Log:The Cleansing Rituals

2022/01/17 Night Marshal|Carpenter Grimm Evan Lightray Ravenspeaker 

A deal was made with Ravenspeaker, and Grimm upheld the tradition of sealing the agreement with Night Marshal. And then some. It's been two days since. There was work, and there was Grimm making sketchy arrangements for this brothel stay Ravenspeaker wanted, not wanting to give away too much details to Jack. She called Lightray and had a conversation about needing to cleanse an unholy place if he was available. Then reached out to Chalmers about a night to come by to help cleanse that place.

Tonight is the night where it all comes together. Grimm and Night Marshal step through a dark gate and end up outside the Claymore house. "You ready for whatever weirdness tonight will bring?" she smiles slightly at Night Marshal. She knows it's been rough on him. Usually she partners up with Radical on mystical issues, but he's been occupied lately.

Night Marshal nods. "I'm all set." He double checks his pistol, just in case, and he reholsters it.

The door to the house opens before you all reach it. Chalmers stands behind it and nods to the two of you. "Ms Grimm, Night Marshal, welcome back. I've taken the liberty of having Evan stage some food and water outside the ritual site. I hope you don't mind," says the solid seeming ghost in a mild tone.

Night Marshal nods and tips his hat, "The was mighty thoughtful of you."

Grimm glances around and whispers suggestively with a smile to Night Marshal as they walk up the path, "Think we should seal the deal again? For good measure?" She snaps her mouth shut when Chalmers opens the door before they even reach the door. "Chalmers, hello." She looks surprised to hear Evan helped with that. Night Marshal must be overjoyed. Yay. "Well, that's nice. You guys didn't have to. Have there been any other problems since we defeated the Baykok?"

"No, there haven't been, Ms Grimm, I'm happy to say" states Chalmers as he steps aside to let you all enter. As he leads you back towards the kitchen, you pass by some stairs to the upstairs. You may faintly hear the pitter patter of a child running then a somewhat familiar voice, Belle's, calling out, "Ready or not, I'm gonna find you!"

Chalmers glances up the stairs without breaking stride then says, "Evan's planning on observing I think. He's said he's never seen a ritual cleansing. I told him the final decision would be for your guests."

Night Marshal nods. "I don't have a problem with that, but I'm just observing, too."

Grimm is creeped out but glad to hear Belle is cheerful and not trapped below. "It really is their call. I don't see Lightray having an issue with it. Ravenspeaker? Well. Not sure he's child appropriate, but I also don't know how he is about it." She grins a bit. "I guess there's more than once apprentice here tonight."

"I wish Evan was more child-like in his behavior. He's, well, he reminds me the damaged children of the rich wed get sometimes at the summer camp my family owned." Chalmers shakes his head. "At least he's not an addict...technically."

"Can I offer you some tea or something else while you wait for your guests? asks Chalmers as you enter the well ordered kitchen. Not that the rest of the house is messy, but this room is pristine.

"Technically?" Grimm raises a brow at that. She sighs. "That kid has some...tells. Something worse than having rich parents are at the root of it." She runs her fingers through her hair and thinks on that for a bit. Then adds, "Uh, sure, tea. With a bit of milk and sugar, please?"

Night Marshal shakes his head, "Nothing for me, thank you."

Chalmers looks to Night Marshal as he goes to prepare Grimm's tea. As he gets out the tea, teapot, and cup, he asks, "Yes, technically. I'm not a licensed counselor, but even I can see he puts himself at risk more than he should." Chalmers sighs. "All of them do really."

He busies himself with the tea prep.

Night Marshal nods slowly. "'Them'? The teens, you mean?"

Grimm slides her hands into her pockets. "Kids tend to think they're immortal. Add powers to the mix, and...yeah. Risks," she sighs somberly, still feeling a twinge of guilt.

Chalmers nods absently. "Yes, the teens. There's only so much I can do once they leave the grounds. But, at least they seem to be clueing me in now." He looks over at the two of you and smiles slightly. "Thanks to the two of you catching up with Evan. That gave me the in I needed with them. To get them to talk to me, at least sometimes, before they rush in like fools...or meta powered teens, yes."

Grimm accepts the tea and takes a sip. "Just try to make them realize how dangerous it is. Some of the teen heroes in this city have died. It's not a game."

Chalmers starts to speak then falls silent as Evan enters from the door leading to the grounds.

The redheaded teen looks from Chalmers then to the two of you before he nods politely. He murmurs, "Heya. Thanks for setting all this up. I wouldn't have a clue who to ask or what to do." He risks a smile. "Thank you. I'll pay you back...somehow."

Night Marshal nods slowly. "Well, I'm glad it helped a bit."

Grimm looks over to Evan and nods in hello. "Well, Lightray is a local, so he's someone good to know. Even more 2D than we are, but...he knows things." She looks over to Night Marshal. "He'd be a good person for you to know, too, in case I'm not available." She looks back to Evan and smiles back. "Pay back for what?"

Evan looks at Grimm for a moment, blinking his eyes, then says, "For helping." He glances over at Night Marshal. "Well, I can improve your weapons. That offer still stands."

Night Marshal nods in greeting to Evan as well. "I appreciate the offer, but give me some time to think about it."

"As for me. I'll...think about it. I don't think you owe me anything, though," Grimm decides and sips her tea.

Evan gives a one shouldered shrug. "No problem, Night Marshal, take all the time you need," the teen says to Night Marshal.

Chalmers asks of Evan, "Any changes down there?" to which the teen responds, "Null change, Chalmers. Quirt as, heh, a grave."

"And, hmm, OK, Ms Grimm, if you say so," states Evan.

"Hopefully it'll stay that way," Grimm says, checking her phone.

Grimm gets a message on the burner phone: Outside the gate. Interesting place. Lots of unquiet spirits. Ghostbusters needed?

Then comes in: Oh ho! Hot sun spirit! For me? ;P

Grimm smirks. "I think our guests are here. They're outside the gate."

Ravenspeaker and Lightray are almost night and day: one of Raven and one of a Sun god. Surprisingly, they get along quite well despite one being an irreverent trickster and the other a justice focussed metahero. Evan shows up on time as well and takes a large picnic hamper prepared by Chalmers. Then the four of you, Grimm, Night Marshal, Ravenspeaker and Lightray descend through the old root cellar (which has acquired a heavy locking steel door on the surface) through the now better hidden door into the burial caverns and through them to the where Baykok's lair was.

The ghostly shaman, spirit bear, and spirit owl accompany you from the burial area to the entrance to the lair. He speaks quietly with Ravenspeaker then with Lightray. The two visitors promise to treat the bones in the lair with rspecte and lay them to rest.

You all continue on and the two mystics get to work. Ravenspeaker goes first. His ceremony involves much chanting and singing accompanied by ravens who flew in with him tapping our rhythms on drums while Ravenspeaker himself uses his rattle. It's slow, sonorous and is accompanied by the leaping light of a fire Revenspeaker kindles in the center of the round cavern. It takes several hours during which Evan provides refreshments from the hamper to the two of you and when he indicates, to Revanspeaker. When Ravenspeaker finishes, the last echo of his chanting fading, there is a definite lightening of the atmosphere down here.

Lightray takes over a few moments later. He starts singing in a strange language in his basso profundo but over the course of several minutes, his voice either splits or is joined by equally pure voices that seem to be of all ages and all vocal ranged until it is large chorus. The sunlight that Rises from Lightray and spreads through the room shifts from the rosy light of dawn to the brightness of noon to the yellows and oranges of sunset at the end. When he finishes, there is a sense of peace to the cavern that did not exist before.

Evan seems openly fascinated by both mystics and what happens. A sense of wonder appears on his face a few times before he (self) consciously becomes aware of it and closes off his features again. But, each time, it lasts a bit longer as, apparently, he gets caught up.

Night Marshal watches curiously. But it's all well outside of his field of expertise.

Grimm studies the rituals curiously. Something about them causes a shifting discomfort within her, due to her own similar connections with the powers they're trying to cleans. She occasionally wipes her brow and takes to sitting for most of it, and partakes in the comfort food. She looks like someone fighting off a hangover or the while trying to sit through a college lecture. There's even a little sheet of sweat on her forehead near the end, and she lets out an audible sigh of relief when the ritual is complete.

The faded, disturbing carvings high up on the walls are almost completely gone by the end of the rituals. While not likely deliberate, what the carvings represented were forced out by the re-affirmation of the Reality by the dedicated power of not one, but two gods, being applied here.

Grimm murmurs to Night Marshal and Evan, "I wonder if those carvings' remnants are going to be a problem."

Ravenspeaker takes off his mask. He looks a bit tired and sweaty under it.

Lightray, on the other hand, is unchanged. No sign of fatigue mars his features.

"Well, if they are," says Ravenspeaker, "the kid can tell us. Or you more likely, Ms Grimm." He glances over at Lightray. "Of this piece of prime beef." He adds with a mild frown. "How come you don't get all mussed by doing ritual? That's just unfair!" His tone is humor filled.

Night Marshal nods slowly. "So...it's done, then?"

Grimm's brow furrows at Ravenspeaker's statement, then looks back up at the carvings to study them more carefully. Maybe she'll get a vibe off them.

To Grimm, they are mere meaningless scratches now. They no longer warm the emptiness within her. Of course, something stirs within her, with the blood here, now, they could blaze so brightly as to illuminate the Shining Darkness...the Sun first...

"Baykok's corruption is cleansed. And, well, the underlying darkness has been broken, I feel," says Lightray as he looks over at Ravenspeaker who gives a confirming nod. "This cavern could be desecrated, but, on its own the darkness will not return."

Night Marshal nods. "But the Baykok isn't destroyed, right? Just driven from here?"

Grimm takes a deep breath and holds it as she stares up at the carvings, lost in them for several moment. She can't quite describe the feeling within her at first. She keeps staring.

"Oh, he was driven from here by your actions, Night Marshal, when you defeated him. But, yes, any hold he had here is gone. The weak point at the bottom of the pit is healed. So, even if his nature didn't prevent him from returning, that one cannot just, ah, pop in anytime he wants." says Ravenspeaker. "He's locked out of here. Well, for at least a century, maybe longer. The closer the points of his defeat on our world, the more, ah, time overlap in the areas. Think of it as a, hah, mystical restraining order he /can't/ break."

Evan gathers up everything from the hamper as the adults speak.

Grimm realizes that part of her knows how to renew the carvings here, how to 'consecrate' this place to Pale Night, to make this once again into a place where the Shining Darkness can enter this world in force. This was not one of her places before, but it could be...if Grimm takes action.

Grimm keeps staring as she has dark revelations, like those strange whispers that impart secrets and knowledge to her at times. She's entranced while she stares at the carvings. When she realizes where her thoughts are leading her, she gasps and snaps out of it, tearing her gaze away from the carvings. "I ...still recommend keeping this place secret and locked away so it doesn't attract others."

Night Marshal notices Grimm's reaction, and he furrows his brow. "What's wrong?"

Evan says from where he's closing up the hamper. "That is the point. Going to put up a shelf with, I don't know, preserves or something in front of the door to down here. Fill that root cellar with mundanity." He glances over at Night Marshal's tone.

Lightray and Ravenspeaker share a look but don't speak.

Grimm folds her arms over her chest as if she's cold. "It's like...I can still feel the carvings calling to me to reforge them. And suddenly I had this knowledge that I didn't before. That I could rededicate them to the Qliphothic entity I'm most tied to. And that doing so would open a way for those things to enter our reality in force. I...I think I need to get out of here."

"Yes, probably best. And that way you can show me to this naughty b and b you mentioned, Ms Grimm," says Ravenspeaker with a grin.

Night Marshal nods slowly, but he files that knowledge away in case it becomes important later. "Yeah, heading out sounds good."

Grimm purses her lips at the reminder of the B&B and nods, just eager to distance herself from the unexpected calling of this place. "Right. Let's go." She looks over to Evan. "All packed up?"

Night Marshal is already set to go. He looks to the others to see if they need any assistance.

Everyone seems ready. And with no further delay, Evan leads you all flawlessly out of the maze of tunnels taht lead to this one.

Once back in the burial caverns, the shaman and Ravenspeaker speak quietly for a few minutes, then Ravenspeaker rejoins you all as you. Evan leans the way out to root cellar and back to the surface where he puts a complicated looking love through the heavy hasp and locks it.

Grimm feels better once she's out of the cavern. "Thank you again for your help," she says to Ravenspeaker and Lightray. Though she knows Ravenspeaker's help came with payment. "I can take you to your payment now if you'd like."

Night Marshal nods to both Lightray and Ravenspeaker, "Yes, thank you both."

Ravenspeaker grins, casts an eye over at Lightray, then says, "Why don't we get a larger room, I'll pitch in. Lightray here looks like he could use some R and R as well," overriding whatever Lightray was about to say.

Lightray looks at Ravenspeaker then shakes his head. "Thank you, but I am fine. I have papers to grade in any case." His tone is mild but firm.

The glowing man then murmurs, "And you are welcome, Night Marshal. I, well, enjoy using my powers for more than combat."

Grimm grins a little as Lightray's paper grading comments ring as familiar to her. "Well, thank you again. If there's some other way I can thank you for the help, let me know."

A whisper of a voice comes on a gust of wind, "Break the curse so he can see," says a man's voice that all of you can hear. Grimm and Ravenspeaker see a shadowy figure of a man behind Lightray who fades from sight with a nod to them.

Lightray seems unaware of anything.

Night Marshal raises a brow. "What was that voice?"

Grimm blinks and looks over at the shadowy figure. "What curse? See what?"

Ravenspeker's lips quirk into a smile as he looks over at Lightray.

The golden glowing figure shakes his head then says, "Well, on that odd note, I'll speak with you all anon." His tendril-like wings flare out then he all but leaps into the sky with the sound of many great wings beating.

Grimm notes as Lightray takes to the sky the dark tendrils of a curse all but hidden, constructed to be hidden in fact from casual 'Sight', wound into Lightray's heart and mind.

Evan looks a bit confused but covers it quickly with a look of teenaged boredom.

Grimm studies Lightray as he's flying, scrutinizing him more closely. "Wow...I can't believe I never saw it before...that's subtle."

Night Marshal raises a brow. "Never saw what?"

"I didn't know to look until that voice mentioned it. There's a curse blinding Lightray to something. Black magic. I suppose...you could tell us more about how it got there?" Gabrielle starts by talking to Night Marshal, then turns her head to look through the astral plane to the speaker.

"A subtle curse. Meant to harm him not physically or even mentally, but to deny him that which all desire. Well, all sane folks," murmurs Ravenspeaker. "Devilish."

Night Marshal tilts his head, "What is it denying him, exactly?"

The figure of Night Hound steps out of a patch of shadow. He's dressed like a noir detective except all in black, his face shadowed by the fedora he wears. His gloved hand hold newly lit cigarette that he raises to his mouth. The translucent man takes a drag of his cigarette then slowly lets out the smoke. "It denies him to the ability to see someone, Ms Grimm," the man says in a rich baritone with a hint of New York accent just under a soft Virginia tone. The voice of a trained speaker.

Grimm squints for a moment and thinks on Lightray's reaction. "The ability to see -you-," she realizes. "But why?"

Ravenspeaker laughs softly but doesn't otherwise comment.

Evan's retreated into just listening, his gaze passing to each of you four in turn, but lingering most on the translucent Night Marshal.

A hint of a smile may, or may not, pass over Night Hound's lips. "You'd have to ask Lightray about that, Ms Grimm," he murmurs.

Night Marshal watches Night Hound and nods, as he assesses, picking out how many weapons are being carried. "The 'why' is the question, for sure."

Grimm nods slowly. "But if I ask him, I get the feeling the curse will just prevent him from understanding."

"Then, might I suggest you not mention seeing me? Just ask about the Night Hound, Ms Grimm," says the ghost of the mystery man. "Ask how we met. It's a good story about power versus skill," he murmurs with humor in his voice.

Grimm smiles a bit at the mention of the story. "Power versus skill, huh? Sounds like a familiar story." It make her think of her and Carpenter.

"And how have you been, Evan?" says the Night Hound to the teen. "And thank you for ending the trap here. It makes my patrols easier now."