The Eternal Conflict IC (Still Recruiting)

[DarthArminius]

Chapter 1: The Reaper


New Orleans, Louisiana, 2013
The Grand Witch, Lorena Headley was at the estate grounds, waiting for the arrival of the newcomers, both her promising members of the Coven, and of course, our protagonists. As Grand Witch of the Madame Leona's Academy for the Gifted, Lorena had attempted to lead the witches and warlocks of the country into the future. However, there had been problems. Vampires, Witch hunters and rival magic adepts were just a few of them. Genuinely strong, promising young witches were maturing at an alarming rate, too hard for regular non magical people to raise. Thus, Madame Leona's was one option for the children's guardians to send for a loving, and possibly safe-ish destiny.

However, despite the fact that witches had managed to survive, and even prosper for thousands of years despite many, many threats, modern day living had proven too much. Moving into the late 20th century, there had been a massive upswing in demonic activity. Demons had proven to be getting stronger and more difficult to ward against. Thus, more and more witches had faced three options. The first option, and most popular, was curbing their acquisition of powers and spells and gradually learning the lesser magics first, only learning the strong spells later in life, if at all. The second, and safest, was doing away with the occult altogether. Finally, the third option, and most foolish but often the most tempting, was doubling down on black magic so they could grow in power faster.

With witches turning on one another for power, or being hunted down by demons, creatures of the night or witch hunters, it was almost impossible to raise the next generation to succeed.

This is where the protagonists enter the lives of the Madame Leona School for the Gifted. Lorena Headley was no saint. In fact, the only thing preventing her from entering a pact with the demonic powers that be was pride. She did, however, possess intelligence, and knew when she needed help. Having discovered a magical crystal that could contact Merlin, Lorena called on his forces for aid.

There is one specific problem above all the others which the protagonists may need to work on first. There is a spy in Madame Lorena's School. This spy is working with the School's enemies, many of them, and a coordination of rival witches, demons and vampires, not to mention others would be a disaster for the School.

The End Of Time
The stars could be seen in the night sky. There were many shelters on this massive island floating around in space.
Merlin, an old man dressed in modern apparel, but carrying a disguised magical staff with the illusion of a mere cane stood, surrounded by the protagonists.

"I'm sure you all have questions." In front of Merlin stood a British spy from the 1960's, an alien parasite, and many others. "This would be a good idea to ask them."
"I assure you none of you are a prisoner, but I do require your direct attention."

[Feathersnow]

"Chewie,"The Defiler

The End of Time


The creature was as dark and featureless as the night sky, or so the mind insisted. If a mind were focused enough to even see them. In truth, they were a creature like a twenty-foot silverfish, swarming with parasites and covered in tumors. Despite this, the creature was in no distress. The things that clung to the figure weren't a burden, more than a tool belt or a holster is a burden.

The creature, its type called a "Defiler by former enemies, the individual specimen by the nickname "Chewie," composed its mind into something like linguistic syntax and broadcast it.

This is the task this one was spawned for. This one is honored to serve the greater good.

As for information... the gestalt might benefit from awareness of how it has been discovered a individual of the New Orleans hive has been turned. This may aid the hunters in tracking.

[DarthArminius]

"Chewie,"The Defiler

The End of Time


The creature was as dark and featureless as the night sky, or so the mind insisted. If a mind were focused enough to even see them. In truth, they were a creature like a twenty-foot silverfish, swarming with parasites and covered in tumors. Despite this, the creature was in no distress. The things that clung to the figure weren't a burden, more than a tool belt or a holster is a burden.

The creature, its type called a "Defiler by former enemies, the individual specimen by the nickname "Chewie," composed its mind into something like linguistic syntax and broadcast it.

This is the task this one was spawned for. This one is honored to serve the greater good.

As for information... the gestalt might benefit from awareness of how it has been discovered a individual of the New Orleans hive has been turned. This may aid the hunters in tracking.

The British agent, Mister Jason Bonell looked confused, a little annoyed and frightened. "Okay um, what is this? Some kind of hallucinogenic agent swimming in my blood stream or something?"
"A gas leek? That would explain everything."
Merlin cut him off before he could continue rambling. "All of this is real. I am your host." He snaps his finger, teleporting everyone to the interior of his large mansion. "I am Merlin, the wizard. Maybe not THE wizard you heard of. In the centuries that I've been written about, there have been many embellishments, inaccuracies and unflattering details told of me."
"You see, we have a problem. Time has been tampered with and rearranged like a crossword puzzle thrown across a room and scattered by an angry toddler."

[gawwy]

A British man dressed head to toe in green with a bow slung across his shoulders interjects.

"Far be it from a humble man to question such a mighty wizard as thyself, if you state this is truth then it is. But how are we to meddle in the nature of time, surely tis the duty of gods, not mortals?" Robin of Locksley bows to the seemingly mad mage lest he be turned into a newt.

He does however glance nervously and wide-eyed at the ominous dark shadow that was issuing questions.

[DarthArminius]

"Far be it from a humble man to question such a mighty wizard as thyself, if you state this is truth then it is. But how are we to meddle in the nature of time, surely tis the duty of gods, not mortals?" Robin of Locksley bows to the seemingly mad mage lest he be turned into a newt.

He does however glance nervously and wide eyed at the ominous dark shadow that was issuing questions.

"I'm certainly not God. Nor am I merely a man."
"My rival is, however, most assuredly a Devil."
"The Devil has power to rival many Pagan gods, to be sure."
"It would be wise not to under-estimate him."

[gawwy]

"N'er let it be said that Robin of Locksly turn tail at the mention of the Devil and his pagan servants!" Robin spits on the floor in disgust. Who joins us in this righteous crusade?! Robin looks around and the room, inviting introductions.

[JNAProductions]

Elain is standing there, wide-eyed. "This... This could be a problem, right?" she says. Her words are clearly audible, despite no visible mouth on her blue-grey triangular face. "And what exactly are we supposed to do to help, then, Mr. Wizard Man?"

[DarthArminius]

Elain is standing there, wide-eyed. "This... This could be a problem, right?" she says. Her words are clearly audible, despite no visible mouth on her blue-grey triangular face. "And what exactly are we supposed to do to help, then, Mr. Wizard Man?"

"For now, there is a witch's Coven in America that's under extreme danger of termination. Their cooperation in the war against Dracula Tepes will be indispensable, if they are in our debt. Find out who the spy in their midst is, and ensure the Coven survives at all costs." Merlin looks around the mansion. "Stay for tea if you wish."
"Eat if you wish. The Gate responsible for moving folk across time and space will open in two hours."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

A man not much younger than Merlin but wearing clothes that look older than either of them leans on his own cane, studying the wizard from a distance. He mirrors Merlin's confidence inasmuch as he doesn't seem terribly confused or disoriented by the situation. Unlike most of this party, he was given some semblance of warning before being called here, vague and wordless though it was.

After a pause, his face scrunches up and he loudly taps his cane on the featureless ground. There's an echo. "Humbug! What nonsense," he huffs under his breath. Beyond that, he can only shake his head and move on. Bames Jond has already filled our quota for incredulous objections.

After one more sigh to get it out of his system, the man turns to Sir Robin and raises his hand in greeting. "Ebenezer Scrooge. Welcome to..." he looks up as though to consider the entirety of space above them. "...the End of Time, I suppose. And who might you all be?"

[Niobaran]

Jandar, the Alchemist

Spoiler: Character info

Show

Name: Jandar, the Alchemist
Appearance: Basically this guy
Sex/Gender: Male/Male
Race/Species: Originally a human, Jandar acquired some superhuman powers through years of training and alchemical experiments on himself in his strive to achieve perfection of body and soul.
Role In Combat:

• Expert Swashbuckler / Duelist, mostly focused on 1-vs-1 but known to hold his own in some 1-vs-N fights.
• Concoctions: Usage of different kinds of alchemical grenades/bombs (nowadays facilitated through a grenade launcher) and serums (anti-dotes, healing potions, the like).

Non-Combat Powers:

• Expert knowledge in several sciences
• Limited "mysterious"/pseudo-magical powers that you could imagine an alchemist to have, like Psychometry.

"The end of time? Is that the name you chose for this location of your charming little charades, or a figurative term for the Afterlife? Did you drug me or did Death itself finally catch up with me?" His voice was demanding, but also proving his perplexity and an uprising curiosity. "Completely bizarre and yet clear, no perceivable residue... If there was indeed a concoction involved, I would be intrigued to learn its formula."

Glancing over the crowd, sensing others bewildered as well, he added. "Jandar," he introduced himself briefly. "And before we proceed, I would prefer to know more about where we are and the meaning behind our abduction. What do you mean with, time tempering? What kind of power would be require to temper with time itself? Dracula Tepes died years ago, fighting the Ottomans, if I recall correctly."

The man, while not exactly tall, had a strong posture. He looked mostly human, with the exception of a number of minor resemblances of unnatural influence, such as pointed ears. He wore an overcoat of leather and fur, and carried a rapier at his belt. His overall appearance and the slight accent would place him somewhere in the east of Europe, Hungary possibly.

[JNAProductions]

"I'm Elain. Bounty Hunter," Elain says. "You know, you're all less geometric than I'm used to. And so... Similiar!" she adds, before looking over to Chewie. "You look better. Not so much the same."

[Feathersnow]

Everyone present becomes aware of the Defiler and their general capabilities. They also intuit that this individual was referred to as "Chewie" the last time they were partnered with a team of beings that relied on language to communicate.

The Defiler keeps their opinions of the others to themself.

[DarthArminius]

Merlin re-explains the need for the characters over tea. "Also, please take note. Everyone who has been taken for this quest has been chosen for a reason. "All of you are at risk of murder, save for Chewie."
"I don't know why the enemy has such an interest in you."
"In a way you were all taken for your own safety as much as everyone els'es. However, since I am clairvoyant, I know when the enemy is near, and when it is safe for you to move on to another time and place."

The food was a masterpiece of both art and taste. Everyone would be completely satisfied, and likely love what they were eating, if they chose to do so. A couple hours had passed during this time.

[JNAProductions]

Elain doesn't seem to eat normally. She simply brings the food near her face and it just disappears. "I'm used to people trying to kill me," she adds as she chows down. "Part of the job."

[Niobaran]

For now, Jandar appeared to be satisfied with the explanations. He indulged in the food, happy with both its taste and asthetics. "True," he picked up Elains thread of speech. "Usually no one saves me in this way though." he shrugs. "What kind of occupation do you follow?" he asked curiously, addressing Elain but possibly also those around.

[gawwy]

Robin is tucking into a roast boar with gusto "Robin of Locksly or Robin Hood as some call me. Outlore extraordinaire, steal from the rich, and give to the poor, Hoora!" Robin shouts out boisterously between bites.

[DarthArminius]

Two Hours Pass . . .
It was time to pass through the Eternal Gate. Massive gates seemingly suspended in the air, made of some obscure metal known to Earth. Merlin had the protagonists go to Louisiana to the Coven. In front of the double doors to the estate, Madame Lorena Headley waited.

"I can see that the immortal mage waists no time. No sooner had I scryed through the magic crystal a minute or two ago, that you appeared". The Grand Witch smiled. "It is time."
"Here's the thing, my divination is very, very strong. I can learn things that the great Thoth himself has attempted to shroud from me. Whatever allowed the spy to do his handiwork here is very strong magic."

"I am Lorena Headley, Grand Witch and Head Mistress of this School for the Gifted. Please follow me." Leading the protagonists to the center of the estate grounds, which covered thirty thousand square feet, she stopped in the garden, only to gesture her hands towards a gruesome sight. Three murdered youths lay on the ground of the middle of the garden, with a single adult witch lying dead on the bench in front of them. She was covered in wounds and was missing her eyes. "Whoever did this had the means to kill them all without anyone else hearing. In the middle of the night, in the middle of the garden, which is in the middle of this mansion. Technically this is not the school, but the victims were all from it."

She gestures again to the oldest victim, on the bench, she is a woman who appears to be in her mid twenties. "The three poor kids on the ground are Bill, Edd, and Jamie. Each of them are teenagers as strong as someone twice their age at The Craft. The woman lying on the bench is assuredly one of the most powerful members on our staff. She was Thirty three years old."

"I can tell what killed them, the children's hearts all mysteriously gave out. The eldest witch has more . . . obvious wounds on her body."
"Lacerations across her chest and neck, and what's worse, she appears to have been murdered slowly."
"I psychometrically examined the bench, and what I saw was disturbing."
"Anna, was magically bound to this bench against her will and forced to endure all her many wounds until finally she was brutally blinded and left to die"
"This begs the question, of how they managed to kill her and the children in the middle of the night without anyone discovering them."

"We have a groundskeeper and he claims to have been in the area from ten O'clock to elleven thirty five. He is our only suspect but the problem is that my clairvoyance has revealed he is NOT the culprit."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

A wizard school in Louisiana, with a traitor in their midst. Weird, but Scrooge really has no right to complain, knowing what he knows and doing what he does.

"Oh, my god..." He takes off his top hat to approach the dead as respectfully as he can and get a good look at them. Now that he sees the effects of the errant youth's schemes, his heart opens up and pushes him to take responsibility. His mind first wonders, How can this be prevented? But of course that's the wrong question. This isn't a spirit's prognostication of the future, it's already happened. If we were meant to stop it, Merlin would have simply sent us that much earlier.

Scrooge closes his eyes. "Spirits," he whispers, "please, if you can, show me by what course these four were brought to this end, or on what course their killer has set themselves, that we may right it..."

Sometimes this works, and the voices only he can hear come to show him a vision from elsewhere in time and space. The spirit of Christmas Past may draw his attention, if some clue could be gleaned from a time this group met on their winter break. The spirits of the Present or Future may have something to show, if the killer indeed has some grim plan to redecorate the campus in their demon master's image by next year's end.

With time scrambled as it is, it's hard to know whether the emergency will make spirits more forthcoming, or whether their prognostications will only be more blurry for it, but there's nothing for Scrooge to do about it but hope for the best and see what happens...

[DarthArminius]

A wizard school in Louisiana, with a traitor in their midst. Weird, but Scrooge really has no right to complain, knowing what he knows and doing what he does.

"Oh, my god..." He takes off his top hat to approach the dead as respectfully as he can and get a good look at them. Now that he sees the effects of the errant youth's schemes, his heart opens up and pushes him to take responsibility. His mind first wonders, How can this be prevented? But of course that's the wrong question. This isn't a spirit's prognostication of the future, it's already happened. If we were meant to stop it, Merlin would have simply sent us that much earlier.

Scrooge closes his eyes. "Spirits," he whispers, "please, if you can, show me by what course these four were brought to this end, or on what course their killer has set themselves, that we may right it..."

Sometimes this works, and the voices only he can hear come to show him a vision from elsewhere in time and space. The spirit of Christmas Past may draw his attention, if some clue could be gleaned from a time this group met on their winter break. The spirits of the Present or Future may have something to show, if the killer indeed has some grim plan to redecorate the campus in their demon master's image by next year's end.

With time scrambled as it is, it's hard to know whether the emergency will make spirits more forthcoming, or whether their prognostications will only be more blurry for it, but there's nothing for Scrooge to do about it but hope for the best and see what happens...

Scrooge and the others were either lucky enough, or unlucky enough to receive some kind of half answer. The reaper spirit of Christmas future emerges quickly out of Ann’s body. The spirit of Christmas Past emerges from the dead trio on the ground. Meanwhile the ghost of Christmas Present emerges as a copy of Scrooge. All three speak in unison. Their words are incomprehensible, but they reveal the past , present and ultimate plans of the the murderer’s. The three young witches all gather in front of a bathroom mirror. They look into the mirror and start a chant at the same time. “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary!” At the third time Bloody Mary’s name was spoken , she emerges from the mirror. So ends the vision of Christmas Past. The next vision immediately flashes as a bright light in Scrooge’s eyes. In it, Anne looks into his face with glowing red energy emanating from her eye sockets. “Look out! She’s behind you! Before Scrooge could react, the vision of the future took place. This time, the reaper brought the reformed miser to the sky above, as if by magic. He gestured down below at the entire city of Louisiana. The innocent were hunted by night creatures. Ghoulish monsters, or worse. A flash of light brought them to the school, where Lorena was seen warding the demonic hordes off her estate grounds. No monster could enter the sky, earth or go near lands in anyway. The so called safe people New Orleans were reduced to settlement with a thousand folk.

Flashes of time could be seen. First Lorena was benign , but she began to grow cold. Finally, the witch started to do heinous acts on her town. Children, young women and even babies began to go missing, and with no one with the power to stop her, finally she had wiped everyone out.

The vision ends with Lorena giving a maniacal laugh and her head snapping back to Ebeneezer. “You’re next!” She threatened.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Scrooge gasps and stumbles, barely catching himself with his cane. It's hard for him to tell how long he spaces out when this happens. Chewie can probably sense the spike in psychic activity and read it from Scrooge's mind as he tries to put it together. Spirit communication is more intuitive than Earth human language, even if the message is confusing.

Scrooge slowly straightens up and puts his hat back on. "Madam Headmistress, would you happen to have had any encounters with the ghost of one Bloody Mary recently?"

[DarthArminius]

Scrooge gasps and stumbles, barely catching himself with his cane. It's hard for him to tell how long he spaces out when this happens. Chewie can probably sense the spike in psychic activity and read it from Scrooge's mind as he tries to put it together. Spirit communication is more intuitive than Earth human language, even if the message is confusing.

Scrooge slowly straightens up and puts his hat back on. "Madam Headmistress, would you happen to have had any encounters with the ghost of one Bloody Mary recently?"

"Define recently? Yes in the 1970's. For me that's recently. Most anyone else not so much."
"Why do you ask? Does she have anything to do with this?" Lorena looks modestly surprised. "I took her out like trash the last time we met."
"It's surprising she'd ever come back."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Then, if you wouldn't mind humoring an old man, could you please tell us her modus operandi?"

[Feathersnow]

Chewie sniffs around for a scent of an interloper, realizing they have no hope of parsing enough of the interplay of the human psionicists and thought-forms to interject usefully.

[DarthArminius]

"Then, if you wouldn't mind humoring an old man, could you please tell us her modus operandi?"

"She basically is only available during certain times of the year. It's kind of an esoteric thing to conjure her for real and not just as a party trick so I won't elaborate too much. I will say that the reason why she's able to manifest again since 1971 isn't clear to me. She should have been literally burning in Hell due to my banishment spell."

"As for her modus operandi, Bloody Mary basically unleashes a curse. The chanters have a time period to leave the cursed area, and almost always have enough time to do so. Death by Bloody Mary is almost always some kind of suicide if it occurs. However, forty two years ago, someone managed to weaponize her as an assassin, and began killing unsuspecting party goers."

"Someone tried that on me, and I rag-dolled her telekinetically."
"Only powerful masters of magic can harm her with magic."
"If you want to get rid of her without running away, you need to use magic defensively in most cases. Warding, banishment spells, etcetera."
"I thought by sending her to Hell she could never resurrect, but it didn't work out that way."

[Niobaran]

Jandar raised an eyebrow wondering how the Blood Mary topic suddenly came up, but he had already resigned to not understanding everything which would happen around him for some time.

He crouched down next to the victims on the floor, investigating there bodies superficially. First, their posture. Where they moving when they suddenly died? Which way were they facing? The bench? Each other? A third party? It would be difficult to say either way. Now, their clothes. Any signs of a fight? Dirty or clean? Then their faces. What might have been the last thing they thought? Felt? Are their eyes opened or closed? Their necks. Marks of being bitten? Or strangled? Finally their hands. Any signs of a fight here? Something under their nails maybe? Something clutched?

While his investigating was mostly about visual senses, he also tried to smell whether there were any traces of a poison (or something simple such as alcohol) in play. He also carefully ran his hand over their clothes as to see whether there was some psychometric secrets yet to be revealed.

While getting up to next repeat the procedure with the fourth victim, he spoke up.

"Can she be summoned while she is in her current state? Into some kind of trap maybe?"

[gawwy]

Robin, thinking it best to not get too close to the witch lest he be tainted by their dark lord, opts to circle the perimeter in search of tracks in the grass. Every now and again he finds himself crossing paths with... somthing? After the third time it annoys him enough that he pays it more attention, realising that its "chewy" And what manner of daemon are you I wonder he thinks, possibly too loudly. Then he resumes looking for tracks.

[DarthArminius]

Jandar raised an eyebrow wondering how the Blood Mary topic suddenly came up, but he had already resigned to not understanding everything which would happen around him for some time.

He crouched down next to the victims on the floor, investigating there bodies superficially. First, their posture. Where they moving when they suddenly died? Which way were they facing? The bench? Each other? A third party? It would be difficult to say either way. Now, their clothes. Any signs of a fight? Dirty or clean? Then their faces. What might have been the last thing they thought? Felt? Are their eyes opened or closed? Their necks. Marks of being bitten? Or strangled? Finally their hands. Any signs of a fight here? Something under their nails maybe? Something clutched?

While his investigating was mostly about visual senses, he also tried to smell whether there were any traces of a poison (or something simple such as alcohol) in play. He also carefully ran his hand over their clothes as to see whether there was some psychometric secrets yet to be revealed.

While getting up to next repeat the procedure with the fourth victim, he spoke up.

"Can she be summoned while she is in her current state? Into some kind of trap maybe?"

"Yes." Lorena answers. "I can conjure her, maybe question her even? It should be a trivial matter for me." Meanwhile, Jandar notices that the children are all facing Anna, towards the bench.

Robin, thinking it best to not get too close to the witch lest he be tainted by their dark lord, opts to circle the perimeter in search of tracks in the grass. Every now and again he finds himself crossing paths with... somthing? After the third time it annoys him enough that he pays it more attention, realising that its "chewy" And what manner of daemon are you I wonder he thinks, possibly too loudly. Then he resumes looking for tracks.

Oddly, what Robin doesn't find is more telling than what he does find. The only tracks made in the dirt are those of the people now in the garden.

Chewie sniffs around for a scent of an interloper, realizing they have no hope of parsing enough of the interplay of the human psionicists and thought-forms to interject usefully.

Unfortunately this proves useless in the lush, green garden.

[Niobaran]

Jandar proceeded to Anna's corpse on the bench, studying it in a similar manner as before.

"We should wait with such an interrogation until we know which questions to ask, I suppose."

In addition to what he looked for in the three other corpses, he also tried to assess what kind of weapon had caused the wounds.

[DarthArminius]

Jandar proceeded to Anna's corpse on the bench, studying it in a similar manner as before.

"We should wait with such an interrogation until we know which questions to ask, I suppose."

In addition to what he looked for in the three other corpses, he also tried to assess what kind of weapon had caused the wounds.

OOC: Most likely, by examination, small, bladed weapons. The eyes were most likely blinded by plugging instead of surgical removal.

[Niobaran]

Jandar reported of his findings. He had done his own share of autopsies in his life, but the sight of the corpse on the bench still was different.

"The murderer took their time with her. Why? To enjoy seeing her suffering? To feed from it, savoring every moment? The act of blinding... Maybe a trophy? But then again, the violent removal would possibly have damage them. Another act of torture? A ritual? Are any of you aware of such a ritual?" He got up again. "And why would the murderer do all this and then leave her to die? Wouldn't they rather stay by her side see the soul leaving the body? Or were they interrupted? Maybe a witness?" He slightly shook his head, stopping his flow of verbalized thought. "I apologize, I am jumping to conclusions here."