Mystique PI, The Walrus God 2

Legworking
Legwork Details - Mystique will be trying to remember all she has ever known about Aahruk. Weaknesses, strenghts, traits that might allow her to predict his actions. She'll also see what she can find out about the clown who summoned the God, this Drago Muspelheim. She noticed the DEMON boots, and will check as far as possible into any connection between Drago and DEMON.

Now she's a little constrained, in IC terms, as she used to know Aahruk in a minor fashion, but more importantly she is in part a water elemental and Aahruk is a Ocean God. The Princes of the elemental plane of water, basically her superiors, would not be pleased if she mis-threats this God. So her focus in finding a means to 'defeat' him will be on sending Aahruk back, unharmed, to his own domain. (skills of possible use: Streetwise 16- and KS: Colonial Bay Criminals & Criminal Activities 14- allowing for levels, to trace the minions and get their stories; KS: Magical and Mystical Legends & Creatures 16- with levels to do the remembering and find a means to return Aahrut.)

Legwork Results

Drago Muspelheim does not exist. It sounds like just the sort of name some moron might take for an alias if he wanted to frighten people because it sounds really impressive. It doesn't look like this guy knows enough about DEMON to actually join them. Maybe he was rejected... You can't find any of the thugs. (They're probably hiding from embarrassment) But you do recall that one of them said something about running numbers for the Cangelosis. Their main numbers running operation is located just on the edge of Harrisburg, out of a cheap antiques shop. (You have acquired a scene for this)

Whoever cast this spell botched it really badly. Aahruk is supposed to be six FEET high. Not six INCHES high. This changes every single incantation in the ritual very slightly. It could be something as simple as wiggling the third finger on his left hand instead of the pinky on his right during the 127th gesticulation. You will need to find whatever presumably damaged copy of the ritual he used, since whatever copy he got ahold of was somewhat inaccurate, and then you can try and peacefully dismiss the vengeful midget deity before he does something horrible, like drown a whole city block in snot. Aahruk is currently bound to Muspelheim, which means he has to do whatever Muspelheim tells him to, although it's obvious that the deity is very angry and really would rather squish Muspelheim into paste. Plus, Muspelheim has promised him some sort of secret of the universe, which Aahruk is now expecting.

Aahruk is widely believed to be the God who will end the world. A great blast of mucus will come from his mouth, suffocating millions and driving the survivors into the sea, where they will drown. This is an error which has been made in translation. The actual belief is slightly different. Aahruk is the God who will MEND the world. He will rise up out of the sea and purge those who have offended nature, by bringing a giant flood against it's purveyors, returning the world to it's natural state. Ancient religions are ridiculous. The good is as bad as the bad. -

Interlude: The Numbers Operation
This shabby looking antique store has a fat italian man sitting behind a desk, and a variety of generally useless junk piled about, along with some old, yet serviceable furniture. Across the street, a dirty old car can be seen through the wide window, with a greasy looking man smoking Lung-B-Here cigarettes.

Mystique observes the antique shop where the numbers racket is being run out of for a short period, getting a count of numbers, looking to see if the thug she'sinterested in is there, and checking for any potential opposition that might be a threat.

Mystique uses her mist vision to check the antiques shop externally and interior.

There only appears to be the fat man in the shop at present. There are four cunningly concealed cameras, however, and the man with the cigarettes across the street appears to be keeping an eye on the place.

Mystique enters the shop quite openly and makes her way straight to the fat man. "Good afternoon. Hows business?"

"I 'ave a few lamps..." The fat man says with a thick wheeze. ""And that wooden chair...I'll give it to you for sixty five dollars. Just sixty five..." He huffs a little bit and leans back.

Mystique says, "I'm interested in something specific." She drops a sketch of the thug on the counter. "He works for you. What I'm interested in is nothing to do with your operation here. If he comes to see me and is helpful I'll forget his face. If I have to find him he's in a lot of trouble. Tens of thousands dead type trouble. Your business won't be too profitable if the city is under 50ft of water for example."

The fat man huffs a moment and gets up. "Are you making some kind of threat?" He wheezes, and smacks his chest for a moment, coughing. "I'm just a simple antique dealer..."

Mystique says, "Don't waste my time and yours. Now I'm immortal. I have all the time I need. You might not be so lucky. You run a numbers operation for the Cangelosis. I can't prove it but we both know that's true. I'm not interested in that. This guy was probably free-lancing yesterday. He's involved with an incompetent magician who's summoed up an Ocean God. The summoning was botched. If Aahrut breaks free of control he can flood the entire city with 50ft of water. Neither of us want that, right?"

Mystique smiles coldly, "Actually I can exist quite comfortably under water. How about you?"

"Fifty feet?" He tilts his head for a moment and coughs. "Junior, get out here!" He wheezes. A short time later, a fairly fit looking man who matches your description. He's Julio "Frankfurter" Francesco. You don't know why he's called that, but it's either dirty or unpleasant.

"Oh, Jesus..." He says. "Look, that thing the other day, I swear, it's got nothing to do with me. Five hundred bucks to break into the business complex and steal a thousand pounds of malted milk balls. I don't get it. Said we'd be rewarded."

Mystique gives the unfortunate looking thug a cold stare. Then says, "I think I preferred your looks with the mask. However, here's the bottom line. That fool of a magus has botched the summoning. Aahrut is angry and only partially under control. If he breaks free he'll take it out on the city. It wouldn't be the first city Aahrut had drowned. I'm not interested in you. But I need to know who hired you and where I can find him.

Julio shakes his head. "I don't know. He mentioned something about the Burning Pit or something like that. I don't know what it means. Said that's where he's holed up."

The Old Man seems to be calling someone. "Yeah...Joey..." He wheezes. "Just in case things go south, raise the rent on every high rise we got. Trust me. The info's good."

Mystique nods, "If he contacts you again let me know. Did he pay you in advance? If so in what fashion? New notes from a bank. Even a electrontic transfer? You can keep the money. But if he used payment that can be tracked I want to know."

Julio nods. "He paid cash. Old, dirty bills. They smelled of smoke. It was weird. Not like fire smoke. Like...smoke smoke. Flavored smoke."

Julio shakes his head. "That's all I know. I just hope I never have to wear a stupid walrus mask again."

Mystique says, "You went to school I assume. Alchemy.. You would call them chemistry lessons. The smoke was tainted by the smell of burning sulpher maybe?"

He shakes his head. "No. Charcoal, I think. Why the hell would he want a thousand pounds of malted milk balls?"

Mystique says, "How did he get in contact with you? How, for example, did he know you would be willing to do such a job? Did he know you from somewhere, or get introducted by another person?" Mystique shrugs, "Maybe Aahrut was thirsty. Or it was a test."

Mystique thinks. o O (The Burning Pit. Charcoal. Malted Milk Balls... Malted milks balls..? How strange.)

"He said he just knew who I was. I don't know how he knew who I was." He says. "Who's Aahruk anyway?" He asks. "Is that the uh...six inch walrus he points at people? I thought that was a little weird, but...blast people with fish for five hundred bucks...sure!"

Mystique says, "You may want to think about this. There were six of you. At five hundred bucks each that's three grand. To steal a thousand pounds of malted milk balls. At wholesale price, he probably paid more than straightforwardly buying them. As I said, probably a test."

Julio shrugs. "Maybe he didn't want to leave no paper trail. Some guys are like that."

Mystique turns away, swings back, "Aahrut? Yes, the little walrus. If you hold the trigger for a large bomb do you concern yourself with the size of the detonator? Aahrut is a God. His power, should he break free of the mage's control, is sufficient to obliterate this city.

"A little late for us." He shrugs. "That's all I know. I swear."

The old man looks at you with a stretch of his arms and hangs up the phone. "So..." he says. "Anything else you want to ask Junior, or do I have to try and sell you a bean bag chair?"

Mystique looks back as she's leaving, "Ask who..? Sorry, I have no idea who you're talking about. Thank you for your cooperation and have a nice day."

"You, too!" he says as you're heading out the door. "Wind up Phonograph. 1925. Still in working condition! Very nice!"

Mystique says, "Hold it for me."

The Action
The Port The smell of salty air and marsh is the most apparent here at the port of Colonial Bay. To the left, the sturdy automatic cargo cranes stand tall and await the container freight vessels that transport goods into and out of the city. Most of the work is done by the large, efficient machines.

Over to the right, there is the Marina, where various pleasure craft and fishing boats rock gently in their moorings, tied by secure lines. The private vessels range in size from 16-foot cruisers to 32-foot yachts. The marina also rents out various water sport equipment as well as modern speed boats and fishing vessels for the day. There is one old-fashioned riverboat with paddlewheel propulsion, which provides pleasure cruises and caters to weddings.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, sea lovers crowd the marina. During the rest of the year, the docks are peaceful, except for the fishing and cargo vessels.

The port is cold, construction workers still repairing the docks from the damage done by a battle with the Annihilator, dockworkers moving around them and avoiding each other in the sea of chaos and cargo containers moved by cranes. The low bellow of a foghorn reaches across the ocean, and there is a vague sense of shimmering from the misty sea. Loud creaking noises echo from the metal crates in the wind, and off to one side, a group of workers in construction helmets begin loading a container onto a flatbed truck...they appear to be wearing Walrus Masks. There is already a large container on the flatbed, and the men appear to be working quickly.

Amy is just out for a walk by the sea, and her feet have carried her beyond the beach to the more businesslike areas of the seafront. She looks out sadly at the damage of the battle.

Mystique has shelved the Aahrut investigation for the moment and is looking into the disappearance from a company's warehouse of several boxes of luxury chocolates. She has to pay the office bills somehow. The presence of walrus masked minions is simply an unexpected coincidence.

Having caught sight of the masks while she was on her usual patrol, Fist moves herself to a securely hidden watching point and observes. It is not wrong as far as she knows to wear walrus masks while one works, and maybe this is some new fad that she can never keep up with.

The men in the Walrus Masks keep working, guiding the crane back until the second cargo container locks into place. The men get up on the flatbed and lock the cargo containers down. The top container reads "Mong-Hao Malt Company" and the bottom container reads "Moo-verlous Ice Cream." There is a picture of a half-stoned cow on the lower crate, eating a large ice cream cone.

Amy heads over toward the men. "Hey, neat masks! How come you're wearing them? It's not Halloween!"

"Uhh...yeah..." The first man says, turning to look at Amy as one of the others hops off and begins starting up the flatbed trailer. "It's our religion, like. Zeke here converted us."

Amy says, "Uh-huh? I haven't heard of a religion where you where masks! What is it?"

Mystique looks down from her vantage point high on a dockside crane where she was watching the warehouse and sees the masked figures. This, she thinks, is a fine opportunity. Transforming into a hazy mist she drifts down to secrete herself in hiding on the top of a container.

"It's new." The man says as he begins walking over to the truck as the men begin getting on. "The Albert Rook Foundation or something like that. Anyway, it's been nice meeting you."

Amy says, "Don't those big teeth cause problems, I mean, you could hurt yourselves on them - oh, you're going somewhere? What are you doing?"

"We're, ahh...we're just going to the ice cream factory." He says. "That's it, right? You'll have to excuse me. We're not from around here. We have to rely on GPS."

Fist readies herself to follow the truck, not by being on top of it, but by taking a course to go along with it, rooftop-bound. Of course it could be headed out to water, which will necessitate a new plan of following...

 Mystique says, "Probable robbery in progress on the Docks. Two containers, one with painting of a dopey looking cow on the side, being taken. Please follow but do not stop until they reach their destination."

Amy says, "Ooh, ice cream! I'd love to see an ice cream factory! Can I come?"

Mystique thinks. o O (Malt again. Why malt?)

 Amy says, "Huh? A robbery?"

"Sure..." The guy says. "Why don't you...ahh...hop in and we'll take you there."

 Mystique says, "Yes, Amy. By the people you are talking to, of the containers on the vehicle you are standing beside."

Mystique thinks. o O (How lucky. How unsurprising when Amy is involved.)

Amy says, "Ok, sure!"

Amy hops into the vehicle.

One of the men starts elbowing him. "Zeke! What is it?" He oofs. "Look...she's hot...and...well...it's been a while...and...oh, COME ON, MAN!" Zeke looks over at the man who's been talking as the truck starts up. He sighs and opens the door for Lady Luck.

The truck pulls up to the large loading bay, grinding up the poorly paved road as it rolls around and backs up, slowly grinding it's way up to the loading door. There's a rolling, clacking sound, and two men in Walrus Masks come to the door, grinding it upward. There is the loud, beeping sound of a forklift, grinding forward towards the flatbed from the inside, and apparently, they still haven't spotted you.

"Is that Lady Luck?" One of the goons asks.

"Yeah!" The Walrus guy next to Lady Luck says. "I captured her without firing a shot. Pretty cool, huh?"

From around the corner of the loading bay door, you hear "YOU BROUGHT LADY LUCK HERE! YOU IDIOTS! YOU WILL ALL BURN IN THE HORRIBLE FIRES OF WALRUS SNOT!" Drago Muspelheim steps out, wearing his much more ornate Walrus mask and holding Aahruk, Lord of the Doomed Ocean, in his hand. "Get her, Ed!" A weaselly looking little man peers around the corner of the door.

"Are you kidding, Marvin?"

"That's Drago Muspelheim to you, Ed!"

Mystique thinks. o O (Marvin... So you know him.)

Amy says, "Hey! A tiny walrus! That's cute!"

Amy says, "So, uh, what's going on here? You're bad guys, right?"

The booming voice of Aahruk echoes in the vastness of the empty factory. "YOU HAVE DONE WHAT YOU PROMISED, MORTAL WORM? WHERE IS MY MALTED! YOU HAVE PROMISED ME THIS THING THAT IS FIT FOR THE GODS! I WANT IT, OR I SHALL RESCIND MY POWERS FROM YOUR USE!"

Fist slips her way in while Lady Luck distracts, using shadows and diverted attention as she moves, positioning herself to most easily halt as many of the lesser mortals as she can, leaving Mystique to deal with whatever god-like powers that might come of the walrus toy.

Mystique looks for a position to move to in mist form that will be concealed from the watchers but be inside the building.

Amy says, "Oh, you like malteds?"

Drago Muspelheim, A.K.A. Marvin, looks at Lady Luck and says "SHUT UP! Malteds are amazing! They are not just good! They are food of the gods themselves!"

He points at Lady Luck. "Bring her before me, my minions...god...I love saying that! Surrender, or I will drown you in the mucus of a god!"

Amy says, "Eeeuw! I guess you are bad guys!"

Drago Muspelheim, dressed in his ornate Walrus Mask and wearing his secondhand collectors edition Morbane Boots, raises Aahruk the small Walrus and points it at Lady Luck.

"YOU FOOL! YOU'RE SQUEEZING MY TUSKS!" Aahruk howls. "THIS INDIGNITY WILL BE REMEMBERED, SUMMONER!"

"Silence!" Drago shouts. "Get her, boys!"

Mystique sends a thin tendril of mist snaking across the floor further into the building, seeking for 'Marvin's' workshop and hopefully a written copy of the summoning ritual.

Fist takes action, drawing out the two fishwands she had procured, pointing them at two of the goons and aiming to let loose the halibut. All a distraction, naturally.

It is worse than Mystique could possibly have imagined. A large yellow sheet of carbon paper rests on a desk in between two large ice cream vats, the marks of the summoning of Aahruk having shadowed on the sheet of paper. The shadowed single line of feet has doubled over in the carbon copy, resulting in summoning Aahruk at the feeble height of six inches instead of six feet.

"AWF!" declares the first thug as he is pinned under a halibut, collapsing under it's weight as he struggles with the three hundred pound fish.

"BUHFFHGG..." the second declares as the halibut slams into him, knocking him away. The halibut flops on the ground, slowly breathing it's last.

Amy says, "I knew you were a bad guy!" and points at Drago's hand, hoping he'll somehow drop the little walrus, and putting all her luck into trying to bring that about.

Aahruk flops and struggles in Drago's grip, and there's a slippery thud as he spills onto the floor.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Drago howls as Aahruk slips out of his hand, and the Lord of the Doomed Ocean skids across the slippery floor, right off the edge of the loading dock and into Amy's hand.

"BRING ME MY MALTED!" The Walrus God thunders as he settles into Amy's grip. "Or your city will suffer a horrible demise!"

Amy grins. "You have a big voice! Does anyone have a malted?"

Drago leaps at Lady Luck, trying to wrest Aahruk from her grasp. "BUANTHA, HANU...MAH-LEE-WUHN-UK" He shouts as he wiggles his fingers, trying to grapple her as he leaps off the dock.

Drago wobbles near Lady Luck, but retains his footing after his leap. He struggles to his feet. "The god is still bound to me, Lady Luck! Give him back, or suffer the eternal consequences!"

Amy says, "huh? Whay does that mean?"

Mystique steps out from behind the crate she was using for cover and lifts a hand while incanting. From her fingers a stream of mist flows outwards over the area of Drago, Amy, Xing-Liu, and the thugs. It builds in density and starts to grip and bind as many pairs of hands form from out of the mist.

There is a dull whompf as Xing, the goon under the Halibut, Drago, and four of the other goons are suddenly grabbed in a grip of Solid Fog. Lady Luck miraculously escapes the entangle, but in a freak accident, Drago slips and falls face down, sliding back towards the center of the grasping tendrils. "I can't move!" He howls. "You'll rue the day you crossed Drago Muspelheim!"

Ed sighs, shaking his head. "Look, man. I'm sorry I messed up the Xerox machine, okay. We should have tried to fix it. That carbon copy thing just did not work out..."

Fist works to free herself, noticing a pattern of being caught up in something while the walrus is around...

"WHERE IS MY MALTED, MORTAL FOOLS!" The six inch high walrus bellows. "THIS INDIGNITY WILL BE REMEMBERED IN THE FINAL DAYS OF THE HUMAN RACE!"

Amy says, "Will you stop shouting if I give you a malted?"

Mystique moves through the hands freely to Amy and Aahrut, "Great and mighty Aahrut. This fool of a mage has misused you, taking advantage of his incompetence in summoning to abuse you. Do you wish me to release you from his binding and return you to your rightful domain?"

"THIS IS MY VOICE, TUSKLESS ONE!" Aahruk thunders. "I AM THE LORD OF THE DOOMED OCEAN! RETURN ME TO MY TRUE SIZE, AND I SHALL NOT SQUASH YOU BENEATH MY RUBBERY FLIPPERS!"

Mystique says, "The incantation that imprisons you at this size holds you to this plane of existence, mighty Aahurt. To dispel one I must dispel both, my Lord."

Aahruk turns his tiny head towards Mystique. "DO I...REALLY KNOW YOU?" He blinks his little walrus eyes at Mystique, unused to looking at her at this size. "I WISH TO RETURN TO MY OCEAN DOMAIN! BUT FIRST, MY MALTED!"

Amy says, "Doomed ocean? Who doomed the ocean?"

Mystique says, "I have not always been in this form. Once I was Aquious, an Elemental Guardian of Atlantis."

Aahruk pauses to look at Mystique for a moment, then he turns to Amy. "DO YOU MOCK ME, TUSKLESS ONE?"

Mystique goes to make sure Xing-Liu is free of the hands.

His gaze returns to Mystique. "AHHH..." He rumbles. "I REMEMBER NOW. THE FIRST GREAT DROWNING!"

Amy says, "Uh-uh, I just kind of wondered. Anyone know where you can get a good malted?"

Ed looks around the corner of the warehouse, looking at Drago as he kicks and struggles. "There was a first great drowning? That means there's a second great drowning?"

Fist has freed herself, leaving the wands with Mystique before she heads out, unable to make sense of the matter.

Mystique looks at Ed, "It hasn't happened yet. You were meddling in forces beyond your comprehension. This city could have shared the fate of Atlantis."

Mystique turns to Drago, "There are powers and beings that mortal kind was not meant to know."

Ed kind of stammers. "Oh..." He says. "Why did I help this guy again?"

Amy says, "I dunno. I often wonder why people help bad guys!"

Amy leaves the little walrus god with Mystique. "Ok, I'll go get you a malted! Be right back!"

Mystique waits for Amy to return with a malted. She wants Aahrut to be placated as far as possible. While waiting she analyzes the binding and summoning, and plans her approach to unravelling it.

Mystique also flatters the little God shamelessly.

When the malted arrives, Aahruk wraps his tiny lips around the straw. There is a rough sucking sound commensurate with the sound of his voice, and the malted is gone. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He booms. "TRULY SATISFYING. THE FOOL STILL LIED, BUT IT WAS...INTERESTING."

Amy says, "Uh-huh, I like them too!"

Mystique bows to Aahrut, "I shall obey your command to return you to your rightful domain at once, my Lord." and works on the enchantment. As she works the binding becomes visible as a knotted ball of entangled magical forces that Mystique unravels and removes one by one until the enchantment is no more.

There is a strange sucking pop as Aahruk winks out of existence, the hiccup in space replaced by a small heap of salt water that splashes onto the ground. The sounds of sirens in the distance echo, heralding the arrest of Marvin Butz and Ed Caminaro for the rest of their lives...

Elsewhere in the multiverse, Aahruk, Lord of the Doomed Ocean, swims amid the turgid grey waves, dreaming of malteds in the briny deep...

Mystique sighs, "Well that was pleasingly successful. There is still a city and it is still above water. Three things to remember when dealing with Gods. They have immense power, enormous egos, and frequently very little in the way of intellectual ability."

Amy says, "Uh-huh? I didn't know that!"

Mystique looks at Amy, "Did you bring any more of those drinks?

Amy says, "Uh-huh, of course!"