Behind the Crown [IC], Behind the crown are shadows Options

[pbangarth]

Karmakaze looked to be thinking a lot about the data she had collected. Blue figured maybe she needed some time before they went after more info. So, he suggested a side trip to check on Billy's niece. They pulled up to near her home and parked. """ You be the getaway driver if I have to get out quickly."""

Blue summoned a city spirit to conceal the vehicle from prying eyes.

[ Spoiler ]

Summon F4 City Spirit: target 4, Summoning 6 + Owl 2 = 8 dice: 5 successes
Resist Drain: target 4(L), WIL 8 + Owl 2 = 10 dice: 4 successes No Drain.

Blue addresses the spirit, ::: Thank you for coming. Guard and Conceal this vehicle and all occupants. I will leave your domain, so continue with these tasks till I release you.:::

Blue waits till the household looks to have gone to sleep and then walks up to the front door and gets under the overhang. There, he summons the Hearth Spirit of the house.

[ Spoiler ]

Summon F4 hearth Spirit: target 4, Summoning 6 + Owl 2 = 8 dice: 3 successes
Resist Drain : target 4(L), 10 dice: 6 successes No Drain.

He waits to see the nature of the spirit. That in itself could be informative.

[Koekepan]

Blue's summoned spirit gets to work with its assigned task quietly enough. The concealment makes the car look like a construction dumpster full of broken concrete and roofing.

The hearth spirit looks like a rather emaciated yellow labrador that scratches itself lazily, and bites at ticks on its flank.

[pbangarth]

+++Well, that's interesting. Not the little fairy or the other things. +++

::: Thank you for answering my call. In the recent past I encountered astral beings staying close to the little girl who lives here. Some at least appear to be female and have wings. Please tell me all you know of those beings, especially, but not exclusively, why they are around her. :::

[Koekepan]

The labrador whines a bit. It tries to nuzzle Blue's hand, and then responds: :::I know them. I know them well. They are parasites, and distractions. Fleas and flies. They infest this region greatly, and seek to feed on what stands.:::

[pbangarth]

+++Hmm. What does it mean by 'what stands'? I only have two services left of this instantiation of the spirit. Is it worth asking for an elaboration? +++

::: When you say 'this region', what do you mean: this house, this city; what? :::

[Koekepan]

:::This house, and ones like it nearby, but especially this house.:::

[pbangarth]

One more service left. Blue might have to summon the hearth spirit again. It could get snippy about that.

::: Are they harming the girl, and if so, how? :::

[Koekepan]

:::They draw upon her spirit for their power, but this does not harm her. Instead, she attracts and directs them.:::

[pbangarth]

Blue is confounded by these revelations. As the hearth spirit fades back to their home, Blue mulls over the information he has. His thoughts circle and swarm almost like the little fairies. These are spirits of a type of which he has never heard. There is something about this place that allows them or draws them to congregate here. The girl's 'spirit' attracts them and she can direct them. Is that it?

Though the hearth spirit says they do not harm her, it calls them parasites. And distractions.
They 'infest' this region.
'Fleas and flies' it calls them, in the way a canine might characterize something that infests it.
They 'feed' on what 'stands'. What the hell does that mean?

Wait! Maybe the term harm is limited. She is physically unharmed but maybe her Awakened nature is being eaten. Didn't he read something in a missive, an advertisement, sent out to corporate security sections about a virus or bacterium that feeds on magic? What did they call it? Fat Bacteria or something. But it said nothing about little fairies with teeth.

And why here? Just here and a few houses around. "This house and ones like it nearby, but especially this house." What is there about this house? Is it the nature of the house or the location? Is it the mother who brought them here? Does she work in some kind of research facility?

Oh, Shit. Is this another Petsonal-type breach orchestrated by the Soccer Moms from Hell?

He needs more information. Looking around first to be sure he has not attracted any attention, Blue summons the Hearth Spirit again.

[ Spoiler ]

Summon F4 hearth Spirit: target 4, Summoning 6 + Owl 2 = 8 dice:5 successes
Resist Drain : target 4(L), 10 dice:5 successes No Drain.

That felt good. The spirit should be able to stay for a few questions. First question:
::: I am sorry to continue to call you, but I need to know more about those things here you call parasites. You say they do not harm her. But do they consume her magic, enough to eventually leave her without magic?:::

[Koekepan]

:::Little shaman, provided that you improve the situation your call is forgiven. But they do not feed on her power, and harm neither her body nor her spirit. They feed on other things about, such as me.:::

[pbangarth]

:::I am happy to help if I am able. How did these things come to be here?::: Blue has in mind the Mother, but it could be unrelated to her.

[Koekepan]

:::That, I do not know. They arrived in the twilight from beyond my demesne, and when in due course the girl arrived she and they made common cause.:::

[pbangarth]

+++ Huh. From beyond the spirit's demesne. But ... wait. +++

::: Your demesne is this house. How do you know they are in "This house, and ones like it nearby, but especially this house? :::

[Koekepan]

:::I might be of this place, but I speak with others about me, that pass through and are of similar aspect. That I am of one place does not blind nor deafen me to my fellows.:::

[pbangarth]

[OOC: Wow. DS is up to speed right now. Sorry about the delay in posting. I'm usually better. I could blame the DS link, but it wasn't completely out, just slow. No, I started a new game of Civilization VII. Three months on the wagon and I fell off with a thump.]

All this information leads Blue to think of far more questions than he has services from the spirit. He tries to remember how many of the little buggers there were buzzing in the astral around the girl.

[ Spoiler ]

Memory Test: Huh. I don't remember how to do this. How about:
INT 4 = 4 dice, ?? open test ?? 5, 2, 5, 4

As far as any promise to Billy, even if that were to matter any more, the girl appears to be safe for the moment, and Billy has been told about the magician boyfriend. Spirits are spirits, and these ones are just a new form. Maybe the girl likes them. You know, little girls and fairies in tutus. But Blue is developing a soft spot for Hearth Spirits ever since he interacted with Madel. He kinda likes this doggie. He reaches to stroke its head. He takes a side.

The girl attracts these spirits. And controls them! Why? What is it about her that she can do this? Did she get a gift, some kind of pendant, that attracts them and gives her power over them? And what about the other houses nearby? Other little girls with pendants? What is going on?

The Hearth Spirit has asked for help. How can Blue help it? a Cure Disease Spell or a Heal spell? Fight the swarm off?

If there is to be a fight, what can Blue do? A mess of Stunbolts? Huh. Note to self: area effect astral spell. They bite. Astral armour helps. Ooh. Watcher spirit allies. Blue can summon up to eight of them. Even the odds some.

But, if they are driven away or disrupted, won't they just come back later? Or other ones from nearby? An astral barrier won't help. These ones can return from their plane straight into this house.

Well, next question.

::: How can I help you against these things?:::

[Koekepan]

The canine spirit form snuffles at Blue's hand. :::Servant of Owl, I do not know. Can you flea dip a house? I think not.:::

[pbangarth]

Blue is at a loss as to what to do for the Hearth Spirit.

::: This summoning leaves me only one more question of you. I need time to decide what to do to help you. You look like the creatures are harming you, but gradually. I consider the time from one sunset to the next as one day. In those terms, how many days before they have disrupted you completely? I will do something before that happens. :::

[Koekepan]

:::Perhaps never, but perhaps as few as a thousand, depending on their growth and movement with the seasons. My term is not short. But they are apt to be a plague on the region and degrade it far and wide.:::

[pbangarth]

As the Hearth Spirit begins to fade, Blue promises, ::: I will do what I can to learn what this plague is about, and find a way to end it. Be strong.:::

A worried Blue goes back to the car and Karmakaze. """Shit's going down in the astral here,""" he says to his partner as he sits back in the car. """Those little fairy things are slowly eating the Hearth Spirit and spreading to houses nearby. I need to find out what is going on.

"""Can we swing by where we replanted Madel? I want to see how she is doing and, hopefully, see this plague isn't going on where she is."""

[OOC: the connection flips between normal and broken, so I am packing more into one post than I normally would. Hope that's OK.]

At Madel's home, they park again. The service Blue set for his City Spirit still covers the vehicle till sunrise. There on the front stoop, in the darkness after having ensured there is no surveillance, Blue tries to summon Madel.

[ Spoiler ]

Summon F4 Hearth Spirit : target 4; 6+2 = 8 dice: 4 successes
resist Drain: target 4(L); 8 + 2 = 10 dice: 4 successes No Drain.

[Koekepan]

Madel does show up, but interestingly she looks a little younger than she had in the past. Newer situation? Re-establishment? Reduced power? Who really knows? But she appears before Blue, and even appears to recognise him with a knowing nod and a grunt.

[pbangarth]

::: Glad to see you, Madel. It looks like your new home is treating you well. I dropped by to see if you are OK, but also to ask a question. In another part of town, a Hearth Spirit's domain is experiencing an infestation of a kind of astral being I have never seen before. Small, female fairy-looking things that are hostile to the Hearth Spirit and in fact are slowly draining them of energy. Apparently they were attracted to a human girl in the house and she appears to have some control over them.

::: Does any of that sound familiar, or around here, maybe? :::

[Koekepan]

Madel thinks this over for a while, then takes a slow sip of the drink in the steaming mug with which she manifested. She leans on the wall, and says: :::As you well know, or should, spirits are not all friends, and just as an owl will strike a rat, so will spirits feast on each other. Parasites are spirits as well, but it would be wise to understand what manner of spirit they are, and their domain.:::

[pbangarth]

:::Yes, that is what I have to figure out. I will have to do some research. I am glad that these spirits have not yet come to your domain. I hope they never do.

:::I'll let you get back to your hot beverage. See you another time, maybe.:::

He returns to the car and asks Karmakaze to dirve him home. On the way, he suggests they conduct parallel investigations: Karmakaze into the neighbourhood issues, and Blue into the spiritual conundrum.

Back at his place, Blue thinks for a moment. He had considered asking Sweez the same question as Madel, but a niggling thought finally makes it to the surface. A number of spirits recently have referred to him as a servant of Owl. Maybe Owl is tweaking him to have a chat.

He settles himself with a cup of tea, sits in a comfy chair and opens his mind to the astral.

:::Owl, my Totem, a mystery reveals itself to me. I have come across a form of spirit that I do not understand. I ask for your wisdom. Help me to understand and to know how to deal with these spirits.:::

[Koekepan]

Blue's vision slowly dims, then changes as his view embraces the astral, and he sees a large, old, animated electronic billboard displaying an advertisement for something that he can't quite make out; lingerie, perhaps. Uninteresting. His vision drifts up, and on the top bar of the display he sees an owl perching; a barn owl. It's eating its prey.

Beneath the talons, in the smear of red, Blue sees butterfly wings and spindly humanoid arms.

[pbangarth]

Blue comes back to this world and considers his vision. +++Alright. Time to go to war.+++

He checks the time to see how much time he has till sunrise.

Blue also initiates an inquiry into a plan that might take a few days to put together. He sends a message to Mary Margaret. <<<Blue here. Interested in a Force 4 Stunball spell formula. Willing to pay 12,000 for it if it can be expedited. Let me know soonest.>>>

[ Spoiler ]

Etiquette Test target 4: Etiquette 3 = 3 dice: 2 successes