Havelock Vetinari
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IC (Alecto) "Mmm. You want to do something about it? Seems kinda sketchy on my end too." Alecto shrugged noncommittally. "The wings'll keep anyhow..." Honestly, he hadn't gone out of the house today searching for a show down with a vampire. On the other hand, he wasn't exactly opposed to it. Kept the blood flowing, if nothing else. IC (Leon) "Yeah. Can't be fun. Didn't you have any family before you....you know, caught the sniffles?" Leon was privately wondering if inhaling quite this many fumes from burning rubber was, precisely, the brightest idea. He seemed to occupy a strange space between dead and alive.....and well, it depended on a few questions he wasn't quite prepared to answer.
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IC (Alecto) "....For what it's worth, I'm sorry about Tyrell. Didn't exactly have an easy life myself. I..." Alecto paused for a moment, looking uncharacteristically somber. "Well. Kids at school, some of their parents too, thought that taking out their opinion of the brotherhood, the X-Men and all that out on my hide was the thing too do. I...well, ended up falling into merc work. Not alot of ah, normal work for someone like me you know? Then I fell into the occult...and well, today, I don't get hit around." He grinned. "Yeah. We mutants have a big enough target on our backs as it is."
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IC (Alecto) "Well alright then." Alecto leaned forward slightly. "So, you told me about the staff, some of the background. Mind telling me about yourself a bit? You seem like a person worth knowing. Not gonna ask for nothing in return of course. I'll gladly return the favor. Don't meet alot of worthwhile people these days."
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IC (Alecto) "You're pretty sharp yourself. Some people dig red eyes." Alecto motioned for one of the staff members not transfixed by the sudden invasion of ultimates. "Yeah. We'd like a few platters of wings, two soda's and....you wouldn't happen to have fries would you?" "Yes sir." "Good. This is America. Not having fries is foul foul heresy. Anyway, I'd like some fries with em and...Anything you wanna add Damian?" Alecto's eyes wondered over to the Ultimate's table for a moment. Lunch, a show and someone interesting to talk with. This day was turning out pretty well, all things considered.
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IC (Alecto) "Once I started invoking ancient powers to give metal powers, I stopped trying to make sense of it all. The universe is a strange strange place." Alecto gave another grin. "Works for me. I'll pay for drinks regardless. Soda sound good to you? Acquired a taste for it that never really left. We'll go fifty-fifty on the wings if that's alright. Though...." His wings fluttered again. "I think, personally speaking, I've already got the best set."
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IC (Alecto) "Think they're those X-Men I heard about on the news. Come from an alternate earth with an alien problem. Supposedly make our X-Men look well-adjusted. That...scares me a little bit to be honest." Alecto shrugged. "Well, you can bet almost anything really, cards, books, pencils, dates.....things like that. All depends on what you want out of it."
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IC (Alecto) "Welllllll, if money isn't your thing, I'm sure an alternative could be devised. I still haven't got that phone number by the way." Alecto took a moment to adjust his hair, and fluttered his wings slightly. "You have any...preference?"
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IC (Leon) "So, remind me, why are we waiting in a back alley for someone called...Sketchy? You didn't tell me anything beyond 'bad motha from the east side' that knows 'the best hangouts in this here burg'. I could use some more context here." Leon sniffed the air again. "Are you sure it's angst? It smells like a dead rat-king to me." The vampire sighed. "Please don't ask how I know that. I'll be so much happier if you don't." "Oh, like you're the only immortal to ever smell a dead rat-king. You act like I've never seen Ratatouille before. I've hustled rats up and down Paris looking for that miracle mouse." "I was so much happier not knowing that." "Never hurts to have some war stories." "Riiiiiight. So, any other insane sibilings I should know about?"
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IC (Alecto) "Oooooh. So you do have some fire too you! Good to know. Anyway, I consider it an open pool. Personally, I'm betting on how long it takes for them to fall apart as a group. Or for one of them to confess to murder. They've already listed off more then a few crimes, I figure it can't be far behind. I *know* scary-eyes has to have a few kills under her belt. But yeah, burning the place down works."
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IC (Alecto) "Well. Scary eyes just tore them apart. I'll...oh, right the betting pool ended when the waitress skipped out." He eyed Damian. "You have any money? Might as well get some fun out of this." Shame. He could probably have made one thousand off of scary-eye's brutally effective deconstruction of her teammates. Heck, he was sorely tempted to call the police. Just to see how they'd try to squirm their way out of it.
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IC (Alecto) "Works for m-" Alecto's eyebrows shot up when one of the supposed "heroes" at one of the other tables sprayed what look an *awful* lot like blood. ".....Well. Evidently I've stepped into the Dresden Files. I need to find those Knights of something or another. I have some complaints for their boss. A list of them really. More of a codex. Or book series...." Alecto cleared his throat, ending the small tangent.
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IC (Alecto) "Problem?" Alecto hadn't missed the sigh, or it's implications. "If not, do you have particular time you'd want to attempt this? Next week? Three weeks? Today?"
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IC (Alecto) "Honestly, I'd have you observe. These rituals aren't a task for a layman. But you know the staff better then I, know how it ticks to a certain extent. If something is going wrong with the staff as a result of the ritual....well, you'd be the first one to notice." Alecto gave a slightly crooked grin. "Aside from that, a phone a number certainly couldn't hurt...."
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IC (Alecto) "Death. Dismemberment. Having our brains shoved into jars. You name it, it can happen. I have experience dealing with such forces....but it is dangerous. Very very dangerous. You have to be clever, quick and know when to run to call upon the Outer Gates. Now, if we take the proper precautions, unless we're very unlucky, we'll probably make it through more or less intact. Maybe. Hopefully." Alecto shrugged. "These rituals are a very complex matter. Miss one detail and...well, you know."
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IC (Alecto) Now Alecto smiled widely, showing off his teeth. "Very very carefully. Up to you if we try it or not of course. But it seems to me like your staff needs a boost in power regardless."
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IC (Alecto) "Hm. And I doubt we could fill a pool with blood in this city without crossing quite a few lines...I assume only human blood works? If not, well, then we could try that approach. Not like the butchers *use* all that blood right?" Alecto grinned again, slightly. "Now, I do have another idea. Those bindings I mentioned? We could attempt one with it. We'd have to be very very careful of course and even then the risk is extreme."
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IC (Alecto) "Those?" Alecto gulped down the last of his soda. "Honestly, when I read through that...well, let's just say it's no wonder you didn't glean much from it. If there is anything about that staff in there, I'd guess it was hidden behind a very clever cipher. That you found out anything at all is impressive. So, we know it works off blood, is quite powerful normally, but seems less so in your case. But not entirely powerless....Hm. How much blood have you worked with? It could be a matter of feeding it more power I suppose."
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IC (Alecto) "Sometimes enchanted objects are....well, used to bind an intellect. It increases the power of the object, but tends to make using it quite tricky. Also deadly to use if you aren't quite careful. I thought this was the case here, and that the bound intellect-creature if you will-had expired. Now, I do know a thing or two about old languages and texts. Do you have this book on you?"
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IC (Alecto) "....Well, first thing that comes to mind is that the staff has simply run itself down. Burnt out. You know, like an elementary teacher near the end of theie career. Dead but still moving. Seems to me, if it was choosy, it wouldn't let you access it's powers at all. Perhaps what it can do now is simply all it can do." Alecto clasped his hands together. "Now, I can't really confirm any of this right now. Has it attempted to communicate?" The waitress, who had somehow produced a length of rope from underneath the table, began to squeeze out of the booth. "Sorry hon, mom needs my help with something. Bruce!" She shouted in the general direction of bar. "I'm taking a break! Be back in an hour!" Then she walked towards the door, muttering about penguins and insane mothers.
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IC (Alecto) Most people would have called the police when someone randomly began to cut themselves. But then most people also did not need to ritually stab themselves in the chest to work some of their better healing magics. "See. That tells me something. It tells me this staff works off blood or least, can work with the power of blood. Anything else along those lines I should know?" The waitress meanwhile, had titled her head slightly. "Who is that? He sounds cute, is he cute? If he's too cute, don't put the wolves on him. What do you mean you-see mom, this why your only friend is your boss."
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IC (Alecto) Alecto smiled, just slightly, and leaned forward. "Your eyes are telling me everything I need to hear." He took another sip of his soda. "So, Staff of the One? I might have heard of it. I'd need to do some research to be sure. I do have some experience with....ah, rituals of enchanting regardless, so I might be able to work something out even if I'm mistaken. The waitress, meanwhile had taken a cellphone call from....she..." Alecto strained his eyes slightly, trying to make out the name on the cellscreen. Ah. 'She-harpy from the bowls of the underworld-AKA mom'. Charming, "No mom, I don't know anything about...penguin wrangling....why would you even need to know that? I mean it's-no I agree, a penguin sitting on your desk is...I don't think you need to throw it into the ventilation fan. What do you mean you can make the owner clean it up? Other call...mom this phone...two phones...how are you even doing that?" A few other snippets of the conversation, evidently three way on one end could be heard. "Young man, get back here. Get back here this instant. I know you're responsible for this foul turn of events!" "Don't you mean a......fowl turn of events?" "Mom who is that?...What?! I'm at work right--don't you DARE set the wolves on me, -I- certainly didn't put a peng--oh, okay." "What? NOT okay!" Alecto cleared his throat. He'd need to get the story behind that later. "Erm, yes. Anything specific you can tell me?"
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IC (Alecto) "Alright, eye infection." Alecto swiveled his head suddenly, meeting Damian's gaze. "First off, people normally have to buy me dinner before they get to stare at me like *that*. Second, eye-drops. They exist. I suggest you look into the concept. You look like you need it. Badly." The bat-winged merc paused for a moment, took a sip of the soda he'd came here for (the people, most certainly, were not it-when someone who looks a little too much like a wolf starts drinking moonshine, it's just a matter of time before he invites you to his 'special' van and it all goes downhill) before shifting his gaze back to his new stalker. "So, man up and ask for a date, or whatever it is you want or kindly bug off."
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IC (Lucia) The sorceress, still breathless, shook her head. "I'd...buried that book beneath the backroom. It's.." The roman shook her head quickly once more. "I would have destroyed it. If I could. But the consequences....." Lucia appeared to be talking partly to herself at this point. "One does not sever such binds lightly, if one wishes to live on. I have precious few options." She appeared to notice everyone else in the room again. "Ah. Sorry, sorry."
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IC (Lucia) "You don't understand! It's not just a book! It's-" But it was too late. The neatly applied warning label appeared to catch fire, vanishing into ash in but a few short seconds. Then the visions began. The city outside of the shop vanished, or appeared too. It was replaced, at first, by a cold void, empty of even stars, a vast stretch of nothing stretching on into eternity. Then this nothing appeared to boil, to shift. The scene changed. The view from the shop windows now showed a vast, dead city crafted of basalt, marble and other unnamed types of stone. Towering mountains rose on all sides of the city, choked in snow and fog. The city streets, long vanished under the relentless siege of blizzard and ice, could not be seen, only guessed at. Many of these decrepit, hideously old buildings were buried to the roof others, it could be guessed, had succumbed to the march of ice and age entirely. In the shadows of this dead, rotting city, something seemed to move, to twist and turn. This vast. formless, darkness seemed to flow across the ice and ruined stone, bearing down upon the shop with unearthly speed.... Then Lucia wrested the book from the Dante's hands and slammed it shut. "It is imbued with certain..qualities." The sorceress had gone completely white in the face. "A few more moments and we...all of us, would have been dead. If a certain ritual is not performed, it grants the reader certain..visions you see. Think of it as a mirror. But this mirror is...two way....that which is observed, can observe itself. It is drawn to power. To places that belong more to the Outer Gates then anything man has crafted." Her voice seemed calm, but it quickly became apparent it had simply gone dead with shock. "We were more lucky then anyone had a right to be."
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IC (Lucia) Lucia tensed when she saw the title of the book gripped in Dante's hand. The Black Rites. It had taken her the better part of a year to track down, and she had been forced to call upon the forces of the Outer Dark to acquire it from it's owner. Such a book should not be in the hands of the idle rich. She could have sworn she'd hidden it away in the back.....but of course, this was a book that demanded to be read. First carved upon an obelisk by the Egyptian high priest Luveh-Keraph and then put to scrolls by some long forgotten greek philosopher. This was a more recent derivation granted, penned by monks in the Middle Ages. But the knowledge within was not much diluted. "I......put that book down. You need to put that book down."
