Modern Mythology, IC

[Eurus]

It's evening now, half past six or so -- no, make that seven, Daylight Savings started yesterday. Half past seven in Chicago, and drawing near to the end of an unreasonably warm winter. The rain stopped a while ago, but everything's still wet, and occasionally dripping unpleasantly from the buildings that loom overhead. The wind is damp, and has an unidentifiable but mildly unpleasant smell.

The show at Alena's café -- which couldn't possibly be turning a profit, the rent on that building had to be hilariously expensive, but that's what trust funds are for apparently -- had just finished. Hard to tell exactly how well it went, since most of the patrons were perpetually bored-looking young adults with pale skin and dark clothes, full to bursting with artistic angst and generally maintaining an air of casual ennui as they chatted or brooded over their exotic free-trade coffee drinks. Alena herself seemed to think it had gone great, though, and had invited you to come back next week. Only eighty bucks a show, but combined with free coffee, for less than two hours, and for a pseudo-friend... it could be worse.

Cell phone reception was nearly dead inside the café for some reason, so it's not until Nathaniel exits into the tepid evening air and reaches the bus stop that he notices a voice mail. From eldritch-dad.

"Hey, kiddo. Give me a call back when you're free, okay? Got a bit of news to share. Sorry for the short notice."

So that's that, then. Being cryptic was far from unusual for him, and he'd almost certainly want to meet somewhere rather than having a conversation over the phone. Probably the diner.

The bus pulls up to the stop, finally, disgorging a few damp passengers and letting a few more on.

[Cogwheel]

He never could understand the appeal of how his audience chose to spend their days. It was a nice enough place there, after all - why do their level best to bask in each other's gloom day in and day out? Something about artists, no doubt, or so he would have assumed, but he'd never felt the urge to do anything of the sort.

Then again, Nathaniel was hardly in a position to call anyone strange. He wondered, sometimes, how the world might react to his little secret. It would be funny, no doubt about that, but at the same time, far too much hassle in the long run.

All he could do was play the most upbeat tune that came to mind. Worth it, just for throwing them off every time.

The weather was pleasant enough, at least. He always liked the weather right after rain cleared. Or during rain, for the matter. Or just a sunny day. He wasn't particularly picky, all told. Hard to find anything he outright couldn't stand.

The voice mail catches his immediate attention, as he stops just short of the bus, bringing up the phone before speed-dialing Leroy's number. Granted, it was a prank last time this happened. And the time before that, but those were worth the call in their own way.

"Hey dad, just finished off work. Something about news? Am I going to be seeing that venus fly trap in my apartment again?"

[Eurus]

A few rings, before he answered. The reference to that last prank, of course, got a chuckle out of him.

"No, no, nothing like that, heh. It's... well, I don't want to worry you over the phone, alright?"

Because that wasn't vaguely worrying at all, right?

"It's family stuff, so this probably deserves an in-person chat anyway. I can meet you at the diner, if you want, or anywhere else...?"

Family stuff. God stuff. Not a topic he'd brought up in a while. The diner in question -- it was obvious which one, the same old place Leroy'd been going five times a week for years now -- was technically closer than home, although not by much. Nothing spectacular, but generally safe food and mediocre coffee.

[Cogwheel]

That Leroy would hesitate at all was alarming already. He was, after all, not generally one for holding back. The sort who found panic more entertaining than concerning. Still, family stuff. And if he was worried, that could only mean so many things. Then again, he did worry over nothing sometimes. Maybe, hopefully, it was one of those occasions.

"So let me guess, this is where it starts? Titanspawn breathing down my neck and all the rest? That or you're overreacting about one of Shub-Niggurath's visits again. She's not that bad, really... but never mind that. I'll meet you at the diner, could use something to eat anyway."

A moment's pause, before the situation, unusual as it is, prompts him to add a little more.

"And don't worry too much yourself, it'll be fine, whatever this is."

[Eurus]

"Mm, well... you're probably right. I'm just rather vexed that I didn't catch this earlier. But I'll talk to you later, okay? Stay safe."

A light drizzle of rain seems to have started up again, in full defiance of the last weather forecast. A light haze is creeping up from the ground, slowly thickening from a few inches of trailing mist near the road to a full bank of fog greying out the surroundings.

The diner is perhaps ten minutes away, on foot. But Nathaniel is only about halfway there when he notices it. A storefront of some kind, or possibly a restaurant -- the sign just says "The Crossroads" -- with what might be a living space on the second floor. It's that second floor that draws attention, and more specifically, the dark shape apparently hovering in midair outside the window.

At this distance, through the fog, it's impossible to tell what it actually is. It's certainly not humanoid. Some kind of large bird, perhaps, although the way it floats placidly in the mist without effort is clearly unnatural. Even more so is the way it appears to be making a determined effort to break into the house, battering at the window with an oddly quiet thudding noise.

...It hasn't actually noticed you, admittedly. There's nothing technically making this your problem, and it might be more trouble than it's worth. So.

[Cogwheel]

Well now, this was interesting. It wasn't every day this sort of thing came up, thankfully. A proper supernatural experience, an actual monster in broad daylight, or at least fairly close to daylight hours, cloudy or not.

Well, an actual monster besides what passed for his extended family. Not anyone he knew, that was the important thing.

First things first, he quietly types a message to send to Leroy. A small warning goes a long way, right before doing anything terribly, terribly stupid.

Ten minutes off from the diner, at some restaurant, 'Crossroads', it says. Big bird thing, maybe some kind of titanspawn? Might be a bit late.

With the message sent and phone stashed away, he walks towards the shadow, waving at it. There was hardly anyone around anyway, not many to see him acting like a madman.

"Hey, I know you're in a hurry, but you might want to try opening that window first, could go a long way. What are you supposed to be, anyway?"

[Eurus]

The creature freezes up as soon as Nathaniel addresses it, hovering motionlessly in the foggy air. It's hard to make it out, but it seems to slowly turn its head (or equivalent extremity) toward him. It remains still for several seconds, before spreading its wings and smoothly gliding away from the building. Rather than leaving, though, it merely crosses the distance to land on top of a nearby awning.

From this distance, Nathaniel can see it a little more clearly. It looks like a huge crow, wingspan easily six or seven feet. Its feathers are dull black, and mist seems to slowly rise off it. Its eyes are milky white, and stare with an unnatural intensity, but beyond that Nathaniel can't tell if it's--

Mistwraith. Lesser Stormspawn. Creates and transforms into fog and mist. Tracker, scout, and infiltrator.

...That, apparently. It just kind of pops into mind, like a forgotten memory. Regardless of that oddity, though, the "Mistwraith" is still just calmly watching.

[Cogwheel]

Right. Titanspawn. On one hand, not anything major. On the other hand, neither was he. On the third hand - not to point fingers at any specific pantheons, but some people had plenty of the things to spare - it was a scout. That meant there could be more here any minute. It meant they would know he was here. And it meant...

There was something interesting inside that house. Well, good to know.

Could maybe check it later, after getting some important staying alive over with.

"This," he mutters to himself, "is going to look completely insane." He takes a step forward, looking up at the newly repositioned bird. "Right, mistwraith, got it. Fancy name. So what's got you so interested around here, anyway?" A slight pause, a moment of consideration as he tries to keep the bird talking - if it can talk at all - then "and if you're about to just bite my head off or something, this would be a bad time. So would every other time, actually."

[Eurus]

The "mistwraith" stays motionless as Nathaniel attempts conversation, peering at him through white eyes. It tilts its head to one side, almost quizzically... if one felt like reading emotions into a creature that might not have any.

After an awkward pause, it shifts slightly and starts to open its beak. Whatever its intentions are, they're cut off when the door to the previously-assaulted building suddenly starts to click and rattle with the sounds of being unlocked. The bird's head instantly twists around almost 180 degrees to look back at it, before the entire creature simply melts into a thick white mist.

Then the building opens, revealing a man dressed in a gray flannel shirt and black slacks, leaning slightly against the door frame as if to support himself. He's "ethnically ambiguous", but somewhere on the darker-skinned spectrum, and he addresses Nathaniel with a deadpan expression.

"May I ask why you're yelling at my wall?"

The fog is starting to lighten up already, and there's no sign of the patch that used to be the wraith itself.

[Cogwheel]

Drat. And this is, of course, where it falls apart. The wraith vanishing entirely - how was he supposed to see that coming, really? - and now, some bystander was coming up and asking all manner of inconvenient questions.

He must have looked completely crazy, really, talking to nothing. Appropriate, of course, but inconvenient.

"Well, sir, I wouldn't say I was yelling" he replies, turning around with a bright smile and a sincere, friendly tone of voice. It worked so well on others before, after all, with just a little push. That bird must have been here for a reason, and if the Voice didn't work its magic, that would only confirm his suspicion that he was speaking to a scion.

"No, it was a polite conversation, really. Well, I was trying to be polite, but it didn't really pan out. There was a big bird there, you see. It's called a mistwraith, I think, some sort of titanspawn, storm titan-related. Don't know much about them, but it was trying to break into your house through the window. Tried to figure out why, when it just up and turned into fog! Completely gone now, of course."

A slow, theatrical sigh, then a shrug, as if to say that there was nothing anyone could possibly do about this. "The important thing, anyway, is that it won't be bothering you again. Not a thing to worry about, so why don't you calm down and go on with your day? I'll be gone in a moment."

Using the Voice (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3984386/) (1d12)

[Eurus]

The man's brow furrows, like he's trying to chase down a thought, but ends up shaking his head as it slips past. "Titanspawn... that explains a few things, actually. Had a lot of people complaining about evil spirits lately."

He gives Nathaniel an appraising look, and steps out onto the sidewalk. A thick oak crutch, previously hidden by the door, comes into view, and the man walks with an obvious limp. He scans the sky for a moment, then looks back to Nathaniel.

"I ought to thank you, then. Not sure what it was doing here, but I'm not particularly eager to find out."

[Cogwheel]

"Ah!" He exclaims, "Thought you might be a scion, good to know. Sorry about the... mind-control-y stuff back there, more of a quick test than anything. Couldn't tell you what it was doing there, though. Just ran into it on the way to somewhere else."

A slight nervous edge to his voice, now. He had places to run to five minutes ago, after all. Couldn't very well afford to dawdle here for too long.

"Speaking of which... I was kind of heading somewhere else a moment ago. Bit of an emergency; family stuff, you probably know how it is. Still, if you want to look into this in a couple hours, I'd be happy to help, just let me know. And, ah... stay safe. Might be back, not that that's more than a guess or anything."

A brief pause follows, as he sends another terse message to Leroy: Mistwraith, turns out I can annoy them into flying off. All good, be over there soon enough. With that done, he looks up again at the man opposite him with a slightly puzzled expression.

"Er... never did catch your name, did I?"

[Eurus]

"I don't believe I caught yours, either. Gerald Rhodes."

He glances left down the street, as if expecting someone to be there or scanning for observers, then shakes his head again.

"Anyway, don't let me hold you up. But be careful yourself, too. That thing might try to follow you."

Before Gerald is even finished speaking, Nathan's phone is buzzing with a reply from Leroy.

"Oh dear..."

Brief and unhelpful to the point of pointlessness, but it's the thought that counts.

[Cogwheel]

"Nathaniel Aswad. Talk to you later, then."

With a quick wave, he immediately sets off at a brisk walk towards the diner, soon turning into a run. It wasn't that there was anything to run from, of course. In fact, he was being a great deal less cautious than he might otherwise be, considering the recent encounter with a titanspawn.

No, this was something else entirely: He was about to be late, and that was nothing short of unacceptable. Family business was important, an encounter with an otherworldly horror excused a delay of five minutes, tops, and that's apart from keeping certain people worried.

Besides, he was hungry. Couldn't very well let that last.