wash up." She then goes back to start serving up giant bowls of rice and vegetables and cubed pork chops.


Fenris nods slowly. "Finding that sister could be very important, yes. I think we should look for her but without leads I'm hesitant to devoting too much resources to it. Black Adam gave you a couple of clues, so I'll trust you to coordinatate that as you see fit but it does occur to me that SHIELD's resources might be well suited to that."

"Scrying spells are good Hax but be careful. Any connection, once opened, goes two ways." He should know that, honestly.

"Darque has an obsession with Power, Ryden. Captial P. He wants all of it he can get. Even as a god, should he get there, he won't be satisfied. Not until he can shake the pillars of heaven and rule over a dead universe where he alone is lord."

Fenris shakes his head. "Thank you May. What more, people?"


Hax says, "You dealt with Darque. What is he after, specifically?"


"Thank you, Agent May." Zee stands and rinses the cloth, before staring at it in distaste… she'll put that in the bin. Washing her hands, as May had requested, she returns to the sealed package that she was given. Shaking them out on the table, she nods to them "These are what we retrieved from the dead, in the deadzone. Between those of that were there, we worked out most of them."

The amulet with the small swastika's that is obviously very old, the wood carved horse, the coins with Etruscan and Korean writing, the various bits of jewellery, are all displayed.

"At least three, maybe four, underworlds by the look.." Zee notes "And from the foray before last… it's being held by power from the Darkforce Dimension. I could work that much out."

Hax gets a look from the Mistress of Magic "He wishes to be a god… probably one to rule over the others." Nodding to Fenris, Zee looks to May "Are you able to assist in searching for his sister?"


At May's tone Ryden hurriedly fishes a bottle of hand sanitizer from his pack and uses it. "He wants everything, but it won't be enough enough in the end. Fenris is right. If we can't stop him, we're just gonna be the first stepping stone on his path of obliveration." The lorekeeper answers Hax. He looks at the food May offers and give her a smile that is utterly sincere for all that it's also dazzling. He can't help it. He really likes people. And pretty people who can cook.. that thought trails off to another and he digs through the bottomless black hole inside his bag again. When his hand emerges he's holding a bottle of (whatever drink is most appropriate with this meal. Even if it was from four hundred years ago.) "Here." He offers the bottle to May.


Melinda May accepts the bottle and looks at it oddly. THis is… unexpected. She hands it off to Fenris (who can and will likely appreciate it more), then goes to serve up more bowls for Fenris and Hax, and finally herself. The tea is brought to the table in an insulated container, then cups, then a stack of chopsticks. She pauses at that point, looks at everyone, then brings back forks as well.


Fenris quirks an eyebrow at the drink and accepts it. He even pours out a couple of glasses. He'll give it a shot. He might even remember when it was laid down, honestly. The artifacts have Fenris peering over. "Mmmm. Etrescan, Sarmatian… proto Korean. Mmmmm. Looks like Darque has stitched together an underworld realm from the ruins of those no longer used… or at least those with sufficiently weak guardians that he can command them or fight them off." Makes sense. Going after his sister's realm, or say, Hades, might not go so well, even for a necromancer as powerful as Darque.

"That's going to be problematic. I was hoping we could enlist the aid of the rightful owners, but in most of these cases the gods who used to see to those realms are long missing or dead." He seems pensive now. "We'll need another option."

"Zee, Hax, Ryden, this'll be a priority. Find his sister if you can but we have to find a way to disconnect him from these realms, even if we have to distract and weaken him to do it. May… I have a feeling containment is going to start getting dicey. Look for cultist activity. Rituals aimed at desecrating the land and contaminating it to expand the Deadzone. That's very likely his next move."


Hax looks around and back to Fenris. "Wha-what if we speak to one of them— th-the more powerful gods. I-if we can arrange some-some kind of trap where Darque thinks he's-he's got an, um, opportunity to plunder the god's dead, then he-he m-m-might move on a underworld of our ch-choosing. Or-or at least he might send a more, uh, kno-knowledgeable minion to attempt it. Someone wh-who might have *stutter pause* information."


Zee settles back with her food and nods to Agent May "Thank you for the food, Agent May." She really should find out if there's a correct way of giving thanks.

"They come after me, whenever I cast in the Deadzone…" Zee murmurs "If there were enough of us, it might draw him out." Hax's suggestion gets a small nod "Thor might do it, Phobos too." Probably not Loki "Maybe Black Adam… but the risk might be too great."


Ryden looks slightly more hopeful over their odds at this news. If he's only taking from the ruins and the weak..maybe they can convince some of the stronger underlords to help. This is going to affect them eventually. "Hax has the right idea there I think, and you Zee. I was talking to some friends the other day. They believe we need to work with everyone we can. Even the assholes. This is going to hit them too at some point and they can't all be too stupid to see that. If we could get actual Hades, or a few of the others, hell even people like me or Zee but that are criminal.." He manages not to grin at that thought. He's so criminal. Just not the evil asshole kind of criminal. "Well, it would help. I don't think we're going to get many chances at this. As far as the land goes, once we stop him one of them has something that will go a very long way towards healing it. It'd be wasted right now though."


Melinda May is mostly paying attention to her meal at the moment — being a Muggle and all — but then something says has her sitting up straight and looking at Ryden. "I might know someone with whom we could perhaps broker an agreement." After all, as long as all of the bureaucratic requirements are met correctly, why would he refuse? She looks at Fenris and then Zee, to see if either of them remembers when she was approached by the Lord of Chinese hell's emissary, and his list of grievances.


"I'd caution against thinking him that easily manipulated. You don't get to be that powerful by being stupid. However… if you can get a god to agree, it couldn't at all hurt to try." Fenris pauses. "Don't trade anything too valuable for the opportunity though, May. I like your soul where it is." That's said with a wink.

"Thor… mmm…" Fenris shakes his head. "Work with him if you can. Perhaps don't mention my involvement too closely. Our last encounter didn't go well." Which is something of an understatement.

"Is there anything I can provide for any of you?"


Hax seems satisfied with what he has learned and what the current proposed plan of action is.


Zee shakes her head, "I don't think so, Fenris." Although she'll be bugging him about Ley pendulums and a few other things at another time. "I'll speak to the gods that I know, Thor and Phobos primarily, and then we'll see when we can move forward."

Ryden gets a nod of her head "Lynwen showed us what she has created." She had tried to give it to Zee and Fenris but the teen mage had asked her to hold onto it. May however, gets a quizzicle look "An agreement…?"


Ryden frowns. Thor? Why is that bugging him? Probably isn't important now. "Did she, then?" Ryden smiles, not his usual dazzling, I'm so handsome and I know it and don't care smile but a gentle, tender little smile. He wasn't going to name her but if they already know.. The lorekeepers sighs softly, the smile fades and for a moment he seems incredibly sad. He shakes it off though and covers it up with an attempt at flirting. With Fenris. "Weelll.. you could.." "Uh.." "No sir. Nope. I'm good on my end." Okay, an aborted atempt after seeing May's expression.


Melinda May shakes her head no to Fenris, though she does leave the table again and return with a plastic condiment dispenser sporting an image of a rooster, and showing its contents to be a viscous orangey-red substance. For those in the know, it's sriracha. "And I'll see if I can figure out how to contact Lord Quinguang, and offer him a contract. Perhaps… honerable relocation of the souls in that region in exchange for his assistance."


"Might work. And few people want to mess with any of the lords of Diyu." Fenris makes a face. "Ever tried arguing with a four thousand year old lawyer?" The god-wolf's tone suggests that this is perhaps something that has happened to him in the past. "Well, I think we have a rough plan of action now. I suggest for now that we enjoy May's cooking."

The look Ryden get quite plainly says 'don't even think about it.'

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