Supernatural Isekai IC *Still Recruiting*

[gawwy]

Rowan

"Acquiring the spear is easy enough." they agreed with the assessment of the others. Speaking for the first time in several moments. "I have to admit I am of no help with dimensional issues." admitting to a weakness, but not specifying a strength, let the gods see this and underestimate the vampire before them. They did get an eye on Mads and the smell of blood was deeply distracting "Can I help with that?" they inquired their tone stiff and they were swallowing back the mouthfuls of venom that seemed to keep filling their mouth. "You seem in need of aid."

Spoiler: Abilities Used & How

Show

Using Empathy (Pathokinesis) to read their emotions to see if I notice any deception in their intentions
Same for Telepathy, to read their surface thoughts to check for a deception, but not digging deeper, just reading the thoughts they are projecting naturally.

"Ja, if you can heal me or yourself, There's something of a backlog to work through though, Ja." Mads says to Rowan. "And I'm more than happy to tag along to the museum of London, always did want to zee what the big deal vas. Ill leave one of me here though to liaise with zee gods, Ja?"

[TheAlmightyKue]

Rowan

Rowan offered their hand to Mads and took a firm grip on it. Mads would immediately notice that it was like having his hand encased in ice as their skin was far colder than the room around them. Rowan nods their head to give their permission for Mads to begin their ability.

Rowan felt the burns flash across their side like a wave of heat. The burns stung in a way that their vampire mind echoed was weaker than the burning of transformation. The flesh warped like plastic siding exposed to too much heat. Rowan gritted their teeth and their eyes locked on Mads, the skin shined in the light the way a burn scar does, and then like someone set the camera to reverse the warped plastic siding was made new and untouched again.

The bone on their right side, and the collarbone fractured and came cleanly apart. The pain was sudden but passed just as suddenly as the bone began to knit back together, the venom-infused muscles within seeming to be forced back into position as the venom soaked the bone and immediately the bone mended. But the initial break caused the sound of a sharp clear crack, like a rock splitting in two. Next, a wound spawned on their left hand, opening through it and Rowan could tell if they looked they might see clear through. The wound didn't bleed instead filling with clear fluid before the wound began to close up leaving no trace of it behind.

The sound of ribs breaking filled the room with a groan from Rowan, but also the familiar sound of rock being split, the sharp clear cracks. Rowan's eyes never left Mads eyes, the eyes would narrow and expand as the wounds were delivered and then healed off. Each caused pain, but due to the healing, it was fleeting, only a memory of the pain remained, one that Rowan would unfortunately always be able to recall with crystal clarity. As the ribs healed, each bone within the body fractured causing fainter cracks, faint for human ears but inhuman ones could hear each bone strain and crack in unpleasant ways. Before the venom and regeneration tag-teamed them and sealed them off healing them back to perfection.

The cancer was not that unpleasant, discomfort but not pain, and the venom would make short work of such foreign material eating away at it as the regeneration repaired each damaged cell to factory settings. The build-up for cholesterol in the ventricles of the heart met a similar fate, not that Rowan used their heart anymore, but the foreign organic materials dissolved under the venomous onslaught. As the wounds, illnesses, and ailments flowed into them Rowan felt each, becoming acutely aware of what new foreign stimuli were added to the body they found as their permanent residence.

The blindness was the most concerning of course, only because Vampires have an innate tension from losing one of their senses. Though through smell they could detect the room better than most, and hearing might as well give them better sonar than any bat could dream of having. But still, the milky look of their eyes only covered the blackness underneath. But like so much else the milky film that seemed to glaze over their eyes dissolved before Mads like it was eaten away by acid.

They would keep a hold of their hand as they filtered through concussions, bruises, scraps, and various other injuries and conditions that the body made of seemingly crystal made small cracks and creaks with the application of wounds only for the wound to fill with a clear liquid that seemed to immediately pull the wound close and knit it shut like someone turned the video to several times play speed. Rowan would only speak one time "That about all of it?"

[gawwy]

Rowan

"That about all of it?"

Mads had excused one of his selves upstairs to a distant room where he could scream as the pain wracked him, the downside to having quantumly entangled brains was they all got to feel the pain every body felt at once. Having this one outlet helped him deal a bit. He tried his hardest not to let it show on the body the gods could see, but certainly let some of it through in grunts and jaw clenching.

The *thing* in front of him seemed completely immune to the pain. The part of Mads' power that let him sense wounds gave him a front row seat to the miracle that was Rowan's healing process.

At the end of the process Mads' takes a moment to regain his composure then nods. "Ja, that's mostly it." he says quietly with a shaky thumbs up.

Rowan may notice right at the end that Mads tight grip suddenly gets stronger, not enough to harm him but noticeably so, and Mads seems to fill out a bit.

Spoiler: the rest of mads

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One of the Mads vanished himself off to a rooms to have a good scream as the other 3 milled about the crowds he had just dispersed wounds to taking them back to feed to Rowan.

"No ve have shared, ve can heal." Mads' intones to the survivors. Trying to sell the act to the group.

Between the pain and the fascination with Rowan Mads almost forgets to hold some of the injuries for later.

He loads the hidden self with enough wounds to disable and almost kill it and then teleport's it to nowhere. The sensation of the injuries it holds disappear with it and Mads has a broken body's worth of injuries stored for later.

[ArlEammon]

Rowan

Rowan's mind was racing, but the information, collected in detail and seemingly forever, made no sense. But the more Rowan contemplated the various versions of each Greek Myth, of the various versions of myths across the globe that they knew about it did start making an odd form of sense. Of course, humans would make the gods big and scary and awful. They blamed them for everything. If you tripped and fell down the stairs it was Dolus, the personification of trickery that did it, not your two left feet and the massive amount of wine you had drank. But still, there was rarely smoke without fire, perhaps the myths exaggerated the wrongs they had done, and embellished the stories to make them more unbelievable, but there was likely a grain of truth in their origin somewhere.

Rowan keyed into their empathic abilities and telepathic to try and get a read on these gods. Especially their spokesperson in the deity known as Zeus. They were quiet, no need to draw unwanted attention to them without needing too. The request for magical items, though not from their time period or before even though they had initially asked for those specifically. Perhaps it was the strength of the magic of this spear and chalice that would let them bypass the restriction they had said of their time period.

"Acquiring the spear is easy enough." they agreed with the assessment of the others. Speaking for the first time in several moments. "I have to admit I am of no help with dimensional issues." admitting to a weakness, but not specifying a strength, let the gods see this and underestimate the vampire before them. They did get an eye on Mads and the smell of blood was deeply distracting "Can I help with that?" they inquired their tone stiff and they were swallowing back the mouthfuls of venom that seemed to keep filling their mouth. "You seem in need of aid."

Spoiler: Abilities Used & How

Show

Using Empathy (Pathokinesis) to read their emotions to see if I notice any deception in their intentions
Same for Telepathy, to read their surface thoughts to check for a deception, but not digging deeper, just reading the thoughts they are projecting naturally.

Empathy/Pathokinesis
There is no deception but there is hesitation, as if they have more to say but are unsure if they should share more information. Thoughts are "They are too young to understand. . ." Or "They're not ready" Some of them are more rude but to the point such as "dumb mortals" etcetera, but you do get the impression even the 'Rude" thoughts you're getting are positively intentioned.

Meanwhile . . .
An old man steps out of the room to speak with Mads. This particular man was clothed in a robe with a hood. Taking the hood off his head, he had a golden right eye and a normal blue left eye. No eye patch, but you could feel in your spirit who this was who was going to speak with you. This is none other than Odin. While the gods start to leave the portal room with the Blue Orb and begin to explore the basement area, Odin put his right hand around you in a friendly gesture to take you to a private room. "So Mads, look. I know what you're doing. You're a cult leader." Odin just stated as a matter of fact. "I don't have anything against that. But I think I could lend a hand. See, I know a lot about magic and I could tell you don't exactly have a lot of that, at least not yet. However, since you are all new to this dimension you didn't come here with a True Name, but now you have one already. Use that. If you want to be known as an important religious figure. Use your True Name for people to know you by."

[Lewascan2]

Mia Mathers
The Gods in the Basement

Watching -or more like listening- to Mads and Rowan go on their little "healing" binge, Mia could only observe in morbid fascination and fresh understanding at the chorus of cracking internals and periodic flare and dulling of sanguine scents. Distantly, above the basement in the main building, Mia could also hear one of Mads's other new bodies screaming in unrestrained agony, which... Well, that certainly said much about how little pain tolerance that ability came packaged with. When Mads had called himself a healer before, that was an entirely inaccurate statement. What he was in reality was a redistributor. Every bit of harm he pulled away clearly still had to go somewhere. If not himself then someone else. Combined with Edward's own professed lack of confidence in his own healing magic, this made the ability something they shouldn't rely upon by any means.

At the least, Mia doubted it would ever be much useful to her. Any injury she would require that power to heal from would likely just kill Mads outright without careful planning and a decent patsy to accept it. On another note, seeing Rowan's example, she made a note to generally avoid physical contact with Mads in any potential confrontation. While it's doubtful he could "store" an injury great enough to kill her (as it would have killed him long before her), he might be able to inconvenience her seriously enough to be vulnerable to a follow-up.

Treat it as if I were Dio and him a Joseph clad in Hamon. If I ever needed to fight him, I should only strike him indirectly and never let him touch me. Although... That power oddly rings a bell. Though, I can't quite put my finger on it...

The more helpful thing to observe by far was how fast Rowan regenerated from the injuries they accepted from Mads. Admittedly, Mia hadn't really understood how fast vampires regenerate until now. She was aware of what they were weak to, where their limitations generally lay, but given that her "doner" hadn't had any serious experience with testing that regeneration power that could have carried over in understanding, Mia had honestly considered it their weakest asset by far. What she was witnessing now, however, put a bit of a stopper in that opinion.

Maybe it's not their strongest asset, but though it is limited, it's not weak by any means... I wonder... With this kind of recovery speed, that might actually be something I can safely test...

Redirecting her attention to the matter at hand, Mia nodded in agreement to Edward and Rowan, making a mental note of the addendum Jason raised as being perhaps worth pursuing later as well. A dimensionally stable base, protected from the ongoing chaos even if the worst happened? Yes, please! Outwardly, Mia merely said, "Sounds like we have a heading... or something approaching one." Nodding again to Edward, she grinned confidently at his offer of transportation, some small part of her childishly eager to experience it. "Then I suppose we'll put our safe arrival in your hands." Glancing around at the mingling gods, she frowned. "I'd prefer we depart expeditiously. The sooner we get this show on the road, the better." And the sooner she removed herself from spitting distance of literal gods, the sooner she could stop feeling instinctively threatened at all times.

In the wake of this, Mia's gaze tracked the departure of one of the gods, who appeared as an old man in a hooded robe, as the figure demonstrated an abrupt forwardness to herd Mads into a private conversation. Her stomach squirmed in unease, as she got a sensation of who it was... Odin, yet another head of a Pantheon, this time the Norse. Her eyes narrowed briefly at the glimpse of his eyes she got in passing, as she paid a similar amount of wary attention to the other gods now beginning to spread out, ranging away from the room they'd appeared in.

Frowning, Mia didn't even need to step closer to overhear their conversation. In the confines of a basement that enhanced acoustics with vampiric hearing on her side? Even if Odin were whispering, she could have overheard him clear as if he was shouting in her ear. A sharp scowl briefly broke across her lips before being smoothed away, as she heard what they were talking about.

A cult?! What? How and why? We haven't even been here more than a few hours! Oi, and more to the point, why the hell is one of the existing gods actually helping him with it?! She honestly couldn't fathom why. Gods were generally known to be jealous sorts when it came to mortals trying to "rise above their station". Even so...

Mia's lips pursed, as her gaze traced over to Rowan, knowing they could surely hear Odin's words as easily as she could. Mia would not deny... in this situation, there was a sinister temptation in trying to follow the blueprint Mads was laying down. She'd never have thought of herself as one to entertain a god complex, and even now, the concept of trying what Mads was made her stomach turn somehow, eliciting a feeling that the whole affair was scummy as an enterprise.

Spoiler: To be... or not to be...

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Yet... Based on several things the gods had said so far, attaining divinity through worship, rather than being born into it, was perfectly possible in this world. If she wanted to, Mia wondered how difficult it would really be to set herself up as a member of Mads's potential budding pantheon. She suspected the answer was unfortunately "embarrassingly easy". She could probably easily set herself up as a Goddess of Time or War, leaning into her vampiric predilections for the ways of a warrior. Between her alternating aura of allure and aggression, she already slotted into the trope of "love and war" and might even have a way to play into the domain of Love... not that such was a preference.

But she was getting ahead of herself. If that was something that was actually possible, it was already all too tempting, and Mia had to wonder what the catch must be. Odin's implication that the first step to success with utilizing one's True Name already levied some element of risk. Mia didn't know much about the local nature of True Names, but they obviously had power. Spreading hers around openly, recklessly, seemed rife with risk. Yet, at the same time, it was clear that getting worshippers to invoke one's True Name was likely the first step to gaining a steady trickle of divine power. That actually made her wonder then: were the gods before them presently going by their own True Names?

That wasn't the only concern, of course, however. After all, had the gods of this world not been rendered near extinct until now? How had that even happened? And more importantly, if Mia became a goddess, wouldn't she also be at risk from such a phenomenon in the future? Would taking up a divine mantle restrict her in unforeseen ways? Would her existence henceforth become beholden to the survival of her worshipper base? The last thing she was interested in was ceasing to exist just because people got bored of her or because she didn't feel like actively encouraging people to praise her for no reason.

She'd need to consider her decision carefully, but whatever path she chose... She should perhaps choose soon. The earlier she got into the ground floor on this little "Pantheon Project", the more easily she could benefit and shape the result, get her "lore" properly aligned with whatever nonsense Mads was cooking up. It really just seemed mad as a concept to her, but...

She wouldn't deny that this strange situation worried her. There were so many powerful beings, so many unknown threats, that she couldn't help but be afraid. And through fear, there grew inside her a hunger to mitigate it... with the accruement of any and all power and advantages she could get her hands on. She wasn't even sure what she wanted to do with her future in this situation, but she had already determined one overarching prerequisite. She didn't want to die. She wanted to live, and live free. And in a world plagued by the supernatural at even a cosmic level? That required hard power.

She'd give it some thought.

In the meanwhile, she'd make sure to keep a careful... eye? Ear? She'd keep watch, see how that was going for the... ambitious new "cult" leader.

[Thunder999]

EDWARD

Well that is unexpected, Rowan seems to have some rather good regenartion going, still don't know where from, more importantly Mads seems to be getting through those injuries at an alarming rate, makes you wonder just what he can transfer though, so much for giving the gods something useful to do.
Just have to give them to benefit of the doubt, certainly seem friendlier than in myths, and it's not like mythology is known for consistency or accuracy, probably not hiding worse than the rest of this little group.

Two possibilities for London, major disaster area and therefore full of panicing people and media attention, or business as usual and therefore the CCTV captial of Europe, so probably best to arrive invisible, probably easier to have everyone grab on first, coordinating invisible people sounds like a hassle.

Edward waves his wand casually and a few feet of silver chain appears in the air, casually levitating.
"Ok so this is simple enough, everyone grab hold of this chain, once everyone's holding on, I'm making it and you invisible, then it's a single charm and we're in London."
He follows his own instructions, grabbing the chain in one hand and disillusioning himself with the other.

As soon as everyone else is ready, he'll transform the chain into a portkey, dropping everyone near the British Museum.

[gawwy]

[
Meanwhile . . .
"So Mads, look. I know what you're doing. You're a cult leader." Odin just stated as a matter of fact. "I don't have anything against that. But I think I could lend a hand. See, I know a lot about magic and I could tell you don't exactly have a lot of that, at least not yet. However, since you are all new to this dimension you didn't come here with a True Name, but now you have one already. Use that. If you want to be known as an important religious figure. Use your True Name for people to know you by."

Mads glances back to see if they could be heard before whispering to Odin, god with one hundred and fifty names.
"Ahh I was wondering how far into the hotel your kind can see. Far enough it seems. Not that I dont appreciate it, but why would you help me in this endeavor?"

EDWARD
Edward waves his wand casually and a few feet of silver chain appears in the air, casually levitating.
"Ok so this is simple enough, everyone grab hold of this chain, once everyone's holding on, I'm making it and you invisible, then it's a single charm and we're in London."
He follows his own instructions, grabbing the chain in one hand and disillusioning himself with the other.

As soon as everyone else is ready, he'll transform the chain into a portkey, dropping everyone near the British Museum.

As Mads looks around to check if his conversation with Odin can be overheard he relocates a second body down to the basement with a VORP.

"Ah I vas vorried about how ve vere ment to get to London. Presumably zee planes are out of commission, Ja? Thank you Edward. Ve vill return with the spear that killed Christ shortly, Ja!"

Mads grabs the chain and smiles at Edward broadly.

Spoiler: other mads

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The two remaining mads simply mingle with the survivors up stairs after the healing is complete. Reassuring the worried ones that every thing is going to be fine. They were blessed after all.

[ArlEammon]

Mads glances back to see if they could be heard before whispering to Odin, god with one hundred and fifty names.
"Ahh I was wondering how far into the hotel your kind can see. Far enough it seems. Not that I dont appreciate it, but why would you help me in this endeavor?"
As Mads looks around to check if his conversation with Odin can be overheard he relocates a second body down to the basement with a VORP.
"Ah I vas vorried about how ve vere ment to get to London. Presumably zee planes are out of commission, Ja? Thank you Edward. Ve vill return with the spear that killed Christ shortly, Ja!"
Mads grabs the chain and smiles at Edward broadly.

Spoiler: other mads

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The two remaining mads simply mingle with the survivors up stairs after the healing is complete. Reassuring the worried ones that every thing is going to be fine. They were blessed after all.

Back At Elysian Hotel
Odin smiles. "It's simple. We act like we're the biggest boys in town, as the gods, but the truth is the Earth dimension needs more of us. The more powerful you are, you see, the more enemies you tend to have."

The God's Warnings

"You should be cautious at the British Museum. We can sense something is going to act against you. But curiously we sense no malice. It could be that rather than something evil, you may have to deal with something merely, um, weird, for lack of better word, but still possibly dangerous."

England
Mortimer, happy that the protagonists helped him by rescuing him from The Mirror, accompanies them. Word'sworth stays behind. The group appears through the portal keys in The British Museum in London. Outside it appears as if London is in tact, however no one is around. The cars are empty, though you do occasionally see figures and sillhouetes in the distance.

The museum inside seems mostly empty of people, though the exhibits remain where they've been since before the Cataclysm. Shortly after arriving you do see three people sitting down on the cleanly kept floor, leaning against the wall in front of the few empty exhibits. Behind them there are a few beds and even one person seems to be laying down.

Meanwhile. . .
Emma, as she sits at her table in her apartment, is reaching at her large spell book. This spellbook had the names and true names of the protagonists, in addition to their appearances on the magical pages. Scowling under the headers that were meant to list their True Names, the realization hits her that your True Names are no longer there! Now she knows you have been freed from the geas.
Emma screams in rage.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Once the group arrives at the museum and it sounds like the coast is clear, the cup in Mia's hand shakes hand unscrews itself, and Cassie leaps out to reconstitute herself behind the reception desk - the same human form as before, this time augmented with cat ears and a tail because why the heck not? Shapeshifting is still a new sensation, but it feels good, like a satisfying stretch after a nap, like all her worries melted away somewhere in the process. So much so that she stands there dumbly for a moment, having already forgotten what she was going to say.

This is probably convenient for everyone here who had a stomach while teleporting, as they will likely need a moment to settle.

"So, I guess we're doing this, huh?" she says at last. "You know, I took for granted that this world wasn't like the one I came from. But, here we are - there's still a London, and a museum, and references to religious history I kind of recognize. Is this how the world has always been? With true names, and gods, and..." she lights up and turns to the extension of Mads that came along for the ride. "Right! I was going to say - you're not actually going through with this cult thing, are you? We can't take advantage of people's trust like that! And if the power of faith works the way that basement guy said, that just makes it worse!"

[gawwy]

She lights up and turns to the extension of Mads that came along for the ride. "Right! I was going to say - you're not actually going through with this cult thing, are you? We can't take advantage of people's trust like that! And if the power of faith works the way that basement guy said, that just makes it worse!"

"That is impressive hearing for something with no ears, Ja." Mads says wryly, "If these gods are powered by faith like ve suspect. That means the faith of those survivors vould be a strategic resource for the gods, Ja. As ve don't know how benevolent they are I acted quickly to deny them this resource. In the worst case my 'Cult' vill act to inoculate them against the virus of belief these 'Gods' will sow."

[Thunder999]

EDWARD

Edward is beginning to question the morals and motives of his new allies, really, a CULT. Still, more important things than failing to convince someone why that's wrong.

He turns to Cassie "Definitely not how the world always was, for one thing the British Museum never claimed to have the spear we seek, more importantly we were clearly summoned from elsewhere, based on the description of this new disaster, we're apparently in some sort of many worlds cosmology, and we all come from a rather dull one, assuming we come from the same one, anyway."

"Still, something is wrong, there shouldn't be anyone here at all at 3am."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Cassie still doesn't like the cult idea, but relents when Edward poses his theory. "Yeah, I guess that's true. If that's how this world works, I don't know what else could be different, in the past or the future."

"As long as we're here, we should check around outside. Abandoned or not, the museum is still standing. Maybe London is faring better than Arizona, at least?"

[gawwy]

EDWARD

"Still, something is wrong, this place should be full of people in the middle of the day, convenient, but suspicious."[/COLOR]

"As long as we're here, we should check around outside. Abandoned or not, the museum is still standing. Maybe London is faring better than Arizona, at least?"

Vell I vas going to go find un bitching sword to steal back from the British. But you do both raise a salient point about the prople arounder here, csnt hurt to pop a head out and check see if the apocalypse spread to here, ja? Oh und can ve let go of the chain now? Mads muses and then asks Edward.

[ArlEammon]

Cassie still doesn't like the cult idea, but relents when Edward poses his theory. "Yeah, I guess that's true. If that's how this world works, I don't know what else could be different, in the past or the future."

"As long as we're here, we should check around outside. Abandoned or not, the museum is still standing. Maybe London is faring better than Arizona, at least?"

3 AM, England

Outside, you can see the silhouettes and far off figures moving close by the moment. Otherwise, there doesn't seem to be much going on. However, you do hear strange shrieks out in the distance. These figures do not yet see the protagonists, yet they are moving slowly towards the outside of the British Museum. Although they are still in the distance, some of you have very enhanced senses Those of you who can now spot them note that they appear to be monsters. These monsters have chromed heads and have sharp teeth and fangs, standing muscular, sleek and very tall, at least around seven to eight feet.

[Thunder999]

EDWARD

At Mads' comment Edward casually vanishes the chain "Oh that was just for the trip, honestly not sure how anyone would let go of that mid trip, but the knowledge of my own abilities includes that doing so is very unhealthy, I'm going to see if the Spear is listed as an exhibit."

Unaware of the dangers outside, he heads over to the museum directory to look up the location of the spear, such a famous object should be easy enough to locate, unless of course it's just one of the many treasures hidden in the museum's storage.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Cassie was walking to the museum's front door even as she was making her suggestion. Vision still isn't her strong suit and she has to squint to make out any details, but it's not hard to see the big metal-headed goblins coming. They're just kind of trundling up the street like they own the place. One would think that monsters would usually stick to prowling dark alleys, but nope.

"Um, guys? Everyone?" She calls over her shoulder, back into the museum. "I think we need the spear sooner rather than later!"

When she hears shrieking, she quickly decides to focus on that first, and takes off running. She tries to shapeshift herself in sections so as to not lose momentum, but she trips over her own liquefied feet and and tumbles down the steps just outside the museum entrance. Looks like her success with the rescues before was mostly beginner's luck.

Now flat on her face, Cassie just finishes transforming without getting up. With what little practice she's had, at least that process has gotten faster. A second later, she's taking off as an osprey and flying toward the bloodcurdling screams.

[gawwy]

Mads listened to Cassie's tumble down the stairs, coordinating an invisible party was going to be entertaining. His other selves wouldn't be invisible and vorping one in would alert whatever Cassie was shouting about so he hung with Edward for a moment.

"One of zee punchy ones should go vith Cassie, Ja?"He says to the air. "Hey Ed, how long does zis invisibility spell last anyvay? And vat does it take to break it?" He asks Edward. Critical information if they were about to be set upon by horrors

Spoiler: Mads(B) and Odin

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"Ok, old one eye, you need allies to help you out, Ja. What are zee gods so scared of that they're villing to let new competition onto the scene?" Mads asks Odin.

Spoiler: Mads(C) and the Survivors

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One of the Mads' is milling around the survivors just generally being nice and reassuring. He asks if anyone needs anything.

Spoiler: Mads(D) and Wordsworth

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Mads (D) seeks out Wordsworth
"I have some questions about zee truenaming, if you have a moment. Can anyone learn their true name for that book? What happens if somone else learns our name?" Mads asks Wordsworth.

Spoiler: Mads(E)

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Mads E is currently shelved, having been half teleported, disappeared but with no destination. This is so he doesn't have to deal with the pain of the wounds this body is suffering from. Time will not pass for this body as its in a sort of stasis, meaning he wont heal at all.

[ArlEammon]

Mads Libs


Odin
"Are you sure you want to know?" Odin asked rhetorically. "You might not want to know. Yet." If Mads just presses for the answer, Odin answers. "This dimension being merged with the others has corrupted it. As a result, it's taking on qualities of the other dimensions. Things that impossible here are now ordinary. As a result, it's a never ending cycle of this plane corrupting the others and being corrupted. Thus, the gods themselves may change as yet another result."

Wordsworth
Generally, despite what old tales might say, just learning a True Name won't necessarily give you power over someone, unless you are a powerful magi of some kind. Also it is potentially true that even monkeys can learn their True Names.

[Thunder999]

EDWARD
Edward briefly looks up from the Directory.
"No particular time limit, it'll last until broken by an appropriate counter spell, wouldn't expect it to last long against a competent witch or wizard, pretty sure the ones in the hotel could see through it, I certainly still know where you all are."
"I'm going to keep searching this thing for the spear's location, too late to follow Cassie, she's turned into a bird."

[FrightKnight0]

Jason

Jason walked to the front of the building and looked out at the slowly approaching monstrosities. "Well. That puts a bit of a time limit on things, doesn't it? I think you guys should be able to see where we end up fighting. Get that spear and come get us, alright?" He asked, rolling his shoulders and taking off after Cassie towards the screaming. The Ten Rings flared with energy as he blasted them downwards, launching himself into the air after the Disillusioned osprey, towards the commotion.

[ArlEammon]

The Locals
One of the people nearby shouts out, hearing what hte protagonists said before. "Don't take away the Spear! It's protecting us from those things outside!" The woman, black haired, dressed casually and carrying an umbrella looks nervous.

@Thunder
The Directory appeared to list the Spear Of Destiny, both of them, one in a side area of the North Eastern Corner of the vast Museum, and the other in an adjacent room, slightly West. The Spear from Austria is in the North East corner while the other is moved to the Basement. There are various other treasures noticed, some of which are actually powerful artifacts, but the PCs wouldn't know that, yet.

[Thunder999]

EDWARD
Well that explains why they're hiding in here, still, only three of them and he doubts they've got the supplies to really hold out here long term, nor is hiding inside particularly productive.
In fact, if these people know the spear is protecting them, they probably know which one is genuine.

Edward looks the woman right in the eyes as he speaks, probing her mind with legilimency to find the answer whether she speaks it aloud or not, a task made easier by being invisible, "Would that be the one in the basement or the Austrian one?"
After a brief pause to let her think of it, he talks again "I don't intend to leave you defenseless of course, we've got a secure location of our own, one actually meant to be lived in at that and can easily bring you three along when we leave."

[ArlEammon]

EDWARD
Well that explains why they're hiding in here, still, only three of them and he doubts they've got the supplies to really hold out here long term, nor is hiding inside particularly productive.
In fact, if these people know the spear is protecting them, they probably know which one is genuine.

Edward looks the woman right in the eyes as he speaks, probing her mind with legilimency to find the answer whether she speaks it aloud or not, a task made easier by being invisible, "Would that be the one in the basement or the Austrian one?"
After a brief pause to let her think of it, he talks again "I don't intend to leave you defenseless of course, we've got a secure location of our own, one actually meant to be lived in at that and can easily bring you three along when we leave."

"We don't really know. We think they're both weird." You could instantly tell she was telling the truth. "The Austrian version is supposedly a lot stronger though, but some of our guys are saying we need both versions for some reason. I didn't understand what they were saying because I don't speak mystic." There's about three hundred of us all in all here, a third of us in the basement. Can you really get us all to safety?"

[Thunder999]

EDWARD

Oh, that's a lot more than he was expecting. Transport wouldn't be the problem, portkeys are easy to produce. But 300 people is a lot to just casually bring to that hotel, though the spear should get the gods on-side for this.

"That's a lot of people, got to check we've got space.
Hey Mads, can you check whether there's room for 300 more people with your being in multiple places at once thing?"

[ArlEammon]

Shrieking Monsters, AKA Shrieks
@DrGunsforHands
Some wounded victims of the monstrous fiends were laying in the streets of London outside. You can see some individuals fighting through fire arms or other means, even some who seem to be empowered like the protagonists. However, a woman who is in no shape to fight is seen covering her young five year old boy, brandishing what appears to be a swiss army knife. In addition to this, an elderly man with a cane is dead locked in what looks like a staring contest with a particularily large one. These massive, seven and a half foot tall monsters are dwarfed by the old man's adversary, who is seen to be just making over nine foot tall. He is identical to the others.

The last site you see is very weird. It appears that there is an albino version of "The Shrieks" as they are known in London, and it's fighting the others of it's kind.

[gawwy]

Spoiler: Mads(B) and Odin

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Mads Libs
Odin
"Are you sure you want to know?" Odin asked rhetorically. "You might not want to know. Yet." If Mads just presses for the answer, Odin answers. "This dimension being merged with the others has corrupted it. As a result, it's taking on qualities of the other dimensions. Things that impossible here are now ordinary. As a result, it's a never ending cycle of this plane corrupting the others and being corrupted. Thus, the gods themselves may change as yet another result."

"Ah so zee threat is vat may emerge from zee other dimensions" Mads nod's. "So you vould have us raise an army, Ja? Ill get right on zat. For now, vhat can you tell me about zee orb over there? Vat vould happen if I picked it up and moved it, Ja?"

Spoiler: Mads(D) and Wordsworth

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Mads Libs
Wordsworth
Generally, despite what old tales might say, just learning a True Name won't necessarily give you power over someone, unless you are a powerful magi of some kind. Also it is potentially true that even monkeys can learn their True Names.

"Vat is very interesting, Ja. Vould you be amenable to some of the survivors learning their own true name? Would you lend me the book for this purpose?"

EDWARD
"That's a lot of people, got to check we've got space.
Hey Mads, can you check whether there's room for 300 more people with your being in multiple places at once thing?"

Mads (A) salutes Edward. Then remembering hes invisible still says "On it, ill check in with Emma, Ja?"

Spoiler: Mads(C) and the Survivors then Emma

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"Okay, Ive got to go organize space for some more survivors vat need our aid. Make sure to welcome them to the family when they get here, Ja? Polymundus be vith us." Mads says to the survivor group, letting slip his true name hear was a huge gamble that could lead to the gods just owning him. Fortune favors the bold though.

He wanders his way to Emmas room knocks and enters without awaiting a reply.

"Hello, oh great vitch Emma! I vas voundering what sort of capacity the hotel has for supporting people in the apocalypse? both vith regard to space and food, Ja?"

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Cassie Vs. The Shrieks

Okay! First priority: stop these jerks from killing anyone else!

One of the goblins grins and flashes its claws like a cartoon villain as it bears down on the multi-tool-wielder and her charge. Just when it raises its hand to strike, it suddenly flinches and twists its face to one side. It rubs its gaunt cheek and looks around for its unseen attacker, but the invisible bird strikes it again and again, leaving only a couple of feathers behind.

It seems the invisibility spell doesn't cover the feathers once they're separated from Cassie. That's sensible enough. It just means...

The bird scratches the monster's head once more, dropping a feather on its shoulder. When the tortured shriek goes to brush it off, *snap!* The feather transforms into a thick iron collar, attached to a manacle on its wrist. When the shriek reacts and tries to get itself loose with its other hand - *snap!* Another stray feather becomes a second manacle, also bound to the collar. Now the only thing the shriek can reach to scratch is its own face, and it doesn't have much leverage to break its bindings.

The rest of the encounter largely depends on how the other fiends react when one of their own gets hogtied. If they run up to help, their claws get caught up in the same mess of iron, sticking them all together. If they point and laugh with their nails-on-chalkboard voices, they each trip when they make their next move, finding their feet bound up in similarly hilarious fashion.

Once the three around the kid are defused, Cassie will continue using this strategy to help out the old man, but the bigger shriek will probably pose a problem - they might be strong enough to break the chains Cassie knows how to do. Or make. Or... be? It's still weird.

[FrightKnight0]

Team Bird-Fu vs The Shrieks

Arriving shortly after the Disillusioned bird by virtue of following the sounds of battle, Jason throws out the Ten Rings to slow his fall before he splatters across the pavement and takes stock of the situation. While the normal sized monster harassing the woman with a swiss army knife is concerning, the blurs of motion and sudden appearance of iron collars indicates that Cassie probably has it handled. Instead, he decides to intervene in the staring contest with the old man, weaving a spell as he walks forward, bands of shimmering golden energy spinning out of thin air to form geometric designs between his whirling hands. Wong's mental library of spells supplies the Shield of the Seraphim as an ideal opener; he tosses the spell outward with a sweeping gesture, enveloping the woman, her child, the old man, and any other noncombatants he can see in shimmering domes of golden light. If he doesn't maintain it, they'll only stand up to so much damage, but that damage was roughly enough for an otherwise unshielded human to survive atmospheric re-entry, so it should hold as long as no monsters had time to mount a dedicated attack on the shields.

Which is why Jason started running towards the giant monster, slamming his fists together and stacking all Ten Rings on his right arm before drawing back for a haymaker. "Hey, ugly!" He shouted as he planted his lead food, twisted his hips, and executed a maneuver best described as [McGuire Swings for Bleachers].

[ArlEammon]

Cassie Vs. The Shrieks

Okay! First priority: stop these jerks from killing anyone else!

One of the goblins grins and flashes its claws like a cartoon villain as it bears down on the multi-tool-wielder and her charge. Just when it raises its hand to strike, it suddenly flinches and twists its face to one side. It rubs its gaunt cheek and looks around for its unseen attacker, but the invisible bird strikes it again and again, leaving only a couple of feathers behind.

It seems the invisibility spell doesn't cover the feathers once they're separated from Cassie. That's sensible enough. It just means...

The bird scratches the monster's head once more, dropping a feather on its shoulder. When the tortured shriek goes to brush it off, *snap!* The feather transforms into a thick iron collar, attached to a manacle on its wrist. When the shriek reacts and tries to get itself loose with its other hand - *snap!* Another stray feather becomes a second manacle, also bound to the collar. Now the only thing the shriek can reach to scratch is its own face, and it doesn't have much leverage to break its bindings.

The rest of the encounter largely depends on how the other fiends react when one of their own gets hogtied. If they run up to help, their claws get caught up in the same mess of iron, sticking them all together. If they point and laugh with their nails-on-chalkboard voices, they each trip when they make their next move, finding their feet bound up in similarly hilarious fashion.

Once the three around the kid are defused, Cassie will continue using this strategy to help out the old man, but the bigger shriek will probably pose a problem - they might be strong enough to break the chains Cassie knows how to do. Or make. Or... be? It's still weird.

Team Bird-Fu vs The Shrieks

Arriving shortly after the Disillusioned bird by virtue of following the sounds of battle, Jason throws out the Ten Rings to slow his fall before he splatters across the pavement and takes stock of the situation. While the normal sized monster harassing the woman with a swiss army knife is concerning, the blurs of motion and sudden appearance of iron collars indicates that Cassie probably has it handled. Instead, he decides to intervene in the staring contest with the old man, weaving a spell as he walks forward, bands of shimmering golden energy spinning out of thin air to form geometric designs between his whirling hands. Wong's mental library of spells supplies the Shield of the Seraphim as an ideal opener; he tosses the spell outward with a sweeping gesture, enveloping the woman, her child, the old man, and any other noncombatants he can see in shimmering domes of golden light. If he doesn't maintain it, they'll only stand up to so much damage, but that damage was roughly enough for an otherwise unshielded human to survive atmospheric re-entry, so it should hold as long as no monsters had time to mount a dedicated attack on the shields.

Which is why Jason started running towards the giant monster, slamming his fists together and stacking all Ten Rings on his right arm before drawing back for a haymaker. "Hey, ugly!" He shouted as he planted his lead food, twisted his hips, and executed a maneuver best described as [McGuire Swings for Bleachers].

The Shrieks
Cassie and Jason begin fighting the Shriek goblins. Suddenly, the woman protecting her child and the old man, and the wounded are enveloped in the protective shield. With the giant goblin Shriek being knocked around by Jason's ring attacks and martial arts maneuvers, he doesn't quite have time to react yet.

Meanwhile Cassie's binding maneuvers are also met with equal success, preventing other nearby Shrieks from assaulting either civilians OR the protagonists.

While the old man was prevented from fully accessing his mental assault against the giant goblinoid Shriek, he was appreciative for the help that he and the other civilians were receiving. Taking a deep breath, he unleashes what appears to be a lance made of ice, piercing through another, as of yet chameleon Shriek, as it lept towards Cassie, in an attempt to feast on her. George took a hand wipe and wiped his bald head, which was sweating. Not finding anywhere to throw the dirty hand wipe away he does something uncharacteristically common sensical, and litters the streets during the battle.

He had thought he would run and go find a waste basket or garbage can, so as not to litter, but at the moment, he opted to instead begin casting a quick spell. With his savant guided intelligence cast, he unleashes a large spherical fire ball towards the giant Shriek creature, and it gives it's unearthly scream as it erupts in flames.

Emma And Mads (Gawwy)
"YOU!" She responds to Mads, ignoring his question. She unleashes a barrage of telekinetic daggers towards him.

[gawwy]

Spoiler: mads and emma

Show

Emma And Mads (Gawwy)
"YOU!" She responds to Mads, ignoring his question. She unleashes a barrage of telekinetic daggers towards him.

Mads reactively teleports out of the way of the daggers and arrives next to the versio of himself discussing truenames with Words'worth.

"Emma is in a bad mood." He explains to Words'worth. "Thats a no on borrowing the cool book of truenames tho then?" He asks as he leaves.

Mads then wanders back to Emma's room and knocks politely, "Miss Emma, I'am sorry that you are mad at zee Mads, I have not been showing you the respect due to your station, Ja? I would like to talk to you about logistics here though so ve can help with any issues like zee running out of food, Ja?" Mads says through the door in what he hopes is a submissive tone.

EDWARD"That's a lot of people, got to check we've got space.
Hey Mads, can you check whether there's room for 300 more people with your being in multiple places at once thing?"

"Okay sooo.. Emma is not in zee good mood, Ja? And as much as i vant to mess vith her soo bad ill try und calm her down so these guys have a nicer arrivals. How many portathingums will we beed to move 300 people?"