Buffy: The Vampire Slayer (IC)

[Yawielas]

(I'm ok with moving along:) )

[Truwar]

((So am I))

So, should we head into this place then? I am thinking we are going to find some answers here... or a horrible death-trap. Bastion shrugs. These kind of things can go either way.

[Yawielas]

"It's doesn't really look like a death trap..." Jenna opens the door after nodding a hello to Harry, then turns back to him. "How did you know where to find us? I couldn't reach you."

[Prustan]

The shop looks like any other 'New Age' shop - crystals, fantasy posters, incense, candles, Goth figurines etc. Before Harry can answer, the door pops open, and a middle-aged, well-dressed man peers at you from behind thick glasses. "You must be the young people that my wife is waiting for. I'm Terry. Follow me out the back, and prepare for something that only the most trusted customers ever get to see."

He guides you past aisles of standard fare, to a curtained doorway, where he pauses. "Gail's waiting for you through here. Do remember, if you break it, you've bought it." And he bows, with an outstretched arm, inviting you to go.

Nothing could have prepared you for the sight that greets you through the curtain - a huge room, larger than a Warehouse store, with rows upon rows of weapons, books, gems, and strange materials everywhere. Looking quite pleased at your expressions of shock is a woman, festooned with all many of amulets and 'magical' items, who steps forward to shake your hands. "I'm so glad you could make it here. I'm Gail, and welcome to my 'little' secret. I'm sure you've all got questions, so ask away."

[Yawielas]

Jenna closes her mouth, glances to the others, then speaks. "Yeah, I have some questions...Why did you stick a note to my door, and how did you know what I am? And what exactly am I?"

[Truwar]

Bastion looks around in absolute amazement, probably more shocked than his companions because he has a better idea of what many of the items in the cavernous store are actually capable of. Cripes… it an Eldritch Wal-Mart… He mumbles under his breath before coming to his senses.

I suppose I have a couple of questions as well. Why did you bring me here? Jenna is the Slayer, at least that is my guess. And what is this? With that Bastion pulls the red gem from inside of his jacket and shows it to Gail.

[Adlan]

Harry

Harry is intensely curious, and sniffs, touchs, smell various objects, turning what appears to be a paper weight around in his hands before setting it down on the side.

He is about to take a whiff from a large pot of black powder, when Gail stops him.

'Fancy sleeping for a thousand years?' She pressures his hand, and Harry again, gingerly puts it back where he found it.

'So all this stuff is real?' He looks around dubiously, but he puts his hands in his pockets, to prevent his curiosity.

[Prustan]

(Just to give you an idea of character finances, after all normal expenses are paid, Harry has maybe $5 or 10 per week, Bastion has $250 - 300 per week, and Jenna has $1000 - 1200 per week. That money for Harry's gas tank was more than his total weekly pay. Now, to start answering the questions.)

"Yes Harry, all of my merchandise is real. I check each piece personally, and we have a 150% guarantee that everything will work as advertised. So be careful to read the labels before touching anything else. There are so rather dangerous items here. By the way, your body is hiding a secret, that has so far been kept from everyone - including yourself."

She thinks for a moment before continuing "Now, Jenna, I put that note on your door because we have a friend in common, and he suggested that I give the new Slayer a bit of help, something to mark the beginning of her new career. He also suggested that I have you invite your new friends. You're a Slayer, but I don't know much about exactly what that means. All I know about Slayers is that they are rare, only one in the world at one time, and that they are defenders of humanity. When he decides the time is right, our friend will tell you more. In the meantime, I have a room you can use for training..."

She turns to Bastion "Ah, you have a power crystal I see. Very useful they are, if used correctly. This one...is used to improve the strength of someone's muscles."
She suddenly turns to the shelves, and grabs a book and a couple of bags. "Here Bastion. My gift to you - 'Gem magic and You, and two full sets of crystals to get you started. Be very careful with choosing how many crystals you wish to channel at once though. the more you use, the more powerful the effect will be, but the more powerful the spell needs to be to safely use the power. You should have no problem with one or two, and, if you really push your limits, there is a chance you could use as many as thirteen or fourteen, but that would not be advisable."

She makes another snap decision, and grabs Harry and Jenna. "You two, come with me. I have something for you as well."

She drags you through the maze of shelves, chattering to herself about the merits of one item over another, before she stops in front of a great big line of weapons. She reaches in, and pulls out a stake, and an Escrima staff, handing the stake to Jenna and the staff to Harry. "My gifts to you. Both enchanted to never break - and believe me, I've tried - and both blessed to be more effective weapons. The stake was in fact used by a previous Slayer - I think she even named it. Now, let's go back, and I'll answer any other questions I can."

(I'll PM the relevant information later.)

[Yawielas]

Jenna blinks. "Huh...Defender of humanity...so.....no pressure, then..." She follows Gail down the aisle, and looks curiously at the stake she's given. "Named it? I guess she didn't have too many friends, huh..." She puts the stake in her inner jacket pocket, and looks to Harry. When Gail heads back to where they left Bastion, she asks: "I'd really like to know who this common friend is. I get the feeling he's the one with all the answers."

[Prustan]

Gail shakes her head "I'd love to tell you who he is, but he asked me not to. Feel free to look around if you want - just don't get lost, and be careful, not everything in here is unbreakable."

[Adlan]

Harry Took the Staff. It felt like wood, and he bent it, tensing the staff carefully. It was sprung like wood. It certainly had the flexibility of a Escrima Staff

Harry kept bending it, and then it just stopped, it would bend no more. He flexed it backwards, and again, it bent no more.

He put his shoulders over it, and bent it with full force, quietly straining it bent, no more.

He laid one ende on the ground, and holding the other, tried to bend it with his foot. still, it bent no more.

He picked it up, sniffed it, scanned it. It looked just like an ordinary staff, but it would bend, no more.

[Yawielas]

"Did he at least say when he'll get in touch again?" Jenna unconsciously reaches up a hand to feel the contours of the stake in her jacket pocket, feeling oddly safer having it. Suddenly remembering her manners, she adds: "By the way, thank you. For the stake, and for telling us at least a little more. I should have said so before, but I guess I'm still a little overwhelmed. Apparently I fought vampires last night...How sick is that..."

[Prustan]

"Oh, no idea. He likes to keep his mysteries, but he's always there when needed, and when he's least expected. Oh, and Harry, I did tell you that it's enchanted to never break right? I tested that thing with an axe, a flamethrower, and a steel furnace, and nothing happened to it. Same with that stake."
She thinks for a bit, then continues, "Sorry about this, and I've no idea when you'll be able to sleep, but you should go out and patrol the streets now. You know all those stories in the papers, about the murders by gang members on PCP? About 90% of them were done by some supernatural beastie or demon, and you three are the only ones who can do something about it."

[Yawielas]

Jenna blinks. "Patrol the streets? Like the police, you mean? And without sleep? I have school, you know..."

[Truwar]

Bastion sighs inwardly. I had a nasty feeling of where this was going. Oh well, might as well make the best of it. So… Gail, can I use this crystal magic on others? For example, this red stone here. I do not have much use for mystical strength, but it sounds like my two weapon wielding friends there might, pretty soon in fact.

[Prustan]

"Yep, sucks to be you now. See, your average murdering supernatural monster is most active during the night - at least until all the people have gone home. Around here, that means until about 2 or 3 in the morning. Since you're the only ones around that can do something, you need to be out patrolling, hopefully saving those who would otherwise be their victims. The only reason you weren't a victim yourself last night is that your Slayer powers activated."
She turns to Bastion, "Yes, you can use the magic on others. But, the ritual takes half an hour per crystal to work properly, you can only boost one person per casting, and the lucky person has to be within a carefully defined place the whole time. Not to mention that only the amount of crystals used right when the spell is cast will determine the effect. You only have a very limited number of these crystals. Use them wisely."

(As far as The Other Place is concerned, if you want to buy something, let me know what you want, and I'll work something out. Just remember how much money you have to spend every week, because too much overspending could reduce your Resources Quality, and this place is kind of expensive.)

[Yawielas]

"2 or 3, are you serious?! I'm suddenly getting a vision of my grades plummeting..." Jenna looks around the store. "Do you have anything else that might help against these monsters? Garlic? Holy water? Sunshine in a bottle?"

[Prustan]

"Could be worse. Up in Auckland they'd probably be out until sunrise. As for the other things...garlic doesn't really do too much, just makes them back off a little, and you can get it at any supermarket. Don't think anyone's come up with a way of bottling sunshine, but that would be effective. Crosses, more effective than garlic - can actually hurt them - don't have any here, but it would pay to get some from the Christian Bookshop just up the road. And holy water. I'll give each of you a bottle, but if you want more, there'll be a small charge."

[Yawielas]

"I'll pay for it. We should probably stock up..." She looks a little lost at the other two. "This is quite a big change....in life, I mean." She gets her wallet out, ready to buy some more bottles of holy water.

[Prustan]

"Sure. I can sell you another 10 bottles - $5 each, or $40 for the lot."
She looks at her watch, frowns, and brings it nearer to one of the shelves. "Hmm. You might want to hurry if you want those crosses. The shop's going to close in another 20 minutes."

[Yawielas]

Jenna buys the 10 bottles, and thanks Gail. "Ok, we'll hurry then. Come on, boys." Picking up the bag with the clinking bottles, she heads for the door, to go to the christian bookstore.

[Prustan]

(So, you have 13 bottles of Holy Water in total. May need to find someone who'll bless your water for free.)
The Christian bookshop is quite small, particularly in comparison to The Other Place, but is well laid out, and you find the crosses without any trouble. What size do you want - small necklace for $10, medium necklace for $15 or pocket sized (perfect for brandishing in your hand) for $25?

[Yawielas]

Jenna buys two small necklaces for the boys, since she already has a silver cross necklace. Then she buys three pocket sized ones as well, handing Bastion and Harry one each. "Here...Perhaps we should get one for Craig as well....Just in case." With that thought, she buys one more necklace and pocket sized cross.

[Truwar]

Bastion handles the cross a bit gingerly, raising his eyebrow at Jenna. You know, people of my… sort haven’t exactly had the best history with Christians. Oh, well, it might come in handy as a backup. Sighing, bastion shoves the cross into his pocket.

[Yawielas]

Jenna looks at Bastion. "They're not for praying...I think they're more for the Van Helsing kind of thing."

[Adlan]

Harry puts on the cross, it is a rather interesting one, a Faux Celtic cross, with slightly off cast knotwork and the iconic circle. He feels sheepish for wearing it, and embarassed that Jenna is paying, so before she can reach for her purse, he draws out the wad of notes for his bike repairs, and counts out the cost of his own cross. He is still embarassed about it, a man should pay, but maybe the shop owners will just think he was a wussy 'new man' into equality.

You know, I could always take over night shift, seeing as you have school in the morning, at least after a certain hour.

He murmers quietly to Jenna.

[Prustan]

(Just normal crosses here Adlan. New Plymouth is too small for people to want crosses of different designs, plus this type of Christian bookshop wouldn't stock them anyway.)

[Yawielas]

Jenna looks gratefully at Harry. "I can't imagine we have to stay up as late as Gail said. It's not like we're on the clock, or anything. Thank you for offering, though. If it gets really late some nights, though, maybe it's for a good reason, and maybe you shouldn't be alone...Not that you're not the experienced one in these things..."

[Adlan]

'One insitdent on a boat and now I'm the supernatural SAS?' Harry Joked.

'We are none of us experianced at this, even Potter wannabe over there. I say we go back to the pub, find craig, and have a jam.

[Prustan]

(Just so you know, current game time is about 4:45pm. You have about 1 - 1.5 hours before the sun sets enough to worry about patrolling for vamps.)