Log:A Lesson About Lyssa

The Madness of David Flyte 2020/01/22 Radical|Connor Grimm Randal 5

Connor stops by Randal's house with the harness for Grimm to use again. He's there, drinking some coffee with Randal when Grimm arrives at the door.

Grimm trudges up the driveway with her bookbag slung over her shoulder, feeling bad about having ignored "doctor's orders". Maybe it's okay. Or they won't notice. She knocks on the door as her Ryde driver drives off. Grimm made alternate sleeping arrangements for the last two nights to give Connor and Randal a break.

Connor gets up and opens the door, letting Randal remain seated. He smiles as he sees Grimm. "Hey there. Come on in." He closes the door after she steps inside.

Grimm smiles, a bit sheepish. "Hello," she says as she steps in with short, quick steps so he can close the door quickly. "It's a bit chilly out there. Hope you're both warm enough." She's got her leather jacket and a scarf, but not much else for winter gear. Certainly no for that temperature and the wind chill, but she isn't bothered by cold.

Randal nods, "The house is old, but insulated well. You should be dressed better though, young lady." He smiles.

Connor chuckles. "I suspect she doesn't feel the cold as much as you or I do, Randal." He motions to where hte harness is on the couch. "Ready when you want to get some sleep."

Grimm blushes and grins at Randal's concern. "I stopped feeling the cold when I got my powers. Though I'm used to cold weather. I'm from Seattle. I'll take cold over the summer heat and humidity," she smiles. She looks to the harness. "Thanks again for going through all this trouble to help," she says sheepishly.

Connor shakes his head, "It's not a problem." He takes a seat on a chair again, "Though I ran into something today that might benefit from your expertise, Gabrielle." He rubs his chin, "I ran afoul of a DEMON Morbane, by the name of 'Mistress Lyssa'. Do you know anything about her?"

From Connor's earlier encounter and some of his knowledge of the movers and shakers in the mystic world, he recognized the name Mistress Lyssa. Mistress Lyssa is a powerful DEMON morbane. She subverts, controls, and deals in pain. She's been active along the eastern seaboard, but was originally infamous for a near takeover of Seattle by through some evil plans. His tomes do mention her in more recent entries as Mistress Lyssa Adana. She's a little older than she looks, but has been a Morbane only for the past several years. Barely half a decade. She's ambitious to accrue power, magical items, and servitors.

Gabrielle starts to slip off her bag and hesitates, freezing at the mention of Mistress Lyssa. She suddenly becomes tense. "S...she's back in town?" Gabrielle has to fight an initial feeling of fear as worry takes its place. "Are you okay? Did she hurt you or anyone else??" That's a big step, showing concern for Connor.

Connor nods. "I was hurt by one of her cultists, but Amelia was able to heal me. I was caught in my civilian clothing, so no armor. She tried to kidnap a young mage. One of Harlequin's wards, I believe. She got away, but not with the kid."

"A young mage...? I didn't know one of them was a mage," Grimm says in surprise. Grimm looks a bit shook up by the mention of Lyssa. "I'm glad nobody was taken or permanently hurt." She sets her bag down slowly, looking like she's trying to sort out some thoughts in her head. "Mistress Lyssa's a nasty morbane. She likes twisting people..."

Connor smiles and thinks about it. "Well, at least the kid knew things that I didn't expect. Like..about conversations I had with you. About your current issues with sleep. I didn't get a chance to follow up, but he hinted that the sleeping issues were a symptom, not the source of the issue. I'll have to follow up, but that was when we were attacked, so I didn't get to question him about how he knew what he knew."

Grimm is surprised for a moment about the kid's knowledge. "That...sounds a lot like Jordan. He's a cryptic little pain in the butt sometimes," she smirks, but has a fondness for the kid. Then her smirk falls. "It's not a surprise Lyssa would be interested in him as a new toy."

Connor raises a brow and smiles. "That's the one. I didn't mention his name, out of well...wanting to protect him. But if you know about him...well, there you go."

"I know a bit about him. And bits and pieces of Sasha's deal, though I don't keep up with him much," Grimm admits. "To be safe, don't tell anyone else about him. I think Sasha tries to keep him to keep quiet, too, but he can't help himself and gets in trouble."

Connor nods. "He seemed like a good kid. Meant well, I thought. And a good heart." Randal, for his part, just listens to the conversation for hte time being.

"He's adorable. And knows too much." Grimm manages to sum up Jordan's essence pretty effectively. She takes a breath and rubs her forehead, trying to think. "Is he back at Sasha's? That place is warded like crazy. He'll be safe there. Unless...Lyssa found a way to attack him there?"

Connor shakes his head, "No, at a local fairground. Inside a haunted house."

Grimm sighs out. "She probably was trying to track him with a spell once he left the school. Or had cronies watching." Gabrielle folds her arms, her right hand idling rubbing over her bicep. She builds up some courage before finally admitting, "She can twist people's minds. Control them. She did it to me. Twice."

Randal looks concerned, "Can you tell us about it? It might help to have some more clues."

Grimm's brow knits, not out of anger, but hurt. "She goes after people when she thinks they're alone and helpless. Usually has a lot of DEMON initiates and fodder she can throw about. She has this thorned whip that can enslave people. Self-styles herself as some seductress type." That gets a bit of a sneer from Grimm, but it doesn't have much bravado behind it.

Something occurs to Grimm. "Was she behind what happened to Moonshadow? Amelia approached me briefly about it. All I know is her mind and willpower was messed up."

Connor shakes his head, "I don't thinkn so. I believe that was the other dimensional version of Amelia. Amelia Halfdemon. But...also connected to DEMON. So there might be a connection."

Grimm lightly taps her foot as she thinks. "Maybe? Maybe not. Lyssa's spells aren't unique among Morbanes, but she's specialized in them so she can use the powers of others. She's ambitious. And callous." There's a nervous energy about Grimm as she talks about her. "I was her prisoner for weeks. It's fuzzy. I just remember being willing to do whatever she asked of me, no matter the cost. She pushed my powers and body to the breaking point and kept asking for more..."

Connor nods. "Was that one of the times your powers seemed to go on the fritz afterwards?"

Grimm blushes faintly, giving a shallow nod. "She had me take her to a pocket dimension and used my power to built a small fortress over weeks. And shadow creatures to serve her. Things I didn't know how to do myself. Forge and Porter tracked me down somehow and rescued me, I was so weak. Any time I used my powers, I'd get nosebleeds. Headaches. I was suffering from malnutrition from being held captive, though. Lost a lot of weight."

Connor nods. "So...that was the first time you ran into her. You mentioned that it's happened more than once. Anything else that you remember?"

"That was the second time," Grimm says as she stops tapping her foot. "The first time was back when I lived in Seattle. I was still figuring out what happened to me. Just starting out trying to be a hero, and ended up captured by DEMON and presented to her. That time was a bit different. She controlled me into helping her take over a district of the city." Her voices gets quieter as she talks about it. "The city heroes finally banded together and stopped us. Seattle PD eventually cleared me of charges thanks to one of the heroes vouching I was being controlled against my will."

Randal smiles warmly, "At least you were cleared of the charges. But I understand why you'd feel embarrassed to talk about it. Mind control...is a violation. But it makes you think you're weak if you're affected by it."

Grimm is comforted by Randal's words and nods softly. Her body language relaxes from the defensive, self-protecting posture she's taken, her folded arms no longer as tightly held against her. "Thanks. I've been embarrassed and ashamed that it happened for a long time. And yeah, I did feel weak. Like I should've been stronger or able to resist, but I couldn't."

Connor nods, "I noticed she used a couple of mental attacks on Amelia. Or at least...in retrospect, given what you just told me, I think that's what I was seeing. I couldn't sense the spells at the time. I didn't have time to bring up my magic sight to confirm. I was too busy fighting off the regular cultists. So, given that...it sounds like that's her forte? Mental effects? Or a combination with emotional control?"

Grimm nods as she listens. "Some of her forte. Psychic spells. Scrying. Emotional control. And she can cause excruciating pain."

Connor nods again, "I'm pretty sure she thought I was beneath her notice. I didn't have any active magic going at all, and I was just fighting with my hands. Amelia, on the other hand, I'm sure she views as an obstacle to her goals."

Grimm gasps in surprise. "You faced her without using magic? I guess so. She sees normal people as playthings." She thinks for a moment. "She likes acquiring people and relics of power. She enjoys control. The rest is kind of hazy, but if I remember anything, I'll let you know." Grimm blushes. "I tried my best to forget about her."

Connor shrugs, "I didn't have my gear. And my magic at this point is...utilitarian. It isn't meant for combat. I might have to change that. Perhaps if I supplement with an incantation, I can get faster with it..."

Randal shakes his head, "Connor, you have your identity to protect as well. Don't forget that. You could lose your job in a heartbeat if the university found out."

Connor nods, "Yeah. Yeah, I know. I just...don't like feeling hamstrung. I wanted to help. I couldn't let Jordan get kidnapped. I wasn't about to shy away from it to protect myself."

Grimm winces, showing she's more concerned for him than she wants to let on. "Well...good thing she didn't see you as a threat or a puppet."

Connor smiles, "I'd...like to think I'd be resistant to her powers, but...well, it's hard to say for sure. I don't see any reason to hold back if I do run across her again, though. She was trading strikes with Amelia pretty well."

"I guess it depends. Are you strong against mental influence?" Grimm asks curiously. "Definitely don't hold back if you see her again. She's tougher than she looks. I swear, I thinks she enjoys the pain, too."

Connor thinks about it. "I'm fairly strong willed. But...it's not like I've had a lot of practice dealing with mental powers trying to affect me, either. So, sort of untested. I'll be sure to not take her lightly."

Randal nods sagely, "Overconfidence is the downfall of many a practitioner. Remember that."

Grimm seems reluctant when she suggests, "Well. I have the ability to affect people's minds. If...if you want to practice, I could offer to help. I tried training one of the other people on Starguard, but his mind was already pretty tough."

Grimm smiles at Randal's advice. "I still get overconfident at times. I got to be better about that."

Connor smiles slightly as he considers the offer. "Sure, that sounds good to me. Thank you."

Grimm nods and returns the smile. "Sure. Just let me know when you want to practice guarding against jedi mind tricks," she chuckles.

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