Log:Home Tour in L'Alsace

Grimm Family Matters 2020/08/07 Radical Grimm 11

Gabrielle called Connor to let him know a hacker she knows was able to trace a known address belonging to the Prices in L'Alsace, a region in Northeastern France bordering Germany and along the Rhine. She had planned to go alone just to check it out, but wisely, Connor was able to suggest she not do that.

So on a day when Connor was free of classes and his other duties, they've arranged to get together and check out this address and maybe see what they can learn about the Price's. Gabrielle walks up to Connor's front door and knocks on it.

Connor answers the door and lets Grimm inside, "Hello. All set to head out?" He's mostly in his gear, aside from the long coat and mask.

Grimm smiles and steps in, checking over her shoulder to make sure no one can see him in his gear. She doesn't want the neighbors thinking the wrong thing. "Yeah," she says, waving a pocket-sized french phrase book in hand. "I don't speak a lick of french, so I thought I'd bring this. Though from what I heard, German is spoken a lot there, so I might be able to at least ask for basic directions," she grins.

Radical nods. "I'm good with German. Or Arabic. But the latter might be a detriment in France.

Grimm raises a brow in surprise. "You know German...?"

Radical nods and smiles. "Sure. I did some of my research into mathematics in the original German."

Radical Shrugs, "That's also why I know Latin and Ancient Greek."

"Wow. Some people would just use translations." Gabrielle's eyes widen at the other mentions. "I'm...impressed," she says sincerely. "I can barely speak enough German. I'm the shame of my family," she smirks. Though she's that for more than just her weak language skills.

Radical chuckles. "The other languages I know were all for magical research." He goes to grab his coat and pull it on, and then his mask.

"Well, hopefully you can put it to some fun uses," Gabrielle comments. "Victor's lived in this area, but not sure if he still stays at that address. It turns out he's pretty rich. So it's a toss up if he just keeps it as a summer home, or lives there currently. Maybe the townsfolk know him? Or we can sneak in and learn more about what we're up against?"

Radical nods. "Sounds good. Though he was clearly scrying the location where we were looking last. It's a fair guess he might be scrying near his estate, too."

"Huh! Good point." Gabrielle thinks on that a moment. Then smiles a bit. "Well, you're able to scry a bit too, aren't you? I can only scry in the hear and now, but...I can scry across dimensions. And you can see across them, too. We might be able to avoid any magical traps or scrying by stepping to an adjacent realm or plane."

Radical shakes his head, "I never learned that spell. I can see thorugh time, but that's it. I can't...project my sight into another building."

Radical adds, "I wasn't able to do that as the Cartesian, either. But I think Randal knew the spell."

Grimm looks down at herself. She's dressed in a white tank top and leggings. "Hmmm. If we're going to be going all cat burglar on him, I'd better dress the part." She takes a step back and holds her arms out from her body to the sides a moment. "Well," she starts as her clothes melt and spread and darken, covering her in a polished latex bodysuit with row of metal spikes around the high collar and down along a line down her outer arms. Her leather jacket grows over this, with the spikes poking through. "If we're in an adjacent plane where his home doesn't exist, we can walk right into it and you can look through dimensions without projecting. I think. And looking through time will still help. You may be able to check the history of that place. Or the future," she smiles. "And I can check for magical traps hopefully before go."

Radical nods. "That I could do. My dimensional sight would allow me to peer in without issues."

"There's...something else. Something I realized. I'm still attuned to his shadow creature. I can teleport right to it," Gabrielle explains. "Which may mean I can find Victor wherever he is if its with him."

Radical nods. "Or get us into a fight immediately. Can yo tell where it is before teleporting to it?"

Radical eyed you.

"I...can't. I'd be going in blind. I could try using my powers to hide myself before teleporting. It'd give me a chance to look around and try to find out," Gabrielle suggests, her shoulders drooping a bit. "I'm afraid that's not much help though. It's risky."

Radical nods. "It's an option, though. So something to keep in mind."

Grimm nods. "If we do do that, we should go in guns blazing, so to speak."

Radical nods again, "That makes sense."

Grimm smiles to hide her nervousness. "So. Shall I find my way to the general area and open a gate back to you? I'll need a few hops to find my way."

Radical nods. "That works. And let's set up a mental link ahead of time."

"Right, good idea. Just in case," Gabrielle smiles. Her mind reaches out to link with his gently. "Okay, I'll see you on the other side," she says before vanishing in a swirl of darkness and foreboding whispers.

Radical breathes deeply as he waits...and find himself pacing anyway.

A minute passes. And then another...

A few more minutes pass. And then finally comes a thought from Gabrielle. << I'm in a quaint part of town that's pretty quiet this time of night. A few blocks I think from the place. Are you ready for an incoming shadow gate? >>

Radical thinks back to Grimm, << I'm all set. >>

A familiar dark portal begins to swirl into existence before Radical. When the inner circle opens up to reveal the other side, Gabrielle is waiting in an empty cobbled side street with few lights.

Radical steps through the gateway and looks around. "Nice area."

"Yeah. It's a nice looking town. Took me a while to find my way around. If it weren't for Victor, I might enjoy coming here again for fun or a vacation," Gabrielle says. The buildings are older here. Mainly white with brown trim. The german influence is evident in this old townhomes. There's a canal nearby, and a path along it.

Radical nods. "Which direction is the house?"

"This way," Gabrielle beckons as she begins to walk in its direction. She has her shadow sight canvasing the area.

Radical brings up his magical senses, and he follows after Grimm in the direction of the home.

The town (or is it village, here?) is rather quaint, really. Very picturesque with very old-style homes and streets. It is a place great for a few tourists to visit, but is obviously unknown enough that it hasn't been over-commercialized by hordes of visitors.

The two of you head.. thattaways towards the address. 'Only a few blocks' suddenly becomes rather subjective when, well, there are no such things as organized city blocks and buildings are comparatively spread out. The lane seems to leave the village, proper, and continue, with naught but groomed foliage to either side. The road winds somewhat until the main building is spied ahead. Manor? Castle? It is very large, and built with a fair amount of stone, and even ascetically resembles a castle somewhat. There is a full stone, cylindrical tower on one corner that is at least three stories tall that grants most of this semblance.

Radical thinks to Grimm, << So, you don't have any kind of clairsentience, right? Aside from the shadow sense thing you can do? >>

 Grimm says, "I do. I can look around inside and listen without going in."

 Radical says, "Okay...that's the way to go, probably."

If the castle-like appearance were not possibly ominous enough, the home, and grounds immediately surrounding it, are lit as much to your respective senses by the magic present than physical lighting. To say that it is warded might be akin to saying that Porter is a little lucky.

Radical lets out a low whistle as he sees the wards.

 Radical says, "I see...sensory magic on the grounds. Alarms. Illusions or sensory magic on the house and windows? Probably obscuring what is seen inside? The front step also has a magical trap of some kind. Something offensive."

 Grimm says, "Do you think our magic might trigger any of it?"

 Radical says, "It's...possible. The sensory wards could be triggered by magic. Or the protections on the house might interact with scrying. I didn't get a good enough read on it to know for sure."

Grimm nods thoughtfully. << The other option is pulling us to that adjacent plane and peering into this one. It might provide more protection from the wards. I think.>>

 Radical says, "That sounds safer to me. Let's shift to a neighboring dimension, walk the distance, and then peer back."

Grimm smiles to Radical and reaches out to put a hand on his shoulder if he'll allow it. <>

Radical nods to Grimm, << Sure, that works for me. >>

With a moment of focus, Grimm pulls herself and Radical across dimensions and realms to the prenumbra.

Radical looks around...and estimates how far to walk in the other dimension, pacing it off...counting his steps.

Grimm follows behind Radical as she stays alert, not interrupting him while he's counting.

The Astral Plane. Penumbra. Umbra. Realm of Shadows.

This dimension (or dimensions, or dimension between dimensions?) has/have many names. The primary feature: a 1:1 correlation with the 'real world.' In this case, the real world being the dimension just departed.

It is a darker, shadowy 'reflection' of that world (thus the reason for some of the names). A realm that may or may not be filled with spirits, echoes, or who knows what manner of 'natural' denizens.

From here, the manor looks even more a castle: darker and more dreary, though the magic spotted before still translates brightly.

Grimm notices the magical wards in this realm. << Shick. That's pretty impressive.>>

You are both fairly certain (Grimm moreso) that the magic IS, in fact, trans-dimensional.

Which might tend to suggest that someone is (or was) secretive and/or paranoid.

Grimm frowns and rubs her chin. << Maybe we try another dimension? >>

Radical whistles quietly. << I'm not sure that will help. We can try. Something further away, dimensionally? But if it also works there, we might have to just chance peering in from the other dimension. >>

Grimm nods and puts her hand on Radical's shoulder again. <> She tries pulling them to another dimension. This time an alternate reality, but remaining in the same spot.


 * GRIMDARK*

(Her dimensional stepping has to make -some- kind of sound!)

The picturesque view of the village is continued as they step onto the outer grounds of a a manor. Not quite -the- manor, as this one has brightly-colored pennants flying from various places, including the parapets of the 'tower', all of which are lit. The exterior is painted in softer tones, though still keeping with the period aesthetic.

Grimm lets out a sigh of relief and smiles to Radical. << Okay, so he doesn't seem to have extended it to this reality. That's a good sign.>>

Grimm looks towards this version of the manor and aims to peer through the shadows and across dimensions in one of the main downstair areas that was lit up back home.

Radical nods. << I suspect we'll be okay when we look across the dimensions again. But we should do so...in a passive way. Just peering in. >>

Grimm already has her hand outstretched and her eyes have gone pure black when he gets that message across. <>

She looks into the main foyer of the manor. THE MANOR, not this one, to see...

Their old friend Cliff, staring back at her...

The demon/creature/Qliphothic entity is... just staring, claws outstretched...

... and bearing a dress overcoat over one clawed hand with an umbrella hanging from the other. Interesting. Certainly a conversation piece for new guests.

It is motionless in the foyer where it stands as a ...coatrack?

Grimm stumbles back instinctively even though it's not there. That's...creepy. Is that what it does when the master's home? She tries to get a glimpse of the foyer to be sure it's otherwise empty before withdrawing her sight. << Okay, that was scary. He's using something that looks like Victor's shadow buddy as a coat rack. Sorry I peeked with my magic too soon. The Foyer seems empty.>>

 Radical nods. "Well, as long as it wasn't detected, we're okay."

 Grimm says, "I...don't -think- it was. But let's try it your going forward. You don't happen to know any crazy ward-breaking chaos spells, do you?"

 Radical says, "Not as of yet, no."

 Grimm says, "Darn. Okay, let's do this your way."

 Radical nods, "Move to where we're going to look across..and then just observe. That's it."

Grimm nods at his response and looks for an empty room in the manor that they could teleport into. << Getting in shouldn't be a problem if they're asleep.>>

Radical nods again, << Alternatively, we find a dimension where no building is here. >>

<LINK> Grimm says, "We could keep trying"

<LINK> Radical says, "Might be better than entering someone's home. Just in case."

Grimm nods and lays a hand on Radical's shoulders. << Okay, going to try and aim for...someplace where this is an empty field, or just where this building doesn't exist. >> She attempts another dimensional crossing.

The pair appear in another reality again. Still night time, although the city lights are...gone. As is the city. It's just the low plains near the Rhine, and a field of tall grass and nature around them. "Finally," Gabrielle sighs in relief and starts to walk forward towards where the house once stood.

Radical smiles. "A good choice, I think. This should be safer."

Grimm nods, but she keeps her shadow sense alert in case there's any local danger to be concerned about. "Yeah. Less chance of hexes or being arrested for breaking and entering."

Grimm peers back to their home dimension as she enters the space where the household was.

Radical remains on alert...not peering back to their home dimension yet. Might as well only have one of them do it, to be safe to the time being.

Gabrielle Grimm sees... the foyer again. This includes Cliff the coat/umbrella holder/conversation piece. The remainder of the room is rather tastefully, if lavishly, done: parquet flooring, vaulted ceiling over the grand staircase.

Grimm looks around and starts to pace towards the lighted rooms in the downstairs. She tries to sense if there's anything magical about Cliff there as well.

Radical follows Grimm in the world they're in, just keeping guard.

Cliff is certainly magical, as it was before. Qliphothic and very much so. It's just... standing still? Inert? The innate magic of its being is still present.

Of the lighted rooms on the ground floor, one is a kitchen where a maid/server is cleaning dishes and the other is a trophy room/lounge where another servant is waxing the floor. As a trophy room, there are a number of game animal heads mounted on the walls. That might be staring at you.

<LINK> Grimm says, "Okay, so that thing I saw in the lobby IS magical. And just waiting and serving as a coat rack. That's so twisted. And this guy has servants! (...wish I had servants...) --damn. Are those things looking at me...? No, that's. That can't be right."

Grimm moves slower now, wondering if it's just a trick of the eyes, watching to see if they really are staring at her.

No, they're not -actually- following her with their eyes. It just seemed that way. They're dead. Stuffed. Not even real eyes.

Grimm lets out a sigh of relief. After checking the downstairs, she wants to check the upstairs. << Still no sign of Victor in the house, but his creature's here, and one servant is cleaning dishes...so maybe he's upstairs. >> Gabrielle begins to sprout inky black wings that appear semi-translucent as she begins to float off the ground and rise up to the second floor, through the ceiling of the trophy room.

Radical remains on the ground...and just continues to keep an eye out. << No sign of a magical ward setting off, I take it? >>

Grimm thinks. o O (Not that I've noticed. But I'm not using my distant scrying ability.)

She passes through the trophy room ceiling... and directly into what looks to be a small library... or a very large study.

Shelves of books line the double-height walls to the ceiling, complete with wrought-iron and wooden attached rolling ladders for access. At the outside end of the room, below a rather large multi-panel stained-glass window, is a very large desk.

It looks to be made entirely of ebony, polished to a rich lustre, with a matching chair upholstered in black leather.

Seated at the desk is one Victor Price.

<LINK> Radical says, "Using less actives senses is good. Keep it simple."

<< Oh man. He has a sizable library in here. You'd probably love i-->> Gabrielle freezes suddenly as she spies Victor. << Shick. There he is!>>

Grimm moves carefully now, floating up a bit higher and drifting closer to Victor's desk to spy on what he's working on or reading.

<LINK> Grimm says, "I hate that I love his house."

<LINK> Radical says, "Well, I'm sure he has a certain...aesthetic."

Victor appears to be doing some light reading from a small book. It looks to be rather old, bound in thin, smooth leather, with a marking in faded blue-black ink in the leather, itself. The writing inside it is not especially comprehensible, though something in it feels ... eerily familiar?

Victor has a notepad at hand as well, and is making notes. By hand. With ink and paper!

A few jotted notes are partial comments or thoughts with little context:

... Two of one

Six by twos

There is a pause in his current note, which he crosses out and then flips the page to a blank one before writing another note:

Have you come to surrender yourself? Did you happen to bring your sister?

<LINK> Grimm says, "Large gothic house. Servants. A double high study and library lined with books and rolling ladders, stain glass windows, and an ebony desk and black leather chair. Argh, it's so me, it makes me sick."

<LINK> Grimm says, "He's reading something and taking notes. Maybe you'd be able to understand it? He's written 'two of one. Six by twos.'. Huh. He crossed it out. Now he's...oh shick."

Grimm hastily shares what she's seen with another thought. The written message to her. << How could he sense me!?>>

<LINK> Radical says, "Maybe he can sense across dimensions, too? It would make sense, based on the the way that the Qliphothic things I saw previously acted."

<LINK> Grimm says, "Maybe. Damn. He's asking if I've come to surrender, and if I brought my sister. I've got an answer for that..--"

Grimm mutes her mental voice so she doesn't transmit the foul language in her head.

Grimm scowls and she reaches a hand out before her. Her eyes turn to inky pools of darkness and Radical hears a rush of dark whispers as she exerts her powers in a new way. Her fingers pinch together as if to grasp the pen as her powers stretch across the veil between dimensions, fueled by Grimm's anger and disgust at this individual. Dark energy grasps at his pen to write an answer below his questions...

The pen lifts up through the exertion of Gabrielle's will and begins to write an answer. The pen scribbles and moves across the pad. As the last stroke is made, the pen stands there a moment, then falls over, inanimate again. The message behind is clear:

Eat a dick 8====D

<LINK> Radical says, "What did you say?"

<LINK> Grimm says, "I. Uh. Think we should run."

<LINK> Grimm says, "I...told him...um...exactly what I thought of his questions."

<LINK> Radical says, "Stop looking into that dimension, and let's get going, then."

Victor's eyes linger on the notepad only a moment before lifting as his head turns. Both come to a stop when he is staring back at Grimm. His tongue clucks. "Tsk. Tsk. I shall never understand what he saw in you. Even to usher in the glorious end, there are far better options..."

Grimm quickly teleports to Radical's side. She's too embarrassed to tell him what she wrote.

Grimm does seem a bit angry once she's by Radical's side. She glares up at the location where the study was, guessing Victor can see them with no obstructions in this dimension. "Jackass."

Radical chuckles. "All set to go?"

Grimm nods solidly.

<LINK> Grimm shares what he said to her. "Hmph. I would've been more than happy if his family had left mine the hell alone."

Victor's gaze does, indeed, follow her. To them? He lifts a hand, and then there's something else traveling between the dimensions between them; something dark, and more than just gazes...

Radical blinks as he sees the magic hit her. He places a hand on Grimm, "Don't resist. Getting us out of here." He tries to shift them both through dimensions and through space to Colonial Bay, aiming for somewhere on the outskirts of the city on the west side.

Grimm's trials through N'zrathol and the healing of the rift Radical performed have changed her in ways she hasn't even realized yet. Though her eyes widen as Victor's magic strikes her by surprise, she trusts Radical and doesn't resist.

Radical brings them to the farmland fairly close to the asylum on the west side. "I considered my sanctum. But I figured I didn't want to lead him there."

Grimm nods and pats herself down where she was hit. "Smart idea."

Radical takes a look at the after effect of the magic as well...with a more careful eye, to see what the intended effect was.

Grimm takes a few deep breathes and lowers her hands from her chest. "I...don't feel all that different."

Radical says, "Maybe it didn't affect you? It should have been a leeching spell. Vampiric."

Grimm shakes her head slowly. "I don't think it did. But I could feel the cold affects of it trying to get at me. And that was across dimensions," she says worriedly as she looks to him. "If he did that to me on the same plane, though, he might be able to sap my powers from me."

Radical nods. "It might have been similar to what he hit Dialydd with."

Grimm shivers. "He...he still hasn't recovered," she says with a hint of guilt.

Radical goes to give Grimm a hug. "We'll sort it out. Not sure how, but we will."

"I hope so." Gabrielle hugs Radical back and sighs. More guilt weighs on her. "So I, um. I wrote 'eat a dick' in Victor's notepad," she confesses, ashamed now. "Accompanied with a crude drawing."

Radical blinks and pauses a moment before he breaks out laughing.

Grimm pulls back and looks surprised at his laughter, then grins sheepishly. "I...was not expecting that reaction."

Radical finally recovers. "Okay....so...not the most diplomatic move on your part. But I'm not sure diplomacy was warranted anyway."

Grimm rubs the back of her head. "Yeah, I...lost my temper. It's not exactly like I'm known for my diplomacy. I'll survive this scandal," she grins. She looks around and takes a deep breath. "Seems we're clear. I don't sense him pursuing us. At least, not yet. He's way more powerful than I thought."

Radical nods. "Well...he has different abilities than we expected. I'm surprised he was able to see you looking in on him."

Grimm nods. "I think he only noticed me once I was in the same room as him. Or once I got close enough. He was writing something else at first when he seemed to notice me close by. There was...something he was reading. I don't know why, but it seemed...familiar? Even though I couldn't understand the writing."

Radical nods. "Maybe if you give me an image of what you saw, I might be able to identify it. Also...did you move into his line of sight at all?"

"Yeah, I was in his line of sight," Gabrielle admits. I was in the middle of his study and then floated over to see what he was writing." Gabrielle holds out a hand, palm up. Darkness swirls up from her palm to form the image of a small floating. It's old and bound in thin, smooth leather. There's a marking in faded blue-black ink in the leather. "I was able to see notes he was writing based off of this. "Two of one. Six by twos. I don't know what that could've meant."

Radical nods. "So, perhaps he can see through dimensions, like you or me."

Grimm nods at that thought. "It'd make sense. And what could you make of all those magical wards? Is there something we could do to dispel them?"

Radical shakes his head, "If I study my old spells...sure. But that's going to take time."

"Yeah. And time we probably don't have since he spotted us. He has to know we're coming," Gabrielle sighs.

Radical shakes his head, "I disagree. He knows his defenses are strong. He spotted you. He may assume we'll back off a bit."

Grimm rubs her chin at that thought, the illusory book still bobbing in the air. "I hadn't thought of that. So maybe we should gather whoever we can and attack?"

Radical takes a picture of the book with his PDA, to check his notes later. "Maybe. Might be worth it. But we'll need some big guns."

Grimm nods, dispelling the illusion once he's taken his photo. "Yeah. There might be some people I can ask."

Radical nods. "Preferably people immune to that...life drain thing he can do."

Grimm smiles faintly. "I'm not sure how I can find out if they'd be immune. Maybe if they weren't living? Or...hmm. Had some way to shield themselves?" She looks a bit perplexed now. "Maybe you know some folks? If they'd be willing to help."

Radical nods. "I can ask the Travelers, at least." He pauses and thinks about it. "I think my harness would protect me from that particular spell he used, based on what I saw."

Grimm nods, uncertain if they'd help or not. "Good, so you'd be safe from that spell at least. I wonder if that was the same one he used on Dialydd..."

Radical nods slowly. "I think it was at least similar. IT's possible it was the same one. I would have thought he'd be resistant to the effects, but it's been the opposite. He seemed more vulnerable.

Grimm looks worried at that and nods. "Maybe it's something to do with his alien anatomy? I don't know. It's been resistant to healing magic, and he's not getting any better. He's so weak, he doesn't even have much of an appetite. I've had to go visit to make sure he's eating something to keep his strength up."

Radical nods. "Maybe I can look into his future to get some clues as to what needs to happen?"

Grimm's eyes widen a bit and nods hopefully. "Yeah, if you could? I don't know what else to do."

Radical nods. "I can try. But it might just reveal that we can't do anything."

Radical says, "But it's information we don't have yet."

Grimm chews on her lower lip as he brings up that possibility. After a moment, she nods a few times. "At least we'd know."

Radical nods. "Better to know, I think. But the future is also vague and unclear. Keep that in mind.

Grimm nods gently. "I will. I'll try."

Log:Apotheosis